Marketing Trends: Key Insights to Boost Your Strategy
In 2024 I listed ten marketing trends to watch. It is worth going back and checking them. Here is each one, updated for October 2026, with what the evidence now says.
1. Short-form video: held
In HubSpot's 2026 State of Marketing, short-form video was the format marketers most often named for the best return (48.6%). For a small firm, one recording a week cut into short clips is plenty.
2. Micro-influencers: held, for some
Only 21.2% of brands in the same survey use influencer marketing, but those that do saw the most success with micro-influencers (32.4%). The same report finds it pays best for consumer brands.
3. Mobile first: now simply the default
Treat every page, email and booking form as something read on a phone first, and test it on one before it goes live.
4. Blogging: still useful, harder to win clicks
Google's AI summaries now answer many queries on the results page. Pew Research found that people who saw one clicked a traditional search result in 8% of visits, against 15% for those who did not. Write about specific questions from your own experience, where you have something a summary does not.
5. Direct messaging: now a route to new clients too
In 2024 I wrote about Messenger for customer service. Direct messages are now also where many B2B conversations start, on LinkedIn especially. Quality decides the result: on one client account, messages written for each person drew replies from 13.6% of people against 7.7% for the client's own templates.
6. Visual storytelling: held
Carousels, short video and simple diagrams still work because they are quick to take in. HubSpot also found 62.7% of marketers think the market needs more unique, human-centred content. I would use real photos and your own examples over stock imagery every time.
7. Push notifications: niche
Push notifications suit apps and online shops. For a coach or consultant, an email newsletter or a WhatsApp update to people who asked for it does the same job.
8. Featured snippets: now AI summaries too
Winning the box at the top of Google now includes being cited in Google's AI summaries. In Pew's US study, 18% of searches in March 2025 produced one, rising to 53% for searches of ten words or more. The advice has barely changed: answer real questions clearly and directly, near the top of the page.
9. Social commerce: held
Social media shopping tools ranked among the most effective channels in HubSpot's 2026 survey (22.7%), and Instagram has passed Facebook as the platform brands use most (70% against 69.6%). This matters most if you offer products, and less if you offer services.
10. Email: personalisation, plus stricter rules
Personalisation and automation still drive good email. The bigger change is permission. Since February 2024, Gmail has required anyone sending more than 5,000 messages a day to its users to authenticate their domain, keep reported spam below 0.3% and offer one-click unsubscribe on marketing emails. Smaller senders should follow the same habits anyway.
How to use trends without chasing them
Most of my clients are coaches, consultants and small firms with no marketing team. For them the rule is simple: pick two or three of these, do them consistently, and automate the repetitive parts. Our content engine turns a voice note into posts, a newsletter and carousels in your voice, and nothing publishes without your approval.
Content builds trust with people who already know you. To reach new clients, I rely on targeted outreach to a clearly defined ideal client, with an easy opt-out, rather than hoping a post converts. If you want to see what that looks like, here is our done-for-you outreach.
