Marketing’s Next Chapter: Priorities That Will Define 2026
As AI reshapes marketing, leaders share their top priorities that will define success in 2026—from AI fluency and data foundations to trust, creativity, and simplified martech stacks.
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Marketing is entering its most consequential phase in years.
In 2026, progress won’t be defined by how fast teams adopt new tools, but by how clearly they choose what truly matters.
As AI reshapes decision-making, customer expectations rise, and tech stacks strain under their own complexity, marketers face a tougher question than ever: where should focus—and investment—actually go?
To understand what this next chapter demands, Martechvibe asked marketing, CX, product, and growth leaders across industries one simple question:
What should marketers truly prioritise in 2026?
Together, they outlined the priorities that will separate reactive teams from those building a durable advantage in the year ahead.
Marketing Priorities by Sam Allen, CEO of Iterable
First, build AI fluency. Marketers do not need to become technologists, but they do need working fluency; in fact, everyone does. That means knowing where AI creates leverage, where it breaks down, and where human judgment must stay in control.
The teams that win will be able to guide AI, challenge its recommendations, and use it to improve decisions without surrendering ownership.
Second, simplify the martech stack. 2026 will expose stacks that are bloated, fragmented, and held together by manual work. That is not a tooling issue; it is a growth constraint. Marketers need to be ruthless about whether their technology helps them move faster or drags them down.
The priority should be fewer, more integrated platforms that reduce operational load and make execution easier as AI and customer expectations accelerate.
Third, prioritise trust. As AI plays a larger role in marketing decisions, marketers must understand how those decisions are made—what data is used, what logic is applied, and where humans remain accountable.
Customers and businesses alike will expect this level of transparency. Explainability isn’t a nice-to-have; it’s essential for maintaining customer trust, protecting brand integrity, and driving long-term growth.
Marketing Priorities by Elspeth Rollert, CEO of The Marketing Cloud
My top three priorities for marketers in 2026 revolve around technology. Here’s what I’d tell teams that want to remain relevant in the new year, and beyond:
- Continue to test the limits of AI-driven martech tools…or start testing those limits if you’re one of the remaining AI sceptics in the marketing world.
- The most advanced AI can’t do much without the right data. From brand insights to social listening, no matter your focus, marketers need reliable partners who can bring that valuable data layer. It’s what fuels your team’s (human) strategy and execution.
- You’ve probably heard the term GEO recently, which stands for Generative Engine Optimisation. It’s not just a buzzword, and it’ll become increasingly important in 2026. Do your research now to be ahead of the curve.
Marketing Priorities by Igor Lyubimov, Founder of web2wave
Web2app funnels are the first priority. If you’re running subscription apps and haven’t tested web2app, you’re leaving money on the table. The attribution benefits alone make it worth exploring, plus you get faster iteration cycles and better conversion rates through personalised onboarding.
Second is a detailed creative analysis through tagging systems. Instead of analysing individual creatives, tag each element: the hook, body, and CTA. Add descriptive tags for colour, text, target audience, gender, which specific hook angle.
Put this in a Google spreadsheet, pull in your metadata, then analyse the tags themselves using pivot tables. This reveals which creative elements actually drive performance rather than which specific video worked.
Third is learning to work with AI tools properly. Not using ChatGPT in isolation, but tools like Cursor that let you build and iterate faster. The marketers who figure out how to augment their skills with AI will outpace those who don’t.
Marketing Priorities by Michele Nieberding, Director of Product Marketing for AI at Treasure Data
Priority one is upgrading the data foundation before upgrading the AI.
Marketers finally understand that the quality, timeliness, and governance of their customer data will matter more than any model or agent layered on top of it.
The companies winning in 2026 are investing in trusted, unified data infrastructure because AI agents cannot operate on blind spots, stale attributes, or marketing data duct tape. Real-time, governed, observable data is replacing dashboards as the new source of truth.
Priority two is shifting from “campaigns” to continuously learning systems.
AI-native marketing isn’t about automating tasks. It’s about creating self-improving loops where AI agents adapt experiences based on behaviour, context, and outcomes.
The teams that thrive in 2026 will orchestrate hundreds of adaptive narratives running simultaneously, rather than one big quarterly launch. The marketer becomes the intelligence architect, not the person pushing buttons.
Priority three is designing for trust, not just personalisation.
With regulation exploding and consumer expectations rising, the most powerful differentiator in 2026 is transparent, permissioned, privacy-centric engagement.
Marketers need to show their work: what data they use, how AI makes decisions, and why customers should trust them. Trust will move from legal checkboxes to a competitive advantage, and marketers must champion it.
BONUS
This will be the year marketers go “back to basics” by understanding (and removing) the artificial constraints old tech placed on marketers.
Marketing Priorities by Hetarth Patel, VP – Growth Markets (MEA, Americas, APAC), WebEngage
Marketers need to solve three foundational problems in 2026.
The first is the data layer. Most teams have information scattered across multiple systems, and until identity, consent and behaviour sit together in a structure that can be reused by different tools, nothing meaningful can be automated.
The second priority is preparing for a shift from manual orchestration to AI agent-led execution. A growing amount of targeting, optimisation and personalisation will be handled by systems that respond to objectives rather than step-by-step rules.
And the third is strengthening trust. As intelligence becomes a bigger part of the stack, the exposure surface widens, so means access, permissions and model behaviour need tighter guardrails.
Marketing Priorities by Ada Mockute Jaime, Chief Marketing Officer at Nordcurrent
In 2026, the priorities for marketers are creating things that matter, layering data on top of meaning and balancing long-term brand building with fast-turnaround activities.
With acquisition costs rising, sustainable growth depends on retention, loyalty and turning users into brand advocates- outcomes you only get when your communication has real substance.
Data plays a crucial role, but it should inform us, not dictate us. It shows patterns and signals, but it can’t replace cultural understanding or creative intuition. The strongest strategies combine what the numbers tell us with the deeper meaning that keeps people coming back.
Ultimately, Plan 26 is about that balance: substance plus speed, meaning plus measurement, creating marketing that lasts and still moves fast enough to stay relevant.”
Marketing Priorities by Yashodeep Ghorpade, Senior Manager – eCom, Customer Communication, CRM & Digital, Sony MEA
Marketers need to understand audiences at a level that actually matters.
Generative AI is letting us build personas that evolve with customer behaviour. When you’re launching products across regions with completely different cultural contexts, that granularity makes or breaks you.
Data unification is the other big one. A customer interacts with us through many channels, sometimes in a single day. Without a composable CDP tying those touchpoints together, you’re guessing.
Content is the third piece. We’re producing thousands of assets monthly in multiple languages. AI can help creative teams to churn out meaningful content.
The Takeaway: Turning Insights into Action in 2026
The year ahead isn’t about doing more. It’s about doing what truly matters.
AI, data, and technology will shape decisions, but human judgment, trust, and creativity remain at the core.
Top marketers are focusing on three things: clarity over complexity, trust over shortcuts, and adaptability over one-size-fits-all campaigns.
Whether it’s simplifying tech stacks, building AI fluency, or creating meaningful experiences, success in 2026 will come from choices that balance speed with substance.
The takeaway is simple: prioritise what drives real impact, not just activity. Teams that act with intention now will set themselves up for durable growth—and lead the next chapter of marketing.
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