Stop Planning Late: How to Set Marketing Up for Real Transformation
In Europe, summer brings with it a predictable rhythm. Offices get quiet, people disappear for a couple of weeks of family time, and inboxes fill with out-of-office replies. Then comes September, the kids return to school, the pace quickens, and in most companies, the first murmurs of “next year’s plan” begin.
But the reality? Those conversations often don’t get serious until October. By then, planning is rushed, squeezed between year-end deadlines and holiday season distractions. The result is a familiar cycle- a plan built under time pressure, one that largely tweaks last year’s approach rather than creating something that’s new.
The trouble is, marketing today is rarely about repeating exactly what you did before. Most teams are being asked to support some form of business transformation whilst also needing to transform as a function (AI anyone?). Transformation takes more time. More collaboration. More thinking space. And you can’t achieve that if you start too late.
Start Earlier. Plan Smarter.
If I were leading a marketing team today, here’s how I’d approach planning:
Start with Sales – Sit down together. Agree on what the business is aiming for: growth in specific areas, expansion into new markets, or the push of priority products and features. Define your ideal customer profile: who they are, why you’re a good fit for them, and the proof points that will make you credible. Understand sales’ biggest obstacles, whether it’s access to decision-makers, perception challenges or objection handling.
Map the Account Landscape – Identify Tier 1 accounts (must-win this year), Tier 2 (future RFPs to prepare for), retention-critical accounts (mission critical to keep), and long-term accounts (opportunities two years away).
Check Brand Health – By July at the latest, assess your baseline perception in the areas you plan to focus on next year. Without a baseline, you’re planning blind.
Align Internally – Share the “why” behind the plan. Plan to reconnect people to the mission regularly, not just at the start of the year. People need progress updates, clarity on their role, and reminders of why it matters. Rewards and recognition should also be tied to it.
Define Success in Business Terms – Agree measures the whole business understands: revenue, pipeline revenue, new relationships, and how your reputation is shifting in target markets.
The Budget Conversation Can’t Be Separate
Planning isn’t just about what you want to achieve, it’s about matching that ambition to the resources needed to do it.
Too often, marketing budgets are set in isolation, with the number handed down rather than built in partnership with the strategy.
In B2B, where buying cycles are longer and customer acquisition is harder, departments often require more investment than B2C (but in fact get less than our B2C friends) and in many cases, B2B teams today are receiving less budget than they did before the COVID-19 pandemic.
That said, the economic climate is tough. Every pound, euro, or dollar needs to work harder. But if you don’t define early what a good budget looks like (one that realistically supports your agreed objectives) you risk setting your team up for failure. You can’t expect big change without resourcing it properly. It’s a tough one to advocate for but advocate we must otherwise nothing ever changes.
Find and Fix the Time Sinks
There’s one more dimension worth considering- where has our time sink been this year? Is it in the speed (or lack of it) with which we get marketing activity into market? Is it that we don’t have a consistent cadence with sales, or that feedback loops are missing? Is it that AI, which so many marketing teams are currently exploring, could take on a meaningful share of the day-to-day lift - freeing creative teams to focus on work that truly requires their expertise, rather than repetitive artwork jobs?
We should be asking ourselves whether there’s a percentage of time we could reclaim in 2026 by working differently, and whether there are skills, knowledge, or behaviours we need to develop in our people to deliver on our ambitions. Strategy and budget are critical, but they only work if the team has the capabilities and the bandwidth to bring them to life.
The Moral of the Story
Don’t plan late. Plan better.
Because the truth is, if you want to do something different and new, you can’t treat planning the way it’s always been done. The earlier you start, the more time you have to align, budget, people and build a plan that can truly deliver for your business.
Let’s Talk.
If you’re navigating change — a merger, transformation, or a moment where brand and marketing need to lead, I’d love to help.
👉 Email me directly: andrews_samantha@hotmail.com
👉 Or message me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samantha-andrews/