2026 is shaping up to be a reset year as every corner of the industry works to adapt to many simultaneous shifts. AI search is rewriting the rules of discovery, and creator ecosystems are formalizing in ways that look more like traditional media. Even B2B marketers are stepping onto bigger creative stages as the lines between consumer and professional audiences blur.

Across these trends, one theme stands out: The need for new playbooks. Whether it’s optimizing for LLM-powered engines, navigating a volatile gaming marketplace, or building more accountable creator partnerships, 2026 will reward marketers who adapt quickly and rethink what “best practices” even means.

Here are our marketing and advertising predictions for 2026.

M2M/GEO best practices will start to emerge

As many consumers turned to platforms like ChatGPT to start their shopping and as Google disrupted its own search engine with AI overviews, 2025 upended how marketers approach awareness and discovery. 2026 will be the year that advertisers adapt.

This year, we predict that best practices will emerge from brands who refine how to successfully market towards LLMs and engage with consumers across AI platforms. These efforts are well underway. Over 6 in 10 (61%) of worldwide marketing agency leaders are adapting to genAI search by optimizing for it, according to a June 2025 study from AgencyAnalytics.

"SEO still matters, but it shifts toward clarity and structure," said Rita Steinberg, vice president of media at FUSE Create. "GEO becomes the battleground. You’re optimizing not just for Google but for every engine serving answers: Perplexity, ChatGPT, Gemini. It’s less 'rank me' and more 'use me.'"

Though best practices will emerge this year, there will still be failed experiments, false starts, and platform disruptions that will keep marketers on their toes. The SEO playbook wasn't written in a single day, and it will take time for marketers to make the most out of the new AI era.

Brands will look for certifications from creators

As brands increase spending on influencer marketing, securing the right partnerships is crucial. Trust between creators and their followers is both powerful and delicate, and it directly impacts brands.

While 87% of consumers trust advertising in general, only 74% trust influencer ads, according to a 2025 Better Business Bureau (BBB) report. Programs like BBB’s Institute for Responsible Influence are emerging, which allow creators to “learn practical, real-world applications of the FTC Endorsement Guides.”

Brand safety goes beyond vetting creator content for graphic material or violence. Evaluating creators as business partners will increasingly shape how brands decide who to work with.

“In 2026, influencer and creator marketing will continue evolving into a true media channel, with top creators operating more like independent networks than individual personalities,” said Cristina Lawrence, Chief Social & Innovation Officer at Razorfish.

Before treating creators as official partners, brands will need proof that their business practices are reliable and legitimate.

More brands employ in-house creators

The US creator economy is roaring. In 2026, it’s expected to exceed $20 billion, with 16.2% annual growth, according to EMARKETER’s forecast.

As the ecosystem matures, it’s becoming much more possible to convert a creator’s engagement with fans into sales on social media. US retail social commerce is expected to crack $100 billion next year, at 18.0% growth, per EMARKETER’s forecast.

This opportunity will inspire brands to take their relationships with creators to the next level. Creators wield deep connections to platforms and their users, and deep knowledge about the brands they champion. Big brands will chase the superstar creators at the top of the heap. But just below the fray is a long tail of savvy marketers, any of whom could be the perfect match, if audiences align. Look for businesses to tie these creators down before they run off with the competition.

B2B marketing gets a glow up

B2B decision-makers are consumers, too. Away from their desks and budget spreadsheets, they like to be entertained and wowed by innovative campaigns. Next year, B2B marketers aren’t letting CPG and apparel marketers have all the fun, and will broaden out their campaigns with an increasing amount of style and flare.

This shift will be brought on by a convergence of factors. First, B2B audiences are more socially engaged with B2B creators, and unscripted, authentic conversations. Short-form is reaching younger B2B audiences on YouTube and TikTok, where consumer brands thrive.

Additionally, the barrier to entry for splashy TV campaigns is lowering due to targeted CTV buys. B2B brands can string together first-rate creative and serve it to a small, high-value audience.

Of course, these campaigns still require creative ingenuity, but the media spend is efficient. The result will be a flourish of branding, mascots, pitch people and creators in B2B campaigns, layered on top of traditional content marketing and lead gen.

It will be an upheaval year for video games

While the video game industry has been on shaky ground the last few years as it recovers from pandemic-era overspending, we predict that 2026 will prove to be a transformatively challenging year for its hardware, software, and development teams.

Many of the biggest games in the space are all either showing their age or fighting costly battles. A month after the notably tepid launch of the latest Call of Duty, the developers acknowledged that they disappointed some players. Roblox is still riding high, but an increasing number of states are suing the platform for failing to protect the many underage players. Fortnite's continued pop culture partnerships with properties like "The Simpsons" and "Star Wars" keeps players coming, but the age of the game and the saturation of references could result in diminishing returns.

On the hardware side, Microsoft has continued to raise questions about its commitment to games, as it closes studios, reduces its slate of upcoming games, and stops selling Xboxes at some retailers. Meanwhile, the impact of tariffs has already increased the prices of consoles and the recent spike in the cost of RAM threatens to exacerbate the situation.

Some bright spots on the 2026 calendar may only add to the disruption. Many expect the juggernaut of Grand Theft Auto VI, currently slated to release in the fall, to absorb an enormous amount of players' time, attention, and money. And PC behemoth Valve plans to launch their own living room console device this year, which could dramatically shake up the current console landscape.