The Marketer's Toolkit 2026: Finding Clarity in Chaos

Five Critical Trends Reshaping Marketing as Confidence Drops 11 Points.

Clarity in Chaos

Marketer confidence has plunged 11 points in a year. Only 54% now expect business to improve in 2026, down from 65% in 2024. The middle class is “becoming meaningless.” And AI is rewriting the rules of customer acquisition.

Welcome to 2026, according to WARC’s 15th annual Marketer’s Toolkit, which surveyed over 1,000 marketing executives to identify five trends that will separate winners from losers in the year ahead. Despite the pessimism, there’s a paradox: ad spend is forecast to grow 8.1% to $1.27 trillion.