Year-end isn’t just about holiday parties – it’s prime time to pause, reflect, and fix what’s broken in your marketing before you dump another budget into 2026.
Most tech companies will roll into January with the same playbook that didn’t work this year. Don’t be like most tech companies.
Today we give you 10 practical moves to make before the calendar flips – no fluff, no five-year strategic visions, just stuff that matters.
1. Audit Your Content Strategy, Not Just Your Ad Spend
Before you start planning 2026, look at what actually happened in 2025: Did your content drive engagement? Did it generate leads? Or did it just… exist?
Here’s the thing: Content marketing generates 3x more leads per dollar than paid search. Yet most tech companies still throw 80% of their budget at ads that get blocked while their blog collects dust.
Start by calculating your cost-per-lead for both paid ads and organic content, then identify your top 5 performing pieces to understand what resonates. Use these insights to figure out what topics your audience genuinely cares about, and here’s the hard part: stop doing what didn’t work. Seriously, stop.
2. Check If You Actually Built Thought Leadership
Be honest: Did you establish genuine expertise this year, or just publish thinly veiled product pitches?
The data doesn’t lie: According to Edelman and LinkedIn’s research, 58% of decision-makers read thought leadership for at least an hour weekly, and almost 60% have awarded business based on a single piece. But most say over half the “thought leadership” they encounter is garbage.
So when reviewing your past content, ask yourself: When did your leadership team last publish something insightful? Are you cited in industry conversations or just talking to yourself? Do prospects find you through your ideas or just your ads?
If your “thought leadership” is all about your product features, it’s not thought leadership. It’s a brochure.
3. Build a Content Calendar That Doesn’t Suck
Random blog posts when someone feels like it ≠ strategy. So structure your content around one main objective, supported by 3 themes with 5 pieces each.
Example:
- Objective: Own the AI security conversation
- Theme 1: Monthly deep-dives on emerging threats
- Theme 2: Founder hot takes on regulations
- Theme 3: Customer stories that aren’t boring
When planning your content calendar, map content to real business goals (not vanity metrics), identify industry events you can leverage, plan evergreen content that works for years, and schedule across owned and earned channels. n
4. Figure Out Where People Actually Find Your Content
Spoiler: Probably not your blog.
LinkedIn has surpassed 1.1 billion users and owns B2B networking. Yet most companies post content once and pray.
Instead, track where content gets discovered (owned site, publications, search, social), find the “last touch” content before someone converts, and map the journey: Discovery → Engagement → Consideration → Conversion. Then fix the spots where people bail.
Pro-tip: Publishing on respected tech platforms (aka HackerNoon 😉) gives you built-in distribution to engaged audiences instead of hoping people stumble upon your blog.
5. Kill Channels That Don’t Work
Not every platform deserves your time. Track which ones your audience is genuinely active on, what type of content drives real interactions, and spot what things you’re doing out of habit instead of strategy.
This clarity will help you cut all the dead weight – those platforms you insist on publishing to just because others do, or sticking to content strategies that might be popular for other companies but don’t support your brand.
In short: double down on what works, let go of what doesn’t. 2026 is about focus, not spreading yourself across 47 platforms.
6. See What Your Competitors Are Actually Doing
If competitors are dominating conversations while you’re invisible, that’s a problem. But not one we can’t fix!
Start by auditing your top 3-5 competitors. Find out what topics they’re covering, platforms they’re using (including where they publish beyond their blog), and their posting frequency. This will help you find content gaps that you can own – whatever angle they’re not covering, you can be the one to break news on.
Also, if you haven’t already, set up Google Alerts so you know when they’re mentioned. You’ll start seeing a pattern as to who cites them, tags them, and that might open new paths for you to stand out.
7. Ask Your Audience What They Actually Want
When we’re going through a busy time, it’s easy to slip into the habits of focusing on content you’re most comfortable discussing or sticking to ideas that performed well in the past. But you’re missing a source that wants to see you succeed and is usually eager to help: your audience.
In order to create content that they actually want to read, you can start by:
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Sending an end-of-year survey to customers
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Reviewing comments and assessing what questions are people asking?
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Checking which pieces got shared
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Asking your audience about their challenges and prefered formats
8. Calculate Your Brand Authority Score
Is your brand authority growing year-over-year, or are you just making noise?
Track these:
- Branded search volume (Google Trends)
- Quality backlinks and referring domains
- Media mentions
- Speaking invitations
- How often you’re cited in conversations
Research shows two-thirds of buyers (65%) say a single credible thought leadership piece significantly changed their perception of a company for the better.
9. Prepare for AI-Powered Search
We’ve been talking a lot about GEO and LLMs lately and there’s a reason for it. Traditional SEO is evolving. AI search prioritizes comprehensive, authoritative answers from trusted sources.
People are asking natural questions, not typing keywords. AI looks for genuine expertise and thorough answers, which is exactly what quality content provides.
This doesn’t mean you have to rethink your whole content strategy. Start small by updating content for conversational, detailed answers. Focus on demonstrating real expertise (learn more about how to write content that E-E-A-Ts here), build authority through publication on respected platforms, and create resources AI can confidently recommend.
10. Set Actual Goals, Not Vague Aspirations
“Increase brand awareness” isn’t a goal. It’s a wish.
Examples of real goals can be:
- Publish 12 thought leadership pieces generating 50K+ views
- Increase organic traffic 30% through SEO content
- Generate 200 qualified leads from content
- Earn 25+ quality backlinks
- Secure 3 speaking gigs based on published work
Going into 2026, pick 3-5 KPIs to track, set quarterly milestones, assign ownership, and monitor in real-time. This will tell you how close to achieving your goals you are.
Authentic content is how tech companies build trust, establish authority, and drive sustainable growth. But here’s the catch: thought leadership only works if it reaches the right audience.
Publishing exclusively on your own blog means your reach is limited to people who already know you exist. To build real authority, you need to show up where your audience is already reading, learning, and making decisions.
That’s where HackerNoon comes in.
Why adding HackerNoon to your 2026 strategy changes everything
- Distribution that actually matters: 4M+ engaged tech readers who are actively looking for insights – not stumbling upon your content by accident.
- Instant credibility boost: Being published on a respected tech platform elevates your authority above competitors confined to their own channels. 89% of decision-makers say thought leadership increases brand awareness, but only if they actually see it.
- SEO that compounds: Unlike social posts that disappear in 24 hours, articles on HackerNoon provide lasting SEO value. Content continues to drive traffic and establish authority for years.
- Built for repurposing: Everything published can be shared on LinkedIn, referenced in newsletters, and used across channels – multiplying your reach.
- And more!
You can keep pouring budget into channels your audience is actively trying to avoid… or you can publish where 4 million tech professionals are already reading, engaging, and making decisions.
Ready to Stop Being Invisible?
Your brand deserves to be seen by the right people. Whether you’re looking to build authority through content, drive leads through contests, or boost visibility through targeted ads, HackerNoon has the tools to make it happen.
Start collaborating with HackerNoon today and get your brand the recognition it deserves.
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