It is fair to say that 2025 was a wild year for technology and its impact on marketing.
Whether it was the changing shape of search to the tech giants in the dock over monopolistic practices – and that’s without even mentioning what was going on with TikTok. It all amounted to no shortage of scandal and advancements for marketers to pick over.
And then there was the AI of it all. We started the year talking about all things generative and ended it obsessed with agentic. The development of AI and the speed with which marketers have adopted the technology ramped up in 2025 as teams moved from testing to implementing – with varying levels of success.
It will be of no surprise to anyone, then, that AI dominates the conversation for what will come next over the coming 12 months.
But its impact is still being held back by indifferent adoption, according to McKinsey research, which shows 89% of organisations have not or have barely seen any efficiency gains after adopting AI – with 94% still reporting low AI capabilities in general.
In addition, nearly a quarter (22%) say AI has not impacted productivity, while 18% believe embedding AI has actually created more work and is distracting people from important strategic work. Despite these teething problems, however, 72% of marketers plan to adopt more AI tools heading into 2026.
Tech is undoubtedly changing marketing, then, but the fundamentals that have always underpinned the profession might be more important than ever.
Search, discoverability and human connections
The impact of AI on search cannot be understated.
Google has completely upended its own search model – first with the addition of AI Overviews and now with its AI Mode rival to ChatGPT – and the way that consumers find and interact with brands has changed forever with human recommendations being given greater prominence than mere SEO.
Reddit has been one of the main benefactors of this pivot to a more community-driven era of search with its results often appearing high in Google’s AI Overviews and according to Johnathan Davies, director of UK sales at Reddit, this “splintering” of search will continue in 2026.
“People no longer want one generic answer or a collection of blue links; they are seeking a blend of AI-powered reasoning, trusted community truth, and personal context,” he says.
Search is, to put it simply, becoming more of a conversation between the user and the engine – and human recommendations have quickly become a key part of that. The challenge for brands is making sure they are part of those conversations.
“Given that over half of all posts on Reddit already mention a brand or product, these conversations are happening with or without [brands],” he explains. “In 2026, being an active and valuable participant is no longer optional for maintaining a healthy brand presence.”
Reddit’s CMO on why ‘community marketing’ will drive its next wave of growthSnapchat is one social brand that is already seeing this change in perspective take hold. Jake Thomas is the head of UK at Snap Inc and believes audiences are now craving “real moments” instead of generic messaging and “algorithm-first campaigns” and that the brands who tap into that in the age of AI will be those best placed to find growth.
“At Snapchat we’re seeing early signs of this shift already – more brands testing conversational formats, open dialogues with consumers and content that feature real people – a return to advertising that feels like a real interaction rather than a broadcast,” he tells Marketing Week.
And while social media is one way to approach the change in discoverability, you can mimic this sort of behaviour in your own brand content. But packing a piece of thought leadership with a list of is SEO-friendly search terms isn’t going to cut it any longer.
“LLMs often reference content that is, on average, a year old, so the foundations for 2026 are being laid today,” stresses Davies. “Brands need to focus on adding genuine value to conversations, as AI prioritises conversational, descriptive post titles and seeks out helpfulness cues and real experiences.”
Creativity will be needed to cut through the noise
Much has been made of the potential of AI to create efficiencies in marketing and for many that will be its main pursuit and a worthy enough goal.
But for those brands looking to inject AI into the creative process, they have to be prepared to keep enough humanity in the outcome to appeal to consumers increasingly wary of ‘AI slop’.
“AI will absolutely take optimisation off our hands, but let’s be honest: humans are still better at the strategic storytelling and idea generation that actually moves the needle,” says Anna Chaplin, CEO at email content brand ESB Connect. “The brands that win won’t be the ones shouting the loudest, but those investing in authenticity, real experiences and communities they actually own.”
And navigating through that ever-increasing noise will be the challenge. Luken Aragon is the VP of marketing at mobile game developer King – creator of the Candy Crush Saga title – and for the past decade his task has been to keep the title at the top of the download charts on your preferred app store.
