How to Triage Your 2026 Marketing Priorities
Wait… you thought you were done with lists? Here’s one more that helps you embrace strategic ruthlessness and gives you permission to say no. Here’s how to organize and prioritize marketing investments using a triage framework.
You’ve audited and you know what worked. So now you get to decide which efforts to re-invest in and what to kill. Roll up your sleeves, pour the last of the eggnog, and start building your triage table so you know where to focus.
Establish categories for what matters most to you and your community. Document tactics, current status, and maturity (strategic, critical, experimental). Indicate if a budget exists and who will take ownership of this project. If everything falls on one person’s shoulders - and that person is the founder - this exercise will plainly reveal where you need outside help to execute properly.
General recommendations:
Critical (30-40%): Foundational Maintenance
What it covers: Activities you can't stop without losing credibility
Examples: Content cadence, social media presence, technical documentation, compliance messaging
Why: Maintain foundational investments, but don’t overfund the basics. If you stop these activities, prospects will notice within 30 days.
Strategic (40-50%): Growth Engine
What it covers: Intentional bets that build long-term authority
Examples: Analyst relations programs, strategic awards, demand gen campaigns, key partnerships, major events
Why: Investments compound over 6-12 months and drive scale. They are deliberate bets with enough budget (and human resources) to execute well.
Experimental (10-20%): Learning Budget
What it covers: Tests with clear kill criteria and quick feedback loops
Examples: Testing new content formats, emerging event categories, influencer partnerships, new channels
Why: You need to test and learn without big gambles. These experiments identify your future larger strategic investments.
The Triage Table
Here's a template to get started. Fill in your current status (Active, Planning, Not doing), categorize each as Critical/Strategic/Experimental, note timing, budget allocation, and assign an owner.
Once your table is complete, look for patterns. If everything is “Critical,” you forgot to be ruthless! If you have no owner names - or the same owner for all - you may need to adjust your expectations about delivering. If your Experimental tactics run 40% of your budget, you're going to burn through cash without building a strong foundation.
Use the table to organize your priorities, space out your investments, and to reveal where your strategy needs work.
If you’d like to talk through how this applies to your team, you can reach us here.
