Marketers need data that‘s complete, current, and immediately usable. When it’s fragmented, decisions slow down — for your marketing team and for your business as a whole. Opportunities pass by, results plateau, and manual data exports create more chaos than clarity.

And when you could outperform your peers by 26% using real-time data, a single, connected data stream is the difference between reacting and staying ahead. It gives marketing, tech, and operations teams a shared, live view of every customer, ready to power the right message at the right time.

Dotdigital and Snowflake

Snowflake already gives businesses a secure, unified place to store and govern their data. So, when we launched our Snowflake integration in July 2025, it was a chance to bring marketers the seamless data flow to turn data into unforgettable customer experiences. Combined with Dotdigital, your data stops sitting in storage and starts driving meaningful moments across:

• Email
• SMS
• WhatsApp
• Web
• Push
• Social and more

Our integration leaves no gap between knowing and doing. Information in Snowflake flows straight into Dotdigital to fuel your campaigns, while engagement results from Dotdigital return to Snowflake for deeper insight.  Your data keeps moving, your marketing keeps learning, and nothing has time to go stale.

Reducing friction between marketing and tech teams

Marketers move fast. You can’t wait three days for the latest results to be downloaded, then uploaded to your email automation platform. With Snowflake data feeding directly into Dotdigital, you can:

• Adjust journeys mid‑flow
• Launch segments in minutes
• Deliver hyper‑relevant content based on the latest customer behaviors

At the same time, data and tech teams need precision and control. This integration:

• Meets governance standards
• Keeps sensitive data securely housed
• Removes duplicate storage and risky sharing practices

When everyone works from the same source, the friction disappears. Plans move faster, creativity gets sharper, and everyone’s working toward the same goal with the same information.

The ripple effect on your business

Connected data isn’t just a time‑saver; it’s a performance multiplier:

• Campaigns land because they’re timed and relevant
• Teams stop wasting hours on avoidable data exchanges
• Compliance becomes simpler because the governance sits inside the integration

As marketing execution speeds up, you see a direct impact: quicker campaign launches, higher conversion rates, and engagement that doesn’t plateau six weeks later. 

What does it look like in real life?

Real impact comes from the way this integration changes everyday marketing operations. Here‘s how Dotdigital and Snowflake work together to impact marketers:

Capitalizing on sudden spikes in interest

Snowflake shows an unexpected surge around a product. Dotdigital then pinpoints customers who’ve shown interest and sends timely promotions without waiting for a data upload.

Personalized product recommendation journeys

Snowflake reveals the product categories customers explore most. Dotdigital turns that insight into personalized emails, push messages, and social ads with product recommendations based on what’s trending.

Back‑in‑stock and new‑arrival alerts

When product availability changes in Snowflake, whether an out‑of‑stock favorite is replenished or a new item lands, Dotdigital instantly sends a personalized alert. 

Churn‑prevention journeys in real time

When Snowflake data indicates a premium subscriber is overdue for a repeat purchase, Dotdigital enrolls them into an automated cross-channel retention sequence. Once they buy, that transaction flows back into Snowflake, closing the loop and keeping their profile up to date. 

Ready to push, pull, and personalize?

Dotdigital’s Snowflake connection avoids compromises, like finding clunky workarounds or having to duplicate data at the expense of accuracy. It’s built for marketers and data teams alike. 

It’s not just an integration; it’s your data and your marketing finally working in real time, together. One source of truth with endless opportunities to turn data into meaningful moments.

We’ve had a busy time at Dotdigital too. To continue to serve you better, we expanded globally, advanced the functionality of our platform, and analyzed billions of messages to see what’s actually working for marketers. Here’s a look at the milestones that shaped our year, and some of the latest stats to help you plan for what’s next.

A bigger, bolder Dotdigital

This year has been one of incredible growth and momentum for Dotdigital. From welcoming new faces across the business, launching a new global entity, and a huge acquisition, the Dotdigital team has grown and settled in right away. 

• In June, we proudly welcomed Social Snowball to the Dotdigital family when we acquired the #1 influencer, affiliate, and referral platform
• In October, Dotdigital launched its Japan entity. This is an exciting milestone, allowing us to continue to grow and serve businesses in the SEA market 

• The Dotdigital team is expanding, with new hires now making up 17% of our workforce, including four key additions to our Senior Leadership Team

New channels, smarter AI, and faster marketing

It’s been a landmark year for Dotdigital’s platform. We launched a brand-new channel (hi, WhatsApp), shipped dozens of updates, expanded our integrations, and introduced game-changing AI tools to make marketers’ lives easier. 

• Our customers added 155 new 5-star G2 reviews this year, pushing us past 700 in total
• Since launching WhatsApp in April, marketers have already sent over half a million messages through Dotdigital
• We added 20+ new verified integrations, so you can connect, extend, and streamline your marketing tech stack with ease 
• We delivered 60+ platform updates and expanded our AI tools to simplify segmentation, instantly translate campaigns, and summarize survey responses 
• We launched new and improved Data Firehose and Snowflake integrations, making it simpler and faster to sync your data 
• Dotdigital earned 800+ G2 badges, including Leader status across marketing automation, personalization, and customer data platforms

The trends defined marketing this year

From record-breaking shopping moments to always-on email performance and evolving search behavior, this year’s data shows how marketers are scaling, experimenting, and refining strategies in real-time. 

Black Friday/Cyber Monday marketing trends

• On average, brands began using “Black Friday” in subject lines 12 days before the big day
• More than 87 million people shopped online, a 7% increase from 2024
• US shoppers alone spent $11.8 billion on Black Friday 
• Global online spending hit a new peak, reaching $79 billion within 24 hours, marking a 6% year-over-year increase
• Shoppers used Buy Now, Pay Later services for $747.5 million worth of online purchases, reflecting a 30.85% rise from the previous year
• Campaigns sent via Dotdigital reached inboxes in an average of just 17 minutes
• Over 3 billion emails were sent on Dotdigital throughout November alone
• Email performance remained very strong, but the real standout was the way savvy marketers blended MMS, WhatsApp, and push notifications 
• Marketers sent 70+ million SMS messages in November using the Dotdigital platform
• The number of mobile shoppers grew by 7% year-on-year during Black Friday 2025

