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2026 Visions – Anxiety, Excitement & Bold Ambitions
As an agency owner of over 25 years the new year always brings a certain amount of anxiety. 2025 was a challenging year for many businesses. We were fortunate enough to win some amazing new clients and continue working closely with existing ones, and ended the year on a high with lots to celebrate. So you’d think I’d be used to it by now, yet every year the same feelings flood in. 2026 is no different. I hear myself saying “Here we go again” and the weight of the responsibility feels heavy.
Author
Tracey Burridge
Read Time
5 mins
Bold ambitions and predictions should be part of every growing business.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m full of positivity and hope that we’ll soar and that the dreams and ambitions we’ve planned for in 2026 will come to fruition. But there’s always a little voice inside me thinking, “Will we generate enough sales to pay the wages and bills? Will we achieve what we want? Will I be able to stop working 12-hour days?” And then I remind myself that we’re a well-established business with a ton of experience, great reputation, and an amazing team. And that follows with another familiar feeling – excitement. Excitement about the year ahead. The potential of what could be, and that it’s all there for the grabbing. So, as we springboard into 2026, I’m holding onto the excitement, for my business, my team and myself.
Bold ambitions and predictions should be part of every growing business. It keeps the business sharp and focused. At SANDBOX our 2026 plans include international expansion, deeper AI adoption and growth in both revenue and people skills. Easy to say, but yes we have to actually make it happen. Here are some of the key points that SANDBOX will be focusing on to support our growth across the year ahead, and that I think, all businesses should consider:
KYC (Know Your Client)
Really, really know our clients. Build deeper relationships. Not just their business and audiences but the way they think, what makes them tick and what drives them and their businesses. This will give us an even stronger understanding of their wants and needs and better shape our personalised recommendations for success. There is an opportunity for all businesses to put a focus on KYC and be able to give a more personal and authentic experience.
Education
Explain over and over the difference between Brand and Marketing and how the interaction between the two drives business success. Educate and support business leaders in recognising what a strong brand is, what it’s function is for their business and how to make brand and marketing work for them to achieve their goals. Too often brand and marketing are seen as a nice to have rather than a vital part of a business that enables and facilitates growth, both in reputation and equity.
Prioritise AI
AI will become a stream embedded in all our agency functions. Used as a tool to speed up production and make client budgets stretch further. Not to do the thinking, writing or designing, but to support with the research, the doing, the mundane and the repetition.
GEO/AI SEO
Define and drive our GEO/AI SEO packages to enhance and optimise our clients’ brands to support adaptive digital strategies, making best use of modern technologies to unlock new audiences and increase click rates in B2B marketing. This is now essential in the AI driven world and will not only future-proof marketing strategies but also increase their brand discoverability, visibility and authority to increase marketing ROI and brand equity. There is no business that doesn’t need this.
By this time next year, we’ll have achieved all of the above and more, and will be seeing the real impact they’ve made (I say confidently). With big ambitions for growth, it is of course daunting. But soooo exciting too!
Give me 12 months and I’ll let you know what we excelled at, what we failed at, and more importantly, what we learnt along the way.
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