Why the last quarter is crucial for your marketing (and why ads don't work "on the fly")

The last quarter of each year is the time when the big games are "played":👉 Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Christmas, New Year's.

If you enter this period without a clear marketing plan, it's like playing without a strategy. And even if you do start, you need to remember something crucial: no campaign works from day one .

❌ Reality Check: The Learning Phase is essential

All platforms have their own learning phase and it is very important for the success of a campaign:

• Meta (Facebook/Instagram): It takes about 50 optimization events in 7 days to stabilize a campaign. (That is, at least 50 target actions, such as purchases, leads or registrations, must be taken within a week so that the system “learns” which audience to show the ad to).

• Google Ads: The learning phase usually lasts 1–4 weeks, depending on conversions & traffic. (That is, it takes enough time and enough conversions/purchases to understand which users are seriously searching and which keywords or ads are bringing results).

• TikTok Ads: It takes about 5 days to draw any firm conclusions. (That is, the platform needs a few days to test different audiences and find out who your video works best with).

• LinkedIn Ads: It often takes 7–14 days for the system to learn which audience performs best. (That is, it takes about 1–2 weeks with enough impressions and clicks to “understand” which professionals or industries are worth showing the ad to).

🔁 Retargeting: It requires data — and it pays off much more

For remarketing/retargeting to work properly, data must have been collected:

• Visits (how many people visited your page)

• Clicks (how many people clicked on the ad or a link)

• Video views (how many people watched your videos and for how long)

• Cart events (how many people added a product to the cart, checked out or abandoned it)

This usually means that it takes several days or even weeks of running to build the right audiences (lists of audiences with real interest, who have already interacted with your business and can be retargeted with more relevant ads).

📌 Remarketing / retargeting campaigns are very important because they bring 2–5 times better conversion rates compared to campaigns targeting a "cold" audience.

Simply put: most customers buy when you remind them of your brand again, not on first contact.

⏳ Campaign Preparation Times

1. Strategic Campaign Planning

• What it includes: Goal analysis, KPIs, funnel selection (awareness, consideration, conversion), budget allocation per channel.

• Time: 5–7 business days. If data already exists, it shortens. If you are starting from scratch, additional research is required.

2. Create & test Creatives (images, videos, copy)

• What it includes: Brief → concept → production → copywriting → adaptation to formats (e.g. square, vertical, carousel).

• Year:

  • Static ads: 3–5 business days

  • Video ads: 7–10 business days

  • A/B testing: +2–3 days👉 Total: 1–2 weeks

3. Setting up Tracking & Landing Pages

• Tracking (pixels, events, conversions): 2–3 business days.

• Landing pages:

  • Custom LP: 7–10 business days

  • Light LP: 3–5 business days👉 Total: 1–2 weeks

📊 Complete Campaign Timeline

Phase 1: Preparation (3–4 weeks)

Strategic planning → Creative creation → Setup tracking → Review & launch

Phase 2: Learning Phase (1–4 weeks)

Meta: ~7 days | Google Ads: 1–4 weeks | TikTok: 5 days | LinkedIn: 7–14 days

Phase 3: Remarketing (from week 3)

Day 1–7: Data Collection → Week 2: Audiences → Week 3: First Campaigns → Week 4+: Scaling

📌 Remarketing campaigns bring 2–5x better conversion rates .

👉 Important Note

The above analysis does not only concern e-shops. It concerns every business — whether B2C or B2B, whether it provides services or sells products. Because all campaigns run in the same competitive digital environment. The same principles of preparation, learning phase and remarketing affect every form of business equally.

🧠 DAY ONE Insight

Our experience shows that businesses that have a 90-day structured plan in the last quarter :

• They gain multiple sales during the holidays

• Reduce cost per result

• They build brand awareness that pays off in the new year

Simply put: preparation beats improvisation . The time to prepare is NOW!

The last quarter is not a time for experimentation. It's a time for strategy, patience, and optimization.

📞 Book a Strategy Call with DAY ONE today and let's design the marketing plan together that will give you an edge now — and in 2026.

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No strings attached. Just a meaningful conversation.

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