6 Digital Marketing Trends for 2026

As we enter2026, digital marketers spend hours studying current techniques of website and brand promotional trends, distinguishing between annoying fads that impede access to content and meaningful content and work that bring relavant information to those looking for answers.

Listed below are six digital marketing trends for 2026. Based on our experience, we have identified that those organizations whose goal is to provide value, offer more current and modern messaging.

1. Mobile First

Google has made it clear, using the mobile device experience as a strong signal of a quality website. On Tuesday, October 31, 2023, John Mueller from Google wrote on the Google blog. "It's been a long road, getting from there to here. We're delighted to announce that the trek to Mobile-First Indexing is now complete." Depending on the industry, we see 50% up to 75% of website visitors originating from a mobile device. Interestingly, what has also occurred is a drastic reduction in visitors using tablets to less than 5% in some areas. These stats collected in 2023 continue to support the idea of Mobile first

This is good news for website owners. Understanding your industry and their preference for web access provides actionable insights into the best exposure approach to your content.

2. High spped access is now a standard

It changed design decisions with more video able to be delivered without latency. Understanding Core Metrics for page load and interactive times, is an important measurement when considering visitor engagement. This measurement is divided into two parts. Largest content paint, the amount of time to render the largest content element visible in the viewport, and first input delay, the time from when a visitor first interacts with your page to when the browser responds to that interaction.

Reels are now the category killer and available on most all social media platfoms.

Stagnate websites are losing their ranking position in search results as Search Engines and Answer Engines update their algorithms to provide a more relevant experience for the users exploiting the better bandwidth. This has created opportunities to increase the size and quality of the media, including podcasts, video, and creative animation.

3. Email is not dead but instead on FIRE!

Still a forgotten media connection with loyalists. We have witnessed our clients experiencing a significant uptick in email open rates of organization's newsletters among established brands. Pre COVID, organizational emails averaged 13%, with a response hovering around 1-3%. Since COVID, several factors have changed, including people's preferences regarding which medium they use to access information, exceeding 40% and still showing signs of additional growth. This has been a sustainable engagement metric. Customers have become more sophisticated and now activly participate accepting inbound communications from positive brands.

As we progress, our level of engagement will only improve by using techniques like audience segmentation, A/B testing, and other omnichannel marketing tactics.

4. Promotion

The new marketing normal for small businesses is to assess the digital footprint, complemented by traditional marketing and advertising. In a post-COVID report by Deloitte, "SMBs that reported using targeted advertising on social media were nearly twice as likely to report higher revenues than in the previous year. That underlines why four out of five SMBs said that they expect to increase their use of digital tools going forward."

This increase and success of the channel have created opportunities, and as the success continues, more organizations will follow this approach. The result makes the environment more challenging in the future, forcing the early adopters to continue to look for innovative ways to increase sales and engagement.

Promotion in various traditional channels can be accomplished by business owners participating in events within the community by bringing attention to your brand. To gain the most from digital media, it needs to be part of a larger plan that places the brand in front of potential customers in owned and non-owned online communities.

5. AI and Being Recognized by LLMs 

If you want to ignore this paragraph, do it at your own peril. AI is here and by all indications, it's here to stay. The only key question remaining is how these new tools will give you a marketing advantage. Many businesses already benefit because software companies who have incorporated AI into their toolsets (e.g., Grammarly, Wix and many others). Applying the technology to the productivity tools differentiates companies but, more importantly, can change how you create content using different file types ( e.g., WAV, PNG, MP4).

It is estimated that Bing Search traffic is expected to triple to 15% during 2024 after Microsoft included the ChatGPT in Bing search results. This advancement has created a race of users adopting AI at an alarming rate. That estimate never materialized. What has occured is that for the first time in modern day, Google is losing market share to a competitor. To fight back, Google is investing in Gemini (formally named BARD, hehe) and has improved the AI experience by merging many of the capabilities into one platform that inclues, Gemini, Pomelli, Notebook LM and Nano-Banana.

Jump in. Use the entry prompt to start creating new material. What do you ask first? Ho about "Hello, I am new to AI and using LLMs, what do I need to know to get the most out of the experience?" This commentary was written by a Bill (human) without the aid of AI. Although in true transparency, Grammerly was involved before publication.

6. Don't wait

It's a new year. Set aside uninterrupted time to focus on your marketing plan for the next 12 months. Are you selling widgets, services, or adding members to participate in your organization's activities? Start with your goals for the year. For churches, what entices people to become part of the congregation? For volunteer groups, how do you appeal to like-minded people? For businesses, what makes you different? Consider seasonal fluctuations and plan to exploit the busy time while using the less active time to adjust the plan.

William R. Benz, Founder & Chief Strategist

As Owner and Chief Digital Officer at the Carnegie Agency, Bill draws from his decades of experience creating digital platforms for the world's largest financial institutions. He provides company strategy and hands-on delivery of digital and traditional marketing solutions for small and medium sized businesses. Bill is a frequent guest speaker at Commonwealth University - Bloomsburg and and local networking groupsand is active in the region.

Bill works out of our Warren County office located in Phillipsburg, New Jersey, with a view of the confluence of the Delaware and Lehigh Rivers. Bill can be reached at 646 504-1204 or wbenz@carnegieagency.com to learn more about how Carnegie Agency can help build your online presence.