Every "marketing trends 2026" piece you run into this year is either a consultancy report aimed at the boardroom, or a list of twenty items without a single source underneath. Neither tells you what a twelve-person business should do next week. That is exactly the gap, and that gap is what we fill here.
This is not a list for the sake of a list. These are the seven shifts that genuinely matter for a Dutch business owner in 2026, with an honest source behind every number, and three hype cycles you can safely ignore. By the end you will know not just what is changing, but which decision goes with it.
Key Takeaways
- In 2026 AI is no longer a trend but a baseline: 86.4% of marketing teams already use it (HubSpot, 2026).
- The real shift is how customers find you. When an AI answer appears, only 8% click through to a link, against 15% without one (Pew Research, 2025).
- Adopted is not the same as profitable: more than 80% of organizations see no measurable return from AI yet (McKinsey, 2025).
- In an AI world your website and your brand are not a cost line, they are your most important salespeople.
- Owned channels win: email still returns roughly 36 euros for every euro invested.
What actually changes in 2026? The short version
In 2026 AI is no longer a standalone trend but the foundation under almost every marketing task: 86.4% of marketing teams now use it, with content creation leading the way (HubSpot, 2026). But the change that hits your revenue is not in the tool. It is in the way customers find you from now on.
Look at adoption across Europe and you see how fast it moves. In 2024, 13.5% of European companies with ten or more employees used AI; in 2025 it was already 20.0% (Eurostat, 2025). A jump of nearly seven percentage points in a single year. The headline is clear: get in now and you are still early, but the window is closing.
The rest of this piece works that headline out across seven concrete trends. Always the same pattern: what changes, what the evidence says, and which decision goes with it for your business. We close with the three trends you can safely skip this year.
How do customers find you in 2026? The AI search shift
This is the most important trend of the year, and almost nobody explains it well. In 2026 an AI overview appears on roughly half of all Google searches, and about half of consumers now use AI-driven search features (HubSpot, 2026). The consequence: being found is no longer enough, you need to be cited.
The effect is measurable and it is significant. Research from Pew in 2025 shows that people click a regular link only 8% of the time when an AI summary sits above it, against 15% when there is none, and just 1% click a source inside that summary (Pew Research, 2025). So the click-through roughly halves the moment an AI gives the answer.
Gartner already predicted in 2024 that volume in classic search engines would drop 25% by 2026 because of AI chatbots and agents (Gartner, 2024). That prediction is contested, so do not lean on it blindly. But together with the measured behavior from Pew, everything points the same way: the search bar is no longer the only front door.
What this means in practice is what we call GEO, that is, optimizing to be cited by ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews. The approach is concrete: write answers that stand on their own, use FAQ structure and schema, be consistent in how you name your business, and make sure you keep showing up on review sites and in directories. Soon it is not your position that counts, but whether an AI is willing to name you as a source.
AI in marketing: where it works and where it does not
AI is the most widely used gen-AI application area within businesses, and marketing and sales is where it lands first. In Europe, 34.7% of companies that use AI deploy it for marketing or sales, the largest share of any function (Eurostat, 2025). Even so, that is no licence to stuff AI into everything.
Because adoption is not the same as return. McKinsey found in 2025 that marketing and sales is indeed the most common gen-AI application, but that more than 80% of organizations see no measurable gain at the company level yet (McKinsey, 2025). The gap between using and earning is large, and that gap is exactly your opportunity.
Our experience: AI pays for itself with our clients in the boring places, not the spectacular ones. First-draft copy, summarizing research, generating variants for a test, structuring a brief quickly. Where it goes wrong is the illusion that a tool takes over the strategy. The question is never "can AI do this", but "does this lead to a better decision or just more output".
Where should your content budget go? Video and formats
If you have a limited budget, the choice in 2026 is simpler than it feels. Short-form video is by far the format with the highest return: 48.6% of marketers name it their best ROI format, against 28.6% for long-form video (HubSpot, 2026). Short video first, the rest after.
Now lay the Dutch reality on top of that. 14.6 million people in the Netherlands aged 15 and over are on social media, averaging around two hours a day (Newcom, 2026). At the same time the DDMA warns that Dutch people are actually trimming their digital media time slightly. So there is plenty of reach, but attention is getting scarcer. Pick one or two channels and be genuinely good there, instead of half-present everywhere.
Why is your website your hardest-working marketer?
In a world where AI swallows half the clicks, every visitor who does get through counts double. And speed decides whether that visitor stays. Research from Deloitte and Google showed that even 0.1 second faster load time on mobile lifted retail conversion by 8.4% (Deloitte and Google, foundational). The report is older, but the principle holds up undiminished.
Google also makes the bar explicit. The Core Web Vitals ask for an LCP under 2.5 seconds, an INP under 200 milliseconds and a CLS under 0.1, and those scores are a documented ranking signal (Google Search Central, 2026). A slow site is therefore not just annoying, it costs you rankings and revenue at the same time.
This is exactly why we ourselves stopped building things a certain way. The reasoning is laid out in why we stopped building WordPress websites. And if you first want a sober read on whether your website is holding you back, that seven-point check walks you through it step by step. The decision for 2026 is simple: build fast, or rebuild.
Why does brand beat the short term in an AI world?
The more AI flattens the discovery layer, the more a distinctive brand matters. Only about 5% of business buyers are actually in the market at any given moment, the well-known 95-5 rule (Ehrenberg-Bass and LinkedIn, foundational). For the other 95% you build memory, so that you are the name that gets mentioned later, by a human or by a model.
