Multitasking viewers, chaotic social feeds, and CX AI that’s still figuring itself out—marketing isn’t getting simpler anytime soon. This issue we’re breaking down what’s actually changing (and what’s just hype) across CTV, CX, and social, with smart takeaways you can use right now.
Let’s dive in.
📺 How Marketers are Adapting to CTV’s Distracted Audiences
As connected TV pulls ahead in spend and attention, why are marketers realizing they need to rethink how, when, and where they show up? Audiences are multitasking pros. Nearly two-thirds of viewers are streaming their shows with phone in hand, meaning your beautiful:30 spot is competing with TikTok, texts, and doom scrolling.
The good news: CTV has built tools for this behavior. Interactive formats like pause ads, QR codes, and home-screen placements let you reach viewers outside the traditional ad break. At the same time, marketers are wrestling with measurement headaches, wasted spend, and a fragmented content universe that’s nearly impossible to track without smarter data and AI-powered insights.
Action items for marketers:
- Design for distraction. Test interactive and non-traditional CTV formats that meet viewers mid-scroll or mid-pause.
- Get your data talking. Align internal systems so targeting, frequency, and conversions actually connect across channels.
- Audit for waste. Eliminate redundant ads and focus spend on placements that hit real KPIs.
- Put AI to work. Use AI to analyze content context, brand safety, and emotional alignment at scale.
Bottom line: CTV rewards marketers who treat it like its own channel—not a TV rerun. Those who are able to adapt will turn fragmented attention into real impact.
🔗Get more + a link to EMARKETER’s Virtual Summit
🤖 How AI Will Transform CX in 2026
AI was supposed to wipe out customer service jobs by now (if you believed the boldest predictions). Instead, contact centers are still humming, customers still want humans on the line, and brands are realizing that slapping AI on top of messy processes doesn’t magically fix customer experience. Looking ahead in 2026, the future of AI in CX looks less like a sci-fi takeover and more like a careful (though sometimes clumsy) evolution.
Experts agree: AI will absolutely shape CX, but not always in the flashy, agentic ways that are dominating headlines. Most brands will stick to practical, behind-the-scenes use cases while navigating real constraints—data quality, cost pressure, regulation, and the very human need for emotional connection.
Here’s what to expect in the year ahead:
- Discrete AI wins over agentic AI: Brands will focus on narrow, high-impact tasks like natural language processing (NLP) for feedback analysis and predictive models, not end-to-end autonomous systems.
- Rushed self-service will backfire: About a third of AI-powered self-service rollouts will fail due to poor data, weak design, and cost-driven shortcuts.
- Loyalty takes a hit: Over-automation risks stripping away emotional connection, making customers more price- and convenience-driven.
- Federal AI rules speed things up: A unified national approach will accelerate adoption—but with fewer guardrails, the risk to CX increases.
What it means for marketers: AI isn’t a shortcut to better CX—it’s a multiplier. Used thoughtfully, it can sharpen insights and efficiency. Used recklessly, it can quietly erode trust, loyalty, and brand love.
📱2025’s Biggest Social Marketing Trends
If your 2025 social feeds felt louder, weirder, and more chaotic, you weren’t imagining it. This year’s social marketing was defined by extremes: outrage and absurdity, mystery boxes and mini TV shows, platform shakeups and bold experimentation. Brands didn’t just post content; they leaned into internet culture and blurred the lines between marketing and entertainment.
Ragebait campaigns and polarized discourse fueled engagement, while “brain rot” content offered an unserious escape. Unboxing culture surged thanks to blind-box phenomena like Labubu, proving the power of UGC. Scripted social series showed that audiences will watch branded content if it’s genuinely entertaining. Meanwhile, marketers explored new frontiers, from Substack and Reddit to BeReal and Instagram broadcast channels.
Key takeaways from 2025 social trends:
- Controversy and chaos drove attention
- Weird, low-stakes content thrived
- Unboxing unlocked massive UGC
- Scripted brand series found an audience
- Platform experimentation accelerated
- “Accessible luxury” messaging resonated
Lessons for 2026? Winning brands will entertain first, sell second, and know just how far into the chaos their audience will follow.
🔗See the full overview at Marketing Brew
🚨 New Podcast Alert!
What really goes into building a great creative network—and why does it matter so much? In this episode of the Flynn Effect, Katie Flynn sits down with John Marianetti to talk collaboration, chemistry, and why the people behind the work matter just as much as the work itself.
