10 Macro Trends Shaping 2026 Marketing
2026 won’t behave like 2025. And I’m pretty sure nobody else has “Ariana Grande foreshadowed TikTok Shop” on their 2026 bingo card — but stay with me, because it matters.
Consumer behavior is shifting fast. The brands that win in 2026 aren’t the ones who react fastest, they’re the ones who plan around the forces reshaping the market (and read my newsletter).
These are the 10 macro forces I predict will shape how consumers discover, evaluate, and buy in 2026 and what they mean for your brand.
Force #1 — AI Becomes the New Front Door
Consumers aren’t starting with “Lentiful”. They’re starting with need-state prompts.
They're asking:
"best high-protein microwave meals"
"alternatives to Daily Harvest"
"healthy lunch that keeps you full"
What this means for you:
If you don't define your need state clearly and consistently across the internet, AI will define it for you—and may put you in the wrong category or next to the wrong competitors.
This is no longer SEO. It's AEO: AI Experience Optimization. You need to plan against it.
Force #2 — AI Now Controls the Middle of the Journey
AI has taken over the consideration phase — the part of the journey where shoppers research and compare options. A consumer sees Lentiful while researching “best high-protein microwave meals.” Then they ask: “Is Lentiful healthy?”
AI DOES NOT send them to your DTC site. It sends them to:
Amazon reviews
Reddit threads
comparison charts
nutrition summaries
competitor roundups
AI reconstructs your reputation from every corner of the internet and serves that as the truth.
What this means:
AI controls the evaluation path. If your claims, hierarchy, nutrition story, and positioning aren’t consistent across surfaces, AI exposes the contradictions. You no longer manage channels — you manage cross-surface coherence.
Force #3. AI Becomes the New Decision-Maker
Once a shopper thinks Lentiful might be right, AI steps in again — this time at the buy/no-buy moment.
Now the prompts change to:
“Lentiful taste review”
“Is Lentiful worth it?”
“Lentiful vs. Splendid Spoon price per serving”
Here, AI acts as referee, aggregating:
sentiment
taste reviews
value comparisons
nutrition claims
competitor alternatives
This isn’t evaluation — it’s judgment.
What this means:
Your brand story doesn’t close the sale anymore. Your proof ecosystem does: consistency of reviews, sentiment, experience, nutrition, pricing, and claims. If that proof is thin, fragmented, or out of sync, AI kills the sale right at the finish line.
Force #4. Value Sensitivity Outpaces Price Sensitivity
Consumers aren't just trading down—they're trading smart.They're weighing cost per serving against protein against satiety against ingredient quality.
EY found that consumers will trade down unless your value story is unmistakable.
Look across brands like Siete, Partake, Goodles, Caulipower. Great premium products, but many don't fully answer: "Why should I pay 2x?" That gap doesn't tank a winning brand overnight, but it creates vulnerability as categories crowd and comparisons sharpen.
What this means for you:
Your value must be explicit and comparative. “High protein" isn't enough. The level of clarity required: "25g protein, keeps you full till lunch, cheaper per serving than a shake".
5. Shopping Turns into Fast Entertainment
As Ariana Grande said: "I see it, I like it, I want it, I got it." That's becoming the entire consumer journey—QVC compressed to 30 seconds.
This isn't shopping as problem-solving. It's shopping as entertainment. And in 2026, it's going to accelerate.
The creator economy is professionalizing into performance marketing. Creators are moving away from $10K brand deals and toward performance partnerships with rev share (15-30% commission). They're using dashboards and attribution like media buyers. This shift will deepen in 2026.
The economics are flipping for brands. Old model: Pay $5K-$50K upfront, hope it works. New model: Pay commission on actual sales, zero upfront risk. This means bootstrapped brands will gain access to creator audiences without needing capital—and more will take advantage of it.
The "see it, buy it" loop is collapsing. Pre-TikTok Shop: See product → go to site → think → maybe buy later. TikTok Shop: See → tap → checkout in-app → done. Impulse buying now works at scale digitally the way it worked at physical checkout or QVC. Expect this to normalize across more platforms in 2026.
It's creating new product design requirements. If your product doesn't visually pop, transform something, or create a "wow" moment in 15 seconds—it won't work here. This will increasingly shape what products get developed.
What this means for you:
This model will work for specific categories, need states, and P&Ls—not all of them.
