Q4 is the quarter to close deals, reconnect with customers, and set the team up for a strong January. Some teams dread it. We look forward to it every year.
Here are seven things every B2B marketing team should do starting October 1st to make the most of Q4, plus a few bonus items.
1. More pipeline, more demand generation
There’s still time to run a few last-minute Q4 campaigns that move the needle this year and set you up for the next one. The last week of the year is also a surprisingly good time to run a webinar.
Budget timing matters too. Sit down with Sales and flag which open deals depend on a buyer’s year-end budget, then build a short nurture track around those accounts.
If you’re unsure when those deadlines fall, ask your champions directly. Most will tell you when their budget resets and what has to happen before then.
2. Support Sales
Q4 is crunch time for most enterprise Sales teams. Now more than ever, ask them how you can help, and do it fast. New collateral, more case studies, an educational webinar: Marketing should be all over it.
One of the most useful things you can do is pick the 10 biggest open Sales Opportunities and build assets for each one. Think an ROI one-pager tailored to that account, a short deck their internal champion can present to the CFO, or a customer reference in the same industry.
AI makes this far faster. With your CRM and call-recording tool connected, an AI assistant can pull each deal’s history and objections and draft a first version in minutes.
3. Start working on your plan for next year
Your company is likely already planning next year’s revenue goals, budgets, headcount, and product roadmap. From that, Marketing can build the marketing plan with its own goals, budget, headcount, and high-level initiatives.
Start from what worked this year. Pull pipeline and closed revenue by source before anyone pitches new ideas. And add two line items many plans still miss: AI tools and AI training for the team.
If a big launch is on next year’s roadmap, our launch playbook is a useful starting point.
4. Put together a robust Q1 marketing calendar
Build your Q1 marketing calendar now so you don’t lose the first two weeks of January. We usually start planning the next quarter around the middle of the current one. In Q4, start earlier to avoid a scramble before the holidays.
Lock in spring event plans in Q4 as well. Booth space, sponsorships, and side-event venues for the big spring conferences often sell out before the new year. If you’re deciding which events deserve budget, our guide to matching events to funnel stages can help.
5. Hiring
Now is the time to think hard about your marketing team. What resources do you need to hit next year’s goals? If you need new skills, should you upskill your current team, hire, or bring in an agency or freelancers? Many people change jobs in Q4 and Q1, which makes it a good time to recruit.
AI changes the math here. Before opening a new role, check whether better AI workflows could cover part of it, and whether your current team needs training to get there. Our free marketing hiring course and our post on what to do before you hire a CMO are good places to start.
6. Q4 is the time for customer marketing
Gifts, thank-you notes, and a referral program: Customer Success and Marketing should tag-team on these all year, and Q4 is the perfect time to boost them or get them started.
Many contracts renew on January 1, so Q4 is also when renewal risk shows up. Use it for executive business reviews and customer advisory board sessions.
December, when customers have a bit more breathing room, is also a good month to ask for case studies and testimonials. For referrals, see what works for enterprise referrals.
7. Spread holiday cheer around the office
This includes the virtual office. Marketing and People/HR teams can partner on swag, team gifts, a holiday party, and other fun activities. A great side effect: photos and stories you can share as talent brand assets to help with recruiting.
For remote and hybrid teams, an in-person gathering once or twice a year goes a long way. Our team kicked off the year together in Lisbon, and those few days shaped how we worked together for months afterward.
Bonus: Clean up before January
December is the best time for the unglamorous work nobody wants to do in Q1. Clean up your CRM (duplicates, missing fields, stale contacts) and refresh your target account lists against your ICP.
While you’re at it, audit the tools and subscriptions that renew on January 1, and cancel what nobody uses.
Bonus Bonus: Set up AI for next year
Before January, list the tasks your team repeats every week, like reporting, first drafts, and event logistics. Decide which ones AI should take over next year, and who on the team owns setting that up.
Start small. One workflow that saves each person an hour a week is worth more than ten experiments nobody maintains. Our AI workshops walk marketing teams through exactly this.
The bottom line
Q4, bring it on! Let’s put more sales on the board and start next year with a bang. 💥
