2026 is shaping up to be a defining year for marketing—one where AI, platforms, and consumer behavior converge faster than most teams are ready for. From conversational websites and AI-generated video to the dominance of social video and the reshaping of agency workflows, the rules the ad industry relied on are being rewritten in real time.
This forecast explores the shifts marketers need to pay attention to now—not just the opportunities, but the risks, guardrails, and strategic decisions that will separate the brands that adapt and succeed from those that fall behind.
Goodbye Webpages, Hello Prompts: 2026 Web
Websites won’t be destinations you navigate. They’ll be brand agents you have conversations with.
Visitors will ask, “Can you handle enterprise fulfillment in the Southeast?” or “Why are you better than [competitor] for my situation?” Your site responds dynamically, pulling from your knowledge base to construct personalized answers in real time.
Caution: A rogue response could lose your lead. This is where guardrails must be in place to protect brands.
This isn’t a chatbot add-on like years past. Your entire web presence becomes an intelligent agent trained on your brand and sales methodology. Content strategy must evolve accordingly—you’re no longer organizing information for browsing, you’re training AI to understand and sell your value proposition through conversation.
Traditional KPIs may no longer apply. How do you measure a “conversion” without page views? How do you define engagement when interaction replaces navigation? These are questions marketers must begin planning for now.
— Johnny Abbate
Social Video Owns Consumer Attention
Video content on social platforms isn’t just trending—it’s set to own consumer attention in 2026. Bite-sized vertical formats, AI-driven enhancements, seamless shopping integrations, and authentic storytelling are redefining how brands connect.
Short-Form Video as the New Normal
Vertical clips under 15–30 seconds on TikTok, Reels, and YouTube Shorts now capture over 90% of Gen Z and Millennial attention.
Social Search Beats Google
Roughly one-third of shoppers—and more than half of Gen Z—are bypassing traditional search in favor of TikTok, YouTube, and Reddit. Keyword-rich explainer videos are becoming essential top-of-funnel assets.
Shoppable Fun That Sells
91% of consumers favor tappable, visual content that blends entertainment with shopping. Platforms like TikTok Shop (up 52% year-over-year) and live shopping streams are turning casual scrolling into instant purchases.
GEO: Win Humans and AI Alike
Optimizing video titles and descriptions around real questions—such as “best workout gear for beginners”—helps content surface in both social feeds and AI-generated answers.
Raw and Relatable
In an AI-saturated world, authenticity wins. User-generated content, testimonials, challenges, and creator collaborations outperform polished brand messaging and build long-term algorithm resilience.
— Amanda Egan
Less Grind, More Thinking: How Agencies Should Flex AI
AI’s biggest impact on agencies won’t be flashy creative stunts—it will be the quiet removal of grind. The real opportunity lies in eliminating repetitive, low-value tasks like asset versioning, resizing, first-pass copy, summaries, tagging, and QA.
Used intentionally, AI doesn’t replace strategy or creativity—it protects them. By offloading executional work, teams can focus upstream on insight, ideation, problem-solving, and client counsel.
The agencies that win won’t chase AI novelty. They’ll redesign workflows around it, establish guardrails, and treat AI as a force multiplier—not a shortcut. Less time pushing pixels. More time doing the thinking clients actually pay for.
— Marty Defatte
When AI Makes “Real” Video from Nothing, Who Decides What’s Fake?
As creators adopt AI video tools, the line between real and fabricated content is dissolving. Tools like Nano Banana Pro now enable the creation of fully synthetic videos featuring people who look completely authentic.
This goes far beyond rough Photoshop edits. Entirely new footage can now be generated from scratch—convincing, polished, and indistinguishable from reality.
Regulators are beginning to respond. The FCC is developing guidelines around labeling and authentication, particularly as AI-generated content becomes more prevalent in political messaging and testimonials.
For marketers, this signals a tightening landscape. Disclosure requirements and authenticity standards will evolve rapidly, and brands will need to stay ahead to avoid reputational and legal risk.
— Johnny Abbate
The Lines Blur Between Agencies and Content Creators
The boundary between advertising and organic content continues to erode. Gen Z and Millennials, wary of traditional marketing, increasingly reject inauthentic brand messaging in favor of content that feels human and emotionally honest.
This shift reflects fatigue from years of hyper-curated campaigns. Influencer partnerships, user-generated content, and lo-fi video formats are no longer trends—they’re foundational to modern brand strategy.
Agencies are adapting by adopting creator-native aesthetics and narratives. Tone is beginning to matter more than technique, and credibility now comes from real voices rather than polished perfection. The most effective advertising will increasingly look less like advertising at all.
— Scott Lynch
AI Is Deemed Too Big to Fail
Forecasts aren’t always optimistic. Sometimes they point to heavy weather—and AI may be bringing some of it.
Since ChatGPT’s launch in November 2022, AI-related stocks have driven roughly 75% of the S&P 500’s total returns, 80% of earnings growth, and 90% of capital spending growth. In October 2025 alone, Nvidia accounted for nearly 20% of the index’s year-to-date return.
Federal policy has reinforced this dependency. The CHIPS and Science Act authorizes nearly $100 billion for advanced research, including AI. Executive Order 14179 further directs agencies to sustain America’s global AI dominance for economic and national security reasons.
History suggests caution. We’ve seen similar patterns in autos, banking, and social media—industries that grew rapidly, misled users, and relied on government support when consequences emerged.
AI companies will likely follow the same path: aggressive growth, limited accountability, and eventual government backing if the bubble bursts. Whether regulation truly reins them in remains doubtful.
— Scott Lynch
Ready to future-proof your marketing strategy for 2026 and beyond? Let’s talk.
Whether you just have questions or are eager to start evolving your brand today, we’re ready to help. Start the conversation by emailing Marcy Tessmann at mtessmann@co-nxt.com, or request more information at the link below.
C.O.nxt Insight.
Our team of subject matter experts focuses on food and agriculture—farm field to processing to entrée on a plate. We can help you build a new brand, protect an old one or target customers to foster sales. Let’s talk when the time is right to handle your next strategic marketing and communications challenge: Marcy Tessmann, marcy@co-nxt.com.
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