He believes that “capturing attention and cutting through the noise” has become “tougher than ever” and a challenge exacerbated by the AI tools now available to everyone.
“Audiences are more selective, budgets are tighter, and the old model of blanket storytelling isn’t having the same impact it used to,” he says. “We’re seeing brands shift instead toward data-led, contextual marketing that connects with people in the moments that matter.”
Creative people will be at the heart of marketing’s AI revolutionAI will play its part in that. Aragon expects it to help brands move “faster” and make more accurate “data-driven calls” than before – as well as refine campaigns and media channels in the pursuit of growth. But relevance may matter more than ever – and marketers need to be prepared to shift and move with their consumers quicker than in the past.
“Success will belong to brands that understand relevance is constantly shifting. Those who can read the moment and respond with precision will be the ones who earn attention, loyalty and unlock lasting growth,” he adds.
Consumers start to embrace AI agents
While the hype around AI has been all-consuming and its apparent impact inevitable, there wasn’t too much in the way of a consumer revolution to begin with.
A few nice to use tools here and an oversized chatbot there were certainly interesting innovations but nothing that was going to upend the consumer journey completely – that is until agentic AI came to the forefront.
While the idea of a customer turning over every part of the shopping journey to an AI assistant is still in its infancy, it is starting to happen with both Google and OpenAI beginning to push into this space.
The impact on brands will be enormous. The traditional methods of reaching and converting customers will fall to the wayside and ranking based on GEO (generative engine optimisation) will become key. The good news is that marketers will have their own agentic tools to help ease this transition – but they need to be used correctly.
‘Profound implications for the industry’: Mastercard’s CMO on marketing’s agentic AI future“Technology will create opposing forces in marketing: brands will use AI to generate more noise, while consumers use AI agents to filter it out,” says Jonathan Whiteside, global executive vice-president of technology at Dept, adding that marketers can no longer “buy your way out of a bad tech stack” and that smarter use of budget is now essential.
“Success won’t come from outspending competitors, but from smarter orchestration: connecting insight, creative, and trust to deliver experiences that feel personal, not processed,” he adds.
Marketers will also need to start the process of marketing to machines, says Rebecca Crook, CEO at digital consultancy MSQ DX, and that involves making sure any content put out by the brand suits the machine’s rapidly evolving tastes.
“Marketers must optimise for machine decision-making, not just human attention. Your content needs to be structured, authoritative, and crawlable by AI systems making purchasing recommendations,” she says.
Not that marketers can hand over they keys to the kingdom to the machines just yet.
“Agentic AI will be able to orchestrate entire customer journeys, anticipating needs, personalising at scale, and acting autonomously. But it will require a human sense to work with AI tooling to ensure authenticity rather than robotic gestures,” adds Crook.
Data matters more than ever
At the centre of all of this is data. Marketing as a function has become increasingly data-led in the past decade and AI offers an opportunity to advance that further.
While Google’s on and off again flirtation with the removal of third-party cookies ultimately came to nothing, it seemingly mattered very little as the importance of first-party data has become vital to the success of any AI initiative.
“Data will be the real battleground. First-party data becomes even more critical when nobody knows what search, social or GEO will look like in a few months, let alone a year,” says Chaplin. “We need to stop obsessing over CPA on sales alone and start valuing the cost of acquiring good data, because that’s what will power future models, agentic shopping and your ability to control the narrative.”
Seven trends that will impact media and marcoms in 2026It’s a perspective that resonates with Jellyfish’s Luisa Del Maschio, who runs the analytics aspect of the business, and sees the opportunity in AI to put “solid marketing principles” back into the profession.
“Marketers who supply richer product signals, clear incrementality frameworks, strong first-party data and more diverse creative inputs will influence the model rather than be shaped by it,” she says. “This is especially powerful in app-based performance, where intent signals and structured experimentation can materially shift outcomes.”
From targeting to messaging to that all important return on any investment, AI promises to solve a lot of marketers’ headaches – if they can adapt to its potential.
“The excuse ‘we can’t measure that’ dies in 2026. Brands will finally know what’s working and why, making every pound accountable,” claims Crook.
