Before you start planning your 2027 marketing strategy, take a look at what actually worked in 2026.

In this episode of Kickstart Your Week, the Kickstart Collective team makes the case for a topic that might not sound exciting but can make a big difference in your marketing results: reporting.

We're breaking down which marketing metrics actually matter, how to spot trends across your marketing channels, and how to turn those numbers into smarter decisions about where to invest your time and budget next year. Whether you're looking at website traffic, social media engagement, email marketing, or paid ads, the goal isn't to get lost in spreadsheets. It's to understand what's working, what needs improvement, and what might be time to leave behind.

Key takeaways:

• Your marketing reports help you make decisions based on results, not assumptions or personal preferences.
• Focus on the KPIs that align with your business goals, whether that's brand awareness, website traffic, leads, or sales.
• Compare consistent date ranges and look for seasonal patterns before deciding whether something performed well or poorly.
• Different marketing channels play different roles. A platform that builds awareness and trust may be just as important as one that generates direct conversions.
• Not every underperforming campaign needs to be scrapped. Sometimes a small adjustment to your messaging, targeting, or call to action can make a big difference.
• Use your findings to decide what to continue, improve, test, or stop as you plan for 2027.

Take action by Friday!

Set aside 30–60 minutes for a simple year-end marketing review.

1. Identify your goals. Write down your top three marketing goals for 2026.
2. Pull your reports. Open Google Analytics and your top two or three marketing platforms. Review the past 6–12 months, using consistent date ranges.
3. Find three insights. Identify your strongest result, one underperforming effort, and one surprising trend or takeaway.
4. Make three decisions. What will you continue doing, what will you improve or test, and what will you stop doing in 2027?
5. Set your KPIs. Decide which metrics you'll track next year to measure progress toward your business goals.

You don't need fancy reporting software or hours of analysis to get started. Just a clearer picture of where you've been so you can make better decisions about where you're going.

Resources mentioned:

• Google Analytics for website traffic, traffic sources, engagement, and conversions
• Social media platform insights for reach, impressions, engagement, and audience demographics
• Google Business Profile for searches, website clicks, calls, and direction requests
• Email marketing and paid advertising dashboards
• Previous Kickstart Your Week episodes on marketing strategy, Google Business Profile, and the marketing flywheel

Follow or subscribe to Kickstart Your Week for practical marketing and business tips you can put into action before Friday. If you found this episode helpful, share it with a business owner or marketing professional who's planning their 2027 strategy.

For help turning your marketing insights into a strategy that moves your business forward, connect with Kickstart Collective at kickstartcollective.co.

Get more from Kickstart Your Week!

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Kickstart Your Week is brought to you by Kickstart Collective and recorded at Kickstart Studios, Wilmington’s video podcast and content studio for creators, business owners, and brands. Whether you’re launching a podcast, recording interviews, or creating social content, we make it easy to show up, record, and walk away with professional content you’re proud of.

Have a great week—and get this one done by Friday. If this episode helped, follow or subscribe, share it with a business owner friend, and leave a review so more people can find the show.

Meet your hosts and learn more about Kickstart Collective at kickstartcollective.co

You started your business for more freedom. So why does it feel like everything depends on you?

In this episode, business coach and mental health practice owner Buffy Andrews explains how business owners become the bottleneck in their own companies, why asking for help can feel so difficult, and how the right coach or support system can help you move forward without defaulting to hustle culture.

You’ll also learn how to identify the kind of support you actually need, whether that’s big-picture business strategy, leadership coaching, or help with a specific skill such as sales or marketing.

Key takeaways:

- Doing everything yourself may be a learned stress response, not simply part of your personality.
- If every decision, email, and exception lives in your head, you haven’t built a system. You have become the system.
- Business coaches support strategy and direction, leadership coaches help you manage people and delegate, and skills coaches address focused needs such as sales or marketing.
- Loneliness, stalled revenue, decision fatigue, and recurring avoidance can all signal that it’s time for outside support.
- Choosing a coach comes down to fit and trust: Do they offer what you need in this season, and have they built something that gives you confidence in their guidance?

Take action by Friday!

Set aside 20 minutes and answer these questions:

1. What part of the business am I consistently avoiding?
2. What do I have to relearn, explain, or fix repeatedly?
3. If I disappeared for two weeks, what would break first?
4. What would I hand off tomorrow if cost were not a factor?
5. What could that support make possible, not just cost?

Choose the answer creating the most stress or friction.

Then take one small step: document the process, ask a mentor for perspective, research the right type of coach, or identify someone who could help you build a better system.

Helpful Links:

Buffy Andrews, business coach and owner of Made Well Center for Wholeness: https://madewellcenter.org/

Wellness Without Walls: https://wellnesswithoutwalls.co/

BA Coaching and Consulting: https://www.bacoachingandconsulting.com/

Buffy on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/buffyacoaching/

Get more from Kickstart Your Week!

Watch on YouTube
Follow on Instagram
Subscribe to our email list

Kickstart Your Week is brought to you by Kickstart Collective and recorded at Kickstart Studios, Wilmington’s video podcast and content studio for creators, business owners, and brands. Whether you’re launching a podcast, recording interviews, or creating social content, we make it easy to show up, record, and walk away with professional content you’re proud of.

Have a great week—and get this one done by Friday. If this episode helped, follow or subscribe, share it with a business owner friend, and leave a review so more people can find the show.

Meet your hosts and learn more about Kickstart Collective at kickstartcollective.co

If your team has answered the same question five times this week, it might be time to press record.

In this episode of Kickstart Your Week, the Kickstart Collective team explains how to turn one frequently asked question into a useful, reusable video. A clear FAQ video can help customers get answers sooner, make the buying or onboarding experience easier, and save your team from repeating the same explanation.

Key takeaways:

• Your FAQs are ready-made content topics: you already know the question and the answer.
• A helpful video builds trust by showing customers that you understand what they need.
• The right FAQ video can support sales, onboarding, customer portals, email, social media, blogs, or an unlisted YouTube link.
• A simple setup can work: face a window, keep your phone steady, find a quiet room, and use headphones with a microphone when available.
• Match the production quality to the stakes. A phone may be enough for a straightforward walkthrough; content for high-value leads or a larger video series may deserve professional production.

Take action by Friday

1. List the questions your team answers repeatedly.
2. Choose one that benefits from a clear, in-depth explanation.
3. Outline the question, the answer, and what the viewer should do next.
4. Record it. Keep the camera steady, the lighting flattering, and the answer focused. Two takes are perfectly fine.
5. Put the finished video where it will be most useful, then make sure your team knows how to share it.

Resources mentioned:

• A smartphone and headphones with a microphone
• YouTube, including unlisted links for sales or customer use
• Kickstart Studios in Wilmington: kickstartcollective.co/kickstart-studios

Follow or subscribe to Kickstart Your Week, leave a rating or review, and share this episode with someone who has answered the same customer question one too many times. For help creating polished video, podcast, or social content, connect with Kickstart Collective and Kickstart Studios.

Get more from Kickstart Your Week!

Watch on YouTube
Follow on Instagram
Subscribe to our email list

Kickstart Your Week is brought to you by Kickstart Collective and recorded at Kickstart Studios, Wilmington’s video podcast and content studio for creators, business owners, and brands. Whether you’re launching a podcast, recording interviews, or creating social content, we make it easy to show up, record, and walk away with professional content you’re proud of.

Have a great week—and get this one done by Friday. If this episode helped, follow or subscribe, share it with a business owner friend, and leave a review so more people can find the show.

Meet your hosts and learn more about Kickstart Collective at kickstartcollective.co