Behind the scenes of how we prep brands for Q4

So we’re just a month away from Q4.

This time of year is both a blessing and a challenge.

The good news: you’ll get a wave of new customers.

The bad news: you’ll pay a lot more to get them.

That trade-off is what hurts a lot of brands in Q4. But it doesn’t have to be like that.

There’s a way to tip the scale in your favor.

A simple approach that multiplies the upside while shrinking most of the downside.

It’s a strategy we use to get the kind of customers Q4 brings… at a fraction of the cost.

Here’s how it works:

1. First, run Google Ads to fill your email and SMS lists with high-intent leads.

2. When big events like BFCM or Christmas arrive, hit them with targeted email offers and retarget them with Google Ads.

This approach comes with 2 big advantages:

• You sidestep Q4’s rising ad cost by preemptively buying customers

• You profitably convert cold audiences that would normally be too expensive to reach during peak season

Said differently, you’ll buy Q4 customers at today’s price.

You plant the seeds from August to October…

Nurture them with email marketing…

And then harvest when the sales period hits.

Now the question is… how do you put this into play?

In this email, I’ll walk you through the Google Ads side of it because that’s our specialty.

For the email marketing side, check out Max Sturtevant’s work.

He’s the founder of WellCopy, an email and SMS agency that’s generated over $100 million for clients in the past 18 months.

Now, let’s start with the first step:

1. Fill your lists with high-intent leads

We use two campaign types for this:

(a) Top-of-funnel Search (e.g, “how to improve skin after 50”)

(b) Demand Gen

These are perfect for list building because the clicks are cheap and signal early buying intent.

Think about it like this…

When someone searches for “how to improve skin after 50,” they’re looking for a solution.

And if your landing page can deliver that…

If it educates people about their problem, earns their trust, and smoothly positions your products as the answer…

You’ll see some people buy on the spot.

Others might need more time, but there’s a high chance they’ll join your list if you give them a compelling reason to.

That’s where a good pop-up comes in. (Again, check out Max’s stuff to see how to do this effectively)

Let’s move on to the next step…

2. Convert these leads when BFCM hits

If you’ve done Step 1 right (and followed up with good email marketing), you’ll have a list full of warm leads ready to buy.

Many will convert from your emails or SMS.

For the rest, you can win them over with Google Ads.

To get the best results, segment your list into 4 groups and give each one a tailored offer:

• New subscribers: go heavy on social proof and urgency.

• Existing customers: loyalty offers & cross-sells

• High-value customers: premium products, VIP access

• Lapsed customers (no purchases in 180+ days): win-back offers.

We run this strategy in parallel with our usual sales campaigns.

And from what I’ve seen…

Brands that implement this often see their Google Ads performance improve by 40-60%.

So if you’re looking to hit new record months this Q4, go through this strategy and see how you can apply it.

Now is the best time to start… when competition is low and traffic is cheap.

Jackson

Founder and CEO of Echelonn

P.S.

If you want us to run this strategy for this brand and help you scale this Q4…

Book a call with us here.

How we can help:

• Get a free Google ads audit: For brands spending more than $20k/mo. or making over 1 million annually, we’ll identify the key bottlenecks in your account, and turn it into a free 90-day scaling plan. Click here.

• Get our E-commerce Growth Toolkit: Get access to our free resources and tools including the Product Feed & GMC Optimization Checklist, YouTube Shorts Ads Playbook, and 12 Plug-and-Play Dashboards. Click here.

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