And Why Waiting Costs More Than You Think
Every fall, it happens.
I get the calls. Great companies reach out with a plea for help. “I know it’s late, but is there anything we can do before the holidays?” You’d be surprised, these are respected brands with real budgets, experienced leadership teams, and a track record of success; but they waited too long.
By the time most companies reach out, it’s already October. Sometimes even November.
And at that point, the campaign clock isn’t just ticking, it’s accelerating like a countdown clock strapped to your bottom line. Every day lost means fewer opportunities, fewer placements, fewer conversions. It’s not a gentle slide; it’s a hard stop that can cost brands tens of thousands in lost revenue, market share, and visibility.
That’s the mistake most companies make. Not under-spending. Not under-delivering, but starting too late.
The Clock Is Ticking But No One Feels It Yet
The illusion of time is powerful, especially with summer winding down and kids going back to school. There’s a sense that the holidays are months away and that campaigns can be turned around in a matter of weeks. But real marketing campaigns, the kind that actually produce revenue, build traction across multiple touchpoints, and elevate brand positioning—take time. They require strategy, testing, collaboration, and far more than a last-minute budget sign-off.
By the time a campaign goes live, hitting inboxes and ad feeds in mid-to-late November, the teams behind it have already spent weeks developing the messaging, writing calls to action, building landing pages, editing video, designing emails, producing graphics, and coordinating every piece across platforms.
That’s the part most people don’t see: the hours spent brainstorming, revising, planning, and dialing in the details.
Every element; emails, ads, social media, event invites, influencer outreach, landing pages, must be crafted with care, built on strategy, and stress-tested before launch. Each one moves through a gauntlet of teams, approvals, edits, and deadlines that pile up quickly and quietly until you’re suddenly out of time.
“Perfection doesn’t come from pressure. It comes from preparation. What most companies miss isn’t the tactic….it’s the timeline!”
The Data Tells the Same Story
According to HubSpot’s 2024 Holiday Marketing Report, brands that launch campaigns before October see as much as 30% higher ROI than those who wait until November.
Meta ad CPMs rise by 25–40% between mid-October and Black Friday. Email open rates drop by 18% in December compared to October. And inboxes? Oversaturated with rushed, redundant messages.
Meanwhile, only 36% of CMOs finalize their Q4 strategy before October, according to Gartner. Yet over 60% say Q4 brings the highest pressure to perform.
It’s not a knowledge gap. It’s a timing problem and a coordination problem.
What the Best Brands Do Differently
At Lux214 Media Group, we see this every year.
In industries where the holidays make or break the annual revenue curve, starting early isn’t a luxury, it’s a strategy. For many of our clients, Q4 accounts for the largest spike in sales, brand visibility, and new customer acquisition all year.
The brands that come out ahead aren’t always the biggest. They’re the boldest. The ones that plan ahead. They don’t wait for budget approvals or for things to calm down. They go all in, early, and with confidence.
One roofing company launched a fall awareness campaign weeks before the first storm of the season. Their inbound leads surged while competitors were still finalizing creative.
A luxury spa started promoting holiday gift cards and spa packages in early October, with a multichannel campaign that included email, social, influencer, events and PR. They exceeded year-over-year holiday revenue before December even began.
A professional sports team used Q4 downtime to push early registration for spring programs. While others slowed down, they sold out.
None of these campaigns were massive-budget buys. They were strategic. Intentional. And built by leaders who understood the power of a longer runway. Even then, some of those brands left opportunity on the table—not because of budget, but because they started weeks later than they could have. Starting early doesn’t just improve execution; it can dramatically expand what’s possible.
“The best campaigns we’ve seen weren’t the most expensive. They were the most coordinated.”
Early Beats Expensive—Every Time
Too many companies assume they need a massive budget to make a meaningful holiday impact. But in our experience, it’s not the biggest spender who wins, it’s the one who starts first. Early planning allows you to negotiate better media rates, develop stronger creative, build smarter sequencing, and leave time to adapt.
Starting late almost always costs more in missed press opportunities, limited ad inventory, rushed creative, and weakened results. The consequences compound fast, and they’re rarely recoverable.
Starting early doesn’t just save money. It improves performance.
The Fundamentals Still Apply
In theory, everyone knows what good marketing looks like: clarity of message, strong positioning, integrated tactics, and appropriate lead time. But Q4 exposes the gap between knowing and doing.
Strategy gets skipped. Messaging gets rushed. And results suffer.
Campaigns that start early have the advantage of negotiating lower ad rates, securing influencer partners, building strong sequencing across email and social, and pitching PR stories while editorial calendars are still open.
Those who wait are left paying more for less and seeing a weaker return. According to recent data from HubSpot and Meta, late campaign launches can drive up ad costs by 40% while slashing engagement by nearly 20%.
The Most Costly Mistake? Waiting for Things to “Slow Down”
The most common phrase I hear from clients in Q3:
“We’ll get to it when things calm down.”
But many never do.
The companies that generate the highest revenue during the holidays are the ones who are done; assets produced, campaigns tested and teams briefed two full weeks before the first Black Friday ads hit.
Everyone else? They’re rushing approvals, overpaying for placement, and crossing their fingers.
The clock doesn’t pause for busy teams or half-finished campaigns. It keeps moving with or without you.
If Q4 matters to your business, the time to move isn’t “later.”
It’s now.
Q4 isn’t waiting—and neither should you. Let’s get started.
Contact Lori Barber at lorib@lux214.com or 214-906-6633 to get started.
