2025 marketing trends were dominated by AI.

Now, 2026 is around the corner, and it’s time to ask: what’s next?

If you’re tempted to answer “More AI,” think twice.

AI executives and investors are adamant that any time now, the average LLM will surpass Leonardo, Einstein, Shakespeare, and Franklin – but the loftiest promises are always “just two years away.” To maintain strategic agility, it’s important to be thoughtful not only about the tools you have but how you use them.

The future of marketing has AI, yes. It also has a whole lot more.

Adapting to change has always been one of the biggest aspects of marketing success. It’s been with us since the start of the modern era. Catalog and direct mail gave way to billboards, radio, and television. Television, by and large, has now given way to digital media. And digital media is evolving to include new and varied forms.

Now, it’s time to touch base with the ultimate, original technology: the human element.

As important as your technology stack is, human judgment and human-driven strategy will be just as essential to 2026 digital planning. Right now, all too many businesses are vulnerable because of mistakes or oversights in their implementation of technology. Those errors may not be obvious yet, but they could spell trouble later.

Some of them include:

1. Over-Implementation of Artificial Intelligence

AI is new and exciting – but that, by itself, isn’t a use case. Across all verticals, there are some companies that jumped the gun by implementing too much AI as fast as possible. Many also let go of valuable members of their human workforce before seeing exactly how things would pan out.

Artificial intelligence will be indispensable in 2026 and beyond, but it’s crucial to understand what you get and how you intend to use it. Delegating repetitive manual tasks is almost always sensible; letting machines dictate strategy or vision isn’t. Management decisions should always go to experienced leaders.

• The temptation: Listen to the voice of FOMO by jumping aboard new AI tools as they come out.
• What to do instead: Treat the newest AI as “beta” products, gather early insights, and be strategic.

2. Technology Stack Bloat

On a related note, AI can drive you to end up with more technology than you really need. We are still a long, long way from the “everything machine” – a true artificial general intelligence that does it all and earns the trust you give it. AI tools often require other, “dumb” software that receives and processes the AI’s output.

Sure, you can get lots of different apps to work together using something like Zapier or IfThisThenThat. But each time you stack one technology on top of another, the odds of an unexpected outcome increase exponentially. If one AI tool introduces five other tools, it creates complexity – even if you’ve automated some tasks away.

• The temptation: Choose an AI “backbone” and then build a web of input and output apps around it.
• What to do instead: Inventory the tools you use now, then find an AI tool that works well with them.

3. Wrong Time Horizon for Digital Marketing Strategy

Somewhere, in some way, nearly every business can improve productivity or reduce costs with new technology. Often, the same tool will enable you to do both. So, while there’s reason to be cautious of breathless claims, it’s necessary to stay in motion. Someone in your enterprise should be analyzing and evaluating opportunities.

A “wait and see” attitude can be prudent, but it could also be self-sabotaging. There’s a balance to be struck by senior leaders in any organization: recognizing the importance of new opportunities while remaining consistent with your company’s values. There should always be a “rolling timeline,” not a distant deadline for a decision.

• The temptation: Wait until new technologies are perfect or competitors become first-adopters.
• What to do instead: Designate a leader and an agile committee for fast technology assessments.

The Most Human Brands Are Poised to Win 2026 – Here’s How to Be One of Them

When companies race to delegate their core expertise to AI apps, they prove that they aren’t bringing enough value to the table. As always, balance is the key. By embracing the vibrant, messy, authentic aspects of being a real human being – with all the idiosyncrasies that implies – you get more from technology, not less.

Let’s take a closer look at the human factors that will help you win in fast-moving markets:

1. Mindset

Even in a fast-changing world, your best bet is to make your own luck. One of the best ways to do that is to take control of mindset – both for yourself and for your team. Having the right mindset fosters far deeper employee engagement, a secret weapon: business units in the top 25% of engagement are 14% more productive.

Here are some core tenets of a productive mindset in marketing and beyond:

• Growth: Even when there are setbacks, you have opportunities to grow and develop expertise.
• Customer-Centered Thinking: Always be on the lookout to solve real problems for real people.
• Clarity of Purpose: Understand who it is you serve, why, and what your “Zone of Genius” is.
• Strategic Patience: Accept that results often take some time, so consistency in action is vital.
• Data-Driven Judgment: Data is always decisive in deciding how to use your time and budget.

Mindset can be challenging to master – it’s the “inner game” that calls on you to be alert to how you see the world. But when you incorporate positive mindset strategies into your company’s values, you have the chance to both reiterate them and live them. When it comes to lasting change, nothing beats learning by doing.

2. Positioning

Positioning refers to the space you claim in the market. It consists of all the signals that tell your customers where you stand in relation to your competitors. Would-be customers suss out whether your offering is high-touch or low-touch, premium or commodity, based on the position your branding communicates.

Positioning can be subtle, but it’s not just about vibes. It starts with the basics of your brand: Things like your logo, branded color scheme, font choice, and taglines. Then it moves on to how you address your customers, what pains you recognize and respond to, and your ability to deploy empathy effectively.

No matter how well you leverage your technology or develop your marketing strategy, you won’t reach the full potential of your business unless you’ve nailed down your positioning. Poor positioning can lead to challenges:

• You’ll attract the wrong kind of customers for your offerings, lowering your overall conversion rates.
• You’ll leave money on the table as customers fail to see your value, reducing Lifetime Customer Value.
• You’ll need to spend more time convincing, persuading, and explaining, slowing down deal velocity.

With all that in mind, revising your positioning (with input from your team, customers, and brand supporters) is one of the best things you can do to ensure that your marketing and sales spending is more likely to deliver ROI.

3. Content Strategy

Last but not least, content strategy continues to be one of the best places to make your mark on the audience that can move your business forward. As YouTube and other popular platforms groan under the weight of AI-generated content that’s anything but inspired, human voices become engines of brand growth.

Content strategy is about more than just picking blog topics or keywords. In fact, a robust content strategy in 2026 should include text, video, and audio. Zeroing in on the right topics goes beyond old-fashioned search keywords and requires an awareness of voice search and generative AI in its capacity as a search engine.

One area of content strategy that can really shine with today’s tech tools is the process of upcycling or recycling content. It’s never been easier to turn a plain text blog post into audio, audio into video, and every combination in between. That magnifies the power of every content piece you publish and extends your brand’s reach.

Businesses Still Waiting to “Pivot” Are Already Behind

Change is a constant in digital marketing, and that change is accelerating. Adaptability means recognizing both promise and pitfalls – without ever standing still. 2026 will reward those already in motion, so contact New York Ave today for help from the marketing partner that gets it.