Marketing Trends 2026: Authenticity, GEO, and the Post-Automation Era

2025 is coming to an end - what a year for marketing and ads!

Things are changing faster than ever, forcing marketers to stay on their toes and constantly keep up.

So, what is 2026 preparing for us? Let’s take a look into the future - no magic, no esoterics, just a clear observation of the trends. 😉

AI + strategic creativity beats AI + automation

What? Marketers around the world rushed to adopt AI automation, and suddenly, a new trend has arrived: AI + strategic creativity.

If you feel like you missed the thread, AI + strategic creativity means keeping a human in the loop to preserve brand voice, precision, and avoid generic output.

How? For example, AI localizes ads for five markets, and a human validates cultural fit and emotional accuracy. Or a strategist defines the core idea, audience tension, and brand angle, while AI generates variations.

Briefly: AI accelerates execution. Humans own meaning, taste, and risk.

Back to authentic content

This trend derives from the previous one. Suddenly, companies are back to hiring copywriters and designers to use a naïve style - imitating imperfect, human-like drawing.

In fact, users are tired of seeing generative AI everywhere. We miss something truly authentic. Brands, recognising this, are stepping closer to their audience.

Next year, the winners will be brands that deliver authentic, human-made content and celebrate it.

Important: AI is here to stay, but as a companion, not the main character.

Image credit: kittl.com

Mobile first

Mobile ads and mobile adoption have remained a dominant trend over the past several years. Today, the absolute majority - over 70 % of internet users -  access the web via mobile, and more than 60% of global traffic already comes from smartphones.

People don’t “go online” anymore; they are online by default, through their phones: scrolling, searching, shopping, watching, and interacting in short, high-frequency moments throughout the day. Mobile marketing naturally follows attention, and attention lives in the pocket.

Social commerce

Speaking of mobile, we can’t avoid social commerce. Recently, TikTok fully stepped into commerce, following the same direction Instagram and Meta took earlier, turning social platforms into discovery-to-purchase ecosystems.

This shift reinforces the need for platform-specific content strategies. And by the way, our recent PXLSTRM update for TikTok, reaching the most relevant audiences through smarter ad placement, we’re already seeing 2-3x higher landing-page engagement. 

Thus, in 2026, marketing must be both content-aware and commerce-aware because attention, intent, and conversion now live in the same feed.

GEO optimisation

In addition to Search-Everywhere Optimization (SEvO), Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is coming into the spotlight. GEO enhances your content so it’s easily understood, trusted, and cited by AI systems such as ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity, and Copilot.

When users ask AI tools for recommendations or explanations, your content gets selected, summarized, and cited as the source. In GEO, instead of chasing keywords, you focus on clarity, context, and authority.

The good news is that GEO is still in its early adoption phase, which means the brands that adapt first are the ones that will win in 2026 and beyond.

Video

Video will remain the leading format in 2026. It aligns perfectly with how people consume content today: fast, visual, mobile-first, and low-effort. 

Short-form video remains the most engaging format across platforms, while long-form video is evolving into an education and trust-building tool. 

At the same time, video is becoming more contextual, shoppable, and performance-driven. In 2026, brands that win with video won’t be the loudest, but the clearest, most relevant, and most intentional. See how to do that.

DOOH and geodata

DOOH powered by geodata will be a defining trend in 2026.  When combined with mobile audience intelligence, it allows brands to detect audiences passing by DOOH screens, re-engage them later on mobile with native, interactive ad formats, and measure how exposure translates into real-world visits and footfall. This creates a full loop: from physical presence to mobile interaction to performance insights, including location sensitivity, timing, and message effectiveness.

FOOH - Out of Home goes viral

Technically, Fake Out of Home (FOOH) is very different from classic DOOH. Nevertheless, this format is gaining traction, especially on social media, and strongly resonates with younger audiences.

FOOH isn’t limited by screens, locations, or physical inventory. It’s limited only by imagination: brands can place themselves anywhere, bend reality, and create visually striking moments designed purely for sharing, conversation, and cultural relevance.

Unique chance of increasing Share of Voice

The last trend is the bottom line of everything we’ve discussed in this article. 

There’s no secret that 2026, alongside all the exciting innovations, may also bring economic recession, uncertainty, and reduced consumer spending.

In response, many brands will shut down or significantly cut their marketing activity - and that’s a big mistake. In times like these, the smartest move is to make lemonade out of lemons: occupy the space others leave behind, increase your share of voice, and be the loudest when everyone else goes silent.

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