December often prompts firms to look back on the year and consider their priorities for the one ahead. It’s also a useful time to revisit your marketing strategy and make sure it still reflects the firm’s direction. Taking the time now helps create clarity and momentum heading into 2026.
An effective, up-to-date marketing strategy is one of the most important tools a firm has to remain visible, relevant and commercially resilient.
Why strategy matters going into the New Year
A strategy is much more than a list of tasks or campaigns. It provides structure, clarity and focus. It aligns marketing activity to real business priorities and ensures everything is heading in the right direction.
A clear strategy helps define your firm’s strengths and value, supports consistent messaging across departments, and guides the team in making decisions that contribute to long-term goals. Without it, marketing can quickly become reactive, inconsistent and untargeted.
As 2026 approaches, this clarity becomes even more essential. Firms that know what they are trying to achieve, and why, are far better placed to stand out and grow sustainably.
When your strategy falls behind, your messaging loses focus, and content becomes inconsistent. Budgets are spread across too many initiatives, channels feel active but lack impact, and in the absence of clear metrics, decision-making becomes far harder.
Going into a new year without a coherent strategy makes it harder to compete, harder to measure success, and harder for teams to stay aligned. The firms that take the time now to refresh their approach will enter 2026 with far more confidence and direction.
Start with what the firm wants to achieve in 2026
Before reviewing any marketing activity, it’s important to reconnect with the firm’s wider goals for the coming year. Whether your focus is growth in specific practice areas, improving profitability, strengthening client retention or increasing brand awareness, these objectives should shape the marketing strategy.
This alignment ensures that marketing is purposeful, measurable and directly supporting what matters most to your firm.
Ensure your target audience is correctly positioned
Client expectations are always changing, and the clients who brought the greatest value last year may not be the same ones you want to attract next. December is a helpful moment to reflect on who your ideal clients truly are and how their behaviours have changed.
Understanding their motivations, challenges and decision-making process helps keep your messaging relevant and targeted. It also ensures you invest in the right channels and develop content that genuinely resonates with your target audience.
Prioritise the channels that matter
Many firms try to be active everywhere - and this is a challenge that is almost always unsustainable. A stronger approach is to focus on the channels that genuinely reach your ideal clients and where your team can maintain consistency.
A smaller number of well-managed channels and campaigns is almost always more effective than a broad, scattered presence. This protects your budget and capacity while strengthening the impact of your messaging.
Make review and refinement a regular part of the process
It’s important that your marketing strategy evolves over the course of the year. Regular reviews help identify what’s driving results and what needs adjusting. This mindset of continuous improvement enables firms to respond to the market, adapt to new opportunities and build evidence-based decision-making into everyday practice.
Going into 2026, this flexibility will be one of the biggest advantages a firm can have.
Ready to start the New Year with a clearer plan?
If December feels like the right time to really think about your marketing activity, now is the ideal moment to refresh or rebuild your strategy. We support law firms across the UK in developing focused, practical plans that improve visibility, drive enquiries and support long-term growth.
Whether you need a full strategic review or simply a fresh perspective before setting new year priorities, we can help. Contact us here to find out more.