Digital Marketing Updates You Should Know

Digital Marketing Updates 2026

Edit’s latest update makes video content more accessible

April 2026, Social Media Update

Edits continues to close the gap on dedicated editing tools like CapCut, with new features like an in-app teleprompter making content creation more accessible. This allows creators and businesses to deliver talking-head style videos while maintaining direct eye contact with the camera, removing one of the biggest friction points in filming.

The result is a more natural, confident delivery without the need for multiple takes or external tools. As these features become more integrated, the barrier to producing polished, engaging video content continues to drop, making it easier for brands to show up consistently across social platforms.

The new rules of local search in an AI-driven world

April 2026, SEO & AI Update

Local search is quickly shifting from a “click to find out” experience to an “answer on demand” one, powered by AI. Features like conversational prompts in maps and in-platform business chat mean users can now get what they need, whether that’s opening hours, services, pricing, or suitability, without ever visiting a website.

It’s no longer just about ranking, but about being the most accessible and understandable source of information. To stay competitive, brands need to structure their content around real customer questions, ensuring key details are clearly surfaced, easy to interpret, and aligned with how people naturally search.

To build this effectively, brands should source FAQs from real customer touchpoints, including website pages, Google Business Profile Q&As, reviews, social media interactions, and customer service conversations, rather than relying on SEO assumptions alone.

The shift from content volume to content authority

April 2026, AI & Content Update

Content has become easier than ever to produce with AI. The real point of difference is no longer volume, but originality and expertise. Both search engines and audiences are placing greater value on content backed by real insights, whether that comes from interviews, first-hand experience, or genuine market research. This shift means brands that invest in professional knowledge and unique perspectives are more likely to stand out across SEO, GEO-targeted content, and broader digital promotion.

As AI-generated content continues to introduce inaccuracies and “hallucinations,” trust becomes harder to earn and easier to lose. Your brand can stand above this with original research, whether through new data or unique insights, to give audiences and search systems something reliable to reference. This positions your brand as a source rather than a contributor, increasing the likelihood of being surfaced for relevant queries and strengthening long-term authority.

Instagram Edits starts to play

March 2026, Social Media Update
Amira Bird

Instagram’s Edits video editor launched last year (see more in our digital marketing updates 2025 blog) and has spent this time catching up with CapCut.
Now, finally, we have started to see new features come out to play.

It didn’t take long for creators to work out that they can use Edit’s new link feature to create a reel that points to all their top reels, with the option for viewers to go straight to each one.

Still free to use, Edits offers an opportunity for creators and businesses to push their reach further on Instagram and Facebook (Edits videos getting a natural boost from the algorithm).

We’re excited to see where this goes now they aren’t just playing catch up.

The next evolution of WordPress: AI-powered websites

March 2026, Website & AI Update
Amira Bird

WordPress has released new integration plugins that connect websites directly to leading AI models such as OpenAI, Google Gemini and Anthropic Claude. While this might sound technical, the real shift is structural.

WordPress is building the infrastructure that allows developers and plugins to plug AI directly into the CMS.

In practice, this means AI capabilities like content drafting, SEO suggestions, accessibility improvements, alt text generation and internal linking can begin happening directly inside the WordPress editor rather than through external tools.

Why Email Marketing is Still Underrated in 2026

March 2026, Email Marketing

Email marketing rarely gets the spotlight. It’s not the shiny new marketing tactic making headlines or filling conference agendas. There’s no algorithm to hack or viral moment to chase. But that’s exactly why it remains so powerful. In a landscape where brands are increasingly dependent on platforms they don’t control, email continues to be one of the few truly owned channels.

And the brands that see results treat it as an ongoing system rather than a one-off campaign. Here’s a couple of steps to start building your email marketing strategy in 2026:
📬 Clean your email lists
Remove inactive contacts and keep your data healthy so your emails actually reach engaged subscribers.
📬 Segment your audience
Group subscribers by journey stage, behaviour, or customer type so your messaging feels relevant rather than generic.
📬 Identify what you can automate
Welcome emails, nurture sequences, and re-engagement flows can quietly build momentum in the background.

