Charting a Course to 2026

As we prepare for another year (!!), I’m sharing how our agency approaches strategic planning. The preparation process can feel both amorphous and overwhelming, but it’s a must for organizations of any size. After all, what good is leadership if we don’t know where we’re headed? And how efficient or enjoyable will the journey be if we’re all envisioning a different destination?

Those last two questions are a bit dramatic and somewhat rhetorical, but there is truth there. For Armada Digital, we know that we want to grow towards a future where people are the priority. I have no interest in leading a company where profit can only be made to the detriment of our people—team members and clients both included. And yet, “to grow towards a future” requires profit.

Fortunately, we have modeled and lived out the balancing of people and profit in a way that feels good. We are the good kind of busy, serving people we enjoy talking to, and they are satisfied with our work. We do what we say we’re going to do—no “secret sauce” or “magic touch”—and we don’t overpromise and underdeliver. We have held to the 4-day work week* (we do treat the first Friday of every month as our “internal day,” where we have a team marketing meeting, our scheduled 1:1s, and end the day with a “Armada Regatta,” our silly name for our team happy hour where we talk about non-work things) in an industry where burnout is very real.

With all of the above going right, the goal of our strategic planning session is to answer: How can we grow while continuing to deliver results for our clients and enjoying a life-work balance?

Adding Depth to Armada Digital

For us, the motivation to grow is to have more overlap and depth in our team’s expertise so that each of us can step away for the occasional vacation, knowing that if any technical questions arise, someone can jump in to support. We want more business owners to feel secure in their marketing partnership and to celebrate more wins with them. I want to bring more talented team members into a culture where we all care deeply about our work, but are not expected to give everything to it.

Our strategic planning session this week will involve recapping team member wins, reflecting on goals hit, missed, and forgotten. We’ll discuss processes that are working and kinks that still need to be worked out.  It will involve logistics and financial figures, like creating new positions and the dollars needed to hire said positions. We’ll collaborate. We’ll find alignment. We’ll seek sustainable growth.

Setting the Plan in Motion

And after we go through this two-day process, we’ll sync with our clients and ask about their own plans and goals for the upcoming year. We’re making a point to implement a more formal quarterly business review for ourselves and with our clients. This is a designated time to ensure our efforts align with their goals as well as assess what’s working and what didn’t. We’ll work alongside our clients to identify and implement strategies that will expedite their own sustainable growth.

I know that there will always be times of uncertainty and challenges to overcome in business, but I also know that working in tandem makes the process and achievements that much more rewarding. Happy strategic planning to all of those who participate!