State of marketing 2026: data from 1,500+ global marketers

In short: fundamental channels are still essential, but the approach has changed

The 2026 report reveals that the core marketing channels – social networks, e-mail, website and blog content – are more important than ever, but the rules have changed. Brands need to create more personalized content tailored to each channel to stand out . They also need to optimize their content for AI search.

Marketers have made huge strides in adopting AI, personalization and short video. Confidence is on the rise, but professionals still face challenges related to burn-out, demonstrating ROI and keeping up with platform evolutions.

The main marketing trends identified this year are :

1. Use AI to create personalized content (48.57%)
2. Harnessing automation (47.38%)
3. Create content that reflects brand values (46.84%)
4. Update SEO in line with developments in search (40.60%)
5. Reuse content across multiple channels (35.08%)

Major trends in digital marketing in 2026

1. Brands recalibrate their content for AI search

If 2025 was a year of panic about the impact of AI search on SEO, 2026 is a year of action. Updating search engine optimization (SEO) in line with developments on search is one of the major trends addressed this year (cited by 40.6% of marketers).

Half of all consumers now use AI-powered search engines by 2026, and half of all Google searches include an AI preview. Brands better understand what enables content to rank in answerengines , and adjust their content strategy accordingly. 70.2% of marketers believe they are able to adapt their strategy to changes in organic search.

Their survey shows that websites, blogs and SEO will remain the most popular and impactful channels in 2026, especially for B2B companies. The consumers will go further down the buying path before visiting your site, but with stronger intent. To maximize your visibility, discover our approach to content SEO and our digital content creation services.

2. Marketers’ confidence and adaptability to AI are on the rise

Here’s what the data reveal:

• 68.2% of marketers say they understand how to use AI in marketing, compared with 47% in 2025.
• 67.5% know how to measure the impact of AI, compared with 48% in 2025.
• 78% say they are able to keep up with new cultural trends.
• 69.2% say they use customer data effectively to create personalized experiences.
• 68.8% feel confident in following the new social networks and their functionalities.
• 68.4% believe they can pivot their marketing strategy in the face of major events.

“AI is a disruptive technology. And every time there’s a disruptive technology, it creates huge opportunities for experimentation.”

– Johann Wrede, CMO of UserTesting

3. AI-driven personalization boosts growth

The number one trend for marketers in 2026 is the use of AI to create personalized content. Nearly half of the marketers surveyed are currently exploring this avenue. 93.2% of them claim that personalized or segmented experiences have resulted in more leads and purchases.

The problem with custom content creation has always been resources and scale, but AI is changing that. Yet only 65% of marketers claim to have high-quality audience data, and only 12.6% of brands use hyper-personalization (such as behavior-based messaging or product recommendations).

“Consumers are looking for content that reflects who they are.”

– Susan Ganeshan, Emplifi CMO

4. Lead volume and quality are on the rise

Good news: generating quality leads just got easier. Admittedly, 30% of marketers still cite lead generation as a major challenge, but 55.7% believe that it’s easier to generate leads today than it was ten years ago.

Over the last 12 months, 24.5% saw their lead volume increase significantly and 50% saw a moderate increase. Quality has also improved: 93.8% of marketers say the quality of their leads has improved over the past year .

5. Marketers use AI for content creation, ad optimization and more

AI saturation is here: 86.4% of marketing teams say they use AI in at least some areas. Only 1.7% do not use AI and have no plans to do so. Here are the most common uses:

• Content creation (42.5% intensive use; 38% occasional use)
• Media creation (37.2% / 37.7%)
• Advertising automation and optimization (34.1% / 36.5%)
• Automation of administrative tasks (35.6% / 40.5%)
• Learning and skills development (34.6% / 40.1%)
• Brainstorming and ideation (33.9% / 39.8%)
• Strategic planning and forecasting (33.4% / 37.5%)

Concrete result: 26.5% say that AI has significantly increased their productivity, and 66.2% that it has slightly or moderately increased it. Around a third of teams save 10 to 14 hours a week thanks to AI, and another third more than 15 hours.

6. AI has a major impact – but should not replace humans

73.4% of marketers believe that AI works in concert with marketers, assisting them in the execution of most of their missions. In addition, 62.7% believe that more unique, human-centered content is needed to stand out from AI-generated content.

