Happy Sunday!

If you’re reading this, I hope you’ve had an enjoyable holiday period so far — full of food, good sleep and revenue. I was going to write about new channels, tactics, and softwares I’m excited to test in 2026, but I realized it’s the Sunday between Christmas and New Year’s, so let me help you cross something off your to-do list instead.

With today’s email, I wanted to list out 26 things you can do to prep for an even bigger Q4 in 2026. Whatever you think you can improve, copy it below, send it to the appropriate person on your team, and boom... you can cross something off your list. But, before we get into that...

Vendor of the Week

Ahrefs’ Brand Radar — the easiest way to know where your brand shows up across AI answers, chats, videos and Reddit.

AI is quietly becoming the new front door for discovery.

Your next customer isn’t just Googling “best collagen” or “best running shoes” anymore, they’re asking AI assistants for recommendations, watching creator roundups, and scanning Reddit threads… and most brands have no visibility into when/how/where they show up.

Well, until Ahrefs’ Brand Radar came around. It’s powered by an AI visibility database built from millions of real prompts across six major AI platforms, and it helps you measure the signals that actually shape modern awareness.

With Ahrefs’ Brand Radar, you can:

  • Track AI visibility / AI SOV — how AI assistants and LLMs position your brand.
  • Measure branded search demand to understand awareness + growth.
  • See brand mentions across the web to find the organic conversations driving discovery.

If you’re serious about turning SEO into AEO (answer engine optimization) and getting ahead of competitors, this is worth a look.

Check out Ahrefs Brand Radar here!

26 “Things” to Prepare for Q4 2026

Just like the headline says, while you should take a minute to breathe after this Q4, don’t lose sight of what is important... Q4 2026. Some of these things may already be on your to-do list, some you maybe didn’t think of yet, and some will inspire another idea more closely related to your brand. If you have any questions on any of the points, you can reply to this email and I’ll hit you back.

Ok, well... it’s time to start prepping — here are 26 things you can work on for Q4 2026:

