What I’m Tracking That Could Reshape Your 2026 Marketing
From the inbox: Past editions of my monthly newsletter, The Clarity Report. Subscribe here if you’d like to receive this monthly dose of marketing insights, strategy breakdowns, and bite-sized nuggets to help you get at least 1% better at marketing.
Issue 006 TL;DR
→ What I’m keeping my eye on in 2026
→ Three articles I bookmarked and why they actually matter
→ Steal my new content creation process
→ A peek at some big things happening in my world
→ My biggest 2026 marketing prediction
The Marketing Insight
What to Watch in 2026: Shifts That’ll Shape Your Marketing and Business
If you haven’t noticed, A LOT is shifting right now and it’s only going to continue in 2026… and you really can’t ignore how these changes will affect your business.
Here are the two major forces I’m keeping a very close eye on in the year ahead:
→ AI’s evolution is shifting expectations.
Things are moving at lightning speed with AI right now and there will certainly continue to be shifts but one thing I know for certain is that small businesses need to adapt and learn how to work with AI better in 2026, instead of heavily relying on it.
(See the What’s Working section for how to use AI to support your content creation.)
→ Economic pressure is changing buying behavior.
Buyers are slowing down and being more discerning with the current economy. They’re more cautious, more skeptical, and taking longer to purchase. That means your messaging has to work harder. Your funnels need to nurture longer. And your offers need to be clearly aligned with real, urgent challenges they face.
With how much uncertainty there is and how quickly things are evolving right now, the biggest skill you'll need in 2026 is being nimble and quickly adapting with all these changes.
The Scroll
Quick-hit insights and must-reads to keep your strategy sharp.
Building Lasting Brand Equity in the Age of AI
BCG’s latest insight is one I wholeheartedly agree with. In an AI‑saturated market, influence, trust, and top‑of‑mind recall become the competitive advantage, so investing in meaningful brand differentiation and quick predictive measurement matters more than ever.
The Future Of Marketing Is Operations: Why It’s Time To Start Over
Marketing operations have been a hot topic with clients this last month. And that’s because marketing has evolved from a creative campaign function into an operating system for growth. This Forbes piece makes a compelling case zero-based budgets, streamlined stacks, and marketers who flex across brand, ops, and product.
Automations That Sell While You Sleep: Building High-Impact Email Flows
This is always the goal, right? In this article, Neil Patel breaks down how to build automated sequences that actually convert. From welcome series to re-engagement flows, he shares best practices for mapping behavior-based journeys that meet subscribers where they are—without overwhelming them. (And I’ve been building a lot of behavior-based journeys with clients this month to prep for 2026!)
What’s Working in Marketing Right Now
Building a Content Flywheel from Your Client Calls
If you're on a lot of client or sales calls and feel like you're constantly behind on content… please steal this. It’s been a game-changer for my clients (and me).
Instead of sitting down to write cold, we’re pulling content directly from conversations where their expertise naturally shines. Here’s what we’re doing:
1️⃣ Use an AI notetaker on their calls.
2️⃣ Drop the transcript into ChatGPT with this prompt:
“Here’s a transcript from a client call. Pull out the most insightful, strategic, or high-authority things I said—anything that clearly positions me as a [insert your role] who focuses on [your value prop/differentiators]. Summarize the top 10 insights.”
3️⃣ Use those 10 insights to then create content (you can use AI to help you write the content but I highly recommend writing on your own so it has more of a pulse).
This makes sure you’re actually capturing and sharing your genius, without needing to remember what you said 6 calls ago — Making content creation easier and more strategic! 🙌
From My Corner
A little BTS look into my own business(es) right now:
December has mostly been focused on making sure my clients have everything all set for 2026 but I’ve actually had a bit of time over the holidays to dive into some of my own marketing between the festivities!
Here’s what I’ve been focused on:
Updating my website copy to align a little more with my value prop + ideal client
Setting up my own behavior-based email sequences (still a work-in-progress!)
Batching a TON of content
Mapping out my 2026 blog strategy because my goal is to include at least one in The Scroll each issue in 2026!
Inbox SOS
Q: I wanna know your BIGGEST 2026 prediction!
A: Human-led content makes a comeback. 👈 Point-blank. Period.
That doesn’t mean people are going to stop using AI to create content but you need to be using it more intentionally (see the What’s Working section above!).
People are tired of all the AI slop. They are begging for actual connection and that means you need content that feels like you more than ever.
AI should ✨enhance✨ your thinking and creativity, not replace it.
It should help pull out your stories and genius so you can create content that actually has a pulse and connects.
So yeah, all that to say: If you want your content to cut through the noise in 2026, make it unmistakably human.
Need help figuring out what’s actually working in your marketing? That’s my thing. 👉 Book a Strategy Session or Explore Other Ways to Work Together
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