If your brand requires education, deep consideration, or has thin margins that can't support 15-30% creator commissions, entertainment commerce might not be your growth lever.
But if your product demos well and can support affiliate economics—this channel will eliminate friction between discovery and purchase faster than any platform ever has.
6. Instant Clarity Beats More Content
People don't read. They skim. Top PDPs (Graza, Fly By Jing, Truff) win with:
Clear benefit hierarchy
Clear usage
Clear transformation
Minimal cognitive load
Adobe found AI-powered Q&A reduces bounce by 36%. Not because people love chatbots, but because they get answers instantly.
What this means for you:
Clarity converts. Content is secondary. If your PDP makes people guess, they leave—and AI learns from that bounce.
7. Behavior Sequencing Unlocks Repeat
OLIPOP's founders figured out that their highest-LTV customers follow a pattern: Try a core flavor → try a second flavor → buy the variety pack → subscribe. The variety pack—not discounts—predicts subscription conversion.
That's the new retention playbook. Not "subscribe & save." Behavioral sequencing.
But here's the problem: subscription fatigue is real. Churn is up across categories. Consumers only commit when the use case is clear and the cadence matches how they actually consume the product.
What this means for you:
Design the 1–3 high value habit behaviors that correlate to higher AOV, LTV, or repeat—and build your entire repeat engine around those behaviors. Not around discounts.
8. Loyalty Shifts Due to Operational Excellence
Loyalty programs are losing influence. EY's 2025 Consumer Index shows that reliability, in-stock availability, fast delivery, and easy checkout now matter more than points or rewards. In a world where AI compresses the decision journey and surfaces alternatives instantly, shoppers won't tolerate friction. They just switch.
Look at Chamberlain Coffee. Their repeat isn't driven by loyalty gimmicks—it's driven by predictable product experience, simple reordering, clear value, and operational reliability.
What this means for you:
Loyalty is no longer a marketing mechanic. It's an operational outcome.
Fix the friction: Fast checkout. Predictable delivery. Consistent experience. Flavors that are actually in stock. Packaging that doesn't break. No point system can compensate for a broken experience.
9. Behavioral Intent + Discovery Channels Outperform 1P Data
First-party data still matters, but it's no longer the most predictive indicator of future revenue. But intent hasn't dropped, it to behavioral signals:
Amazon viewing patterns
Marketplace comparisons
Instacart comparisons
Reorder cadence
Basket expansion
Flavor preferences
Daypart usage
Example: Fly By Jing. Their heat-level progression and pairing behavior reveal high-LTV patterns better than any quiz or email form ever could. Their LTV engine works because they watch how customers actually use the product, then sequence recommendations around those patterns: mild → medium → full heat set → pantry multipack.
What this means for you:
Behavioral intelligence beats first-party capture. Build systems that interpret real behavior and respond to it. Stop obsessing over email pop-ups.
10. Portfolio Complexity Becomes a Threat Multiplier
Portfolio complexity has always created drag. But in 2026, it becomes a real risk because all the external forces now punish unclear, unfocused assortments.
What's changed: Growth used to hide portfolio mistakes. Retailers tolerated some slower moving skus. AI didn't exist to penalize mixed signals.
Now:
AI can't categorize you when you have too many SKUs with too many jobs-to-be-done
Consumers are value-sensitive with shorter attention spans—more choice creates more friction
Retailers are tightening sets, and unfocused assortments lose doors faster
Margins erode quietly as complexity adds COGS, waste, and forecasting strain
Teams break when every SKU requires its own messaging, proof, assets, and AI-ready surfaces
What this means for you:
SKU sprawl isn't an inconvenience anymore. It's a threat multiplier. If your portfolio lacks discipline, you dilute your signals, your velocity story, your value story, and your margins. The brands that win in 2026 are the ones that pick a clear hero, define each SKU's job, and cut the noise.
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What all of this means for your 2026 plan
The new playbook starts here: understanding the external forces first, then building your strategy around how consumers actually behave in that environment. That's what we're doing in this series.
Next week: THE 2026 CONSUMER - Learn to plan in a way that is consumer-centric
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This is part of an multi-week series on how scaling brands ($5M–$50M) need to plan for 2026. I'm breaking down the structure I use with founders who need their plan to work the first time—from first principles, not tactics. Subscribe to Make Money, Darling! so you don't miss a step!
