On the 2026 plan and marketing impact: co-founder Koen's view

End of Q3, and there they are! Budget rounds. And suddenly you get the question: “Marketing! What do you need next year?” If that's when you start your marketing plan, you're already too late. Your plan becomes a list of deliverables and campaigns, without a clear link to the business or sales plan. The result: a budget you defend, instead of a strategy you help shape.

‍The solution: a rolling marketing plan that doesn't land on the table once a year, but stays structurally connected to business and sales. Because a strong marketing plan isn't the result of the budget round. It's the foundation the budget comes from.

How do you approach this in practice? Here are 5 possible ways:

1. Surface the business goals and translate them smartly

CEOs and business leaders usually know exactly where they want to go. The problem? Their vision often stays in their head or in a strategic document – and rarely reaches marketing on its own.

Marketing's role is to capture that information efficiently and translate it into concrete actions. Tools like OGSM (which I use a lot) or the Value Proposition Canvas help turn strategic goals into campaigns, channels and touchpoints. That's how you prove marketing isn't a cost center, but a growth partner that contributes directly to revenue.

2. Use the funnel as a shared language

A funnel isn't just a diagram or a HubSpot dashboard. It's a working document that sales and marketing keep alive together. That takes two things:
• The technical side: a tool like HubSpot shows which leads come in, where prospects drop off and which touchpoints work.
• The governance side: structural alignment – biweekly, monthly – where sales and marketing review the funnel together. You discuss which leads marketing brought in, which prospects need nurturing and where sales can still take action.

This creates a concrete quarterly marketing activity plan that contributes directly to pipeline and revenue.

3. Strengthen go-to-market with scale

Sales defines the priority segments and spots the first opportunities in the market. But it's marketing that makes those choices scalable.

Sales usually works one-on-one. Marketing translates this into a broader go-to-market plan with campaigns, content and lead generation. Think account-based marketing or sector-focused campaigns that build visibility, repetition and volume.

That's how you lift sales' commercial plan to a level that reaches the whole market.

4. Bring the right message into lead generation

Business impact only really happens when you don't just collect leads, but bring the right message to the right prospects and clients. That takes sharp positioning: why should they choose you, and what sets your solution apart?

Where sales focuses on the deal, marketing provides consistency and scale in that message. By aligning campaigns, content and touchpoints with the core of the business and sales plan, lead generation becomes a strategic lever for growth.

5. Claim the strategic seat at the table with data

You don't convince CEOs with likes or views, but with insights on pipeline, conversion and return. Put marketing data next to sales and finance KPIs, so it becomes clear how marketing contributes to revenue. Frameworks like ROMI help translate marketing results into business impact.

That's how marketing becomes a structural part of decision-making, not just a supplier of campaigns.

‍Curious how to structurally link your marketing to your business strategy?
Koen is happy to grab a coffee with you. And the coffee? That one we're happy to put on the marketing budget.

Did you find this insight interesting and want to score more like it? 

Then come to Side by Side: our sofa talk and networking event in Mechelen on October 23. Sign up for Side by Side.

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