2026 Marketing Trends: The Good, The New and What’s Changing

By Olivia Hyatt, VP of Strategy, Flock and Rally

If 2025 taught us anything, it’s that change is happening faster than ever — especially in marketing. As our CEO, Merritt McNeely, recently shared, the way people discover information, build credibility and earn trust keeps evolving. New tools, new platforms and new expectations are changing how brands show up — and how audiences decide what to believe, follow and buy into.

Over the past year, we’ve been learning right alongside our clients. We’ve tested new approaches, sharpened our strategy and stayed focused on what still matters: data-driven thinking, impactful storytelling and real human connection. Heading into 2026, those values haven’t changed. But how we put them into practice keeps shifting. The goal isn’t to chase every new tool: it’s to use the right ones well, protect trust and create strategies that actually connect the dots.

Here are a few trends we’re watching as we head into 2026.

Short-Form Streaming and Audio Are Having a Moment

Streaming ads and podcasts aren’t side experiments anymore – they’re becoming part of the main mix. Audiences are shifting away from traditional broadcast and consuming more content across connected TVs, mobile devices and audio platforms. They’re listening on their own schedules, and brands are following them there.

One small but telling shift we’ve noticed: podcasts are starting to show up in places once reserved for movies and TV shows. Platforms like Netflix are surfacing podcast content alongside series and films, signaling that podcasts now belong on the same stage as traditional entertainment. As podcasts continue to move toward video, they’re becoming more visible, immersive and part of how people watch — not just listen.

Short video continues to perform best, especially in the 15-30 second range. And those first few seconds really matter. If your message doesn’t land quickly, people move on.

Social Platforms Are Giving Users More Control Over What They See

Instagram recently introduced AI-powered tools that allow users to see and adjust the topics shaping their feed. This added transparency and a “behind-the-curtain” look gives users more influence over what content appears, signaling a shift toward more personalized and user-directed discovery. 

It’s a big shift. Instead of everything happening behind the scenes, users now have more say in what content they get served.

Search Is Getting More Competitive 

More brands are investing in paid search to capture high-intent audiences, with an increase in the competition space. At the same time, platforms like Google are leaning harder into automation. Performance Max (PMax) now places ads across Maps, Gmail, YouTube and Waze (yes, your favorite travel app), while Demand Gen continues to shape how ads get distributed. Automation can make campaigns more efficient, but it also means creative quality and clear goals matter even more. 

And search visibility isn’t driven by paid ads alone anymore. Earned media, brand credibility and third-party coverage all play a growing role in how brands show up in search results and AI-driven answers.

2026 Is Shaping Up to Be the Year of the Newsletter

Email is having a real moment, but not in the traditional “email marketing” sense. According to the Wall Street Journal, musicians, writers, journalists, comedians and brands are launching direct-to-consumer newsletters to build closer relationships with their audiences. Platforms like Substack and Beehiiv saw major growth in 2025, signaling strong demand for more personal, trusted content.

People are looking for voices they trust — not just endless doom scrolling through crowded feeds. Newsletters give brands a way to show up consistently, share deeper thinking and actually own their audience instead of renting attention from algorithms.

What We’re Taking Into 2026

As platforms automate more and attention keeps shifting, the brands that win in 2026 will be the ones that stay focused on people first. That means being clear about who you’re talking to, showing up consistently and using technology like AI as a tool — not a shortcut.

Staying curious, staying human and building what’s next continues to guide how we create excellence and navigate what’s ahead. Want to keep this conversation going? We love partnering with organizations that want to make an impact. If this sounds like you, let’s talk.