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✍️ what marketing leaders are building for 2026
Big bets, AI reality checks, and why fundamentals are back in style.
We’re back, baby. Welcome to our first edition of 2026.
Some favorite 2025 memories? Rebuilding our entire offering in Q1… then drinking our own champagne in August when we started running our newsletter flywheel the same way we do for clients.
Content fed nurture.
Nurture fed demo requests.
The results:
Over 3X more demo requests when the flywheel was spinning
Week without content? Pipeline meh.
Week with content? Pipeline humming.
BUT! The real highlight? Launching newsletters for a full year’s worth of clients, absorbing the smartest lessons from their networks of experts, then turning that expertise into a magnet for their ICP.
It’s so special to see a company’s thinking turn into momentum. And that’s exactly the muscle we see the best teams building right now.
Which brings us to 2026. Today, we’re looking at where marketing leaders are actually placing their bets, and spilling with y’all so you can go make yours.
We asked 17 CMOs, heads of content, and growth execs what they’re betting on this year.
Here’s what they told us:
"I'm advocating for the role of an AI architect. Everyone's talking about AI engineers, but you have to start with the architect—one person in charge.”
"ABM stops being a buzzword and becomes the operating system for enterprise marketing in 2026.”
"The next evolution of content is a human-driven loop: your ICP, customers, community, and influencers are the input; proprietary content is the moat; and those same people become the engine for distribution."
“Instead of one-off partnerships, companies will hire a small group of creators to build newsletters, podcasts, shows, and series under their brand—each with a distinct voice.”
"Brands won't be able to rely on Google, Meta, or ChatGPT for clicks, so they'll finally build always-on content engines across newsletters, podcasts, and YouTube.”
"The ability to just go. In the era of AI, velocity is critical. Leaders want teams that can take an idea, execute, learn, iterate, and move quickly to the next."
Bottom line:
2025 was AI chaos.
2026 is a return to fundamentals, with better tools, clearer metrics, and a lot more honesty about what actually works.
Campaigns that got us talking: Apparently, holiday AI ad wars are a thing now. Coca-Cola leveled up. McDonald’s… did worse than when they pulled the McRib. Toys “R” Us went straight for the nostalgia jugular.
The takeaway? AI commercials aren’t experimental anymore—they’re strategic. The real question isn’t “Should we use AI?” It’s “Who’s wielding it—and why?”
AI Spotlight: Parkinson’s Law says work expands to fill the time available. G2’s new AI agent report suggests agents break the rule.
Companies report 23% velocity gains in mature workflows—not because agents save time, but because they don’t waste it. No coffee breaks. No Slack rabbit holes. Just output.
Translation: The way we work is about to change. Fast.
(We’re unpacking this for marketers in our upcoming Trade Secrets report.)
Stuff that makes us scroll back up: Our own Own the Internet campaign got a little love recently. We’ve been running our own version of employee-generated content—getting the whole team active on LinkedIn instead of hiding behind the company account.
It’s working. Not bragging. Just saying: real humans > corporate speak. Always.
We know you’re drowning in “AI-powered this” and “AI-driven that.” Leadership wants more AI in the messaging. Your buyers… may not.
So we asked. (Thanks to the nearly 100 marketers who answered.)
Our forthcoming AI report digs into what’s actually landing, and what’s falling flat.
Here’s a preview of what we answer:
Should you be using more “AI” in your messaging—or less?
Why 89% of teams aren’t testing their AI positioning
What teams hitting their quarterly targets do differently
Whether buyers really want “AI-powered,” or just results that make their lives easier
👀 Full findings dropping soon. Keep an eye on your inbox.
There's good content, great content, and then there's whatever fresh hell we witnessed over the holiday break. Consider this our public service announcement. This week's offender:
Emails from companies you don’t know with subject lines like:
“We’re so grateful for you 🙏🏻”
Maybe you bought a pillow from them once. In 2015.
Maybe it was a last-minute gift for Aunt Susan.
Or maybe—you never signed up at all.
If your email strategy relies on recipients having amnesia about your relationship (or lack thereof), it’s time to rethink the approach.
When teams slow down long enough to clarify their thinking, everything else speeds up. Content compounds. AI amplifies instead of confuses. Buyers trust you faster.
That’s the work smart teams are doing right now, and it’s the bet we’re watching most closely as 2026 gets underway.
See y’all next time.
— the storyarb writers’ room 🫡
Oh! And another thing... Most people have been making (and breaking) New Year’s resolutions far longer than gym memberships have existed. The tradition dates back to ancient Babylon, where people promised their gods they’d repay debts and return borrowed tools in exchange for good fortune.
Proof that “new year, new me” started as “new year, I swear I’ll give your stuff back.”
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