Marketing in 2026: More Questions Than Answers
I'm always a fan of asking questions. And heading into 2026, there's never been a better time.
Especially for Marketing.
Why?
Because 2025 gave us a whole TON of data about what's NOT working in Marketing any more.
And while we might know what's NOT working, there are still a lot of questions that need to be asked in order to figure out what DOES.
Heading in to 2026 (and beyond), an intention and investment in asking the right questions in your marketing is what's going to get you to that next place.
And the skill you build along the way? It's going to serve you; at some point in the future.
When that point is? We can only guess.
But if you wait until you NEED a skill to build it, you won't have it.
So, let's start today!
#1: What's Working? (for REAL)
This might seem like a super BASIC question, but I'll tell you...once Marketing Teams have processes in place, this one doesn't get asked enough.
Because we ASSUME that what worked once will always work.
Which is precisely what DIDN'T happen in 2025.
So, we can HOPE that's going to change in 2026 (it won't).
OR...
We can take a look at what we did in 2025 and be honest about what DIDN'T work.
And let's be hard on our Marketing efforts.
Did they do what we paid them to do? And did that move the needle in our business?
Because if they didn't, it's time to change the job description.
#2. How does our brand FEEL to our customers?
Of course I had to throw one in about customer feedback. And as you might notice, there's more behind this one than a lazy NPS survey can collect.
People make purchasing decisions because of how they FEEL. And yes, you need to address their problem (that's a given). And when they feel GOOD about you addressing their problem, that's when they become sticky; and better yet, ambassadors.
Oh, and this isn't about getting testimonials to put on your website. And it's not about creating a white paper.
It's about being authentically curious about what your customers feel about you and why they choose you.
And sure, you can use the feedback for those things.
But if your goal in collecting the information is all about you, and nothing about them, then please, I implore you, don't bother. We've all had enough information surveyed out of us that doesn't get used for anything meaningful.
#3. What about us can NO ONE ELSE duplicate?
Spoiler Alert: "caring about people" is something nearly everyone puts on their website one way or another. Publishing your "values" doesn't create something your competitors can't copy. In fact, it creates something FOR your competitors to copy.
But the things you DO...those are less copy-able. Especially if WHY you do it is obvious from the energy in which it was done.
And once you get clear on this, it's not just about writing it on your website.
It's about LIVING it in your marketing.
So, look at how you live it in different areas of the business.
And create opportunities for people who haven't experienced it yet from you to FEEL it in your marketing efforts.
Yes, it's possible.
But only if you hold your marketing accountable for it 😉
#4. What assumptions are we making that might no longer be true?
What is true about marketing today? Strategy decay is happening faster and faster. Which means, we need MORE touch points to review our strategy.
Just like with tooth decay, if it's happening faster, you would go to the dentist more often. OR, risk a more costly issue later.
The challenge here is that it's not that easy to understand our OWN assumptions. Which means, it's critical to get fresh perspectives in the conversation.
That could be consultants. But it could also be additional team members (everyone sees things a little differently), or members from OTHER teams (sales or customer service are great outlets for marketing insights).
Oh, and we have to be open to ACCEPTING that we made an assumption that is wrong.
So many marketing programs persist because people can't let something go. Tradeshows used to work. Ads used to generate leads.
Until they don't any more.
But, if you're open to being "proven wrong", your ability to generate meaningful marketing efforts increases substantially.
#5. Are we employing AI to get rid of what we DON'T want? Or enabling what we DO want?
I don't think anyone in the business arena can pretend that AI is going anywhere. And while it has been minorly helpful in offloading tasks people DON'T want to do, we're still not close to optimizing it to HELP us get the results we DO want.
Especially in marketing, there are SO many people (and businesses) using AI to offload marketing tasks. Primarily, because there isn't anyone in the company that WANTS to do those tasks.
But quick sub question here...why are you doing so many tasks you don't want to do?
Sure, AI and automation can help us offload tasks, but if we don't ask WHY we're doing tasks we don't want to do, we're going to continue to go down the path of doing MORE (that's not necessarily impactful) and needed to offload it.
Instead, if we focus on using AI and automation to help us DO what we want most, we're attaching accomplishment energy to the task.
Which...you guessed it...makes it MORE likely we achieve the thing.
#6. Could our marketing help people feel more connected?
In this current landscape of a lonliness pandemic, people are hankering to feel connected. And I think we often forget that marketing CAN deliver in this arena, if the intention is there.
But let's be honest. Your social media posts about your products? They DON'T do that.
Promotion was never about connection.
#7. Does what we measure reflect what we value?
Ooh, this is still a BIG one in Marketing. Why? Because it's so easy to measure things that DON'T really matter.
Still I see so many businesses concerned about vanity metrics. Heck, there are still a lot of companies that are BONUSING employees on vanity metrics, because it's all they know how to measure.
But when it really comes down to it, your marketing metrics will always disappoint you until you clearly know what you value.
Let's look at community size as an example.
Everyone wants a large community right? More members, more followers.
What's the value behind that? More is better?
But I think we all know more isn't better in every scenario. More demos doesn't always means more business, but it does mean more cost (in people hours).
And I'm sure there's enough people out there that would agree that more romantic partners doesn't necessarily make life easier.
These types of questions can help us get clarity that we don't actually believe that more is better. And then figure out, what DO we believe?
And how could THAT be measured?
For me, I value Authenticity. One of the things I measure in my client activities is the number of NO's I get. Because someone saying NO to someone else is an act of authenticity. And if it's my job to enable authenticity, then NO's are actually GOOD.
I also measure how many Authentic Touches I have in a day. As in, how many of the public facing and/or direct engagements I have in a day authentically reflect who I am. The goal? 100%. Although, I don't believe in absolutes, which means, there's space for learning about the interactions that DON'T feel authentic.
Now, those are MINE. They aren't yours.
But when YOURS match you to THAT degree, that's when marketing teams start winning.
The BIG Question
While each of those 7 questions are definitely going to take you in a meaningful direction for 2026, there's also one BIG master question that captures all the components:
Are we designing a Marketing System that grows BECAUSE of us (not in spite of us)?
Some key parts of this include:
Actively designing something (as an on-going process),
Builing a SYSTEM (that generates something meaningful), and
An understanding of HOW the team contributes to that system.
Throwing tactics at the wall is NOT a design.
Random efforts that aren't connected is NOT a system.
Doing things someone else tells you to do, does NOT connect someone to a How.
All of these things come down to HOW we do marketing.
Not THAT we do marketing.
And if we want to build something that out lives us, it requires all these things.
Oh, and the honesty to know when it DOESN'T.
So we can go create it.
That's the kind of marketing programs I'm in to co-creating. And if you're ready for one, let's go create yours 💖 Book Your Discovery Call
