Exclusive: What’s making marketers tick in 2026

February 6, 2026

Dedicated readers of this newsletter already know that HubSpot’s State of Marketing report has escaped containment, and is being read by thousands of marketers ’round the world.

We surveyed more than 1,500 marketers around the world to understand how AI — the biggest tech disruptor in a generation — is reshaping our field.

Here’s what we found:

The top five marketing trends teams are currently exploring

AI and value-based content are the top marketing trends we're seeing.

Olivia Heller/Marketing Against the Grain

Using AI to create personalized content
Leveraging automation to make marketing processes more efficient
Creating content that reflects brand values
Updating SEO for search changes
Repurposing content across various channels

"Everyone is like, ‘It‘s just regular SEO — just do that, then you’ll be fine.’ And frankly, that's not enough."

Marketers are prioritizing revenue outcomes

Olivia Heller/Marketing Against the Grain

Three of marketers’ top goals for 2026 are revenue-oriented.

Increasing brand awareness and reaching new audiences
Increasing revenue/sales
Increasing customer conversion rate
Building deeper customer relationships

"Everything we do is informed by our community. AI is just another way to engage them."

Lead quality is higher, thanks to a more qualified buyer

Olivia Heller/Marketing Against the Grain

People are doing research on products in advance — and AI is helping them be more informed. This is especially pronounced for lead metrics, which are strong and trending upward:

77.16% of marketers describe the quality of their leads as “very high” or “high”
93.76% of marketers told us that their lead quality had “significantly” or “somewhat improved” over the past 12 months
74.44% of marketers said that their lead volume has “significantly” or “somewhat increased” over the past 12 months

Download the free report

This week's email was brought to you by Laura M. Browning, based on original HubSpot research. Editing by Jana Rumberger.

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR OTHER NEWSLETTERS

Business news, but not boring: The Hustle | Stay current on AI: Mindstream | I Sell better: The Science of Scaling

Follow Marketing Against the Grain on LinkedIn and Instagram

Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here.