Clicks and Giggles | Your Backstage Pass to Digital Marketing Strategies

Why You Need to Start Planning Now for Q4

• Jordan Rothwell Perry • Episode 25

Share episode

Get ready to become a summer planning superhero! In this episode, we're diving into the not-so-sexy (but totally essential) world of campaign planning. Discover how to beat the Q4 rush, avoid holiday headaches, and set yourself up for marketing success. From picking perfect dates to crafting killer emails, I've got the inside scoop on planning like a pro. So grab your calendar, put on your strategic thinking cap, and let's turn your summer slump into a productivity pump! 

Topics covered in this episode:

  • The importance of planning ahead, especially for Q4.
  • How to select appropriate dates for campaign launches and cart closures.
  • Scheduling post-campaign reflection, regrouping, and rest periods.
  • Creating a detailed campaign plan.
  • Strategies for efficient content creation.
  • Tips for writing, scheduling, and managing campaign emails.
  • The value of testing and refining marketing strategies based on campaign performance.

_____________________________________________________

Thanks for listening to Clicks and Giggles!

➡️ Ready to start using paid ads in your business?
Grab my 3 Ways to Know You’re Ready for Ads guide:
https://www.launchbyjr.com/three-ways-to-know-youre-ready-for-ads

➡️ Weekly episodes aren’t enough for you?
You can connect with me over on Instagram at @launchwithjordan or at www.launchbyjr.com

Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Clicks and Giggles podcast.

Speaker 1:

Jordan Rockwell-Perry here, Today I want to talk about something that may not be as fun or sexy in the summer, but now's the time to do it, and that is planning. So I just held a little event called Clickmas in July. It was so fun for those who came and honestly started out as a call to meet, get ahead, look at what Q4 has to offer and then also realize, like wait, I want to take time off in December and in November. So what does it look like to do that, to plan and be ready with my marketing? And it's funny, as we started talking about things, one of my slides says are your emails written? And I just laughed. They were like what? And it just made so many things clear to me, like I am in my zone of genius. Therefore, I'm like, well, yeah, are your emails written for Q4? Are you planning ahead? And then I had to put myself in their shoes, where I'm like, okay, y'all are serving people so well, and sometimes marketing is the last thing you think of, but then it really is important because you need to market to get the word out right. So it turned into this awesome planning session and it was less of looking through what have you planned and how can we audit it and how can we make it better to more of like. Here's how you plan. And so after that I was like, ooh, I have to come on the podcast and do an episode about this. So here we go. This is going to be a crash course in campaign planning.

Speaker 1:

So the first thing I want you to think about when you're planning a campaign is the date. So, beyond anything, you think about the date and when you are announcing something, and really there's two dates you're looking at. So you're looking at the date of what I want to call your launch event, which a launch event is truly like a webinar, a workshop, a live call. They can come to the day you announce a new freebie, free guide and put it into the world. It doesn't have to be this huge launch or thing. So the first is the date of your launch event, and here's what we're looking for. We're like okay, is it a holiday? What is the weekend before? Like for my clients, we're never launching on Labor Day. We're not launching on 4th of July and really after December 15th-ish or the date the cutoff to ship. We're really not launching anything during the holidays, unless you're doing a Black Friday promotion. So all that to say, so it's the date it's going to be announced and the thing goes into the world, or the meeting happens, the launch event, your workshop, your webinar Next is going to be.

Speaker 1:

The second date is when you are closing cart, if you are closing your cart. So what that means is, if you're planning a new offer, the question you ask yourself is is it going to be open and people can get in it whenever, or is it going to be closed and you will have different times? It's open that they can get in. So there's fitness programs that have certain days. They start rounds. Client of mine has a round starting today. Love that, it builds excitement. When's the next round? Then I also have clients who let people in all the time and it's like, hey, I'm ready to make that change today or, hey, I really want to get started with this day. Great, it's open.

Speaker 1:

So if you are going to close cart, I need you to pick dates that you can be present as cart is closing. So say you are going to launch something on the 10th of September and the cart closes on the 20th, I need to know that you are present and around the 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th, to really push hard organically. If you're doing paid ads, obviously they're doing some of the lifting for you, but are people going to be DMing you? Yes. Are you going to be doing question boxes where they're going to be submitting questions or different objections that are holding them back? Yes, so I need you to be able to be present too during that time. Objections that are holding them back? Yes, so I need you to be able to be present too during that time.

Speaker 1:

So if it's like, hey, the cart closes Monday, sunday's my child's birthday, you have to decide. Do you want to risk feeling a little distracted during that time? If the answer is yes and you're like, hey, their party's Saturday from 12 to 3, like obviously you can still launch and close cart on a Monday with that. But if you're like, hey, you know what I really want to enjoy their birthday weekend, enjoy family time, just don't close cart during that time. So that's why picking the date matters so much, in addition to, obviously, how you're going to promote it, what you're going to do, etc.

