The last two months of the year are filled with holiday festivities, a few days of vacation, and plenty of planning for next year. Put these 5 marketing tasks on your list as you look ahead to 2026. Follow these tips to finish this year strong and set your business up for success in the coming year.

1. Review your numbers.

Take a look at your key marketing metrics. That might be the number of YouTube subscribers, video views on Instagram, number of new email subscribers, or the number of calls booked via your website. What numbers matter to your business? What story are they telling?

Are those numbers what you hoped they would be? Spend some time assessing what worked well and where you need to make some shifts in 2026.

Ask yourself some hard questions: 

• Should I continue to invest in ______? 
• Do my marketing activities align with my 2026 goals? 
• If I want those numbers to grow, what needs to happen?  

2. Do more of what works.

Let’s say you reviewed your marketing stats and ROI from this year and found you made solid connections on LinkedIn. In fact, you even got a couple of clients from those connections.

You also spent a ton of time recording videos for Instagram and it was, well, crickets. Focus on what’s working – especially if you have limited resources. 

If you only have time for one platform, and LinkedIn is generating business, put your attention there. 

Aside from your website, choose three to four other marketing platforms that work for your business and align with your interests and energy. I highly recommend putting email marketing on that list. Then, choose two or three others that feel authentic to you. Examples are Instagram, podcasting, blogging, or speaking. 

Once you determine where to focus your efforts, you can really lean into those spaces in 2026. 

3. Revisit your messaging.

All the marketing efforts in the world won’t work if you don’t have the right words. Do potential customers and clients know exactly what you do and how you can help them? Has something changed in your business this year? It might be time for a messaging refresh. 

Just because your work is clear to you doesn’t mean it’s clear to everyone. Here’s a great test: ask a few people to review your website and then explain your business. Did they get it right? Did it take them more than a few seconds? 

4. Ask for help.

An outside perspective and fresh ideas might be just what you need coming into the new year. When you’re working in the daily grind of running a business, it’s hard to see things in a new way. Even this list of marketing tasks might feel daunting. That’s OK! You can ask for help.

A marketing professional can help you determine what to keep doing, stop doing, or start doing when it comes to successfully marketing your business. I love doing a deep dive into a client’s business so we can figure out the next best steps. I ask the challenging questions and look at your business in a new light. 

5. Celebrate your wins.

Too often we rush from one year to the next without pausing to reflect on the wins of the previous 12 months. As you wind down 2025, block a few minutes on your calendar to reflect on your wins for the year. If you have team meetings, add “2025 wins” it to the agenda. 

Our tendency is to look at what went wrong. What marketing tasks were left undone. What goals weren’t achieved. Yes, we want to look at those items too. But don’t forget to celebrate everything you accomplished. Did you launch a podcast? Celebrate! Did you start sending nurture emails to your audience? Celebrate! Did you hit 1,000 Instagram followers? Celebrate! 

Capture the wins big and small. Then, raise a glass, a coffee mug, or a water bottle to toast your 2025. 

 

Need help planning your marketing for 2026? Want to brainstorm ideas? Purchase a one-hour Marketing Strategy Session and let’s get moving on your best year yet!