Email marketing trends

• Email sends have increased by 24% globally
• The global average unique open rate was 33%
• The average click-through rate (CTR) was 3% worldwide
• The global click-to-open-rate (CTOR) was 8%
• Dotdigital’s global delivery rate was 99.28%
• Mailing lists grew by 7.88% 
• Abandoned cart emails enjoyed an average open rate of 73% and a click-to-open rate of 14% globally
• Global email volume is on track to exceed 408 billion messages a day by 2027, up from an already staggering 4.2 million emails sent every second in 2024
• The global email marketing market size is set to soar to $36.3 billion by 2033, up from $14.8 billion in 2025

Search trends

• “Is SEO dead?” attracted 2,500 searches globally every month
• “Is email dead?” was searched 400 times per month worldwide
• Searches for “per my last email” exploded from 100 per month in 2015 to 2,600 today
• “Let’s circle back” grew from 500 to 2,000 monthly searches over the last 10 years
• “Move the needle” searches increased from 60 to 200 per month in the UK
• “Thinking outside the box” declined from 6,400 to 3,000 monthly searches in the US
• In January, informational queries made up 91.3% of those triggering an AI Overview, but by October that share had fallen to 57.1% as commercial (e.g., best noise-canceling headphones) and transactional (buy wireless headphones online) queries gained ground
• The industries with the most AI Overviews in November were Science (25.96%), Computers & Electronics (17.92%), and People & Society (17.29%)

Reports, research and real-world conversations

We doubled down on empowering marketers this year through four exclusive, data-rich reports. We also shared plenty of educational content and how-to sessions at events around the globe. Along the way, we’ve had great conversations, built meaningful connections, and made standout memories with our customers and partners.

• We analyzed the engagement metrics from over 10 billion emails and 500 million SMS campaigns to create our Global benchmark report
• We asked 3,000 consumers what brands could do to earn their loyalty in our Customer loyalty report
• 1,500 marketers told us how they’re really feeling, where they’re focusing, and what tools they’re using in our Secret lives of marketers report
• Our Content Marketing team subscribed to the email marketing of 100 global brands to showcase the email tactics, designs, and flows that leading brands are delivering in our Hitting the mark report
• We released 100 blogs packed with tips and tricks to inspire your next marketing campaign
• We organized 184 partner activities, including our fabulous DotSki event in Whistler, Canada
• We hosted 121 events and webinars, sharing advice, celebrating the wonderful world of marketing, and connecting with lots of brilliant marketers

Connecting through culture and community

Our employee groups have led inclusive, global initiatives that unite our people, celebrate culture, support wellbeing, and raise awareness of important issues.

• We launched two new carbon offsetting projects in India and Bangladesh, accelerating clean energy adoption, cutting emissions, and improving health and livelihoods for millions through solar power and fuel-efficient cookstoves.
• In March, we celebrated International Women’s Week with a mix of virtual and in-person events, including networking sessions, confidence workshops, panel discussions, and a fantastic event with UK charity The Girls’ Network.
• In July, we celebrated Pride with a series of podcast episodes sharing employee stories, virtual Drag Bingo, and we marched in London Pride. 
• Over the summer, we launched Summer Fridays globally, giving employees Friday afternoons off to relax and enjoy the sunshine.
• In September, our teams shared step counts and photos from scenic walks all around the world as part of our ‘On Your Feet Dotdigital’ initiative to get outside and get active. 
• In November, we celebrated our second ECHO Week, a celebration of Ethnicity, Culture, Heritage, and Origin, supported by the DotDEI team and brought to life through podcasts, employee stories, and shared cultural traditions, art, and recipes.
• In December, our DotWellbeing group shared 24 thoughtful wellness tips with employees through a wellbeing advent calendar. Recognizing that the holidays can be joyful and also a stressful or difficult time for some.

See you in 2026

We’re hitting the ground running next year, building on everything we’ve made together, from smart tools that give you your time back to channels that allow two-way conversations. Our goal hasn’t changed; we’re here to help you show up for your audience when it matters most. 

Thanks for being a part of our community this year. We can’t wait to meet more of you in 2026 and help you work smarter, connect better, and deliver some serious marketing results. 

How to play

• Discover: Each square on the card links directly to a piece of Dotdigital content, from quick-win guides and playbooks to consumer reports and on-demand webinars
• Check off your wins: Tally up how many squares you can already ‘cross off’ because you’ve read, watched, or downloaded it this year
• Challenge: Click on any remaining square that sparks your interest to discover the gems you might have missed

The year’s top marketing resources

Think of this holiday bingo card as a festive cheatsheet: our best-performing content of the year, bundled up and bow-tied to help you kick off 2026 strong. Here’s what’s waiting for you:

Insight reports

• Global benchmark report: Dotdigital’s flagship benchmark report gives marketers an at-a-glance view of global open rates, click-throughs, SMS clicks, and WhatsApp delivery performance, broken down by region and by industry
• The loyalty divide: Based on a survey of 3,000 consumers from across Australia, the UK, and the USA, Dotdigital’s consumer research report explores what truly inspires loyalty and what keeps shoppers coming back
• The ultimate marketing playbook: Drawing on insights from industry experts, the ultimate marketing playbook breaks down the biggest topics shaping marketing today and helps teams navigate them with confidence
• The secret lives of marketing teams: Built on a survey of 1,500 marketers from Australia, the UK, and the USA, this report lifts the lid on what’s really happening inside marketing teams, from evolving budgets to shifting structure
• Hitting the mark: Analyzing 100 brands around the world, Hitting the mark, Dotdigital’s longest-running annual study, shines a spotlight on marketing campaigns and gives marketers fresh inspiration for what to do next

Binge-worthy webinars

• 6 steps to refresh your email campaigns: This webinar walks you through six practical steps to breathe new life into your email campaigns, helping you engage your audience and get better results without adding to your workload
• 3 reasons why personalization is a must-have: Discover why personalization isn’t just a nice-to-have, it’s essential in this session, diving into three key reasons marketers need to make it a core part of every campaign
• Dotlive: Copywriting bootcamp: Join our copywriting bootcamp to pick up practical tips from the experts and learn how to craft messaging that grabs attention, drives clicks, and converts your audience
• Cursed campaigns and marketing confessions: Marketing doesn’t always go to plan, and we’re here to share real-life campaign missteps, confessions, and lessons that will make you laugh and help you avoid the same mistakes

