Q4 Chaos: Politics, BFCM & Scaling Your E-Commerce Business

Hey there, it’s Patrick.

While you might know me as a marketer-

I studied finance and economics during my undergrad at Bentley University up in Boston.

Yup, the original plan was to become a Patagonia vest wearing finance bro locked into some spreadsheets…

My passion for e-commerce & marketing led me to build The Visionary Group out of my dorm room 4 years ago.

But let me put my economist hat on for today.

This Q4 is absolute chaos.

We have a Black Swan event that leads to macroeconomic factors.

A Black Swan event is something rare or unexpected that has severe, unpredictable consequences.

What you probably know is that we have an election coming up.

I don’t care who your voting for…

We will all experience expensive advertising costs.

It’s simple supply and demand.

Ad platforms have a limited supply of ad space.

When billions of dollars get thrown into that platform, there is high demand for a limited supply.

While many brands are trying to plan based on previous BFCM performance-

This Black Swan event shakes up your marketing forecasts.

I see Q4 as the golden opportunity to do 2 things for your business:

1. Acquire new customers for the new year.

2. Improve your relationship with your existing customers.

To acquire new customers, it’s going to be expensive when it comes to advertising.

What you must consider as a business is how much you are willing to spend to acquire a customer.

The point in me saying all this is that you must know your metrics to make informed decisions on what you’re willing to invest to bring in new customers.

Here’s where many brands drop the ball:

They focus solely on the upfront costs and forget about lifetime value (LTV).

If you’re acquiring a customer in Q4 and you know that customer is going to purchase from you 3-4 more times in the next year, your acquisition cost doesn’t seem so bad, right?

It’s not just about the here and now – it’s about playing the long game.

On the other hand, improving relationships with your existing customers is often the most overlooked goldmine.

Your current customers are your most valuable asset.

It costs 5x more to acquire a new customer than to retain one.

So, use this Q4 to nurture those relationships with thoughtful email flows, exclusive offers, and personalized communication.

Here’s my advice:

Double down on retention this Q4 while you’re navigating high acquisition costs.

If you can ride this storm, you’ll come out on top by Q1 2025.

It’s all about playing the smart game.

Talk soon,

Patrick O’Driscoll

Co-Founder, CEO

The Visionary Group

P.S. I am currently helping a handful of brands optimize their Klaviyo email marketing ahead of this Black Friday. Checkout the FREE Training here.​