Speaker 1:

But really pull that calendar up and don't just look at the week of the launch, look at the week before and the week after, and once you pick a date, I want you to put time to celebrate and unwind after it's so, so important, after you close, cart on something or after you stop a big push to pause. I want you to put two things on your calendar I want you to put time to reflect and regroup. And then I want you to put time to rest, because you need to, while it's fresh in your mind, like Monday morning quarterback, and be like you need to. While it's fresh in your mind, like Monday morning quarterback, and be like what did I enjoy? What would I do again? What would I not do again? What would I do differently? Whose help do I need next time? Where did I get stuck? And then you can call in and book a appointment. Book a call with someone who can help you in that regard. Book a call with someone who can help you in that regard.

Speaker 1:

If you're like oh you know, I thought I was going to get 10% returning clients or 20%, and I didn't. Well, let's talk about sending a survey out. Hey, why didn't you buy? Why weren't you there? Or if you were like oh my gosh, the dates were perfect. I just wish that I would have sent a replay out and let them have x amount of time to look at it. I had a one client who sent the replay and we were trying to close cart and people were like hey, I'm, I'm watching the replay tomorrow, like can I still get in after? And they just hadn't had enough time to digest it. And so that's something that you Monday morning quarterback and you're like, oh dang, okay, yeah, let's leave some time for that and regroup on it.

Speaker 1:

So I want you to reflect and regroup after, the week after, and then I also want you to schedule in rest time so that you can get back at it and it not have, you know, knock the wind, slash life out of you. So just to recap what we've talked about so far picking the date is so important, but so are the dates around it. So when are you going to close cart? If you're closing, when are you opening cart? What does that event look like? So start there with the dates, what's around it and what's your capacity, and then reflect and regroup after and then rest.

Speaker 1:

I want you to come back re-energized into your business and sometimes you may need to like reflect and regroup right after rest and then go back to those notes and be like, okay, I was tired or cranky or like feeling very critical of myself it actually went really well but I would change this, this, this and this, so kind of be cognizant of that. I'd almost reflect, rest and then regroup on your reflection. So I would say that but once you have this kind of plan in place on the calendar, I would then go to the next step, which is the actual planning time carving out time to plan what do I need in order to launch this into the world. So I am going to very publicly talk about what I'm launching next so that I can show you kind of live in action how we're planning and how we'll execute this. So you've picked the dates all this stuff is knocked out, the dates on your calendar calendar.

Speaker 1:

Then this is why this planning matters and and just something I'm like my new hill to die on is like do not plan and execute at the same time. I actually this is like a sidebar, but very similar had a call with a client who's coming on this week and he told me we do not make a decision on a call that we brainstorm it on. So he's like we always get off the call and after we brainstorm, then he will come to his team and say, okay, this is the decision. So it allows you to be free. And you're brainstorming and you're scheming and planning. And then you're like, all right, this is the decision. So what I want you to do is brainstorm like what could this event be? What could what is my webinar? What is the title, what's the messaging, what's the outcome for them? And then I'm selling them into X down the road. So that's like that brainstorm and you decide you kind of noodle on it, sleep on it, and you're like, all right, this is the decision, this is what we're doing.

Speaker 1:

And then from there I want you to do the planning first so if you have some creative ideas in your head, I would start a Google Doc. We're going to get really tactical here. I'd start a Google Doc. That is like so for us. I'm looking at the calendar and like, oh my gosh, when am I launching this? Okay, so say I am going to launch something. Let's just say August 22nd. So I will look back on the calendar a couple weeks and I'm like, okay, one, two, three, that's three weeks from Thursday. So then I get really tactical and I'm like from Thursday. So then I get really tactical and I'm like what do I need between now and then? Easy, easy question to ask. Harder question, probably, to answer, right, so what in these days may not actually be accurate for what I'm doing, but just for the principle of it. So if you're like, okay, I have X amount of weeks, what am I going to do in order to get this done? So what?

Speaker 1:

I wanted to encourage people who think they have to have it done, planned and perfect, to get it out into the world. You really don't. Here's what you need in order to start promoting. You need a landing page, a thank you page, if they're purchasing, including the purchase in that process, whether you're embedding Thrivecart, are you using Flowdesk Checkout? Are you using page? If they're purchasing, including the purchase in that process, whether you're embedding Thrivecart, are you using Flowdesk Checkout, are you using Kajabi Checkout, et cetera. And then you need the welcome email, the yeah, you're in email, and then you can literally put it out into the world. So I want to encourage you if you're like, oh my gosh, I have to write these emails and do these reels and social posts, like no, if you know you're going to have a webinar, workshop, challenge, et cetera, get those pages together. Get the first you know impression, right after someone buys what happens, lock that in and then you can start promoting. And then go back to this plan and execution strategy I have for you, which is this Get a Google Doc, put the links in there, like make it so organized, like landing page URL, thank you page URL, and then write what you need in order to make this a good campaign.

