5 Ways to Improve Marketing Measurement by 2026 | MarTech

It’s January. The budget has been set, campaigns have been set in motion, and teams are executing the plan you’ve spent months working on and defending.

You think you have a solid approach, and then management asks difficult questions: how do you ensure impact? How do we know we are delivering incrementality? Are we sure it works, and why? The dashboard doesn’t answer these questions well, and you feel like the kid who came to school and didn’t know there was a test.

There are a few channels ready for lift testing, but not enough to see the full picture. Attribution windows are set per platform, each with its own logic, and none quite match how real customers behave. The story doesn’t quite connect.

This is where 2026 really begins. Not when campaigns are launched, but when your measurement approach is put to the test. When asked to justify your expenses, predict the results and lead with clarity rather than caveats.

You can stick to the plan you made. Or you can pause for a moment and ask yourself if your measurement system is actually built for what leadership needs now.

How you measure is how you lead

Looking ahead, tightening your measurement strategy is crucial. To lead through uncertainty, complexity, and growing managerial expectations in 2026, consider these five priorities:

1. Build a connected measurement system that combines methods.
2. Add real-world context such as attention and consumer insight.
3. Use AI to support the strategy, not replace it.
4. Make sure every channel gets a fair seat at the table.
5. Make measurement a core part of business planning.

1. Build a system, not a pile of reports

Too many measuring systems are still built reactively. Here’s a lift test. A mixed model is being renewed there. Platform dashboards everywhere. Each instrument can work on its own, but together they do not form a reliable, strategic vision.

Dig deeper: the new era of customer journeys is co-creative, adaptive and AI-powered

Switch from tactical reporting to a connected system this year. Each part of that system must play a clear role:

• Use marketing mix modeling to inform long-term investment decisions across channels.
• Set up incrementality tests to validate what actually causes the outcomes.
• Use data-driven attribution to show the true order of customer touchpoints.
• Treat platform conversion data as guidance, not definitive.

Support this with a strong infrastructure. Align on shared definitions of success so teams optimize for the same results.

A patchwork of tools does not hold up under pressure. A connected system does.

2. Add the context that drives real decisions

A clean dashboard can show performance trends, but if it lacks context it won’t help you explain what’s really going on.

That spike in results could be a reflection of great creative, or it could be the result of a limited-time offer. A lagging campaign may be related to the media plan, but it may also result from a decline in consumer confidence or a move by a competitor.

If your measurement system only tracks what is easy to quantify, you are missing the bigger picture.

This year, improve your measurement input with the practical context that determines the results:

• Promotional calendars and offer details.
• Macroeconomic indicators and consumer confidence.
• Tracking competitor brand health and shifts.
• Cultural events and seasonal patterns.
• Consumer insights from surveys, panels and qualitative feedback.

When these signals are part of the model, you are no longer just reporting the past. You predict the future, test scenarios and make plans with more precision.

3. Use AI to support judgment, not override it

AI is already in your measurement stack. It affects optimization, modeling, forecasting, and reporting, even if you’re not fully aware of it.

Now is the time to take control and create a clear structure around his role.

Use AI to:

• Run experiments more efficiently.
• Update mix models and forecasts with newer input.
• Discover unexpected changes in campaign performance.
• Accelerate what your team can analyze and simulate.

But give the board. Feed AI clean, approved data Conversion APIs. Check mobile and CTV engagement using the Open Measurement SDK (OMSDK), developed by the IAB Tech Lab. Ensure privacy compliance using IABs Digiligence platform and IAB Tech Labs Global privacy platform standards.

Dig Deeper: Gain Executive Trust in Moving Beyond Marketing Attribution

Establish clear guidelines for assessing, validating and explaining AI decisions. If a recommendation cannot be traced, it should not be acted upon.

By 2026, AI should make your measurement system smarter and faster. It should never replace the strategy behind it.

4. Give all channels a fair seat at the table

A major source of inefficiency in marketing investments is channel preference. The formats that are easiest to follow and known to the buyer tend to win budget. Those that are harder to measure are given lower priority, regardless of their influence.

This can lead to missed opportunities to reach new audiences, drive growth and see incrementality. Under-investing in brand, mid-funnel, and creator campaigns can cause you to miss out on conversions and results.

Solve this by holding each channel to the same measurement standard:

• Apply assisted attribution to credit channels that are more likely to influence the journey.
• Run incrementality testing in retail media, creator campaigns, and other emerging environments.
• Include paid, owned, and earned in your models so the entire journey is visible and valued.

The goal is not to give every channel a trophy. It is intended to give everyone a fair opportunity to demonstrate value.

5. Make measurement part of the way the company works

You can’t lead measurement if it’s treated as a post-campaign report. It should be an integral part of the way your organization sets goals, evaluates tradeoffs and makes decisions.

That starts with integration:

• Coordinate with finance, analytics, product development and legal on how measurements support planning.
• Create a shared charter for how results are defined and interpreted.
• The time model is refreshed and the results are experimented around actual business planning cycles.
• Use forecasts and simulations to guide investments, not just explain them after the fact.

When measurement is embedded in business planning, it becomes reliable. When it becomes trusted, it drives influence.

Dig deeper: Marketers say their confidence in measurement has stalled

Start the year with a system that deserves trust

You already have your budget. Your campaigns are underway. But if your measurement system can’t support the questions already being asked about performance, causality, and planning, now is the time to take action.

Focusing on these five priorities won’t just improve reporting. You build a system that:

• Helps teams make faster, smarter, and more confident decisions.
• Reflects how people actually engage, more than just conversions.
• Rewards the entire customer journey in a fair and consistent manner.
• Aligns marketing with cross-functional planning and forecasting.
• Creates trust across the organization, from teams to the C-suite.

You don’t have to solve everything in Q1. But you do need a strategy and the tools to guide you through the second, third and beyond.

Leadership no longer requires updates. They wonder if your measurement can drive real decisions, make trade-offs, and support the statements that shape the business, not just explain the last quarter. That work starts no later. It starts now.