4 trends marketers should follow in 2026 | MarTech

Last year was exhausting for many people for many reasons. It’s not just about work and family stress, or changes in our industry. But as the title of the book says: it is everything, everywhere, all at once. It felt like I was constantly jumping from one thing to another, from the news to the stock market, the impact of tariffs and much more. There is always something to deal with.

That led many of us to reduce or stop our news consumption. Unfortunately, that’s a luxury marketers can’t afford. By following the news, you can see how today’s developments can translate into business opportunities or casualties. Last year, we spent another year learning how to adapt and adapt our plans to meet rapidly changing circumstances in the way we do business and market to our customers.

The business acumen we honed during the COVID years has been put to good use this year! However, I also see promising developments that point to light at the end of the tunnel, and that does not necessarily have to be from an oncoming train.

1. 2026 could finally be the year of technology replacement.

I do not make predictions for the coming financial year. I prefer to point out trends that people should pay attention to and offer advice so they can understand what’s happening in our industry and where it could go in the next twelve months.

In 2024, I predicted that top retail companies would end their collective hiatus on new technology. I expected companies that had not invested in martech upgrades to come out of their shells and spend their budgets.

What happened? Lots of tire issues – questions and conversations, but no conversions in the martech landscape. This was surprising because many contracts with ESPs and other vendors that had begun in the post-COVID martech shift should have come up for review or renewal by now.

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Now I wonder if we’ll see the martech change mentality emerge in 2026 as contracts reach their expiration dates. Or will companies be satisfied with what they are doing now, even though technology is developing rapidly?

This could lead to more acquisitions and even a shrinking market among suppliers. Or it could create a new level of innovation for suppliers trying to compete. Vendors have had at least two years to focus on their own platforms and grow their AI.

I look at whether innovation continues or stagnates. Make no mistake: a cycle of change is ahead. How fast is a mystery. This is why I hate forecasting, given all the unknowns and variables in our industry!

That cycle of change will begin when people finally understand how technology has evolved over the past three years. It will also depend on whether marketers and their corporate pockets believe that the economy and the financial health of their companies are stable enough to support the risk-taking that comes with technological change.

I’m watching to see if companies that jumped into AI and CDPs before everyone else will lick their wounds and return to the field with the realization that being the early adopter isn’t always beneficial.

Don’t get me wrong: CDPs and AI in their first generation were game changers. But they haven’t changed the game enough to meet the company’s expectations.

2. AI takes off the training wheels

I may have misjudged how actively companies would replace their martech services, but I was right that AI would continue to evolve in 2025.

In my own workday, AI has quickly evolved from an intern performing tasks like basic copywriting to a valued partner (nicknamed Dean) assisting me with high-level work in reporting, analysis, and research. It also keeps me up to date on trends by synthesizing all the information I consume on the Internet.

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Last year, my agency, RPE Origin, produced a number of well-received white papers showing marketers how they can use the AI ​​capabilities we now have to take their work to the next level, such as this:

• Marketers can use it to quickly generate insights from data without waiting for data science teams, and then apply those insights where they are needed.
• AI can remove the friction from creating segmentation plans or propensity-based strategies.
• We can use deep data science to develop winning strategies that bring our products to market faster.

This is the job AI was meant to do!

I hope that by 2026, companies will invest in AI tools and training, allowing marketers to perform advanced data analysis using closed systems that protect privacy and confidential information.

In turn, marketers must break away from everyday AI and develop a strategic mindset. Don’t ask, “What can AI do?” Question: “How can AI help me achieve my goals?”

Get help structuring AI in your business. Fortunately, we now have that knowledge. People who have spent time and money learning AI and using it strategically are now ready to pass on what they’ve learned, just as we did in the early days of email.

I’m optimistic that 2026 could be a banner year in unlocking that knowledge, especially for email marketers, but also for marketers across the board.

When done right – and by “right” I mean “strategically” – AI can transform your business. I can complete projects during my lunch break instead of taking hours or days. I also haven’t fired anyone or cut back on other processes. I just gained insights that will help everyone work better, from our employees to our customers.

I can’t be clearer. AI is your friend. In 2026, we’ll see suppliers finally give us the ‘easy’ button we’ve been asking for. Start by paying $20 a month to learn and experiment with AI-powered tools to do your daily work better.

3. The inbox changes

Oh, you still have an inbox. But it’s not the inbox you came to know when AOL, Eudora, and Hotmail ruled the email universe.

My next column will have the details. For now, I’ll say that little by little I’ve seen the inbox shift from a static collection of names, subject lines, preheaders, and dates to a virtual assistant that wants to help you manage your daily life.

These changes are now trickling down to email clients, as providers like Gmail and Yahoo! Mail introduces AI-extracted message summarization and prioritization. The email you so lovingly created with a custom sender name, A/B tested subject line, and a strategically written preheader may be unrecognizable when your recipients see it. When they see it, that is.

4. The chaos continues

I wish I could tell you that 2026 will be a breathing year for marketers who are affected daily by sudden changes in the economy, the supply chain, social unrest, market fluctuations and everything that keeps our business interesting.

But we couldn’t even get through the holidays without more chaos. We can also look forward to government-driven socio-economic changes, an expected Supreme Court ruling that could impact tariffs and their effect on key economic sectors, and political uncertainties resulting from major midterm and state House elections.

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Yes, folks. You will need to find a reliable news source and watch it every day. It doesn’t matter what your political alliances are or what role you play in your business. You need to monitor the markets and understand how these shifts could impact your supply chain, revenue and even your workforce.

Pivoting, changing, and adapting are still skills you must master to help your business navigate these potentially choppy waters.

What have you learned in 2025?

Amid all the uncertainty we faced in 2025, we should have learned valuable lessons about our processes, including what worked and what didn’t, that we can apply to 2026.

Take a few minutes to answer these questions:

1. What have you learned this year?
2. What have you had to change unexpectedly?
3. What have you done differently with your technology?
4. What did your testing program tell you?
5. Which segments can you repeat in 2026, and how can you improve them?

Even if you’ve already completed your 2026 plan, your answers here can become notes you can use as the year progresses. Thinking about it now can save you time and stress later.

The coming year will be fun – and I’m not being entirely sarcastic. It’s easy to feel all doom and gloom when things don’t go as planned.

What will help you weather what lies ahead is having a good understanding of the business, customers, objectives, prospects and the wider world, and adapting before change is forced upon us.