Actionable planning guides

• 2026 marketing calendars: Plan your year with confidence using our ultimate marketing calendars, packed with key dates and campaign ideas
• Holiday season email template lookbook: Get inspired for holiday marketing throughout the year with top campaign ideas, examples, and trends to boost your marketing impact
• Know your customers checklist: This is a quick, actionable checklist to help you understand your customers better and craft campaigns that resonate
• 10 automation flows to unlock your data: Learn how to turn your customer data into automated, high-performing campaigns that deliver results with Dotdigital’s ready-to-go templates

AI & personalization playbooks

• Putting the AI in email: Learn how AI can help you work smarter and connect better with your audience through your email campaigns
• The ultimate guide to cross-channel personalization: Find out how to create seamless, personalized experiences across every marketing channel, so your marketing always hits the mark
• The website product recommendations playbook: This is a practical guide to using product recommendations on your website to deliver personalized experiences that drive engagement, clicks, and sales

Mobile marketing cheatsheets

• 4 must-have SMS automation templates: Grab four ready-to-go automated SMS templates that save time and drive engagement; perfect for any marketer looking to get up and running fast
• What is MMS and why you should start now: Explore MMS messaging and see how adding images, video, and rich content can transform your mobile marketing campaigns
• WhatsApp marketing: Everything you need to know: Get up to speed on WhatsApp marketing, from setup to strategy, and start reaching customers where they already are
• The WhatsApp marketing playbook: Get this practical guide packed with tips, templates, and strategies to make WhatsApp a powerful part of your marketing toolkit

To figure out where we go from here, we asked Dotdigital partners to look ahead to 2026. The general consensus is that it’s time to move away from creating noise to keep up and focus on creating value to stand out. The trends for the coming year are about securing the foundations you’ve fought to build.

We’re seeing four clear trends emerge: 

1. The return to owned channels: Marketers are tired of sinking budgets into renting attention and are building on channels they can control
2. The resurgence of empathetic marketing: As AI becomes an even deeper part of our workflows, the focus is shifting from producing content quickly to creating intelligent, empathetic, and engaging experiences tailored to each brand and its unique audience
3. The rise of the AI agent: AI isn’t just researching anymore; it’s shopping, and marketers need to keep up
4. The search for truth in data: In 2026, growth depends on strengthening your data foundation so AI can deliver meaningful, measurable impact

1. The return to owned channels

One of the biggest shifts on the horizon for 2026 is a return to channels marketers can actively shape, like email, SMS, and owned web experiences. With ad platforms becoming increasingly unpredictable and Google CPCs up nearly 40% over three years, brands are looking for steadier ground. Paid channels aren’t disappearing, but complementing them with stronger owned channels gives marketers far more control over the journey from first touch to onboarding and nurture.

Protect against rising ad costs by growing email lists

Relying solely on paid channels to grow is a risk marketers can no longer afford in 2026. With ads being more expensive and competitive than ever, the smartest move marketers can make in the year ahead is to focus on the channel you truly own: email. As an owned asset, email isn’t vulnerable to rising CPMs (cost-per-thousand impressions), pay-to-play algorithms, or external audience restrictions. While inbox providers occasionally update how email is displayed and customer consent remains essential, the channel still offers far more stability and control than paid media.

Naturally, AI is fueling the change. Now integrated into platforms like Shopify and Dotdigital, AI  can analyze subscriber data to predict intent, personalize content, and automate perfectly timed offers, turning each email address into a powerful, revenue-generating tool. This allows brands to move from broad, costly ad targeting to precision marketing that delivers measurable return on investment (ROI).

What’s even better is that an engaged email database can be used for smarter ad targeting. You can build better lookalike audiences and deliver more efficient remarketing across Meta and other channels by focusing your budget on converting engaged subscribers.

So, growing your email list is no longer just about owning your audience; it’s about future-proofing your marketing. In an AI-driven world and a competitive ad market, every new email subscriber is a compounding asset that drives sustainable, long-term growth.

Learn more about Lead Online.

Owned channels will become referral engines 

In 2025, ad costs spiked, AI cluttered feeds, economic anxiety peaked, and trust became a rare commodity. While social algorithms swung wildly, owned channels like email and SMS remained the only steady ground.

In 2026, brands that thrive will stop treating their owned channels like simple broadcast tools and start using them as activation engines. Email and SMS, especially, allow you to talk to and through your customers to reach a larger audience.

To do this, focus on building alliances within your ecosystem. Instead of fighting for attention on busy social media or ad platforms, partner with complementary brands, like a fitness brand partnering with a nutrition company to activate both audiences. At the same time, you can turn every email or SMS into a potential referral moment with a natural program that encourages sharing, e.g., “Pass it on: 20% off for them, 20% off for you.” This will help multiply your reach exponentially. Instead of paying rising CPMs to reach cold audiences, you’re activating warm networks through owned channels.

So for 2026, remember: your email list is no longer just an audience; it’s also your distribution infrastructure. 

Learn more about Talkable.

The year of the owned ecosystem

2025 felt like a shouting match where no one won. Brands everywhere were shouting louder and louder, only to realize their audience’s attention had drifted elsewhere. Marketers came to a scary realization: they don’t actually own the ground they’re standing on, and building on rented land is risky. 

That’s why 2026 is the year of the owned ecosystem, where you control the experience, not an algorithm. As the digital landscape fragments, control becomes the new currency. The brands that thrive will be the ones that create meaningful interactions, whether through shoppable video, owned communities, or branded live experiences. 

Owning the space and your channels lets you listen better, learn faster, and build trust that doesn’t vanish with the next algorithm update.

Learn more about BeLive Technology.

Affiliate marketing becomes creator-led commerce

In 2025, brands stopped treating influencer marketing as an awareness channel and started using it for acquisition. They invested in smarter systems where creators, customers, and affiliates all drive measurable results. We’re carrying that discipline forward: measuring what matters, automating repetitive tasks, and leaving behind manual workflows and disconnected tools that slow everything down.

This focus on measured, automated value is what will fundamentally change who gets a share of the pie. In 2026, the lines between influencer, affiliate, and customer will disappear. Every creator, from a customer posting an unboxing to a TikTok Shop partner, will expect both creative freedom and direct revenue share.

Affiliate programs will become community commerce: automated, trackable, and creator-first. The brands that succeed won’t just recruit affiliates; they’ll build loyalty networks where anyone who drives value earns a stake in the outcome.

The next phase of growth won’t come from new ad channels, but from turning your audience into your salesforce.

Learn more about Social Snowball.

