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Leftover Q4 Budget? Top Projects for B2B Marketing Teams to End the Year Strong

Updated: Dec 4, 2023



With Thanksgiving in the rearview its time to talk about leftovers.


Just like nobody likes the smell week old turkey rotting in the back of the fridge, Marketing leaders should have a similar offense to giving back leftover budget.


Giving back budget signals you can get away with less next year!


I know, I know. You're busy finishing your plan for next year while simultaneously trying to end the current FY strong. An impossible task.


You may think that succeeding at one of sacrifices the other. This leads to the dreaded Q5 scenario on one hand, where short term focus is maximized, and strategic planning gets delayed. Alternatively, punting Q4 results to maximize your long-term success can be a tough pill to swallow. Especially if you are a growth minded SMB.


Let’s face it, Q4s, much like neglected green bean casserole can really stink.


What if I told you there was a way to both plan for FY24 and finish the year strong?


There are several Q4 projects that can give you short term results while also helping lay the foundation for next year’s plan. Additionally, because these projects fall in the “use it or lose it" category, you can spend your precious internal goodwill to advocate for long term resources instead.


Without further ado, here’s the list complete with short term and long-term benefits outlined.


1. Organizational Marketing Audit:


Q4 is the perfect time for a 360-degree review of your entire marketing organization, find out what is working, what is not, and what to prioritize for success.


Short term benefit – Save time, money, and effort by understanding what’s not working. Improve mid-term performance by investing in high performing activities.

Long term benefit – Gap analysis will allow you to prioritize future resource allocation and investment.


McKeown's Marketing Mastery: The Audit is one such tool that can be implemented fast. With 375+ inspection points across 11 marketing disciplines, a new B2B CMO will not only obtain the data to transform their team, but also the entire company.

2. Video Content Creation


Short form video content has become a dominant form of B2B engagement. Leftover budget could quickly be spun up to create multiple videos on a litany of topics. Case studies, customer interviews, industry insights, or a “day in the life” of your key persona are all potential ideas. Make sure to leverage across all your key channels for maximum engagement.


Short term benefits: more content to feed the content beast!

Long term benefits: evergreen content that impacts everything from SEO to audience engagement and potential pipeline.


3. Market Study


What can you learn today that will help your team achieve their goals tomorrow? More insights, data, and information regarding your target market is always impactful. This data could come in the form of buying a market report from a key analyst firm to having a market journalist/analyst creating a customized study from scratch. This data impacts everything from your overall GTM strategy, target account list, messaging, campaigns and more.


Short term benefits: gain insights that could impact your FY24 plan.

Long term benefits: continuous improvements to messaging and campaign tactics could drive marketing contribution and ultimately company growth.



4. Web Page Refresh/Optimization


How are your product pages performing? Do you have a trial download page? How about content landing pages and CTAs? Pick 1 or 2 high priority pages and conduct a complete refresh and update. If you want to do a complete website refresh, I recommend tying this into your overall FY24 plan.


Short term benefits: Refreshing stale content will improve overall conversion metrics across the board Long term benefits: better performing content will lead to better performing pipeline.


5. Sales Training/ Enablement


Giving back to Sales in Q4 is never a mistake. Refresh some. Maybe the sales enablement platform needs optimization? Heck, if a graphic design refresh on the sales presentation or a hype video will add benefit.


Short term benefit: gain goodwill with sales and end the year on a high note.

Long term benefit: help educate, inspire and excite the sales team for FY24 success.




If you have questions or need help maximizing your Q4 budget, reach out to me directly at: Thomas.mckeown@mckeownstrategicinsights.com


If you are interested in conducting a detailed B2B marketing audit, click below:



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