Half year round up: is your business ready for the busiest quarter of the year?
We’re fast approaching the midway point of 2026, which means one thing… the busiest, noisiest, most competitive quarter of the year is creeping up fast. October, November and December are when hotels, hospitality, retail and leisure attraction businesses make or break their year. Christmas parties, gift season, end-of-year footfall, the last big push before everyone shuts up shop for the holidays.
As people ease into the joys of the Summer, inboxes can slow down and everyone starts,quite rightly, to switch off a little. We get it. We (try) to too.
The businesses that win Q4 aren’t the ones who start thinking about it in October. They’re the ones putting the building blocks in place right now, while everyone else is still deciding how to add a touch of humour to their ‘out of office’.
So as the summer holidays get underway and the September focus mode seems like a lifetime away, we wanted to flag the four things worth getting moving on now: focused media relations, engaging events, social media that stands out and influencer engagement that gets bums on seats. Essentially, the exact toolkit that separates the businesses people are talking about in December from the ones still trying to catch up. So,by the time the busy season hits, you’re already several satisfying steps ahead.
01. MEDIA RELATIONS
Raise your profile before everyone else remembers to
There’s a reason the best Christmas and ‘what’s on this December’ features get written in September and October, not December. Journalists and editors plan their seasonal content weeks (sometimes months) in advance. Magazine deadlines for December issues often close before the end of September. If you’re not in their inbox by then, you’re not on their pages.
This is the quiet advantage of getting your media relations moving now. While your competitors are still half-thinking about their summer holidays, you can be the brand journalists already have earmarked for their gift guides, their ‘best Christmas lunch in [insert city]’ round-ups, or their year-end ‘brands to watch’ features.
It’s not just seasonal coverage either. Raising your profile now through proactive pitching, expert comment and building relationships with the right journalists means you’re front of mind when your target audience starts actively looking for places to go, gifts to buy, or experiences to book. The groundwork done in September pays off in November.
02. EVENTS
Give people a reason to turn up
Coverage gets you noticed. Events get people through the door.
Whether it’s a press preview, an influencer evening, a customer event or a full-scale launch, a well-planned event in the run-up to Christmas does something a press release alone can’t, it creates a moment. A reason for your audience to show up, experience what you do and tell other people about it.
The trick is timing. Venues, talent, suppliers and good dates all get booked up fast once everyone else starts planning their own Q4 activity. Brands who start scoping their event now, rather than panicking in late October, get first pick of the best suppliers, the best venues and the best slots in the media and influencer diaries.
It doesn’t need to be huge. A well-executed press lunch, a festive launch evening, or a small but perfectly formed customer event can generate disproportionate buzz if it’s planned properly and given the lead time it deserves.
03. SOCIAL MEDIA
Build the drumbeat before the rush
Social is where awareness compounds. The brands that show up consistently in the months leading into the festive season are the ones that are top of mind when people start actually making decisions about where to eat, what to buy and where to go.
The mistake we see most often is brands trying to switch social activity into top gear in November and December, by which point the algorithm and the audience, have already made up their minds about who’s worth paying attention to. A strong, consistent social presence built through September and October means your November and December content lands with an audience that’s already warmed up, already engagedand already paying attention.
This is also the moment to think about content that builds anticipation… behind-the-scenes looks at festive menus, sneak previews of new collections, countdowns to launches. The goal isn’t to shout the loudest in December. It’s to already have people’s attention by the time December arrives.
04. influencers
Book them in early, before the diary fills up
If there’s one area where timing makes or breaks a campaign, it’s influencer engagement. The good ones, the ones with genuinely engaged audiences who can put real bums on seats, get booked up fast for the festive season. Wait until November and you’ll be working with whoever’s left, not who you actually want.
Booking influencers in early means you get first choice of the right voices for your brand, enough notice for them to plan genuinely good content (rather than a rushed last-minute post) and the lead time to build a proper campaign around their visit rather than a single rushed Instagram story.
Done well, the right influencer activation in the run-up to Christmas doesn’t just create nice content, it drives real, measurable footfall. People see where their favourite creators are eating, shopping and visiting and they want to be there too. But that only works if the campaign is planned, briefed and built around a clear goal, not bolted on at the last minute because someone remembered influencers exist in week one of December.
the bottom line
Every year, the businesses that have the strongest Q4 are the ones who started in September. Not because they’re busier or working harder than everyone else, but because they used the quiet of summer to plan, while everyone else was still switching off.
If you’re sitting at your desk this July and not wondering whether your business is ready for the run-up to Christmas, you should be. Now is the right moment to start the conversation. Media relations, events, social and influencer engagement all work best with lead time and right now, you’ve still got it.
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Want to make sure your business is front of mind when it matters most?
Get in touch with the LUYA team and let’s start planning your Q4.