As December hits, right after the BFCM dust settles, we hear the same phrase:
“Let’s circle back to this in January”
It’s understandable, it’s been a huge few months, and everyone’s ready for a breather. But here’s the quiet truth most brands don’t realise:
You don’t need to keep sprinting through December…but you will set yourself back if you wait until January to start thinking about the new year.
Because once you’re back, the team is settling in, campaigns need to be planned, built, approvals are needed, budgets signed-off, and suddenly it’s late January. Momentum, then, only realistically starts in March.
And by then? You could’ve easily missed out on Q1 growth opportunities.
So while you don’t need to grind throughout December, this is a perfect time to be giving your brand the gift of clarity.
Doing so will mean that January has momentum, rather than overwhelming and reactive activities.
Blog in a Snapshot
This blog breaks down:
- The hidden cost of “let’s circle back next year” when planning only starts in January
- Why a successful 2026 begins with choosing a direction before January
- How to carry post-BFCM momentum forward with light, strategic touchpoints
- The simple retention opportunity most brands overlook after BFCM
- Why December is the ideal time for calm, spacious strategic thinking
- How AI can help clarify your 2026 direction without heavy planning work
- How our AI Enhanced 2026 Marketing Planning Guide supports a clearer, more confident roadmap for next year
2026 Planning Begins Now – Not in January
January is the time to begin execution, not for planning. If you’re making big decisions in January around goal setting, mapping campaigns, deciding budgets or channels – you risk losing precious execution time of Q1.
December is a rare opportunity whereby you have the space to:
- Review what worked this year
- Analyse your BFCM performance
- Reflect on your customer journey
- Reassess your funnel and messaging
- Set your direction for 2026
- Build out your 90-day sprints
- Define your north star metric
- Get your team aligned early
You don’t need every 2026 campaign mapped out, you don’t need budgets locked, or colour coded timelines…but you do need a simple sense of direction of where you want to go next year. Doing so will be your Q1 saviour.
Practical Tip: Run a 2025 Strategy Review
Ask yourself:
- What actually worked this year, and why?
- What didn’t, and do we know the root cause?
- Where are the biggest leaks in our funnel?
- Where did we spend the most time for the least return?
- Which channels drove the highest-quality customers?
- Where is there untapped opportunity?
These insights form the foundation of your 2026 strategy.
Light Touchpoints for Your New BFCM Customers
New customers who have flowed in through BFCM don’t automatically become loyal ones. They need direction, reassurance, clarity, and reasons to return. They want to understand your brand and why they should stay.
These customers don’t need a huge strategy or intense campaign, just a simple continuation of the conversation with a:
- Helpful post-purchase flow
- Value-led email
- Gentle introduction to your brand story
- Clarity about what to explore next
This shouldn’t be about selling, the goal here is to ensure the relationship doesn’t fade.
By remaining active in December, you start the new year with:
- Warm audiences in the new year
- Stronger conversion pathways for Q1
- Higher returning custom potential
- hIgher lifetime value
So while you don’t need to go heavy on the touchpoints and campaigns now, this is an ideal time for nurturing your relationship with these new customers.
Now is Your Time to Audit
December is the best month for light strategic thinking and reviewing your performance with fresh BFCM data, peak-season customer behaviour, and real signals about what’s actually working.
This combination gives you clearer insights now than you’ll have at any other point in the year. It’s also a rare opportunity where you’re not putting out fires, you have the year’s results fresh in your mind, and nothing is urgently demanding execution.
Some questions to reflect on split into the different points of the funnel:
Top of Funnel
- Are our core messages still relevant?
- Are we speaking to a clear customer pain point?
- Is organic content consistent?
- Which creative formats drove the highest conversions during BFCM?
Middle of Funnel
- Does our nurture sequence build trust and reduce friction?
Do we have content that educates, proves value, and addresses objections? - Are retargeting ads aligned with customer questions, not just promotions?
Bottom of Funnel
- Are our landing pages clear or cluttered?
- Are we removing buying friction?
- Do we show enough social proof; reviews, testimonials, UGC?
- Where are customers dropping off in checkout analytics?
The Goal Isn’t Having All of 2026 Planned, But a General Direction
Our intention isn’t to convince you to be working throughout December – far from it.
But we do want to remind you that in order to avoid a stressful, reactive January, take some time this December to choose a direction for:
- Your Q1 focus
- Your key priorities
- Your growth targets
- The projects and campaigns you want to start
Because the best approach to starting the new year is already knowing where you want to head, and have a rough idea of what needs to be done to get there.
Final Thoughts: You Don’t Need It All Figured Out, But If You Want A Rough Idea…Download our FREE Guide
If you want to start 2026 with strategic action rather than reactionary guesswork…make December intentional. No, you don’t need to have it all figured out, but having a rough plan to know where to get started in Q1 is going to set you up for success, more than if you started in January.
If you want a roadmap on exactly how to build out your 2026 Strategic Marketing Plan, then we’ve built something for you – our AI Guided 2026 Marketing Planning Guide gives you the exact steps, prompts, and frameworks you need!
It takes you step-by-step through building your 2026 Marketing Plan, using AI prompts which build on each other as you go through the steps.