Loyalty shifts from points to priced value

By 2026, loyalty, especially in Southeast Asia, will become a real product for brands, complete with pricing, benefits, and measurable ROI, rather than just a promotional add-on. Paid memberships, smarter benefit design, and transparent value exchange will help brands monetize loyalty while revealing what customers genuinely care about.

Loyalty data will also start to play a bigger role in marketing by becoming a decision-making tool. 

With richer behavioural insight, brands will shape campaigns based on what customers actually do, not what they might do. The most successful ones will turn those insights into meaningful experiences like VIP or corporate tiers, community perks, lifestyle partnerships, and benefits that feel tangible to the customer.

This doesn’t mean the gamification of loyalty will disappear, but it will slim down as experiences become more linked to business outcomes. At the same time, omnichannel “earn-everywhere” systems will unite in-store, online, and delivery experiences, making value feel seamless across every touchpoint. 

All-in-all, the next chapter of loyalty is operational, not flashy. In 2026, growth will come from treating loyalty like a product that is priced thoughtfully, informed by real customer feedback, and built for cultural relevance. This will create an experience people choose to belong to, not just buy from. 

Learn more about Eber.

RCS mobile messaging grows up

2026 will be the year mobile messaging grows up, and Rich Communication Services (RCS) will lead the charge. RCS combines the reach of SMS with the interactivity of apps, turning standard text messages into rich, branded experiences. It allows marketers to deliver secure, engaging, app-like moments directly inside a user’s native messaging app.

Think of it as SMS supercharged! Buttons, carousels, images, and even payments will all be available within one simple, seamless space. We’re already seeing brands experiment with RCS for everything from secure logins to two-way conversations and dynamic offers. It’s bridging the gap between convenience and creativity, making mobile marketing more responsive, more trusted, and more human. As more tools and platforms support RCS, the opportunity to build richer customer journeys is huge.

Learn more about ActionRocket.

2. The resurgence of empathetic marketing

As AI becomes more deeply embedded in our workflows, genuine human connection will set the best marketing apart. Rather than relying solely on AI to generate empathetic content, these predictions highlight how marketers can use technology to amplify the reach and impact of human-to-human marketing.

The rise of systemic empathy

After the first wave of AI excitement, marketers have realized something important: AI alone can’t make a message land. The most successful campaigns of 2025 weren’t the ones that shouted the loudest or published most often; they were the ones that made people feel something. In fact, a 2025 Ipsos study found that campaigns aligned with people’s identities and values are 69% more likely to influence purchase decisions. That’s why our prediction for 2026 is the rise of systemic empathy and building emotional intelligence into the AI systems we already use. 

AI now touches everything from targeting to content creation, but automation without empathy can make brands feel a bit robotic. The new competitive advantage comes from designing workflows where AI handles the data and humans shape the meaning.

The good news is that AI can actually help brands feel more human. It can read emotional cues, spot patterns in sentiment, and highlight messages that resonate. But it only works when paired with human creativity and the shared knowledge inside an organization. We see this as the evolution of corporate AI — systems shaped by the logic, knowledge, and data unique to each organization. This helps brands tell stories people genuinely care about.

Learn more about Youwe.

Brand experiences build brand love

The best performing companies in 2026 will be those that invest in their brand experience rather than simply doubling down on AI.

2025 was the “Year of AI” for both business and marketers, and it would be all too easy to predict that to continue in 2026. While we agree, my prediction is that to do well in an increasingly AI-led world, marketers who focus on brand and digital experience will outperform those who focus narrowly on squeezing as much AI into their work as possible.

Ultimately, pleasing humans is the goal of marketing, and while new tech helps, the old basics still apply. To win new customers, you must offer both a brand and an experience that is compelling and authentic.

Focusing on the human aspect of customer experience, delivered through beautifully branded, digital experiences designed by creative talent and supported by the right amount of AI, is the recipe for success in 2026.

Learn more about Fanatic.

Marketers stop reacting and start predicting

2026 is the year marketers stop reacting and start predicting. AI is moving us from static journeys to living experiences that evolve with every click, scroll, and signal.

Instead of asking, “What should we send next?”, we’ll start asking, “What does the customer need next, and how do we deliver it before they ask?” Predictive intelligence will make personalization feel intuitive, powered by behavior, sentiment, and purchase patterns in real time.

This shift matters because competition for attention has never been higher. The brands that win won’t just personalize, they’ll anticipate. The future of lifecycle marketing isn’t automation for efficiency; it’s using AI for empathy. Because the best marketing won’t feel like marketing at all; it will feel like the brand just gets their audience.

Learn more about Shero Commerce.

The brands that stay close to their customers will pull ahead

In 2026, the most effective marketing teams won’t be the loudest or the fastest; they’ll be the ones listening hardest.

Marketers who spend more time with their customers, partners, and suppliers – not just talking about them – will uncover the insights that no dashboard can show.

The next wave of marketing maturity will come from joined-up listening. Teams that connect insight from customer conversations, support tickets, and supply partners will design experiences that feel distinctive because they’re grounded in truth.

The future belongs to marketers who replace assumptions with understanding, and use that closeness to shape strategies their competitors can’t copy.

Learn more about JH.

The balancing act between AI & authenticity

Generative AI is boosting most areas of digital marketing, letting marketers deliver huge amounts of personalization and driving efficiency at scale.  But with AI now a big part of how businesses talk to customers, we need to focus on brand authenticity.

In 2026, I predict we’ll see more customers asking: “Is this real, or just AI-generated?”

We’re at a stage where customers don’t just expect personalized experiences; they also want a genuine connection with the brand they’re engaging with. If we don’t get this balance right, we risk AI fatigue and losing hard-won customer trust.

The competitive advantage will shift from who is using the best AI tools to who best balances them with humanity. If that’s the case, genuine storytelling, transparency, and human-driven interaction will be essential for creating trust in 2026. Ultimately, AI has to improve the customer experience, not replace the brand’s soul.

Learn more about In Digital.

3. The rise of the AI agent

In 2026, your customers won’t just be people anymore; they’ll be algorithms, agents, and chatbots. This shift marks the rise of B2R (business-to-robot) marketing, where success depends on understanding how AI systems read, rank, and respond to your content just as much as human audiences do.

Optimizing for the machine customer

In 2026, agentic AI will evolve from a passive researcher into an active shopper. Imagine telling a digital assistant, “I need a birthday gift for a 10-year-old who loves space,” and having it research, compare, and complete the purchase without you having to lift a finger.

