Strategy vs. Spontaneity in 2026: Your 30 Minute Marketing & Comms Status Check
- Holly Hunt
- Nov 6, 2025
- 4 min read
How much of your 2026 strategy is just... "do 2025 again, but better"?
It’s tempting. You might be juggling budgets and EOY targets, knowing you need a plan for next year but having zero time to build one. You don't need a massive audit. You need a 30 minute quick-fire status check (that you can probably get done this afternoon)..
Let's find out what's really working in your marketing and comms. Here are the five vital signs you can check, right now.
1. Check your top 3 landing pages
The audit: Grab your phone and turn off your Wi-Fi (see how your site performs with mobile data). Now, load your three most important pages:
Your homepage
Your primary service/product page
The landing page you use for the majority of your ad campaigns
Why it matters: This is your real first impression. Over 60% of web traffic is mobile, and a slow, clunky experience is the fastest way to lose a customer before you even have them.
What to Look For:
The 3 second test: Does the page load in under 3 seconds?
The "thumb test": Can you read the text and click the main call-to-action (CTA) button without pinching or zooming?
The pop-up test: Are you immediately hit with a giant newsletter pop-up that you can't close? This is a major source of bounces.
2. Brand voice cohesion test
The Audit: Open these three tabs:
Your website's 'about' page
The last marketing email you sent
Your top pinned post on your main social channel (e.g., LinkedIn or Instagram)
Why it matters: Your brand voice is your company's personality. If your website sounds like a formal 10-K report, your email sounds like a friendly barista, and your social media sounds like a hyperactive intern, your customers are confused. A fragmented voice erodes trust.
What to Look For:
Read them back-to-back. Do they sound like they came from the same company?
Is the tone consistent? Is the core message the same?
If you covered your logo, would a customer know it was you speaking?
3. Analyse your best-performing social post
The Audit: Look at the organic insights from your most important social channel (LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, etc.). Sort your posts from the last 365 days by "Engagement" or "Reach". Which ones have the highest results?
Why it matters: Stop guessing what your audience wants. They've already told you. Your best-performing post is a blueprint for your 2026 social strategy.
What to Look For:
Don't just look at the topic, deconstruct why it worked:
Format: Was it a video? A text-only post? A carousel?
Hook: What was the first sentence? What was the first 3 seconds of the video?
Tone: Was it a controversial opinion? A helpful how-to guide? A behind the scenes pic? A client success story?
Your starting point for 2026 should be "do more of what worked well before."
4. Compare your email open rate
The Audit: Log into your email platform and pull together your average email open rate for your main newsletter or marketing list. Compare the following stats:
Stat 1: Average open rate from Q4 2024
Stat 2: Average open rate from Q4 2025
Why it matters: Your email open rate is a direct measure of your brand's relationship with your audience and your ability to avoid the spam folder.
What to Look For:
If it's down: Your list is getting stale, your subject lines are uninspired, or you have a deliverability problem.
If it's up: Check the click-through rate. Are you just writing good subject lines, or are you delivering real value in the email itself?
5. Review your Meta Ad frequency for ‘ad fatigue’
The Audit: Log into your Meta Ads Manager and look at your main campaigns for the last 6 months. Find the "Frequency" column (you may have to add it).
Why It Matters: Frequency is the average number of times a single person has seen your ad. A little repetition is good for memory. Too much repetition is called "ad fatigue." It's the number one reason people hide your ads, your costs (CPMs) skyrocket, and your results slow down.
What to Look For:
Cold audiences (prospecting): If your frequency is climbing past 3 or 4 in a short period, your audience is too small, or your ad is getting stale. You're becoming "that annoying ad."
Warm audiences (retargeting): A higher frequency (e.g., 5-10) is normal, but if your performance is dropping, this is the first place to look. It's a clear signal that you need to include new ad creatives ASAP.
How did your audit go?
If you ran through this list, you probably found at least one or two things that might need tweaking. Finding these issues is the easy part. Diagnosing the cause and building a 2026 strategy to fix them is where the real work begins.
If you found something you didn't like, or just want a second set of professional eyes on your comms, get in touch!
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