How To Set 2026 Goals & Audiences Before Creating Content

The Big Problem: Creating Without Clarity

Most teams are not struggling to create content. They are struggling to create the right content.

You have probably felt it:

• You publish steadily but are not sure what it is adding up to
  
• You try “a bit of everything” but have no clear way to measure success
  
• You keep getting asked for more content without more strategy

Research in the broader content world backs this up. Only about 37 percent of B2B marketers have a documented content marketing strategy, and many others say they have a strategy but it is not written down. Backlinko

Even among teams with a strategy, only around 28 percent of enterprise marketers describe their content strategy as extremely or very effective. Most say it is “moderately effective” at best. Content Marketing Institute

The difference between “we are constantly doing stuff” and “we are moving the needle” usually comes down to this:

• Clear goals
  
• Clear audiences
  
• Intentional workflows

Let’s break down how to set 2026 goals and audiences before you create anything.

Step 1: Start With Organizational Outcomes, Not Channels

It is tempting to start with “We should post more on LinkedIn” or “We should do a podcast.”

Instead, start with: What results do we need in 2026?‍

Common content related goals include:

• Grow qualified traffic or leads
  
• Increase average gift or deal size
  
• Improve donor or customer retention
  
• Build thought leadership in a specific focus area
  
• Support a product or campaign launch
• Strengthen community engagement

Top performing content teams are more likely to set goals that align directly with organizational objectives and to measure content performance against those goals. Content Marketing Institute

So for 2026, choose 2 to 3 high level goals you want your content to serve. For example:

• “Increase qualified demo requests by 25 percent from nonprofit teams.”
  
• “Improve repeat donor retention by 10 percent.”
  
• “Be known as the go to resource for AI repurposing in the social impact sector.”

Those goals become the lens for every content decision that follows.

Step 2: Define Your Priority Audiences

Once you know what you want, you can ask: Whose behavior needs to change for this to happen?

You probably have multiple audiences:

• Existing customers or donors
  
• Prospective customers or donors
  
• Partners and collaborators
  
• Sector peers and influencers
  
• Internal stakeholders

You do not need to serve all of them equally with every content asset. You do need to decide who your primary audience is for each initiative.

Nonprofit marketing guides emphasize that defining a clear target audience is the foundation of an effective digital strategy. Maneva Group+1

Practical approach:

1. List your key audiences.
   
   
2. For each 2026 goal, mark the one or two audience segments that matter most.
   
   
3. Write a simple statement for each like:
   
   
   • “We are speaking to nonprofit communications directors at organizations with 5–50 staff.”
     
     
   • “We are speaking to founders of B2B SaaS tools that serve nonprofits.”

This will save you months of vague, “for everyone” content that does not land with anyone.

Step 3: Choose The Stories And Topics That Actually Matter To Them

Now that you know who you are speaking to, the next question is: What do they need from you?

You can use AI here in a very practical way:

• Analyze past webinar questions
  
• Scan email replies and customer chats
  
• Summarize common themes from sales calls or donor conversations
  

That said, your best content topics often come from what you are already talking about in real life.

You might find themes like:

• “We are overwhelmed by content creation.”
  
• “We do not know how to use AI without losing our voice.”
  
• “We are not sure how to show impact clearly on social.”
  

These become the basis for your 2026 content pillars.

Overlay those with macro trends:

• Nonprofit and B2B content is rapidly shifting toward video dominance, especially short, educational formats. Big Sea+2LinkedIn+2
  
• More than half of marketers are using AI and repurposing workflows to keep up with demand. HubSpot Blog+1‍

The sweet spot for your content is where your audience’s real questions meet your lived expertise and the channels they are already actively using.

Step 4: Decide Your “Home Base” Channels

Instead of being everywhere, decide where your content will live and where it will travel.

For most of the teams we work with, a simple 2026 setup looks like:

• Home base: Website or blog plus email
  
• Primary social channel: LinkedIn (for reach, thought leadership, and relationship building)
  
• Secondary channels: YouTube or podcast for long form, plus one other social channel as needed

The data backs up LinkedIn and video as smart bets:

• LinkedIn is used by the vast majority of B2B marketers for content, and drives a large share of B2B social leads. Learning Revolution+1
  
• Video on LinkedIn is one of the fastest growing formats, with strong engagement and share rates. LinkedIn+2Socialinsider+2
  
• Video is also highlighted in marketing trend reports as a key way to repurpose content like blogs, case studies, and webinars. Napier - B2B PR and Marketing Agency
  

Your home base is where deep content lives. LinkedIn and other channels are where that content is chopped up, remixed, and distributed in ways that match how people actually consume.

Step 5: Build Goals And Audiences Into Your Workflow

A strategy document is only useful if it shows up in your day to day.

Some ways to bake goals and audiences into your 2026 workflow:

• Add your 2–3 top goals and primary audiences to every campaign brief
  
• Label content in your calendar by which goal and audience it serves
  
• When planning a webinar, define the audience and goal before the topic
  
• Use AI tools to help repurpose content for each audience segment, not just blast the same thing everywhere
  

Remember that nearly all marketers now say they have some form of content strategy, but effectiveness varies widely. In one recent report, 97 percent of marketers said they have a content strategy, yet only a small portion reported significant improvements in results. Content Marketing Institute‍

The difference is not whether the strategy exists. It is whether it informs actual decisions.

Step 6: Measure What Matters And Adjust Quarterly

Finally, decide how you will know if your 2026 content plan is working.

For each goal, define a small set of metrics. For example:

• Thought leadership: profile visits, saves, meaningful comments, speaking invitations
  
• Lead generation: demo requests, qualified inbound inquiries, form completions
  
• Donor retention: repeat gifts, newsletter open and click through rates, event attendance
  

Reports on content marketing performance show that top performers are more likely to effectively measure and demonstrate content results, not just vanity metrics. Content Marketing Institute+2Content Marketing Institute+2

Set a quarterly cadence where you:

1. Look at what is actually working
   
2. Retire content that did not land
   
3. Double down on topics and formats that did
   

Adjust goals or audience definitions based on new information.

Pulling It All Together

If you are feeling overwhelmed by 2026 planning, remember this:

• You do not need 20 goals
  
• You do not need to serve every audience with every asset
  
• You do not need to be on every channel

You do need:

• Clear goals that tie to real outcomes
  
• Clear audiences you are speaking to
  
• A simple system for turning what is already happening in your work into content
  

Once those are in place, AI and repurposing tools like Arbor make a lot more sense. You are not asking them what to say. You are asking them to help you say what matters, more often and in more places, without burning your team out.

If your 2026 plan feels fuzzy, start here before you open another blank document.