  1. Redesign your shop section. On your website, whether it’s on your homepage or PDP, make this section work harder for you. Think about merchandising, bundling, variant selection, and how to make it all easier/more obvious.
  2. Audit your creative analysis process. Do you have someone doing this manually? You shouldn’t now — it should be an AI agent. How often do you look at creative performance? Does the current process work? Do you need more/fewer people in it? 
  3. Audit your creative production process. Are you generating creative fast enough? Does it take too long to go from concept to testing? Do your designers/editors create with data in mind? (Hint: most don’t).
  4. Build a new creative process/workflow. If you feel you don’t have a strong-enough, or well-rounded creative pipeline (statics, videos, AI, UGC, etc.), then build it out. Leverage agencies (like Lunar Solar Group), contractors/freelancers, creators, or hire internally.
  5. Clean out your affiliate program. If you’ve had an affiliate program half-managed at your brand (don’t worry, this is the case with 99% of brands), then go into your affiliate platform and clean it out. This means (1) remove all coupon/discount websites that are pushing out your WELCOME code and trying to get 10% of revenue; and (2) make specific rules against allowing affiliates to advertise.
  6. Focus on your affiliate program. Whether it’s through agencies (like Paul Street) or having someone internally, get into those PR listicles/round-ups/features, AMEX/Chase CC portals with offers, and global CPA-style affiliate deals. If you’re going to build this, do it right, otherwise it’s a waste of time.
  7. New media channels. Pinterest. AppLovin. Snap. Connected or Linear TV. Podcasts. Reddit. If you haven’t tested it PROPERLY (meaning platform-specific creative, landing pages, offers, etc.), then use the first 2 quarters of 2026 to test into a new channel (or 2, depending on your spend levels). Now is the time to do that.
  8. New creative formats. Whether it’s testing new styles of statics, use better DPA creative (like Marpipe), leveraging AI (using Nano Banana), or learning to work with TikTok creators for better content, it’s important to try a variety of different creative formats or styles. Some may argue that it’s not “On brand” to which I respond — sometimes net-NEW creative formats is HOW you get into new audience groups to even have the opportunity to try and sell your product. Get off your high horse.
  9. AEO/GEO. This stands for “Answer Engine Optimization” or “Generative Engine Optimization”. Essentially this means making sure you show up, read well, and have the right information when people ask AI models (ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Grok, etc) about your product. One of my clients recently started ranking with their product as the answer to, “I’m currently pregnant what will help with bloating?” to “What supplements help with bloating if you’re pregnant?” (shoutout to MentionStack). You can track your rankings with SaaS tools (like Ahrefs or AthenaHQ), and use GA to understand your LLM traffic.
  10. Clipping. A top-of-funnel (TOF) channel that doesn’t get much attention (yet... typical). Gambling sites used it first. All the big performance marketing DTC brands are spending on it now, and in the next two years, everyone else will catch up. You’ve seen AI-generated content on social, or even slideshows that feel organic but plug products... those are all “Clippers” (basically, creators/editors/content people) who are coming up with more ways to talk about your product on social, in ways people wanna consume, then posting it. They get paid based on views, so they continue to post and earn views (and, in turn, money). Agencies (like Zagged) are usually the best place to start with this strategy.
  11. Get tighter with first-party data + data enrichment. Whether you’re bridging online/offline data, analyzing subscribers, learning occupation/income/interests (with OuterSignal), or pulling emails for anonymous site visitors (with Instant)... GET WITH THE PROGRAM! It’s almost 2026 now, and you’re still operating with minimal data. To not supercharge everything data-related in 2026 is like opting to fly a propeller plane instead of a spaceship, except it’s very easy to build the spaceship here.
  12. Clinical trials. If you sell a product where you can run clinical trials (skincare, haircare, shower head, supplements, etc.), then do it. It makes an overnight difference in your ad performance and (as long as your product works), it ONLY benefits you. Brands will spend $700k/month in ads, but not on a clinical trial.
  13. Find higher forms of social proof. Reviews, influencer videos, publisher/editor quotes and TikTok’s from customers are all great forms of social proof to make sure you have on your site. In addition, try things like industry expert quotes, doctor reviews (like FrontRow MD) and lab-testing random batches (with LightLabs). All these, similar to clinical trials, are only things that GREAT products can do, it immediately puts you in the top 5% of brands.
  14. Try a licensing deal. Especially if you are a low-SKU brand, you know that a new product launch is one of your best levers is launching new products or new flavors... however, you can also license IP and put it on your product. I’ve seen it with bracelets, tumblers, blankets, neck pillows, electrolyte powders, sparkling water, and more. Find a partner (media company with IP, iconic/nostalgic brand, creator, etc) and show them why you can sell units and how they’ll make good money off a revenue-share. It’s that simple and straight-forward. The hardest part is finding the right contact to pitch the idea.
