Why it’s time to break the cycle and take marketing strategy more seriously in 2026

Written by Lindsay Woodward from Lindsay Woodward Marketing

As budgets continue to be squeezed and results are needed more than ever in this turbulent economy, many businesses are taking a closer look at their marketing. But unfortunately, for too many companies, the right things aren’t changing.

What I all too often see is the same cycle repeating itself. Time and money are put into marketing tactics that are being mistakenly labelled as strategies, and inevitably the results are failing to meet expectations.

So, what is strategy?

Several years ago, I was asked in a job interview what marketing strategies I use. It’s a question that has stayed with me, because after my years of marketing training, it struck me that it didn’t really make sense.

Strategy is not something you pick from a list or apply in the same way every time. It is not a technique or a formula. Strategy is the thinking that sits behind the work. It’s about understanding what a business needs to achieve, the situation it is operating in, and the choices that will move it forward.

When people talk about the strategies they use and throw around phrases like “social media strategy”, they are usually referring to tactics or channels. These are all valid tools, but they are not strategies. They are ways of delivering a message once the strategic direction is clear.

A good strategy changes depending on the business, the market and the objectives. That is why there is no single answer to what strategy you use. The role of strategy is to decide what needs to be done, not how individual pieces of activity are executed.

This misunderstanding is part of the reason why so many businesses struggle with marketing. When tactics are treated as strategies, the thinking gets skipped, and reaction takes over.

Why this matters more in 2026

In our present time, there are more channels to choose from, there’s more noise to compete against, and with budgets being so tight, businesses simply can’t afford wastage. At the same time, attention is harder to earn and easier to lose. Doing a bit of everything is no longer realistic for most businesses.

Relying on guesswork or hoping that more activity will solve the problem is no longer sustainable.

In 2026, businesses need to stop mistaking activity for progress. Investing in more tactics without clear thinking rarely changes the outcome. Marketing works best when there is a clear strategy behind it, not just more activity. And I’ve seen this first hand many times.

Creating your strategy

A marketing strategy is not a document full of buzzwords. The best ones are actually very simple. A strategy needs to explain where the business is going, what it wants to achieve, who it needs to reach and how it needs to reach them.

There needs to be one marketing strategy that informs all the work done over a several year period. Having separate strategies for different channels means your work can’t be aligned and you have no overall focus.

It means you’re setting yourself up for failure.

Breaking the cycle

I’ve had many meetings with prospective clients where I’ll ask them what they want to achieve and they tell me: “more email marketing” or “more regular social media posts.”

I then change tack and ask them where they want to be in 12 months’ time. No one ever says, “I want to have done more social media posts.” That’s because that isn’t what they want. They want business growth or to have successfully entered a new market.

You need to first understand what you want to achieve and then work backwards to look at how you can achieve it.

Ploughing straight in to say I need more email marketing is like building a house and starting with the roof.

When tactics are treated as strategies, marketing becomes reactive. Decisions are made based on trends, algorithms or what competitors are doing, rather than what the business actually needs.

From that, all sorts of mistakes get made. Budgets are not used wisely, results become hard to measure, and confidence inevitably drops. Over time, this leads to frustration and a sense that marketing simply does not work.

I have lost count of the number of times I’ve been told that marketing doesn't work. But it is not marketing that is failing. It is the lack of strategic thinking behind it that is driving poor decisions. If you don’t make good decisions, how can you expect the best results?

The value of clear strategic thinking

A well thought through marketing strategy makes marketing easier to manage. It reduces second guessing and helps teams make better decisions. It aligns sales and marketing around the same goals and creates a shared understanding of what success looks like.

Strategy also protects budget. When priorities are clear, investment becomes more deliberate and less reactive. Time and effort are spent where they will have the most impact.

Perhaps most importantly, strategy creates confidence. Businesses with a clear strategy know why they are doing what they are doing and how it supports growth.

Looking ahead to 2026

As we move into 2026, the question is not whether you should be using social media or email. The real question is what do you want to achieve, and how have you plotted the pathway to success?

Good marketing is not about doing more. It is about doing the right things, in the right order, for the right reasons.

If you want to see better results in 2026, then book in an exploratory meeting with Lindsay Woodward Marketing. We will discuss what you want to achieve and what a clear strategy could look like for your business.