The crisp fall air is biting at those summer memories of sun-drenched afternoons paddling on lakes, backyard barbecues with family friends, and whatever else struck your fancy during the long days of summer. The season shifts. The light changes. And with it comes a different kind of ritual—marketing planning for 2026. (Yes, it’s our version of a pumpkin-spiced latte.)
Look Back Before You Look Ahead
Planning doesn’t start with a blank sheet. It starts with reflection. What did this past year teach us?
Campaigns: Which ones truly landed and which ones fizzled?
Metrics: Are the numbers confirming your gut—or telling you a different story?
Customer Feedback: What’s the tone of your audience right now? Excited? Distracted? Curious?
Post-mortems aren’t about navel-gazing; they’re about finding signals that sharpen your next move.
Read the Landscape
The context matters as much as the tactics. What’s shifting in your industry, your market, your policy environment? Government guidance, incentive programs, and macroeconomic pressures all set the stage for how ambitious—or conservative—your 2026 marketing playbook can be.
Align With Milestones
Big business moments deserve to be amplified, not treated like footnotes. Map out 2026 milestones: product launches, funding rounds, sales goals, conferences. Marketing isn’t a sidecar—it’s how those milestones get the visibility and momentum they deserve.
Budget Equal Priorities
It’s easy to make plans that don’t match reality. Put your budget on the table early. The dollars reveal priorities faster than any brainstorm.
Plan or Roadmap?
Here’s the real question: do you need to rip up last year’s plan and start fresh, or does a strategic roadmap with sharper tactics suffice? Too often, organizations stay stuck in status quo mode, running the same plays with diminishing returns. That’s not strategy—that’s autopilot.
Work Smarter, Not Just Harder
In my opinion, we’ve seen a little too much business-as-usual this past year. The brands that stand out in 2026 won’t be the ones that push harder on the same levers—they’ll be the ones that rethink, recalibrate, and run smarter plays. Resilience isn’t about clinging to the familiar; it’s about moving forward with clarity and conviction.
So as you trade in summer sandals for fall boots, lean into the season. Crisp air, fresh starts, and the chance to design a marketing plan that doesn’t just get the job done, it pushes your business into the next gear.
Because we want Marketing Planning to be just as fun as pumpkin-spiced lattes, if that’s your thing, we’re offering a complimentary competitive analysis. See our offer here.
Written by
Melanie Adamson
Melanie has worked tirelessly for over twenty years to shape marketing strategies and storytelling for energy and climate tech. She is passionate about making climate technologies universal while ensuring climate justice for all, which drives her leadership, innovation and mentorship. Mel envisions using Alder and Tofu as a platform to extend the climate message, activate complacent norms, and influence a new generation of climate heroes. When Mel isn’t running Alder, she loves cooking for family and friends, and sharing stories with a glass of French or Spanish red wine.
