What marketers told us heading into 2026

Before the mics were hot and the coffee kicked in at the 2025 Marketing Brew Summit on Sept. 10 in New York City, we polled the room. Marketers, brand leads, and big thinkers told us what’s fueling their strategies and what’s keeping them up at night as they plan for 2026. 

This year’s summit was all about where marketing is headed next. So we asked our attendees: What’s really going on inside marketers' heads as 2026 comes into focus? 

Let’s start with the big headline: Agility is the skill shaping everything else

87% of attendees said agility is the “most important” trait a marketing pro can have right now, and it’s easy to see why. 80% said marketing will look totally different in just 18 months. The field is shifting fast, and marketers are expected to keep up without missing a beat.

The catch? Not everyone feels prepared. One in four said their teams aren’t structured for the kind of rapid decision-making today’s environment demands. Additionally, the vast majority (81%) said they’re being asked to “do more with less,” which pretty much sums up modern marketing in one sentence.

Faced with leaner teams, growing expectations, and structures not built for speed, many have taken matters into their own hands. When we asked what’s been their focus over the past year, 72% of attendees pointed to AI and data upskilling, and 50% began incorporating generative AI into their content workflows. If the org chart isn’t built for speed, marketers are finding ways to move faster anyway.

But heading into next year? The vibe shifts away from the stark focus on AI

AI upskilling drops by nearly a quarter for 2026 focuses (48%) compared to how marketers are prioritizing it this year (72%).

In its place, “Testing new channels” becomes the No. 1 focus for 2026 for 57% of attendees, with an emphasis on testing both traditional paid social like Meta and LinkedIn (48%) as well as influencer marketing (30%), social commerce like TikTok Shop (15%), and emerging social platforms like Threads, BeReal, and Bluesky (11%).

Another distinct shift between 2025 and 2026 priorities? Attribution. There’s a 16-percentage-point increase in those planning to improve attribution and measurement next year (35%) compared to their focus so far in 2025 (19%). It’s a clear signal that tying work to outcomes is back on the radar. Still, only 13% are actively modernizing their martech stacks—tools that could make attribution more accurate and actionable. Without the right infrastructure, even the best measurement intentions can hit a ceiling.

Of course, driving reach is table stakes. Building relationships is what sets brands apart. Many marketers told us they want to deepen those connections through community-building efforts like loyalty programs, ambassador groups, or insider perks. But again, there’s a gap between aspiration and action. While 67% said they wish they could focus more on building customer communities, only 26% plan to prioritize it next year.

When resources and marketing teams are stretched, even high-impact priorities like community-building or martech upgrades can get deprioritized. That’s the tension heading into 2026.

Marketers are recalibrating in real time, turning experimentation into strategy and agility into muscle. The questions ahead are big: How do we grow smarter? Stay agile? Collaborate better across teams, tech, and touchpoints?

They won’t be solved overnight. But the conversations at the 2025 Marketing Brew Summit were a strong first step toward what comes next.