See what I did there?

Before we start chasing trends, let’s just stop for a moment, reflect a bit on 2025, and see what we can take forward to the new year. By the end of 2025, I noticed a pattern in almost every senior conversation I had.

• Marketing teams were overwhelmed.
• Budgets were under scrutiny.
• Leaders were quietly questioning whether all the activity of the last few years had really moved the business forward.
• AI, well, what is it really doing for us?

Many expectations in 2025 have been based on high-speed and high-output. In 2026, clarity will be king. The most effective marketing leaders will stop asking “what more should we be doing?” and start asking something far more valuable:

What genuinely helps our customers, stakeholders and teams make better decisions?

Each trend below is deliberately practical. It’s the way we work. It’s tried and tested over decades that have embraced technology but focused on strategy, experience and proof.

The aim is not to impress, but to help look at a more purposeful approach, refocus marketing effort where it actually delivers value.

1. Strategy Over Activity

Why Depth Now Beats Reach

The brilliant marketing strategy document has been something that comes to life at the beginning of the year and often quietly disappears by March.

In 2026, strategy has the potential to become a living discipline again, with trust as a commercial differentiator.

Most B2B organisations operate under the 80/20 reality, where a minority of clients deliver the majority of revenue, yet the majority of marketing spend is still directed at new acquisition.

This is starting to change, and for good reason.

In 2025, Google reported that B2B buyers complete more than half of their decision-making process before engaging directly with a supplier. If your customer isn’t getting the attention and care they need from you, why would they stay loyal?

What progressive organisations are doing differently:

• Reallocating marketing effort towards priority accounts to reward loyalty and pre-empt future needs
• Using content to help existing clients manage risk and change
• Aligning marketing more closely with account management and client services
• Nurturing partnerships to create a better customer experience
• Measuring success by retention, expansion and advocacy, not just leads

When marketing helps clients feel confident and informed, growth becomes a by-product rather than a target.

Value for you:
If your marketing team is under pressure, this is where focus pays off. Fewer audiences. Clearer priorities. Stronger commercial return.

2. Cookies, Consent and the Reality Check

Why Data Strategy Is Now Brand Strategy

In 2025, Google confirmed it would continue allowing third-party cookies in Chrome, but with increased user control rather than full deprecation. The announcement triggered mixed reactions across the industry.

In a recent article responding to this decision, Adam Schenkel, Executive Vice President at GumGum, made a point that deserves a mention:

At a time when consumers are more aware than ever of how they’re tracked online, doubling down on cookies sends the wrong message. The internet doesn’t have a targeting problem; it has a trust problem.”

This matters because it reframes the issue entirely.

Cookies are not just a compliance concern. They signal how much respect you have for your audience, their privacy and their needs.

What we are already seeing organisations do in response:

• Reducing reliance on behavioural tracking
• Investing more in contextual advertising and relevance
• Building owned audiences through insight-led content and events
• Making consent language clearer and more human

If your marketing relies on people not noticing how they are being tracked, it is not a sustainable strategy.

Value for you:
Trust-led data strategy builds long-term brand equity. It may feel slower, but it reduces reputational risk and improves audience confidence.

3. Social Value Moves From Storytelling To Scrutiny

Why Stakeholders Now Expect Evidence

Social value is so much more than something marketing can “dress up”.

In 2025, changes to UK public sector procurement increased the weighting of social value in tender evaluations. At the same time, private sector buyers intensified scrutiny of suppliers’ environmental, social and governance credentials.

This has practical implications for B2B organisations:

• Social value affects who gets shortlisted
• It influences partnership decisions
• It impacts employer brand and retention

A useful example comes from outside B2B. In 2025, McDonald’s adjusted its UK brand communications to focus more explicitly on local employment pathways, supplier relationships and community investment. Crucially, these messages were backed by operational data and long-term programmes, not campaign slogans.

The lesson is clear.

What works:

• Embedding social value into business operations
• Measuring outcomes consistently
• Communicating progress honestly, including limitations

What does not:

• One-off initiatives
• Vague commitments
• Marketing-led claims without operational backing

Social value builds credibility when it is treated as a system, not a statement. We care so much about this, we’ve created a free Best Practice Guide, which you can download here.

Value for you:
Clear, credible social value communication reduces friction in procurement, strengthens trust and supports long-term reputation.

4. Delivering With Purpose In A Cautious Market

Why Restraint Is Now A Strength

Some of the strongest marketing campaigns of 2025 succeeded because they understood the context their audiences were operating in.

Economic uncertainty has increased decision fatigue. Senior buyers have less time and lower tolerance for marketing that feels indulgent or disconnected (yes, I’m talking about the AI slop).

The campaigns that performed best shared common traits:

• Clear relevance to real-world challenges
• Fewer messages, delivered intentionally
• Strong alignment between brand purpose and execution
• Confidence to prioritise usefulness over show

In 2025, Marketing Dive’s review of standout campaigns highlighted how brands that acknowledged uncertainty and focused on reassurance consistently outperformed those chasing attention through novelty alone. Look beyond the digital reach to see where and how your message lands and track it right through to the customer experience.

Value for you:
Restraint protects budget, reduces noise and increases impact. Fewer campaigns, executed with purpose, will usually deliver stronger results than constant visibility.

5. Stop The Slop

Why AI Needs Governance To Create Value

It’s safe to say that generative AI is now embedded across marketing teams, but the results are mixed.

In 2025, research from MIT found that the majority of generative AI pilot projects failed to deliver meaningful commercial impact. The issue was not capability. It was intent.

Common causes of failure included:

• Using AI to increase output without strategic clarity
• Publishing content without editorial oversight
• Diluting brand voice through generic automation
• Measuring success by volume rather than outcome

The organisations seeing value from AI are approaching it differently.

They are:

• Defining where AI adds efficiency and where human judgement is essential
• Applying strict editorial and brand governance
• Using AI to support thinking, research and structure
• Evaluating impact based on outcomes, not output

AI should help you think better, not publish faster.

Value for you:
Disciplined AI use protects brand credibility and improves return on investment. Undisciplined use creates noise and erodes trust. At TWI, we’ve been tracking this and developing tools and strategies for three years, and we’re still learning every day. You can read more on this in my 2025 article here.

The Final Question For 2026:

What Will Marketing Actually Deliver?

Every year, I reflect on what are always unexpected and surprising trends in marketing, but as I have said, there is a constant that should underpin every decision and every pound invested.

I always say to clients that your agency should be happy to have its feet held to the fire. Agreeing on what good looks like and putting constant reviews in place will keep you on track. Even with the best strategic aims, it doesn’t always land perfectly, and having a SMART strategy alongside practical monitoring allows you to stay on track.

2026 is the year to put purpose and people first.

That starts with SMART goals that link marketing directly to business outcomes:

• Specific about what success looks like
• Measurable beyond vanity metrics
• Achievable with the resources available
• Relevant to commercial priorities
• Time-bound with clear accountability

Ask:

• Which relationships matter most?
  Where does trust need to be built or rebuilt?
• How can we raise the bar on what we’re doing?
• Do we have the right resources in place?
  What impact do we want to evidence, not just claim?
  How will we measure our success?

A strategy without measurement is just a document. A budget without outcomes is just spend.

Marketing in 2026 is not about chasing trends.

It is about making deliberate choices, aligning behaviour with intent, and following through.

How do I know? Let’s chat, and I can show you.

Was AI used in this article? This is my own thinking and research, with a little help from our in-house AI project tools and Shutterstock AI for the images.