Speaker 1:

So say, you're going to tell three client stories. Go find those client stories, baby. So in order to write them, you have to find them. And then you also are like okay, I want to do five screenshots very raw, authentic, real. Okay, I need to go in my camera roll and find those five screenshots.

Speaker 1:

So you put down like what are my needs? So I need three client stories, I need five screenshots, I need two reminder emails, I need a welcome email once they sign up, and then I want to send six promotional emails. And so you write that out and you're like all right, this is what I need. And then, of course, there's still the social aspect of promoting it too. Right? So this is talking about your list. But you're like I want to do three feed posts, three reels and a carousel, whatever it is.

Speaker 1:

So write it all out and then figure out the dates of when those are going out. So this is like we are planning. We are not being creative. I believe it is too hard for your brain to switch back and forth from planning to creative mode, and so let's just go hardcore into the planning mode first and just feel really good about what you have to get done. And so I would block off like 45 to 90 minutes to do this. Coach Amber B, who I love, has trademarked pulls, and so what that means is like you find something you like to pair it with something you don't. I'm not doing the explanation justice. Anyways, what you would do is say I am going to go to a coffee shop for 90 minutes. The first 15 minutes I'm going to enjoy my latte, I'm going to button up my inbox, I'm going to put my headphones in, put a good playlist on, and then we're going to figure out what it takes to get this done. And so then you will go into the planning, you will pick the dates. When am I reflecting, regrouping, resting? Okay, here's what I know. This is what's going down. I may not even know what the title is yet, but I know what it's going to take to get this out into the world. So let's plan it out.

Speaker 1:

So then, if you are going to have to create nine emails, which you if you haven't even done this before or not in a while you may have to put them all in one centralized doc, because then you can just duplicate and reuse it and tweak it down the road, like you don't have to do this from scratch every time. I hope you're encouraged with that. So what you would do then is you would go email one right after they book or pay, or you know you're in, yay, and then you would put in the subject line and you would put in who does this go to, and so it would go to like purchasers or registrants only, and then you would go email to okay, this is going to be the announcement email to my list. Hey, mark your calendar for August 22nd. We have something really exciting happening. And then you would kind of put any information you might need Perfect, who gets that? The whole list, great, the whole list minus clients. I don't know, do you want your current clients going? Maybe you do. Then I'd go to email three. I would just make it just tactical, like you're going to need a reminder email. So reminder email one 24 hours before, great Reminder email two an hour before. Maybe you want another reminder email to an hour before. Maybe you want another reminder email that's like five minutes before. Go grab your cup of coffee. It's almost time, and so you plug those in there and then you know what you have to get done. It makes it less daunting than sitting in front of this. You know blank google sheet that's just flashing at you right, like Like, oh my gosh, what's next? And so do that.

Speaker 1:

Planning time then and now. If you are like you get it all planned out and you have those ideas for the post you'll do, you know what emails you need to write, et cetera. This is when, if you have a team, you can then outsource it to the team and say, hey, can you please have these emails done by this date? Or hey, yada, yada, all this good stuff. And if you have to write them, that is when, during this planning time, I would put when you are going to do that and when they're going to be done by.

Speaker 1:

And so a lot of people recommend time blocking and just schedule a half day and knock it out. And it's like, if this is not your zone of genius and you are just doing this right now, bootstrapping because you have to, until you, you know, get to the next level where you're like, okay, I can outsource this. A half day is a long time to do all this. I would honestly block it into like 45 minute chunks of time or hour chunks of time to make it less daunting, and so you could put on your calendar for that week like emails, one through four in a 45 minute block, and then another day could be five through nine, and then another block could be like social content for the month, and that way you're not like, oh my gosh, friday, I have a half day of doing all this.

Speaker 1:

It's very much like, oh, perfect, I'm just knocking off emails one through four. I'm doing this, doing that, and the good news is, because you took this time to plan it, it's not going to be as hard. Like you'll go in there and be like, oh, thank you past me for doing this. Like this is the first email they're going to get. That's a client story, perfect. I was already going to tell the story of working with Jennifer and her fashion business, so let me just add this in here. So I just want to encourage you that it does not have to be this complicated. In fact, one of my sweet clients who was on the call this past week was like, oh my gosh, I've just been overcomplicating it. I'm like, yes, we all have, and this is just such an easy, easy, easy way to simplify it that planning and you have that doc and you have those dates on the calendar. Then you're just holding yourself accountable to do it.

