The 2026 Marketing Planning Guide
Build a full-funnel, diversified plan: A balanced multichannel mix creates more resilient growth and helps brands generate demand across the full funnel.
Use forecasting to reveal headroom and saturation: Forward-looking tools show where budget will drive the highest incremental return before you spend a dollar.
Adopt a monthly operating cadence: Frequent reforecasting keeps budgets accurate as markets, creative performance, and consumer behavior shift throughout the year.
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Why This Playbook Matters
Most brands enter planning season relying on disconnected reporting sources - GA4, platform numbers, and in-house dashboards all telling different stories. The result is uncertainty around which channels truly drive growth, how much incremental headroom is left, and where the next dollar should go.
Fospha’s 2026 Practical Marketing & Budget Planning Guide breaks down the core components of effective planning. From identifying growth priorities and building a full-funnel channel mix, to forecasting budget scenarios and aligning marketing with finance on one shared measurement source.
The playbook also contains performance data and insights from Lunar Solar Group on how they approach investment decisions, test scenarios, understand saturation limits, and adjust budgets as performance shifts.
This guide turns complexity into a clear, repeatable process for 2026, with synergies between your data sources, strategy and operating rhythm.
What you'll learn
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Translate growth priorities into a measurable plan
Turn strategic goals into a channel-level roadmap supported by data that connects cleanly across sources.
Allocate budget with confidence
Use forecasting to model scenarios, understand saturation points, and see where spend is likely to work hardest.
Adjust plans month-to-month
Reforecast with fresh performance data and make stronger mid-campaign decisions.
Translate growth priorities into a measurable plan
Turn strategic goals into a channel-level roadmap supported by data that connects cleanly across sources.
Allocate budget with confidence
Use forecasting to model scenarios, understand saturation points, and see where spend is likely to work hardest.
Adjust plans month-to-month
Reforecast with fresh performance data and make stronger mid-campaign decisions.
Operationalize testing at scale
Create a structured testing approach that helps improve creative, audience targeting, and channel performance over time.
Stay ahead with the inside scoop from Fospha.
For over 10 years we've been leading the change in marketing measurement.