This shift is going to be huge because AI agents deal in pure logic. They aren’t swayed by brand loyalty or clever marketing; they prioritize hard metrics like price, delivery speed, and the accuracy of the product description. They buy based on data parameters, not emotion, fundamentally changing the nature of brand loyalty.

Ultimately, your product data must become your primary sales pitch. If your data isn’t clean, structured, and instantly accessible, these agents simply won’t be able to find you. Success in an automated world means optimizing your systems now to ensure clear visibility, because in 2026, AI agents will be evaluating your brand first.

Learn more about GBG Loqate.

AI agents become the default in workflows

The shift toward agentic workflows (where AI doesn’t just assist but actively executes tasks) is moving faster than anticipated. It’s not hype; this is a fundamental shift for marketers. 

In 2026, AI agents will stop being a nice-to-have and become the default standard on websites. Your customers and stakeholders are already using tools like ChatGPT, Grok, and Gemini in their daily lives. They’re used to getting what they need, when they need it. So, they’ll have zero tolerance for experiences that feel stuck in the past. Clunky navigation or switching between tabs will drive customers away as their expectations continue to evolve. 

If your customer experience creates friction compared to the fluid AI tools people use every day, you will lose them. Speed is the new currency; you must integrate these agents now to ensure your experiences match the pace of the AI world we’re living in.

Learn more about OneCart.

AI-driven search reshapes discovery

In 2026, AI-driven search will reshape how people discover and buy products and services. Traditional search engines will give way to conversational AI tools that act as intelligent assistants, offering direct, curated answers instead of long lists of links. This shift will reduce user choice at the results stage and concentrate visibility on a smaller number of recommended brands.

Ecommerce transactions will increasingly happen directly within the AI interface or browser, transforming the AI provider into a direct sales channel, not just a referrer. AI providers will introduce new revenue models, effectively taking a cut of sales (an ‘AI Tax on Transaction’) and introducing paid placement or commission-based models directly within results. This creates new advertising opportunities but also intensifies competition for visibility as brands must now bid for these privileged recommendation slots.

This trend will redefine how customers find and shop with brands. Marketers will need to optimize for AI visibility and invest in authentic content partnerships to remain discoverable in a world where AI decides what people see and charges a premium to be seen.

Learn more about Rusty Monkey.

4. The search for truth in data

The experiences you create are only as strong as the data behind them. In 2026, success depends on clean, reliable insights and the ability to let AI enhance efficiency in the background.

The need for data transparency

For 2026, I predict marketers will start to feel the pinch of AI’s biggest blind spot: data transparency. 2025 will be remembered as the year people wrongly predicted Google’s demise at the hands of AI. Whilst Google, and marketing as a whole, has been undoubtedly changed by AI, it has merely caused an evolution of the search giant, rather than its demise.

AI chatbots and assistants are quickly revealing themselves as information hogs: they absorb vast amounts of data but provide little helpful insight that marketers can actually use to improve their work. Whether it’s the lack of search data from Google’s AI Overview and ChatGPT or how unclear AI-managed ad campaigns (like TikTok’s GMV Max and Google’s Performance Max) are, data accessibility is shrinking fast. While marketers were quick to promote these tools, they’ll soon have to answer tougher questions about where the budget goes, which is hard to track on AI platforms.

After the honeymoon period, marketers will realize they’re losing access to the very insights that once powered their strategies: search data, user intent, and content performance. The tools that promised limitless intelligence may instead leave us working in the dark. Those marketers who can find the light by basing their work on measurable, data-focused decisions will be the ones who truly thrive in this new era.

Learn more about PushON.

Marketing success is measured by connection, not capture

By 2026, marketing success won’t be measured by the data you capture, but by how well you connect it. As third-party cookies fade and privacy expectations rise, the smartest marketers will create consented, accurate, and genuinely controllable first-party data ecosystems. 

Volume will no longer rule; value will be converting clean, orderly data into something that makes sense. AI’s role will change from being an automation tool to a means for contextual interpretation, letting marketers see intent, surface insight, and respond accurately. 

Approximately 40% of analytics queries will be generated in natural language by 2026, resulting in data intelligence that is more human, more accessible, and more immediate than ever before. 

The next frontier isn’t more tools, it’s better alignment for data, ethics, and experience. Marketers who add transparency and intelligent automation to their marketing stack will turn insight into trust and trust into clear growth. 

So, in 2026, the distinction between noise and connection will boil down to one thing: your ability to use data responsibly.

Learn more about Cantarus.

AI works quietly in the background

2026 will be the year AI finally fades into the background and starts doing its best work quietly. The focus will shift from flashy automation to genuine augmentation. AI will become the engine that helps marketers think faster, act smarter, and create experiences that feel effortless.

Across the APAC region, we’re already seeing AI move from isolated tools to deeply integrated systems that support every part of the marketing journey. It’s interpreting signals, predicting intent, and refining content in real time. The technology is becoming so seamless that customers won’t notice it’s there. What they will notice is that their interactions feel smoother, more personal, and more relevant.

But AI alone isn’t the answer. The most successful marketers will use it to enhance human creativity, not replace it. Machines can analyze patterns, but we bring empathy, emotion, and brand identity to the table.

The future is a partnership between intelligence and instinct. AI will handle the heavy lifting, freeing up marketers to focus on ideas, storytelling, and connection. When that balance is right, AI becomes truly indispensable.

Learn more about Athos Commerce.

Data maturity gives brands the competitive edge

AI is making websites, tools, and platforms smarter, but it’s also making implementation more complex. And in 2026, you won’t win without a deep understanding of your data and technical setup. 

This technical closeness is known as Authentic Automation. This isn’t just about saving cost or maximizing your customer lifetime value (CLV); it’s about using technology to improve and humanize every interaction customers have with your brand. But to do it right, you need to know what’s happening behind the scenes. 

We’ve all had the help of unhelpful chatbots and seen automation deployed based on surface-level data, leading to irrelevant emails, awkward timing, and wasted spend, not to mention the inevitable surge of unsubscribes. 

That’s why, in 2026, data maturity will be the competitive edge.

The brands that succeed will blend real-world, human empathy with technical know-how. They’ll validate their AI models with unfiltered feedback from forums and use SEO insights as a goldmine for understanding customer intent. This blend ensures automation is precise, personal, and consistent. 

