Digital Marketing | The Top 10 Digital Marketing Trends For 2026

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Jan 5
3 min read

Article by Greg Jarboe

These trends reflect profound shifts in how consumers behave, how platforms operate, and how marketers integrate strategy and tactics.

As we head into the new year, the age of experimentation is giving way to the age of execution. The past few years have been about “Can we do it?” – generative AI, the decline of cookies, retail media networks (RMNs), shoppable video, immersive experiences. Now, the question is: “Are we doing it, and doing it well?”

I’m going to walk through the top 10 digital marketing trends that I believe every forward-looking marketer must own in 2026. These aren’t just buzzwords; they reflect profound shifts in how consumers behave, how platforms operate, and how marketers must integrate strategy across data, media, and creativity.

What you’ll see: Conversational search rewriting SEO; video turning fully into commerce; privacy and data ownership as competitive advantage; retail media networks moving from niche to mainstream; creators and communities driving co-creation; AI becoming the operating system of marketing; measurement morphing as attribution crumbles; immersive gamification emerging; and above all, the human edge – the talent and culture that will decide who wins.

Let’s dive in, trend by trend.

1. Conversational Search Redefines SEO

The evolution of search is accelerating from keyword-based queries to conversational queries, away from clicks to answers inside the engine, and from “search” to “wherever people ask questions.” Platforms such as Google LLC (with AI Overviews), Bing Copilot, and other generative-search interfaces are rewriting what “visibility” means.

Search Everywhere Optimization – influence audiences in all the places they go to consume content about your topic – is no longer optional.

From the stats side: Digital marketing industry growth is forecast at a ~13.9 % CAGR over the next years.

For SEO practitioners: Shift from creating pages for keyword rankings to creating authoritative answer-centered content, structured with schema, designed for featured snippets, voice devices, and even generative AI-powered answer boxes. Also, anticipate more “zero-click” scenarios where users get answers without visiting your site.

Takeaway: Optimize for intent, structure for conversational and multimodal search, and measure outcomes beyond clicks (e.g., brand lift, FAQ visibility, conversational voice assistant triggers).

2. The Video-Commerce Boom

Short form, live video, interactive video – the convergence of video and commerce is now in full swing. Social platforms long treated video as engagement; now they’re treating it as transactional.

From recent stats: An IAB study found that 86% of advertisers are already using or plan to use generative AI for video ad production, and projected adoption suggests Gen AI-created video ads will represent ~40 % of all video ads by 2026.

In parallel, social commerce revenues continue to climb, for example, via live-shopping, shoppable posts, and in-stream checkout.

For brands: The key is to treat video not just as storytelling but as a direct path to purchase. That means interactive elements, product overlays, live shopping, shoppable end cards, integration with ecommerce platforms. And from a measurement perspective: Tie views to actions (add-to-cart, check-out) rather than just vanity metrics (views, likes).

Takeaway: Convert video from brand engagement to commerce engagement. Build video assets with embedded purchase triggers and assign them full-funnel measurement.

3. The Privacy-First Data Revolution

The demise of the third-party cookie, increased regulation, and heightened consumer sensitivity around data mean you must look inward: Your first-party data, consent-based profiling, and data architecture become your competitive center.

Recent forecasts by WPP Media suggest global digital advertising will hit north of US$1 trillion in 2025, with digital representing 73.2% of global ad revenue. And according to EMARKETER’s forecast from May 2025, “BUS advertisers are expected to allocate 66% of their digital budget to mobile in 2025.”

What this means: If you rely solely on third-party data or on open-web cookies for targeting and measurement, you’re exposed. You need to build a “data spine” – consent capture, a robust customer data platform (CDP), conversion event APIs (such as from paid platforms), identity resolution, and integrate offline + online signals.

Takeaway: Make first-party data and measurement architecture a foundational pillar of your 2026 strategy. Without it, media investment and optimization will degrade rapidly.

4. Retail Media Networks Go Mainstream