9 Top Marketing Trends of 2026

Key takeaways

• Some of the top marketing trends include utilizing artificial intelligence, short-form video content, and user-generated content.

• Digital marketing trends consist of increasing visibility on social platforms, such as TikTok and YouTube.

• Marketing trends are important to be aware of because they can inform your strategies to better meet consumers where they are and increase brand recognition.

Marketing trends are valuable, offering insights that you can use to influence your marketing plans. Learn about popular marketing trends that you can start implementing today.

If you’re ready to begin building your marketing skills, enroll in the Google Digital Marketing & E-commerce Professional Certificate. This beginner-friendly program offers an opportunity to learn in-demand skills in areas such as search engine optimization, social media marketing, data storytelling, and more.

Why are marketing trends important?

Because marketing is so closely tied to consumer behavior, no matter what area of marketing you specialize in, the effectiveness of your campaigns is susceptible to cultural ebbs and flows. To optimize your marketing plan for the modern consumer, it can be important to incorporate some trendier elements into your marketing strategy alongside the more tried-and-true efforts. Remember to keep your unique consumer base in mind because not all trends will necessarily translate across all audiences.

What are the marketing trends of 2026? Digital marketing trends to help you formulate marketing strategies

To identify the top marketing trends, we researched a range of marketing reports and studies across several areas of marketing. Trends worth keeping in mind as you develop your marketing plans are:

1. Artificial intelligence (AI) is boosting effectiveness and efficiency.

2. Short-form video content, like TikTok, is driving social strategy.

3. User-generated content (UGC) is increasing brand awareness.

4. Community efforts and genuine branding encourage consumer trust.

5. Quality editorial content persists.

6. Case studies continue to drive brand recognition and sales lead generation.

7. Search engine changes are shifting search engine optimization (SEO) strategies.

8. AI-powered chatbots are expanding conversational capabilities.

9. Personalization is enhancing the user experience.

Let’s take a closer look at these trends and the data that informs them.

1. AI boosts effectiveness and efficiency.

AI advancements have made a big impact on marketing. According to HubSpot’s State of Marketing Report 2026, 80 percent of marketers reported using AI for content creation, with 68 percent of teams stating that the time they save frees them to focus on strategy for connecting with their customer base [1]. What’s more, consulting firm Gartner predicts that agentic AI will take over many customer engagement tasks, making marketing roles more focused on supervising these types of systems, with 60 percent of companies using it by 2028 [2].

Two areas where AI frequently appears in marketing workflows are content production and marketing analytics.

GenAI for content production

Many marketers use generative AI (GenAI) across different stages of content creation. According to Adobe’s 2026 AI and Digital Trends report, 89 percent of organizations have the necessary technology in place to support the use of GenAI, with 63 percent believing it will give employees more time to spend on more creative and strategic work [3].

You can use GenAI tools like ChatGPT or Google Gemini to generate content ideas, build briefs and outlines, draft content, or even write complete pieces.

• Build key GenAI skills with DeepLearning.AI’s Generative AI for Everyone course. In about six hours, you’ll learn how GenAI works, what it can be used for, and how to start incorporating this technology into your workflow.

Using AI for marketing analytics

Data-driven marketing isn’t a new trend, but the way marketers get their data is changing, thanks to AI. According to The Work Innovation Lab and Anthropic’s The State of AI at Work report, 30 percent of workers use generative AI for data analysis [4].

With AI driving your analytics, you can learn about your target audience, identify trends, predict behaviors, and optimize your marketing campaigns faster and more accurately than you may have without AI assistance.

2. Short-form video content drives social strategy.

As marketers increasingly target digital-first generations, they’re meeting them where they are: scrolling short-form videos on TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram. According to the 2026 HubSpot report, 75 percent of marketers use AI for media production [1].

• Develop foundational TikTok skills with Aptly’s Marketing with TikTok Specialization.

3. UGC increases brand awareness.

User-generated content (UGC) is any type of content that users post about your product on their social media profiles. The content itself may be similar to the type of content you’d see influencers or affiliate partners posting, but unlike those posts, businesses don’t work directly with the users to sponsor or produce the content. It’s more like word-of-mouth marketing, where users create content and share it with their audiences, and then businesses can leverage that content through tactics like social sharing or giveaways.

Traditional influencer marketing and affiliate marketing programs continue to have a place in marketing strategy, but marketing professionals are also increasingly relying on UGC as a cost-effective way of promoting brand awareness in a way that feels organic to the typical viewer. According to Gartner, over 80 percent of consumers believe that UGC improves product discovery, brand trust, and experience [5].

• Build important social media marketing skills with the Adobe Social and Multimedia Content Creation Specialization. Here, you’ll learn how to create an authentic brand across various social media platforms and build effective social media campaigns.