Do this, and automation will become what it was always meant to be: a powerful engine that carries out the empathetic and strategic decisions that drive product discovery and conversion.

Learn more about Blackpepper.

The rise of the AI generalist

For years, ecommerce success was built on specialization – data analysts, UX experts,
content strategists, and developers each managing their piece of the puzzle. But today’s
fast-moving digital economy demands something different: versatility, adaptability, and
synthesis.

Al has become the great equalizer. It’s closing the gap between functions and enabling
professionals to operate across disciplines with unprecedented speed and confidence.
We’re seeing the resurgence of the generalist, not as a “jack of all trades,” but as a master
of connection.

Generative AI and automation tools are transforming how people learn, create, and solve
problems. What once required deep technical expertise can now be accomplished with the
right prompt and a strategic mindset. The real skill now lies not in doing the thing, but in
understanding how it all fits together.

Al-fluent generalists who understand how to weave technology into every aspect of brand
experience. Ecommerce success is no longer about one system or department working in
isolation. It’s about agility—the ability to pivot, personalize, and predict what customers need
next. Generalists, equipped with AI, bring that agility to life. They see the brand as a living
system, not a set of disconnected channels.

Learn more about Shopware.

AI will assist in the rollout of adaptive campaigns

In 2026, AI will evolve from just creating content to truly grasping context. This will help marketers roll out adaptive campaigns that change in real time. We can expect predictive analytics to steer creative choices, generative tools to create multi-format assets in a flash, and conversational interfaces (like AI agents) to reshape how customers connect with brands.

To marketers, it means that campaign strategies won’t revolve around traditional journeys, but around intelligent, learning systems. Every interaction will pave the way for the next one.

AI is enhancing the ecommerce experience and revolutionizing marketing by optimizing content flow and providing insights that lead to smarter decision-making. The future of marketing belongs to those who can blend data, design, and AI to create a unified yet unique storytelling journey. 

Learn more about BSS Commerce.

AI becomes the connection across creativity, data, and customer experience

2026 will be the year when AI stops being a tool and becomes the connection across creativity, data, and customer experience. Instead of fragmented stacks, we’ll see unified intelligence: AI systems that analyze intent, generate content, test variations, and measure outcomes in real-time.

But the real shift won’t be technological; it will be organizational. The brands that win will be the ones that integrate AI not only into campaigns, but into their thinking. They’ll build cross-functional teams fluent in both brand strategy and AI reasoning, ensuring every touchpoint feels human, contextual, and ethically guided. By 2026, we’ll see hyper-personalization at enterprise scale, where automation and predictive analytics become standard, not optional. 

In this next phase, personalization will move from “who you are” to “what you need now.” It will let brands predict moments, not just react to actions. Yet the differentiator is still empathy — how we use intelligence to understand our audiences, not manipulate them.

The marketers who thrive in 2026 will treat AI as a creative partner, not a replacement, balancing automation with authenticity, and speed with substance.

Learn more about Tavano Team.

Practicality will redefine how we use AI

In 2026, the drive for practicality will redefine how we use AI. It won’t just sit in the workflow; it will work with human judgment to answer real customer questions, not just generate content. This will affect how marketers personalize campaigns, moving from broad personas to real behaviors, shaping content based on what people do, not just what we assume they want. 

Because acquisition costs will remain high, this practical approach will drive brands to pivot and focus on retention. They will focus on the customers they already have, using AI to solve problems early and build steady loyalty through personalized experiences rather than chasing quick acquisition spikes. 

Ultimately, the brands that stand out in 2026 will be the ones solving real-life problems. The goal remains simple: for brands to provide value quickly and consistently, and earn trust through results.

Learn more about Magnolia CMS.

What will 2026 look like for you?

2026 is shaping up to be the year marketers stop building on borrowed ground and start creating the kind of experiences customers actually want to come back to. The question now is, what will 2026 look like for you?

If you’re ready to grow what you own, get closer to your customers, and use AI in a way that feels genuinely human, Dotdigital is here to help you get ahead.

Hi, I’m Layla, Content Producer here at Dotdigital and your go-to for keeping your social media calendar in check. If you’ve ever felt like the calendar is running you instead of the other way around, I’ve got you. This guide to key social media dates for 2026 is packed with all the fun, quirky, and meaningful moments you can plan content around. 

Trends to keep an eye on this year? Short-form video is still king, but now it’s all about storytelling and creating communities, not just quick clips. Long-term, authentic creator partnerships are where the magic happens, and personalized content powered by AI is making audiences feel genuinely seen. So, plan smart, post strategically, and, most importantly, have fun with it!

January 2026

Themes for the month

Dry January — #DryJanuary 

Veganuary — #Veganuary

National mentoring month — #MentoringAmplifies 

National slavery & human trafficking prevention month

January calendar

January 2 – World introvert day #WorldIntrovertDay

January 4 – World braille day #WorldBrailleDay

January 5 – Twelfth night #TwelfthNight

January 6 – Epiphany #Epiphany

January 14 – World logic day #WorldLogicDay

January 16 – Global word search day #GlobalWordSearchDay

January 18 – Winnie the Pooh day #WinnieThePoohDay

January 19 – Martin Luther King, Jr. day #MLKDay

January 20 – Blue Monday #BlueMonday 

January 24 – International day of education #InternationalDayOfEducation

January 24 – National compliment day #NationalComplimentDay

January 25 – Burns night #BurnsNight

January 25 – Opposite day #OppositeDay

January 26 – Australia day #AustraliaDay

January 27 – International holocaust remembrance day #HolocaustRemembranceDay

January 27 – Chocolate cake day #ChocolateCakeDay

January 31 – Hot chocolate day #HotChocolateDay

February 2026

Themes for the month

National black history month (USA)

LGBT+ History month (UK)