Speaker 1:

So it's like and try different times. It's like people talk about, oh, I'm a morning workout person, or I'm an evening workout person, or like you only you know, as a Christian believer like, oh, I only do my quiet time in the morning or whatever it is. And it's like different things work for different people. Like all these people getting up at 5 am, like 4.30, 5 am club. Like I am not a morning person, I can crank out such, such, such good work in the evening and like wild, wild work. And imagine if I was like oh nope, you can only do this at this time. Like no, give yourself the permission and freedom.

Speaker 1:

Like if you are someone who's good at getting work done at night and you're like you know what I'm gonna try, when I'm really creative and flow, to write these emails one night, to write four of them. Do that, like, try it at different times and give yourself permission to experiment, because and as I've said on previous podcasts, I don't know if it was Myron Golden who said it or who said it before him, but just the the mentality of it's a guess until you test. Like same thing with how you work and get work done. So just want to encourage you that after you've planned, then you're going to put on your calendar when you are getting these done and then, once the emails are done, I want you to have someone else look at them, because there's nothing like an extra set of eyes Just looking at everything. Hey, what do you think of this? Hey, can you test this link, all this good stuff, and then freaking schedule them.

Speaker 1:

I do not schedule my own emails. I love Flowdesk, love Kajabi, but I would get lost in the sauce for way too long. So I have an awesome, awesome person on my team who does that. So I give them the Google Doc with everything and I'm like, hey, can you please put this in Flowdesk? Here's the subject line, here's all this. Can you add some fun GIFs to it, make it fun and exciting. They do it. I go in just to give you an idea for a process you could use. I go in, I look at every email, I schedule them to send and I have the final look through of okay, good, this is going to the right list, okay, these are scheduled all that good stuff. And then what I would do so you don't have like a jump scare when emails go out if you're not around to reply or something comes up, is put on your calendar when they're going out.

Speaker 1:

I remember I was in Rosemary Beach recently with Lauren Mattingly and her team and loved her to death and it was such a good time and Like what a gift for a client to treat me to that. And in between working we went out to dinner one night and we ran into the fabulous duo, angie and Gina, who I've also worked with. They're great. And as we were standing there I forget if it was Angie or Gina, I think it was Gina was like, oh my gosh, I just got your email and I had scheduled an email. And I was like you got my email and I truly thought I had been like hacked or something and I had scheduled an email and I was like you got my email and I truly thought I had been like hacked or something. And had I put that on my calendar, I would have known like oh, you scheduled an email to go out today.

Speaker 1:

So that is just something I like to do in case people are responding, so I can know like hey, you have an email going out today. You may just want to be ready in the inbox, because in this season of life, I manage my inbox. I hold it very tightly. Maybe one day I will loosen the reins again. So put it on the calendar when things are going out, because then you know and can be like oh, I have an email going out Thursday, but nothing Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday. I'm going to do a reel on Tuesday, like it will help you plan out the content. So so so much.

Speaker 1:

So then, once you have everything locked and loaded, it's just all about A giving yourself permission to relax and then refining it, because after, when you're regrouping, you'll be like oh, this email did really well. Oh, my gosh, the subject line killed it because all these people opened. And so I just want you to also be reminded in this that this is trial and error, like I wish, and when people are like, take my you know, steal my strategies that have made me $21 million or whatever it's like, yes, and that worked for them and their audience. So there's nothing wrong with looking at that and gaining inspiration. But, like you have to find out what works for you and your business and your audience and people on your email list and really know that, yes, you can gain inspiration from others, but until you put the pedal to the metal, you're not going to know what works for you and for your prospects, your sales prospects. So I hope this has been helpful. Let me know if you're planning anything in the future.

Speaker 1:

Just, my biggest thing really is like separating planning from execution so that your brain can just stay creative and stay in the zone and in flow, versus like the tactical of like all right, let's get this done.

Speaker 1:

And really this has been fun because it's something we did in Clickmas in July, but then it's also something that we are going to be doing more of in my program, clicks that Count. So in Clicks that Count, it's marketing, funnels, ads, like everything you need to market your business. So if you have any questions about that or want to learn more about a safe space for you to go and grow your business, that I would love, love, love for you to message me on Instagram and we can talk about it. But that is all I have for today. I'm super excited that you now have this new tactical way of campaign planning and if you have any questions as it comes up, let me know. I hope to see you in the future and clicks that count, and I'm excited to see what you do with this new framework to plan. Have a good day.

Speaker 2:

And that's a wrap. Thank you for listening. If you were inspired by this episode, be sure to check out the show notes for the linked resources and my free guide. Be sure to check out the show notes for the linked resources and my free guide Three Ways to Know You're Ready for Ads. If weekly episodes aren't enough for you and you want more of your favorite click magnet, you can connect with me over on Instagram at launchwithjordan. I host regular challenges and drop valuable tips that will help make your marketing click, connect and convert. And if you think it would inspire a friend, send it, share it just for clicks and giggles.