“The human in the loop is the most important part of any workflow involving AI. True creativity requires the human mind.”

– Johann Wrede, CMO of UserTesting

“You have to find ways to stand out by being unique, and the only way to do that is to bank on real words from real people.”

– Amy Kenly, VP Marketing, The Launch Box

7. Marketing budgets increase modestly in 2026

79.2% of marketing teams anticipate at least a slight increase in their budget in 2026 compared to 2025, and 21.2% anticipate a significant increase. Only 6% expect a reduction. Budgets remain under scrutiny, however: 73% say that their budgets are under closer scrutiny than before.

Here’s where marketers plan to increase their investments:

• AI chatbots such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude (37.7%)
• Paid social networks (37.4%)
• Video marketing (37.1%)
• Content marketing (36.9%)
• Website / blog / SEO (35.4%)

And where they plan to cut spending:

• Physical advertising (billboards, posters) – 23.3
• Direct marketing (21.6%)
• Print advertising (21.4%)

8. Social networks reign supreme

Social networks are the mainstay of marketing in 2026, right behind the website / blog / SEO. Organic content is used by 40.3% of brands, and paid social content by 39.4%. Social networks dominate three of the five most impactful channels:

• Paid social content (25.9%)
• Organic content on social networks (23.5%)
• Social shopping tools (22.7%)

If you want to strengthen your presence on the networks, discover our Instagram agency, Facebook agency orLinkedIn agency services in Brussels.

9. Instagram overtakes Facebook as the number 1 social platform for brands

For the first time, Instagram has overtaken Facebook as the platform most used by brands (70% vs. 69.6%). Instagram also outperforms Facebook in terms of perceived ROI (48% vs. 42.7%). Its capabilities in short video, social commerce, influencer marketing and visual storytelling make it a preferred choice.

10. More brands use TikTok than X (ex-Twitter)

54.5% of brands use TikTok as their marketing platform, versus 55.8% for X. TikTok also outperformed X in ROI perception (32% vs. 31.3%). Revealing fact: almost twice as many marketers plan to increase their investments on TikTok than on X in 2026.

11. Short video is the best investment of 2026

Visual formats dominate, but one format outperforms all others in terms of ROI:

1. Short video (48.6%)
2. Long-form video (28.6%)
3. Live video (25.1%)
4. User-generated content (24%)
5. Blog posts (22.3%)

This domination applies to B2C, B2B and associations. AI tools make video production faster and more accessible. To produce professional short videos, our video production studio in Brussels supports brands from A to Z.

12. Content adapted to each channel performs better

49.4% of teams reuse the same content on all platforms, while 39.5% adapt content to each platform. This adaptation – whether it involves resizing an image or completely reworking the message – is essential to meeting the expectations of audiences specific to each channel.

“Approach each channel by asking yourself: who is the audience on this channel? What behavior do I want her to adopt? And how will I measure success?”

– Susan Ganeshan, Emplifi CMO

13. Influencer marketing is impactful, but under-utilized

Only 21.2% of brands claim to use influencer marketing (23.6% in B2C vs. 18.6% in B2B), despite its proven ROI. Micro-influencers are the most profitable according to 32.4% of respondents, ahead of macro-influencers (30.2%) and mega-influencers (13.1%).

Case in point: Bitly‘s CMO, Tara Robertson, saw 5x more impressions and video views, 6x more engagement and 82% growth in subscribers thanks to a campaign with micro-influencers.

14. Data remains a major challenge

Obtaining clean customer data remains a challenge. The main obstacles cited are :

• Adopt a data-driven marketing strategy (19.5%)
• Share data within the organization (12.4%)
• Lack of high-quality data (9.2%)

The main data sources available to marketers are :

• First-party sources (web/app analytics, CRM, transactional data)
• Third-party sources (data management platforms), increasingly restricted by privacy laws
• User research (surveys, interviews, focus groups)
• Zero-party sources (preference centers, explicit opt-ins)

15. Brands assert their values

Almost half of marketers (46.8%) are exploring how to integrate brand values into their communications in 2026. While 75% of marketers claim that their brand has a clear understanding of its values, only 23.9% are firmly convinced. Validation through customer surveys, engagement metrics and A/B testing remains essential.

