2026 Marketing Planning Starts Now
"You're growing. You just can't figure out how to repeat it on purpose." That's the conversation I keep having with founders right now.
They hit their number. When I ask what worked, I get, "Meta was solid... Amazon grew... we had a good retail quarter." They know the channels. They don't know the why beneath it. Was it the creative? The offer? Competition?
Without that clarity, there's nothing you can build a plan around.
Most brands are about to plan 2026 the same way they planned 2025: open the spreadsheet, list the channels, set some budgets, hope it works.
But you can't repeat success if you don't understand what caused it. And 2026 won't behave like 2025.
The consumer is shifting. The path to purchase is collapsing. Retail, DTC, Amazon, and AI-driven discovery are blending into one messy journey. Budgets are tighter. Competition is sharper.
I've seen brands double down on Meta after a strong Q2—then watch Q3 collapse when they scaled spend. The thing that actually worked (the creative) got lost in the "do more Meta" directive.
That's what this series is about.
Over the next few weeks, I'm breaking down my actual planning process for scaling brands ($5M–$50M). The structure I use when the business has to hit the number.
Here's what's coming:
1. Macro Forces: The Context Your Strategy Must Reflect
Economic pressure, AI-driven discovery, attention fragmentation, retailer expectations, category saturation — and what they mean for your plan.
2. Consumer Questions Every 2026 Plan Should Answer
Why last year’s understanding doesn’t hold — and how consumer behavior is shifting in ways that quietly break growth plans.
3. Category & Competition: How to See the Landscape Clearly
The signals that your positioning is drifting, and how to understand the real game you’re playing. This is AFTER the consumer piece so you don’t unconsciously anchor your strategy to what competitors are doing, retailer expectations, existing norms, or “how the category behaves”.
4. Audit 2025: The Only Four Things That Matter
A simple, behavioral way to review your year so you stop guessing and start learning.
5. Your 2026 Business Challenge
The step 95% of brands skip.
And the step that determines whether your plan works at all.
6. OGST for Scaling Brands
How to set goals, strategies, and pillars without creating a 28-line “priority list.”
7. Big Bets, Risks & Opportunities
How to choose — and measure — what will actually move the business next year.
8. Your Measurement Plan
Because execution without measurement is just expensive improv.
Each installment is designed to make you a stronger operator — not with more noise, but with more clarity.
I'm breaking this down over the next few weeks in my newsletter, "Make Money, Darling!" Subscribe so you don't miss a step!
Up next: Macro Forces (and why they matter for your plan). The first 3 explain how AI is drastically changing how your consumer discovers your product, determines the pathway, and validates the decision to buy (or not).
