What to do with your copy budget in 2026
Where oh where should this piglet go? [Photo by Fabian Blank on Unsplash]
April. Spring is springing, the sun is shining, and the pumpkin seeds are germinating in the polytunnel, causing me to screech with totally disproportionate excitement and demand my totally disinterested 3-year-old come and look.
April. I’m also compiling documents for my accountant and wincing at my bank statement after a financial year spent mostly baby rearing, rather than working. Eesh. Kids really cost you, eh? And not just work. Baby two has cost me some serious pigmentation, leaving me with badger-esque white streaks in my formerly strawberry blonde hair that I’m hoping look intentional.
But. But! Enough about me. While April draws the last financial year to a close and sends us all scurrying to scrabble together our receipts and calculate our mileage, it’s also the start of something new.
Over the next year, you might be launching new products, amping up your brand, or weathering out the storm(s) with your long-loyal customers. And whatever you’ve got planned, your budget is probably being squeezed too. So, being incredibly helpful and currently ill on my sofa, I’ve rounded up how and where to spend on copy to help you chase your 2026/27 dreams.
“Your customers are likely fed up, anxious, and more sceptical than ever — so your brand will need to be present and correct at every touchpoint to keep them on board.”
Want to retain your existing customers?
Holding on tight to your existing customers means pouring as much love and attention into your business as usual communications –which often get neglected – as you do your advertising. In fact, no: more. Give them everything you’ve got. Because right now, for a whole demoralising list of reasons, your customers are likely fed up, anxious, and more selective and sceptical than ever. So your brand will need to be present and correct at every touchpoint to keep them on board.
Customer letters, emails, push notifications and that sort of thing can be way more than run-of-the-mill info dumps; written right, they can be both compelling and empathetic missives that connect with customers, make them feel really valued, and remind them why they chose your brand in the first place. So if you’re looking to hold steady with your existing audiences and boost brand loyalty, you might think about:
Email copywriting for your customer service flows
Customer letter copywriting
Microcopy, like app push notifications and smallprint
Packaging copy – from delivery boxes to bags and tags
Trying to distinguish your brand from competitors?
Customers shop smarter than ever when they’re pinching pennies. If a brand loses its shine or a product isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, they won’t think twice about switching to something new – and they’ll need more reasons than ever to choose, or keep choosing, you.
You’d better polish up your brand, then. To do that, focus on your verbal brand and core messaging. When all of that’s true to what you do, and carefully designed to reach the people you really want to reach, you stand a much better chance of grabbing potential customers’ attention (and keeping the attention of those you already have). Depending on your budget, you could look into:
Tone of voice workshops, guidelines, and/or training
Brand story/proposition
Website copywriting
Conceptual copywriting and creative campaigns
“Thoughtful names, descriptions, packaging, and benefit messaging make all the difference when it comes to new product development.”
Planning a new product launch?
If you’re developing a new product or service you’ll obviously need a creative launch campaign, but make sure you get the basics right too. Thoughtful names, descriptions, packaging, and benefit messaging make all the difference when it comes to NPD (and, helpfully, I’m an expert in all the above).
And remember: a launch campaign doesn’t have to be a massive, multimedia, six-figure-plus investment. With a clever topline idea, you can run a high-impact creative campaign across things like social media and email marketing. I’m not a srategist, but I have a background in creative copywriting – so I can come up with your core idea and write cohesive copy for all your touchpoints, which you can then feed into your other agencies 💡
With a new product or service in the pipeline, put your copy budget into:
Product naming
Product description copywriting
Messaging hierarchy
Packaging copywriting
Conceptual copywriting and creative campaigns
“Before you decide how and where to invest in your copy, think about what you’re trying to achieve. That way, you can spend your budget more wisely on the things that really matter.”
Handling crises, complications, and objections?
Knowing how to talk to your customers when times are hard or things go wrong – for them, and for you – is incredibly important if you want to build relationships and protect your brand’s reputation. It always has been. But in times like these, when crisis follows crisis follows crisis, you really need to get it right.
Start by working out how sensitivity, transparency, and empathy fit into your brand’s voice; this isn’t as simple as just warming up your copy, and should be tailored to your brand and audience. It’d be worth revisiting your customer communications too, checking for anything that might feel tone deaf or insensitive. All in all, if you want to handle tricky situations better, invest in:
Tone of voice guidelines
Tone of voice training and consultation
Key message copywriting
Customer service email copywriting
Customer letter copywriting
To sum up: good copy is planned and purposeful, designed to help you do something (as well as sound great). So, before you decide how and where to invest in your copy, think about what you’re trying to achieve. That way, you can spend your budget more wisely on the things that really matter, and get stakeholder buy-in along the way.
And if there’s something I’ve not covered here? Tell me a bit more about what you’re trying to do, and I’ll help you make it happen. Or take a look at what I’ve helped other brands do too.
