Marketing Trends That Will Persist Into 2026
The past year has accelerated structural shifts in marketing. Rather than transient fads, several of 2025’s dominant trends have matured into enduring practices that will shape strategies through 2026. These developments reflect deeper forces in technology, culture, and consumer behavior, and each has implications for how marketing leaders allocate budgets, design campaigns, and measure accountability.
AI-Powered Personalization at Scale
Artificial intelligence has moved from an experimental tool to a central pillar of customer engagement. By enabling real-time, cross-channel personalization at scale, AI systems are now woven into the infrastructure of modern marketing. Analysts emphasize that AI-powered personalization is foundational to loyalty and conversion strategies moving forward. https://nielseniq.com/global/en/insights/report/2024/from-click-to-conversion-redefining-personalization-with-ai
Technology commentary also highlights how machine learning is reshaping personalization into seamless, dynamic interactions that build long-term loyalty. Rather than relying on static customer segments, brands are now able to adapt content, offers, and experiences in real time based on shifting behaviors and context. This shift transforms personalization from a one-time marketing tactic into an ongoing, predictive system that anticipates customer needs, reduces friction, and strengthens trust with every touchpoint. By unifying data and applying continuous learning, machine learning makes personalization scalable across channels while ensuring that the experience feels natural and consistent — a capability that directly supports deeper engagement and lasting customer relationships https://www.techradar.com/pro/how-ai-powered-personalization-is-creating-new-opportunities-for-brands
Real-world adoption is visible across industries. Retailers are deploying AI engines to tailor product recommendations and promotions in real time. Streaming services like Netflix and Spotify refine engagement by continuously adapting to user behavior. The evidence suggests that AI-driven personalization is not a passing feature but a structural expectation that will define consumer-brand interaction into 2026 and beyond.
AI Influencers and Synthetic Creators
2025 marked the first widespread deployment of AI-generated influencers — synthetic personas built to scale content without human limitations. While questions of authenticity remain, their efficiency and novelty are pushing adoption. Brands are increasingly experimenting with virtual influencers or AI creators not only because they can produce content more quickly and at lower cost, but because they offer precise control over messaging, visuals, and audience engagement. However, authenticity, the sense that an influencer is “real” in terms of genuine expression, consistency, and emotional connection, emerges as the key variable that determines whether these AI creators succeed or backfire. When audiences perceive an AI influencer as too contrived, inauthentic, or disconnected from believable human experience, trust and engagement suffer. Therefore, for brands using AI influencers, balancing innovation and scalability with transparency, credible storytelling, and signals of “realness” (for example ethical disclosure, human-like imperfections, or consistent personality traits) is becoming a unforeseen minefield to tread cautiously through. The synthetic influencer while providing efficiencies underscores some key cosequences: Erosion of trust, Socio-Political risks, and economic threats. https://ulopenaccess.com/papers/ULETE_V02I02/ULETE20250202_004.pdf
Emotional and Nostalgic Storytelling
2025 saw nostalgia and what some analysts now call “strategic cringe” become central tools in the brand playbook. Synthetic notions of the past, like early-2000s visuals, jingles, pop-culture throwbacks, are reemerging with unusual force. Brands are leaning into content that feels emotionally raw or somewhat awkward on purpose, embracing quirks as a shortcut to emotional clarity and cultural resonance.
Yet authenticity remains non-negotiable. Gen Z in particular can smell contrivance a mile away. Research shows many in that cohort prefer narratives that reinterpret nostalgia rather than merely replicate it, that allow for imperfection and vulnerability alongside familiarity. Campaigns rooted in cultural touchpoints gain loyalty not just because they recall the past, but because they reconcile it with what feels real in the present (values, contexts, aesthetic norms). If nostalgia is the language, then authenticity is the grammar separating memorable from cringe-worthy.
Examples abound. Duolingo’s playful use of its mascot in irreverent campaigns demonstrates how humor and cultural awareness can deepen audience connection. Consumer packaged goods brands have also revived retro design and heritage narratives to invoke nostalgia. The consistent performance of these campaigns suggests that emotional storytelling will remain a durable differentiator through 2026.
Short-Form Video Dominance
The dominance of short-form video is now undeniable. Videos under 90 seconds on platforms such as TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts drove substantial engagement and purchase intent in 2025. Industry analysis underscores that shrinking attention spans and mobile-first consumption guarantee the persistence of this format. Source: https://www.lifewire.com/short-video-marketing-8724125
For brands, the imperative is to integrate short-form video as a core part of campaign architecture, not as an afterthought. Consumer goods companies, financial services firms, and even B2B technology providers are adopting this format to drive awareness and funnel progression. Short-form video’s staying power lies in its versatility: it can entertain, inform, or directly sell—all within seconds.
Video-First Affiliate and Social Commerce
Affiliate and social commerce strategies are rapidly shifting toward video-first execution. In 2025, platforms like TikTok Shop and live shopping streams demonstrated measurable ROI, especially in beauty, fashion, and consumer goods. Reports show that this video-first commerce revolution is poised to expand further in 2026. Source: https://www.techradar.com/pro/affiliate-marketing-in-2025-practical-insights-into-the-rise-of-alternative-channels-and-the-video-first-revolution
This trend represents more than a channel shift, denoting more of a behavioral change in consumer purchasing. Shoppers are increasingly comfortable discovering and buying products directly through live or short-form video, blurring the line between content and commerce. Chinese e-commerce platforms pioneered this approach, but its mainstreaming in Western markets confirms its longevity.
Overall
The trends that will persist into 2026—AI-powered personalization, AI influencers, emotional storytelling, short-form video, and video-first commerce—are not isolated phenomena. They represent structural shifts in how consumers engage, how technology mediates relationships, and how cultural narratives drive trust.
For marketing leaders, the mandate is to integrate these practices into long-term strategy rather than treating them as experimental add-ons. The persistence of these trends underscores that marketing success in 2026 will hinge on accountability, adaptability, and authenticity, executed through technologies and formats that consumers have already embraced.