September 2025

Campaign Warm-Up: Preparing Audiences before Peak Season

Every business knows Q4 is crunch time. With events like Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the holiday shopping season, competition for customer attention is fierce. Yet many brands make the mistake of waiting until the big campaigns hit to start reaching out. By then, it is often too late to stand out.

The smarter approach? Warming up your audience early with re-engagement, nurturing, and soft storytelling. This way, when peak season arrives, your customers are primed and ready to respond.

Why Warming Up Matters

Think of it like training for a marathon. You would not just show up on race day and expect to perform at your best. The same is true for your audience. If they have not heard from you in months, jumping in with heavy discount emails will feel abrupt.

By nurturing early, you achieve three things:

• Re-establish awareness and trust before competitors start crowding inboxes.
• Segment and qualify your audience based on current engagement levels.
• Create space for storytelling, not just promotions.

When your campaigns land later in Q4, they hit warmer leads who are already paying attention.

Start with Smart Segmentation

Before launching any warm-up, you need to know who you are talking to. If your targeting is broad or outdated, your campaigns will not land as effectively. This is where a segmentation refresh pays off. Reviewing and updating your customer groups allows you to deliver the right type of re-engagement to the right people. Accurate targeting is the foundation of any effective campaign warm-up, building directly on the work of smarter segmentation strategies.

Re-Engagement Campaigns That Work

Warming up does not have to mean aggressive selling. Instead, think in terms of subtle touchpoints.

• Reminder campaigns: Show customers what they have missed since their last interaction.
• Value-first emails: Share tips, guides, or inspiration relevant to their needs.
• Exclusive previews: Give your dormant audience early access to upcoming products or offers.
• Personal check-ins: Send a short message that feels conversational rather than promotional.

The key is to reignite interest, not overwhelm.

The Role of Storytelling

Customers are bombarded with promotions during Q4, so stories stand out. Share the why behind your product, customer success stories, or even behind-the-scenes insights. Storytelling builds emotional connection, making your later sales messaging more persuasive.

Think Beyond Q4

While the warm-up is designed to prepare audiences for peak season, the same principle applies after the holidays. Just as you build momentum before the sales surge, you need strategies to re-energise customers once the rush is over. By approaching it as a cycle, your warm-up flows naturally into follow-up, echoing the need for fresh momentum highlighted in the strategies for re-energising teams after holiday periods.

Final Thoughts: Don’t Leave It Too Late

Waiting until November to talk to your audience is a risky move. By then, inboxes are full, attention spans are short, and loyalty often leans toward the brand that started nurturing earlier.

Warming up your audience now is not about rushing into promotions, it is about building connection and relevance so that when the big campaigns land, customers are already listening.

Contact us today to learn how we can help you design re-engagement and nurture strategies that will give you a head start going into Q4.