Marketing predictions for 2026

Marketing is changing, but not the way you might think. Here are my 3 predictions that will shape the next 12 months.

1. LinkedIn will become SEO. Your posts here on LinkedIn and other social media platforms will be used as a ChatGPT or Google search. Go ahead and Google yourself. The first thing that pops up for me? My LinkedIn posts. So those 3 week old posts we've been dreading lately will be how people find you (not your website).

2. Trust-driven marketing will be necessary because of AI. Sharing more about what you learned and how it changed you will become the norm, not the exception. Those "how-to" lists will transform into stories of lived experience to build trust. And storytelling will still be essential as long as it's audience-first. We're all craving connection, but even better if it relates to our problems and how you solve them.

3. B2B brands will finally see that people buy from people, no matter what you sell (like I've been saying since the year 2000). So B2B marketing will start sounding a lot more like B2C: Human-led, approachable brands > boring, corporate jargon for the win. 🎉Okay, number 3 is on my wish list. But after 25 years, I still think it'll happen. 😉

What do you think? Will 1, 2, or 3 make the cut? Or do you have your own predictions?

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