4. Community efforts and genuine branding encourage consumer trust.

According to Gartner [5], authenticity is the third-highest value US consumers identify with, and nurturing a genuine brand voice will become increasingly important as AI-generated content becomes more prevalent in online spaces. The modern marketer’s response: lean into emotional connections with community-building efforts. Many marketers agree that community building is key to customer retention, building trust and loyalty over time.

• Learn how to build strong brands with the University of London’s top-rated Brand Management: Aligning Business, Brand and Behaviour course.

5. Quality editorial content persists.

Marketers will continue to invest in editorial content, like blog posts and podcasts, to generate engagement, support conversions, and promote thought leadership. 55 percent of Americans listen to podcasts monthly, creating an effective avenue for companies to build their brand and find new customers [6].

• Gain in-demand digital marketing skills with the Google Digital Marketing & E-commerce Professional Certificate. You’ll explore the fundamentals of digital marketing, ground your performance with analytics, and learn about various marketing channels.

6. Case studies drive brand recognition and sales leads.

More traditional content marketing, like case studies, is typically used to increase brand recognition and drive lead generation, particularly for B2B marketing. In 2026, case studies will continue to show up in marketing strategies. In a 2025 Content Marketing Institute study, 75 percent of B2B marketers reported using case studies and customer stories in the past 12 months, with 53 percent stating that customer stories helped them get effective results [7].

Read more: What Is Brand Management?

7. Search engine changes shift SEO strategies.

With AI-powered enhancements to popular search engines, Gartner predicts that brands will see a 50 percent decrease in organic search traffic to their websites by 2028 [5]. Despite the shifting landscape, the State of SEO in 2025 research report by Conductor found that 91 percent of respondents reported that SEO adoption had a positive impact on their website performance and marketing initiatives [8].

In addition to evolving historical strategies, SEO teams are increasingly expanding into video, image, and, in some cases, audio search content, aiming to prioritize a delightful customer experience while capitalizing on all aspects of Google and Bing’s latest developments.

• Learn about the importance of SEO with the University of California, Davis’ Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Specialization. By the end of the program, you’ll understand SEO fundamentals, how to optimize your website, and some advanced tactics.

8. AI-powered chatbots expand conversational capabilities.

Chatbots and virtual assistants are providing consumers with high-quality answers to common or easily answered questions. With advancements in AI and natural language processing (NLP) technologies, it’s becoming easier for marketers to program and use these tools to increase efficiency without disrupting customer satisfaction. Grand View Research projects that the global chatbot market will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.6 percent from 2026 to 2033, driven by the increased adoption of AI and machine learning [9].

• Learn how to build your own chatbot with IBM’s Building AI Powered Chatbots Without Programming.

9. Personalization enhances user experience.

AI is also enabling personalized experiences. Machine learning product recommendations or immersive experiences, like augmented reality (AR) features that allow users to “view” physical products in their space, tap into individual consumer preferences to unlock data-driven purchase decisions, and increase customer satisfaction.

Still, this is an emerging digital marketing trend. Adobe notes that 80 percent of respondents view AI as a critical tool for providing personalized recommendations that anticipate customers’ needs, and 56 percent intend to use AI to deliver more personalized customer experiences. At the same time, only 39 percent of respondents had the unified data necessary to maximize their insights [3].

• Advance your marketing AI skills with the Generative AI for Marketers Specialization, where you'll discover how to leverage AI to understand your customers better.

Data collection and privacy policies shift targeting strategies

Alongside the interest in personalization, digital marketers are keenly aware of changing data collection and privacy policies that stand to change the way they learn about their audience. As Apple and Google phase out third-party cookies, businesses are exploring first-party data collection methods.

• Learn more about data privacy with Northeastern University’s Data Privacy Fundamentals course.

How do you find marketing trends?

To stay up-to-date with the latest marketing trends, consider following online and print news and media sources relevant to marketing, such as Apple News+ and Forbes. Reading journal and magazine publications, such as those by the American Marketing Association and Ad Age, can also be a great way to identify new perspectives in the marketing industry and understand the latest trends in depth. Blogs and discussion boards on Reddit or LinkedIn also provide easily accessible options for discovering new marketing trends and gaining insights from a consumer’s perspective. You can also change your Google Alerts settings to receive notifications whenever new content related to a topic of your choice becomes available.

Explore our free marketing resources

Subscribe to our weekly LinkedIn newsletter, Career Chat, for updates on in-demand skills, popular tools, and certifications. Then, check out some of our other free resources to keep learning more about marketing.

• Watch on YouTube: How Marketers Use ChatGPT to Boost Results

• Take the quiz: Which Digital Marketing Course Should You Take? Find Out in 1 Minute

• Study key terminology: Marketing Terms: A to Z Glossary

Whether you want to develop a new skill, get comfortable with an in-demand technology, or advance your abilities, keep growing with a Coursera Plus subscription. You’ll get access to over 10,000 flexible courses.