Q1 2026 wrapped up. Here’s what the smart teams jumped on early.

Hey there!

Now that Q1 is behind us, the patterns are hard to miss. The teams winning at marketing and consumer experience aren't the ones with the biggest tech stacks. They're the ones that learned the right small lessons fast.

This edition, we're slowing down on the noise and focusing on what's actually useful:

3 patterns we're seeing across marketing right now

2 playbooks on marketing worth bookmarking

1 win from our team last week

Lets go!

Three patterns we're seeing across marketing right now

✦  SEO is becoming GEO and most brands haven't noticed yet.

25% of all Google searches now trigger an AI Overview, jumping to nearly 48% in categories like finance, health, and B2B tech. LinkedIn has quietly become the top AI citation source for professional queries. The way buyers find brands is shifting from "ranking on Google" to "being recommended by AI." Brands still optimizing only for page-one rankings are building visibility in a place fewer people are looking.

✦ Brand values are quietly becoming a conversion lever, not just a PR one.

47% of marketers say they're prioritizing content that reflects their brand's values not just their product's features. And it's working: 82% of consumers say they prefer buying from brands that share their values. What's new is that this isn't soft brand-building anymore. It's showing up in conversion data. Teams that have a clear point of view are finding it easier to cut through in a market saturated with AI-generated sameness.

✦ The buying journey no longer starts where marketers are spending most of their budget.

Perplexity, AI Overviews, and conversational assistants are intercepting purchase decisions earlier than any ad. The brands gaining ground are the ones showing up in those new entry points with structured, specific, AI-legible content, not just the ones with the highest ad spend on channels buyers are quietly leaving.

Two playbooks worth bookmarking this quarter

Guide #1: State of Marketing Report — 10th Edition
Salesforce - Based on 4,500 marketers worldwide

Salesforce's most comprehensive marketing report yet. Surveyed 4,500 marketing leaders globally to map where the industry is actually heading, not where it says it is. The standout theme: 83% of marketers recognise the shift toward two-way, personalised engagement, but only 1 in 4 are satisfied with how they use data to power those moments. If you're building a 2026 marketing strategy, this is the benchmark to measure it against.

Guide #2: Enhancing Customer Experience in the Digital Age McKinsey Growth, Marketing & Sales Practice

McKinsey's deep-dive into what actually drives digital CX outcomes. Goes beyond the usual "be omnichannel" advice to look at how brands are combining data, values, and seamless journey design to retain customers across touchpoints.

Particularly sharp on why 71% of consumers now expect personalised interactions and why 76% will switch brands when that doesn't happen.

One win from our team last week

We were at Financial Brand Forum 2026 in Las Vegas last week.

Financial Brand Forum brought together some of the sharpest minds in banking, fintech, and digital experience. Our founders and GTM team showed up to talk about the last-mile problem in performance marketing — the gap between a perfectly targeted ad and a landing page that treats every visitor the same.

If you were there and we missed connecting, we'd love to continue the conversation.

Sharing a few moments from the event :)