The channels will keep changing. The winners will be the brands that pair imagination + insight + intelligence—and build marketing that actually makes it better.
Every year, marketing gets more complex. 2026 won’t be different—except for one thing:
The “middle” is collapsing. Discovery, consideration, and conversion are increasingly happening in fewer steps—often before someone ever clicks a website, and often inside platforms that don’t share clean data back.
At Braintrust, we live at the intersection of brand, PR, social, digital media, and web—because that’s what it takes to win now.
Below are our 10 most actionable predictions for 2026, plus the moves we’re advising brands to make (especially in travel, hospitality, attractions, retail, and community-driven work).
1) Zero-click journeys will be the default, not the exception
AI summaries and in-platform results are pulling attention “upstream.” If your strategy is still built around “earn the click,” 2026 will feel like a slow leak in performance.
What to do in 2026
- Build “answer-first” content (clear POVs, FAQs, itineraries, comparisons, local guides)
- Structure it so it’s easy to extract (headings, summaries, schema where relevant)
- Shift your KPI mindset: track share of discovery (visibility) + share of demand (branded search, direct traffic, email/SMS growth)
Signals: measurable CTR drop has been reported when AI Overviews appear, and the feature is facing regulatory scrutiny/complaints—meaning it’s becoming a durable part of the ecosystem. Digital Content Next+1
2) Search becomes multimodal, and “assets” beat “keywords”
Text-only thinking is outdated. People search with images, video, and conversational prompts—and platforms respond with blended answers.
What to do in 2026
- Treat SEO + paid search as an asset supply chain
- Build a consistent library: short video, creator-style explainers, visuals, FAQs, landing pages designed for fast answers
- Align PR + social with search: publish the things people will ask AI about your category
Signal: Google’s 2026 predictions highlight conversational/multimodal behavior and advise building a rich ecosystem of helpful content. Google Business
3) Retail media becomes “the new shelf,” and the shelf is getting expensive
Retail media is growing—and concentrating. If your retail strategy is “set and forget,” your CAC will climb while your impact gets harder to prove.
What to do in 2026
- Fix fundamentals: feeds, PDPs, creative variations, review strategy
- Separate “defense” (brand capture) from “offense” (incremental growth)
- Measure incrementality with disciplined testing, not platform-only reporting
Signal: EMARKETER forecasts US retail media spend at $69.33B in 2026, with Amazon + Walmart capturing the bulk of incremental dollars. EMARKETER
4) CTV keeps growing—but measurement is the make-or-break
CTV is attractive because it scales attention. It’s dangerous because measurement can become a story marketers tell themselves.
What to do in 2026
- Use CTV where it’s strongest: awareness + consideration + retargeting lift
- Demand measurement clarity: deduped reach, frequency control, and outcome proxies you trust
- Pair with experiments (geo tests, holdouts) to validate lift
Signal: IAB projected strong CTV growth while noting cross-platform measurement remains a primary buyer concern. iab.com+1
5) AI automates media buying; creative becomes the performance lever
Buying gets more automated. Targeting gets more automated. That means creative and strategy become the real differentiator.
What to do in 2026
- Build a creative testing system (volume + speed + learning)
- Put brand guardrails into your GenAI workflow (tone, claims, approvals)
- Invest in “taste”: art direction, copy, cultural fluency, creator partnerships
Signals: IAB reports widespread GenAI adoption in planning/activation and a push for human oversight; Meta is rapidly expanding GenAI ad tools and pursuing deeper automation. PR Newswire+2EMARKETER+2
6) Privacy keeps tightening in practice, even if cookies didn’t disappear
Chrome stepping back from cookie deprecation doesn’t rewind the direction of travel: user choice, regulation, and platform walls are shaping what’s measurable.
What to do in 2026
- Build first-party strategy around value exchange (loyalty, membership, perks, content)
- Audit tracking and data quality (you can’t optimize what you can’t trust)
- Use clean-room-style approaches where appropriate and push for better cross-channel truths
Signal: Google has publicly scrapped its planned approach to third-party cookie deprecation in Chrome, but the broader measurement pressures remain. The Verge+1
7) MMM + incrementality testing becomes the adult in the room
The smartest marketers will stop treating attribution as religion. The goal is confidence, not perfection.
What to do in 2026
- Use MMM to guide budget directionally
- Use experiments to validate causality
- Use platform reporting for speed, not final truth
Signal: IAB explicitly cites renewed MMM focus and ongoing concerns around deduplication, incrementality, and streaming measurement. PR Newswire
8) Creator marketing becomes a “must-buy” channel, but it needs operational maturity
Creators aren’t just distribution—they’re trust, culture, and conversion.
What to do in 2026
- Run creators like a channel: portfolio approach, content calendar, reuse rights, paid amplification
- Optimize for “believability,” not polish
- Tie creator output to outcomes: site actions, bookings, sales lift, list growth
Signals: IAB forecasts creator economy spend reaching $37B in 2025; WARC flags creator investment as a key 2026 planning dynamic. iab.com+1
9) Messaging becomes the conversion layer (especially for hospitality + experiences)
As platforms steer behavior toward messaging and conversational interactions, brands that operationalize chat will win more bookings and retain more customers.
What to do in 2026
- Build click-to-message journeys with clear scripts + offers
- Treat chat like a funnel: response time, qualification, booking, upsell, retention
- Connect chat to CRM so it’s measurable and repeatable
Signals: WhatsApp is introducing ads in the Updates tab, and Meta continues emphasizing click-to-message as a growth driver—strong indicators that conversational journeys will expand. AP News+1
10) Consumers will pay for “present wellbeing”—brands must sell the now
People want smaller, immediate wins and experiences that feel rewarding in the present, not just aspirational in the future.
What to do in 2026
- Break offers into “today” and “next” (small milestones, easy upgrades, immediate perks)
- Build campaigns around micro-escapes, quick joy, tangible progress
- Let community participate in the story (co-creation > broadcast)
Signal: Google’s 2026 predictions highlight present wellbeing and creative participation as central consumer shifts. Google Business