16. Marketing teams under pressure to prove ROI

The number one challenge for marketers in 2026 is to measure marketing ROI, cited by 33% of respondents. In addition, 37.9% believe that their management considers marketing to be less important than before. 83.5% of marketers say they are expected to a higher volume of content thanks to AI.

17. Burn-out threatens teams

70% of marketers believe that marketing has changed more in the last three years than in the previous 50. The figures speak for themselves: 25.7% said their workload had increased significantly over the past year, 47.4% said it had increased moderately. Less than 5% reported a decrease.

18. The skills marketing teams will need in 2026

While the overall workforce remains stable, the skills required are changing. Finding candidates with the right skills is the main challenge facing recruiters this year. Three skills are emerging as priorities:

1. Automation and AI prompting

Every marketing manager interviewed is looking for AI skills or, at the very least, a genuine curiosity about the subject. The future of the junior marketing role will look more like prompt engineering and AI management than a traditional fulfillment position.

2. Cross-functional communication within the organization

Knowing how to share results, present to management and defend a budget are essential skills to progress in marketing.

3. Data and analytics

“Being comfortable with data and analytics is imperative. You can’t get into today’s marketing world without these skills,” explains Amy Kenly of The Launch Box.

FAQs on digital marketing trends

Which digital marketing trend to prioritize first?

Start with AI-assisted content creation and workflow automation. 86.4% of marketers are already using AI tools, particularly for content creation and media. Automate repetitive tasks first, then gradually extend to strategy and reporting.

What budget should you allocate to AI marketing tools?

Allocate 5-10% of your total marketing budget to AI tools initially, then adjust according to measured ROI. HubSpot data shows that marketers who automate their content and analytics report greater efficiency and faster campaign execution.

What’s the difference between marketing automation and AI?

Marketing automation executes predefined workflows (e.g., for a specific product). drip campaigns, e-mail sequences). Artificial intelligence adapts and learns (e.g. lead score prediction, dynamic personalization). Automation is the engine; AI is the pilot, guiding smarter actions over time.

How do you measure the ROI of influencer marketing?

Define measurable objectives (impressions, engagement, conversions, subscriber growth) and link the results to your CRM. Use tracking links and CRM integrations to attribute influencer content to concrete business results. Micro-influencers (less than 100,000 subscribers) generally offer the best ROI.

Which social platform offers the best ROI in B2B vs. B2C?

In B2C: Instagram and Facebook dominate (47.4% each), followed by YouTube (43.9%) and TikTok (35.2%). In B2B: Instagram (48.4%), YouTube (40.5%), Facebook (36.9%) and X/Twitter (31.3%) are the most cited. For your B2B strategy, our LinkedIn agency services can help you maximize your impact.

What does the future hold for digital marketing after 2026?

The next chapter in marketing will revolve around hyper-personalization and AI: personalized web experiences, dynamically generated content, and zero-party data where customers voluntarily exchange their information for tangible benefits. The brands that combine human creativity and machine intelligence will come out on top.

How are marketers using AI?

According to the 2026 report, the main intensive uses are: content creation (42.5%), media creation (37.2%) and automation of administrative tasks (35.6%).

What are the main challenges facing marketing today?

The most cited challenges are: measuring the ROI of marketing activities (33%), keeping up with the latest trends and new features (29.8%), generating leads (29.6%) and aligning marketing and sales teams (27.6%).

How can I maintain the skills of my marketing team in 2026?

Invest in training in analytics, AI, cross-functional communication and authentic human storytelling. These are the four pillars of the most sought-after profiles this year.

How can I optimize my content strategy for AEO (Answer Engine Optimization)?

Answer users’ questions directly in conversational language, create structured, easily readable content, and leverage your niche expertise to demonstrate your authority. See also our guide to for concrete best practices.

And now: your marketing action plan

Today’s marketing landscape demands both strategic vision and tactical agility. This report covers eighteen major trends, not all of which require immediate action .

Start by auditing your current capabilities in the face of these trends, identify two or three that match your audience and resources, test their impact via pilot projects before investing heavily, then measure the results and build on what works.

The winners of 2026 will not be those who chase every trend, but those who intelligently integrate the right innovations into their specific context. If you’d like to accelerate your video and podcast content strategy, our StreamBox team is ready to help.