  15. Crossposting short-form content. This is an easy one. If you have a lot of success on channels like Instagram Reels or TikTok, you should be cross-posting them as well. With Instagram, you can push content out as a Trial Reel (your social media person will know what this is), which gives you the opportunity to post stuff and test it, without it going to existing followers. If you have any success on either platform, then ALSO take that and put it on YouTube Shorts. I have seen brands generate tens of millions of views off YouTube Shorts.
  16. Fix your social bios and profiles. Across everything (Facebook, Instagram, X, Pinterest, TikTok, Snap, Reddit), audit your bios, link in bios, highlights, any offers/promotions, and make sure it all feels consistent, cohesive, and has similar messaging. There’s a very good chance you created some of these accounts when launching the brand, but then never touched or updated them.
  17. Audit your 3PL bill. Are you getting charged the tourist prices by 3PLs? Unfortunately you probably are. You’re likely overpaying for storage, pick/pack, and actual shipping. If you’re shipping with UPS or FedEx, or still paying UPS/FedEx prices and using a different carrier, you need to seriously audit your 3PL costs. Swishables (who was on Limited Supply) switched to Tondo Fulfillment and saved 40% overnight with a different shipping carrier they were plugged into. Do not let yourself overpay here, it’s crazy how many brands do end up overpaying because their 3PL is a blackbox/walled garden.
  18. Build a better subscriber cancellation flow. Yes, think about the platform itself and optimizing that flow to minimize how many people do end up unsubscribing, but also think about how you can better leverage a custom audience on Meta, email, SMS, and direct mail to get them back. Create and test specific offers, just meant to re-engage past subscribers. The more your business ages, the more important it is to focus on this little arm of your customer segment.
  19. Build some AI agents. They don’t have to do anything that serious, but you should learn how to build agents that can do things for you once, or on a repeated basis. You can do it easily with ChatGPT and build a purpose for individual chats. You can also get complex and leverage a tool like N8N and incorporate data pulls from multiple sources, AI and a Zapier-like interface. You don’t want to be left behind with AI innovation.
  20. Put up an offer. All the top brands run an offer. Brands with fewer SKUs tend to create a bundle, sometimes with free gifts with purchase, sometimes with a digital app subscription, or sometimes with just a discount. If you don’t have a new customer acquisition offer you run, this is your sign to do IT. Pack it with value.
  21. Optimize for the thumb-radius. When you hold your iPhone (assuming you’re right-handed), you can see how far your thumb is able to easily reach. For all your CTAs, variant selection, review-swiping, and more, it needs to be easily done in that little corner radius. You should always strive to design in a way that makes your customers life easier.
  22. Audit your Shopify apps + SaaS. Do you really need to be paying 3x the market-rate price for reviews or loyalty or a back-in-stock app? Probably not. Use the first 2 quarters of 2026 to see where you can save. I did this exercise recently for a brand and we found savings when switching to (a better) product for: reviews, review syndication, loyalty, SMS, influencer database/CRM, and A/B site testing. Saved close to $70k/year for a few hours of work.
  23. Shoot some founder video content. This is low-hanging fruit content. The founders knows the product best, can talk about it for hours with no script, and will always be the best sales person. Get this person in front of their iPhone camera ASAP, hit record, and cut those into ads. If you commit to trying 28 founder videos, I promise you will find a repeatable, scaling format.
  24. Whitelisting. I can’t believe I’m even putting this on the list, I’ve been screaming about whitelisting for the last 8 (almost 9) years now and brands are still hesitant to try it. Why? I have no idea. Whether you do it with advertorials, creators, meme pages, or even just the founder’s own Instagram, try it. If any of these pages are verified, you’ll have EVEN better results.
  25. Build an influencer feedback loop. I learned this from SEPHORA. Every so often (either every quarter, or 6 months), they have a 30 minute Zoom with their influencers and understand what the influencer’s own followers have been asking for, wanting to see more of, etc. This gives SEPHORA key insights into where trends are going, well before they are already trending. 
  26. Run retail shopper network ads. If you haven’t tried running ads for retail shopper networks, Target, Walmart, Albertsons, Instacart... these are all untapped ad networks for most brands. 

What else would you add to the list? Reply with it cause I’d love to know!

That's all for this week

I know today’s a weird weekend... yesterday didn’t feel like a true Saturday and today feels weird too. Right in the middle of two big holidays, Q5, the “Sunday Scaries” of 2026 are approaching... but I hope today’s email was valuable.

It’s Sunday night, and regardless of your work schedule, I highly encourage you to get 9 hours of sleep and let your mind reset. If you track your sleep (with Eight Sleep or Whoop), you should see what 9 hours does to your quality of sleep and recovery — it’s magical.

I’ll see you next Sunday. Happy New Year. Let’s all win even more in 2026.