Email might not be the flashiest channel, but when it’s well maintained, it remains one of the most reliable ways to build long-term relationships with your audience ✉️

AI expands possibilities for graphic design

February 2026, Graphic Design Update
Mauricio Alves

At Dweebi, we’ve been testing AI tools as a means to expand design possibilities and enhance creativity. Tools have always been a part of design evolution – from paper to digital, from vector to 3D. And artificial intelligence is no different.

With countless tools available, we’ve been testing to see how the strengths and limitations of each fit into our design process. Just like any software, it’s not the tool that makes the designer, but the designer who uses the tool to amplify their ideas.

As with any new software, there is no fixed formula, only testing, adaptation and critical thinking. See our example of taking our Dweebies mascot beyond Adobe Illustrator to Midjourney to make it 3D with a crochet texture in our AI enhancing design blog.

Google Search Console’s new social channel insights

February 2026, Social Media & Search Update
Amira Bird

Google Search Console has introduced new social channel insights, giving marketers clearer visibility into how their social profiles and posts appear within Google Search and contribute to referral traffic. The reporting shows queries your social channels are appearing for, alongside searches that lead users directly to your profiles or content. It reflects Google’s broader move toward understanding digital marketing more holistically, with social signals and content now more visibly connected to search and AI-driven discovery journeys.

For social teams, this reinforces that posts are no longer purely short-lived, in-platform content. As social profiles and posts become more discoverable through search, their lifespan can extend well beyond the first engagement window and support ongoing visibility.
This positions social as part of a wider search ecosystem, where content can be surfaced through Google and AI search experiences as well as within the platforms themselves. The result is a shift toward creating social content with stronger evergreen value, clearer keyword alignment and a more integrated role within overall search strategy.

What the 2016 trend tells us about social media

January 2026, Social Media Update
Amira Bird

The recent 2016 nostalgia trend has exploded across TikTok, Instagram and X, with users declaring 2026 is the new 2016 and flooding feeds with throwback photos, decade-old filters, classic pop tracks and retro memes. What makes this more than just a fleeting hashtag is how deeply it taps into a shared longing for a simpler, less curated digital era. A time when social feeds felt more personal, raw and fun, before reels, AI content and algorithm-driven performance became dominant.

This wave of nostalgia isn’t merely about looking back. It’s a cultural moment that celebrates authenticity and emotional comfort through collective memory, making it one of the strongest and most widespread nostalgia trends we’ve seen online in years.

For businesses leaning into this, it can look like focusing on the human side of your business and bringing out authenticity for your business through behind-the-scenes, staff moments, process clips and casual posts that are less hard sells.

Google Marketing Suite Upgrades

January 2026, Reports & Insights Update
Amira Bird

Last year we saw a (surprising) update to Google Search Console’s UI after years of no changes to the platform whatsoever.
We theorised these updates signalled incoming changes to reporting on AI searches. We are yet to see a robust reporting for AI searches beyond prompt scraping – which is expensive & ineffective in my opinion.
Now, Google has confirmed that data from Google’s AI Mode is included in the Search Console Performance report. While it’s not perfect in it’s reporting, and we are yet to see a specific AI Mode or Gemini report, it’s certainly a start.

On the flipside, Google has now integrated Gemini into Google Trends in an effort to aid research for search trends. It can help you compare data & get the bigger picture using the Trends Explore tool.

Ads for ChatGPT – We knew it was coming!

January 2026, AI Update
Amira Bird

ChatGPT has announced this month that they’re rolling out ads for free and Go accounts in the US (with other regions to follow). While he majority of paid subscriptions will remain ad-free, we all knew this was on its way.
While they dictate that ads will be clearly labelled as well as high-value for the search, we are yet to see what this means for advertisers to understand how we will be able to target particular topics or how the advertising is reported on.