Ramadan: February 18, 2026 – March 18, 2026

February calendar

February 2 – Groundhog day #GroundhogDay

February 2 – World wetlands day #WorldWetlandsDay

February 3 – Golden retriever day #GoldenRetrieverDay

February 4 – World cancer day #WorldCancerDay #WeCanICan

February 5 – Time to talk day #TimeToTalkDay

February 6 – Frozen yoghurt day #FrozenYoghurtDay

February 6 – New York fashion week begins #NYFW

February 7 – Send a card to a friend day #SendACardToAFriendDay

February 7 – Bubble gum day #BubbleGumDay

February 7 – Wear red day #WearRed

February 8 – Boy scouts day #BoyScoutsDay

February 8 – Super bowl #SuperBowl2026

February 9 – Pizza day #PizzaDay

February 11 – International day of women and girls in science #WomenInScienceDay

February 11 – Safer internet day #SaferInternetDay

February 13 – Self-love day #SelfLoveDay

February 13 – Galentine’s day #GalentinesDay

February 14 – Valentine’s day #ValentinesDay

February 15 – Singles awareness day #SinglesAwarenessDay

February 17 – Random acts of kindness day #RandomActsOfKindnessDay

February 18 – Ramadan begins #Ramadan

February 19 – London fashion week begins #LondonFashionWeek

February 20 – Love your pet day #LoveYourPetDay

February 20 – World day of social justice #SocialJusticeDay

February 21 – International mother language day #MotherLanguageDay

February 22 – Thinking day #ThinkingDay

February 23 – Helplines awareness day #HelplinesAwarenessDay

February 24 – London fashion week ends #LondonFashionWeek

February 24 – Tortilla chip day #TortillaChipDay

February 26 – Tell a fairy tale day #TellAFairyTaleDay

February 27 – Toast day #ToastDay

February 27 – International polar bear day #PolarBearDay

February 28 – Rare disease day #RareDiseaseDay

February 28 – Public sleeping day #PublicSleepingDay

March 2026

Themes for the month

Women’s history month #WomensHistoryMonth

Prostate cancer awareness month #ProstateCancerAwarenessMonth 

Ovarian cancer awareness month #OvarianCancerAwarenessMonth

March calendar 

March 1 – St David’s day #StDavidsDay 

March 1 – Self-injury awareness day #SelfInjuryAwarenessDay 

March 1 – Zero discrimination day #ZeroDiscriminationDay 

March 3 – World hearing day #WorldHearingDay 

March 3 – World wildlife day #WorldWildlifeDay 

March 4 – Holi #Holi

March 5 – World book day #WorldBookDay 

March 8 – International women’s day #InternationalWomensDay

March 15 – Mother’s day (UK) #MothersDay

March 15 – Red nose day #RedNoseDay 

March 16 – Disabled access day #DisabledAccessDay 

March 17 – St Patrick’s day #StPatricksDay 

March 18 – Global recycling day #GlobalRecyclingDay 

March 19 – Eid al-Fitr #EidAlFitr 

March 20 – International day of happiness #InternationalDayOfHappiness

March 20 – First day of spring #FirstDayOfSpring

March 20 – World oral health day #WorldOralHealthDay

March 22 – World water day #WorldWaterDay 

March 28 – Earth hour #EarthHour

March 31 – International trans visibility day #TransDayOfVisibility

April 2026

Themes for the month

Stress awareness month

April calendar

April 1 – April fool’s day #AprilFools

April 2 – World autism awareness day #WorldAutismAwarenessDay

April 3 – Good Friday #GoodFriday

April 4 – International carrot day #InternationalCarrotDay

April 5 – Easter Sunday #EasterSunday

April 6 – Easter Monday #EasterMonday

April 6 – International day of sport for development and peace #SportForDevelopment

April 6 – Tartan day #TartanDay

April 7 – World health day #WorldHealthDay

April 10 – National siblings day #NationalSiblingsDay

April 11 – World Parkinson’s day #WorldParkinsonsDay

April 14 – Garden day #GardenDay

April 15 – World art day #WorldArtDay

April 20 to April 26 – Lesbian visibility week #LesbianVisibilityWeek

April 21 – National tea day #NationalTeaDay

April 22 – Earth day #EarthDay

April 23 – St George’s day #StGeorgesDay

April 28 – Workers’ memorial day #WorkersMemorialDay

April 28 – World day for safety and health at work #WorldSafetyHealthDay

April 28 – World day for safety & health at work #SafetyHealthAtWork

May 2026

Themes for the month

Mental health awareness month – #MentalHealthAwarenessMonth

National walking month – #NationalWalkingMonth

May calendar 

May 1 – May day #MayDay

May 1 – Buddha day #BuddhaDay

May 2 – International Harry Potter day #HarryPotterDay

May 2 – World tuna day #WorldTunaDay

May 3 – World press freedom day #WorldPressFreedomDay

May 3 – World laughter day #WorldLaughterDay

May 4 – Early May bank holiday #EarlyMayBankHoliday

May 5 – Cinco de mayo #CincoDeMayo

May 5 – International day of the midwife #DayOfTheMidwife

May 6–12 – Deaf awareness week #DeafAwarenessWeek

May 8 – World red cross day #WorldRedCrossDay

May 9 – Europe day #EuropeDay

May 10 – Mother’s day (UK) #MothersDay

May 11–17 – Mental health awareness week #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek

May 12 – International nurses day #InternationalNursesDay

May 14 – Ascension day (Christian) #AscensionDay

May 15 – International day of families #DayOfFamilies

May 17 – International day against homophobia, transphobia & biphobia #IDAHOBIT

May 19–26 – Knife crime awareness week #KnifeCrimeAwarenessWeek

May 21 – World meditation day #WorldMeditationDay

May 22 – International day for biological diversity #BiodiversityDay

May 25 – Spring bank holiday (UK) #SpringBankHoliday

May 25 – Africa day #AfricaDay

May 28 – Menstrual hygiene day #MenstrualHygieneDay

May 28 – World hunger day #WorldHungerDay

May 29 – International day of united nations peacekeepers #UNPeacekeepersDay

May 31 – World no tobacco day #WorldNoTobaccoDay

June 2026

Themes for the month

Pride month

June calendar 

June 1 – Global day of parents #GlobalDayOfParents

June 1 – World reef awareness day #WorldReefAwarenessDay

June 2 – Leave the office early day #LeaveTheOfficeEarlyDay

June 3 – Global running day #GlobalRunningDay

June 3 – World bicycle day #WorldBicycleDay

June 4 – National cheese day #NationalCheeseDay

June 5 – World environment day #WorldEnvironmentDay

June 6 – D-day anniversary #DDayAnniversary

June 7 – National cancer survivors day #NationalCancerSurvivorsDay

June 7 – World food safety day #WorldFoodSafetyDay

June 8 – World oceans day #WorldOceansDay

June 12 – World day against child labour #WorldDayAgainstChildLabour

June 14 – World blood donor day #WorldBloodDonorDay

June 15–21 – Refugee week #RefugeeWeek

June 17 – Clean air day #CleanAirDay

June 19 – Juneteenth (US) #Juneteenth

June 20 – World refugee day #WorldRefugeeDay

June 21 – Summer solstice #SummerSolstice

June 21 – World humanist day #WorldHumanistDay

June 22–28 – School diversity week #SchoolDiversityWeek

June 22 – Windrush day #WindrushDay

June 25 – Armed forces day #ArmedForcesDay

June 27 – PTSD awareness day #PTSDawarenessDay

June 30 – Social media day #SocialMediaDay

July 2026

Themes for the month

Plastic free July

Summer fun and relaxation (Northern hemisphere)