There is an underrated AI effect here. Models prefer to cite sources that are consistent and recognizable. A brand that goes by a slightly different name, sound and look everywhere is harder to trust, for a customer and for an algorithm. In 2026 consistency is not a cosmetic luxury but a discoverability signal.
And a brand is much more than a logo. What it actually is, you can read in branding is more than a logo. Often the biggest win sits in an unexpected detail: the brand touchpoint most companies ignore shows how one small, consistent point of contact makes your brand stronger than a new visual identity ever could.
Why do owned channels and first-party data win?
In a market without third-party cookies and with strict privacy rules, power shifts toward what you own yourself. Email is the proof: it still returns roughly 36 euros for every euro invested (Litmus and DMA, foundational). A channel you do not rent but own stays the most profitable one there is.
The Dutch numbers underline why owned relationships count. According to Deloitte, 60% of consumers say social content, recommendations and communities drive their brand discovery, 43% experience interactions as personalized, and 40% are cutting back on discretionary spending (Deloitte Digital Netherlands, 2026). Discovery happens algorithmically, but trust is built on your own channels.
So in 2026, actively build your list and your own data instead of continuing to rent your audience from platforms. How to set that up well per audience, including the difference most companies miss, is covered in B2B is not B2C email marketing. The relationship you own yourself is the only channel no algorithm update can take away from you.
From trend to decision: the overview
Knowing a trend changes nothing, a decision does. Below, each shift sits next to the choice that goes with it for your business, with the guide that takes you further. Read it as a checklist for the coming quarter.
| Trend in 2026 | What it means for your business | The decision |
|---|---|---|
| AI search shift | Half of searches show an AI answer, click-through halves | Optimize to be cited, not just to rank |
| AI in marketing | Everyone uses it, more than 80% see no return yet | Put AI on execution, keep strategy human |
| Short-form video | Highest return of any format | Short video first, on one or two channels |
| Fast website | 0.1 second faster lifts conversion noticeably | Build fast or rebuild, hit the Core Web Vitals |
| Brand over the short term | 95% of buyers are not in the market right now | Invest in consistent, recognizable branding |
| Owned channels | Email still returns around 36 euros per euro | Build your own list and first-party data |
Which trends can you ignore in 2026?
Just as important as what you pick up is what you leave alone. The honest filter: more than 80% of organizations see no measurable return from their AI efforts yet (McKinsey, 2025). That is your permission to ignore hype with no decision underneath it.
Three things you can safely skip this year as an SME. One, building your own AI model or heavy automation before your basics are in order. Two, being present on every new platform at once, because depth beats breadth. Three, losing yourself in dashboards and attribution models while you do not yet have a single channel that proves it works. Start with the foundation, not the frills.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the most important marketing trends for 2026?
The biggest is the AI search shift: an AI answer appears on roughly half of searches and click-through drops from 15% to 8% (Pew, 2025). Beyond that, short-form video, fast websites, strong branding and owned channels like email all count.
What is GEO and should my business take it seriously?
GEO stands for optimizing to be cited by AI such as ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews. With half of consumers using AI search (HubSpot, 2026), being cited is just as important as ranking. For SMEs this is the most underrated opportunity of 2026.
Should I invest in AI marketing in 2026?
Yes, but with focus. Marketing and sales is the most common AI application area, while more than 80% of organizations see no measurable return yet (McKinsey, 2025). Put AI on execution and research, and keep your strategy and decisions human.
Which marketing trends should I ignore?
Skip these: building your own AI model before your basics are in place, trying to be present on every platform at once, and losing yourself in attribution while no channel has proven it works. With more than 80% seeing no measurable AI return (McKinsey, 2025), hype with no decision underneath it is safe to ignore.
How do I get my website ready for 2026?
Make it fast and hit the Core Web Vitals: LCP under 2.5 seconds, INP under 200 milliseconds, CLS under 0.1 (Google, 2026). Even 0.1 second faster lifts conversion noticeably. Build fast, or rebuild.
Start with the decision, not the trend
The thread running through 2026 is not AI in itself, it is a shift in how people find you, choose you and trust you. The businesses that win do not chase every trend. They grab the few shifts that matter, attach a decision to each, and ignore the rest with a clear conscience.
If you are not sure where to start, first look at how we work, or talk it through with us. No pitch, just an honest look at where you stand and which of these trends makes the difference for your business. We would rather hand you a map than an invoice.
Sources
- Eurostat, AI use in EU businesses 2025, retrieved 2026-06-27, ec.europa.eu
- Eurostat, Use of artificial intelligence in enterprises (Statistics Explained), retrieved 2026-06-27, ec.europa.eu
- HubSpot, State of Marketing 2026, retrieved 2026-06-27, blog.hubspot.com
- McKinsey, The State of AI 2025, retrieved 2026-06-27, mckinsey.com
- Gartner, Search engine volume to drop 25 percent by 2026, retrieved 2026-06-27, gartner.com
- Pew Research Center, Google users are less likely to click on links when an AI summary appears, retrieved 2026-06-27, pewresearch.org
- Deloitte and Google, Milliseconds Make Millions, retrieved 2026-06-27, thinkwithgoogle.com
- Google Search Central, Core Web Vitals, retrieved 2026-06-27, developers.google.com
- Ehrenberg-Bass and LinkedIn B2B Institute, The 95-5 rule, retrieved 2026-06-27, business.linkedin.com
- Litmus and DMA via HubSpot, Email marketing benchmarks, retrieved 2026-06-27, blog.hubspot.com
- Newcom, National Social Media Survey 2026, retrieved 2026-06-27, mondomarketing.nl
- Deloitte Digital Netherlands, Marketing Trends 2026, retrieved 2026-06-27, deloittedigital.com