Digital Advertising Trends Hub
In Smartly’s Digital Advertising Trends hub, you’ll find our annual reports, trend deep-dives, and practical guidance for marketers preparing for 2026 and beyond.
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Highlights at a Glance;
Dive Deeper in the Full Report
We wanted to provide you a couple more insights that didn’t make it into the full report. To uncover detailed benchmarks, global trends, and expert analysis on what it takes to lead in 2026, download the full report today.
2026 Digital Advertising Trends: The Next Evolution of AI-Driven Performance
The 2026 edition of Smartly’s Digital Advertising Trends report highlights how predictive intelligence, integrated creative and media workflows, and privacy-resilient measurement are redefining campaign performance.
- Predictive AI shifts from optimization to orchestration
- Creative and media workflows converge
- New measurement frameworks strengthen signal resilience
- Automation unlocks scale across channels and surfaces
Topics
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What it is: Artificial Intelligence has transformed from a buzzword into the operational backbone of digital marketing. It encompasses everything from generative asset creation to algorithmic bidding.
The Current Evolution: While early iterations focused on basic task automation, the current landscape sees AI acting as a strategic orchestrator. It now predicts performance outcomes before budget is spent and generates creative variations based on real-time data signals.
Why it matters: Brands utilizing AI-driven orchestration are seeing distinct advantages in speed-to-market and ROAS efficiency compared to manual workflows.
What it is: Creative automation is the technology that allows brands to scale ad production without scaling headcount. It uses templates and data feeds to produce thousands of on-brand variations instantly.
The Current Evolution: Automation has moved beyond simple resizing. Today, it integrates with Generative AI to produce net-new concepts while adhering to brand safety guidelines.
The focus has shifted from "making more ads" to "making more effective ads" by testing high-volume variations in live environments.
Strategic Application:
- Building libraries of modular assets.
- Automating platform-specific localizations (e.g., Reels vs. TikTok).
What it is: Predictive media utilizes historical data and machine learning models to forecast campaign outcomes. It allows marketers to allocate budgets based on future probabilities rather than past reporting.
The Current Evolution: As privacy changes limit user-level tracking, predictive models have become the new standard for measurement. Modern models now incorporate creative quality as a primary signal, allowing for scenario planning that connects creative inputs directly to financial outcomes.
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How it Works
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Creative
Smartly Creative bridges the gap between brilliant ideas and breakthrough performance with intelligent, AI-boosted tools that work as hard as you do.
- Personalized content via our AI Studio
- Creative production on steroids with GenAI
- Mission control for all your creative campaigns
Create for the chaotic digital age.
Smartly Creative bridges the gap between brilliant ideas and breakthrough performance with intelligent, AI-boosted tools that work as hard as you do.
- Personalized content via our AI Studio
- Creative production on steroids with GenAI
- Mission control for all your creative campaigns
Create for the chaotic digital age.
Smartly Creative bridges the gap between brilliant ideas and breakthrough performance with intelligent, AI-boosted tools that work as hard as you do.
- Personalized content via our AI Studio
- Creative production on steroids with GenAI
- Mission control for all your creative campaigns
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Ad Waste Remains an Industry Blind Spot
Efficiency might be the new marketing mantra, but it’s not yet a reality. Respondents estimated that an average of approximately 20% of their annual digital marketing spend is wasted. This waste is attributed to factors like non-performing impressions, incorrect targeting, or bot traffic.
Meanwhile, "Precision-First Marketers," who are defined by diversifying across platforms and embedding AI in their workflows, demonstrate significantly lower waste levels. These high-performing marketers are 27% more likely to waste less than 10% of their media budget compared to the average marketer.
AI Tools Are Growing Fast, But So Is Overwhelm
Everyone is investing in AI, but adoption isn’t always smooth. Onboarding and learning new AI platforms remains a barrier, with 30% of marketers estimating that it takes one month or longer to onboard or learn a new AI platform or tool
Even as 95% of respondents test AI for creative production, widespread use still involves caution, as 42% of respondents who use Generative AI still classify their approach as "initial testing". The enthusiasm is there, but the operational readiness hasn’t caught up yet, suggesting 2026 will be the year marketers turn from testing to trusting AI.
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Marketers Want More Pre-Launch Intelligence
Perhaps the most consistent theme from the raw data: marketers want to predict success before campaigns go live.
When asked what they’d most like to do pre-launch, 31% said they want to use AI predictive models to forecast performance, 22% want AI tools to validate message fit, and 40% wish they could pre-test creative with synthetic audiences.
Originality with AI is the Next Creative Challenge
As AI tools become more common, marketers are growing wary of “sameness.” Three in four respondents said they’re concerned that AI-generated creative risks making brands look and sound the same, and 86% have already seen AI outputs that resemble content from competitors.
The opportunity ahead isn’t just faster creative production, it’s distinctive, brand-authentic creative powered by AI that enhances originality instead of eroding it.
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