Christmas in July (Southern hemisphere) 

July calendar 

July 1 – International joke day #InternationalJokeDay

July 1 – Disability pride month begins #DisabilityPrideMonth

July 4 – Independence day (US) #IndependenceDay

July 4 – National sidewalk egg frying day #SidewalkEggFryingDay

July 7 – World chocolate day #WorldChocolateDay

July 11 – World population day #WorldPopulationDay

July 12 – Malala day #MalalaDay

July 12 – Orangemen’s day #OrangemensDay

July 14 – Bastille day #BastilleDay

July 15 – National give something away day #GiveSomethingAwayDay

July 16 – National cherry day #NationalCherryDay

July 16 – World snake day #WorldSnakeDay

July 18 – Nelson Mandela international day #MandelaDay

July 19 – National ice cream day #NationalIceCreamDay

July 20 – Moon landing anniversary #MoonLandingAnniversary

July 20 – International chess day #InternationalChessDay

July 22 – National hammock day #NationalHammockDay

July 24 – International self-care day #SelfCareDay

July 26 – Parents’ day #ParentsDay

July 28 – World War I day #WorldWarIDay

July 28 – World hepatitis day #WorldHepatitisDay

July 29 – International tiger day #InternationalTigerDay

July 30 – International day of friendship #InternationalDayOfFriendship

July 31 – National avocado day #NationalAvocadoDay

August 2026

Themes for the month

National immunization awareness month

Black business month

August calendar 

1 August – National girlfriends day #NationalGirlfriendsDay

1 August – World lung cancer day #WorldLungCancerDay

2 August – Sisters’ day #SistersDay

4 August – National chocolate chip cookie day #ChocolateChipCookieDay

5 August – National underwear day #UnderwearDay

7 August – National lighthouse day #LighthouseDay

8 August – National bowling day #BowlingDay

10 August – National s’mores day #SmoresDay

12 August – World elephant day #WorldElephantDay

13 August – International lefthanders day #LefthandersDay 

14 August – National financial awareness day #FinancialAwarenessDay 

15 August – National relaxation day #RelaxationDay 

16 August – National tell a joke day #TellAJokeDay 

17 August – National non-profit day #NonprofitDay 

18 August – National fajita day #FajitaDay 

19 August – World humanitarian day #WorldHumanitarianDay 

20 August – National radio day #NationalRadioDay 

22 August – National tooth fairy day #ToothFairyDay

24 August – National waffle day #WaffleDay 

25 August – National banana split day #BananaSplitDay 

26 August – National dog day #NationalDogDay 

27 August – National bow tie day #BowTieDay 

28 August – National chop suey day #ChopSueyDay 

31 August – Summer bank holiday

September 2026

Themes for the month

Childhood cancer awareness month

Suicide prevention month

Back to school

September calendar 

1 September – World letter writing day #WorldLetterWritingDay 

2 September – World coconut day #WorldCoconutDay 

4 September – Janmashtami (Hindu Holiday) #Janmashtami 

4 September – National food bank day #NationalFoodBankDay 

5 September – World beard day #WorldBeardDay 

5 September – International day of charity #DayOfCharity 

6 September – Read a book day #ReadABookDay 

7 September – Organ donation week begins #OrganDonationWeek 

8 September – World physiotherapy day #WorldPhysiotherapyDay 

8 September – International literacy day #LiteracyDay 

10 September – World suicide prevention day #WorldSuicidePreventionDay 

12 September – End digital poverty day #EndDigitalPoverty 

15 September – International day of democracy #DayOfDemocracy 

15 September – World afro day #WorldAfroDay 

16 September – International day for the preservation of the ozone layer #OzoneLayerDay 

21 September – International day of peace #DayOfPeace

21 September – World Alzheimer’s say #WorldAlzheimersDay 

22–28 September – Recycle week #RecycleWeek 

27 September – World tourism day #WorldTourismDay 

29 September – World heart day #WorldHeartDay 

October 2026

Themes for the month

Breast cancer awareness month

Domestic violence awareness month

Global diversity awareness month

National bullying prevention awareness month

National cyber security awareness month

Black history month (UK)

October calendar

1 October – World vegetarian day #WorldVegetarianDay 

1 October– International coffee day #CoffeeDay

2 October – International day of non-violence #NonViolenceDay

4 October – World animal day #WorldAnimalDay 

5 October – World teachers’ day #WorldTeachersDay 

10 October – World mental health Day #WorldMentalHealthDay 

10 October – World egg day #WorldEggDay

11 October – International day of the girl #DayOfTheGirl 

15 October – Global handwashing day #GlobalHandwashingDay 

16 October – World food day #WorldFoodDay 

17 October – International day for the eradication of poverty #EndPoverty 

20 October – World statistics day #WorldStatisticsDay 

24 October – United nations day #UNDay 

October 26 – Pumpkin day #PumpkinDay

31 October – Halloween #Halloween 

November 2026

Themes for the month

Lung cancer awareness month

Men’s health awareness month #Movember

November calendar

1 November – All saints day #AllSaintsDay

1 November – World vegan day #WorldVeganDay

2 November – Stress awareness day #StressAwarenessDay

3 November – Sandwich day #SandwichDay

5 November – Guy Fawkes night #GuyFawkesNight 

6 November – Nachos day #NachosDay

8 November – National cappuccino day #CappuccinoDay

11 November – Remembrance day #RemembranceDay 

12 November – Chicken soup for the soul day #ChickenSoupForTheSoulDay

13 November – World kindness day #WorldKindnessDay

14 November – Spaghetti day #SpaghettiDay

15 November – Clean out your fridge day #CleanOutYourFridgeDay

16 November – International tolerance day #ToleranceDay 

17 November – Homemade bread day #HomemadeBreadDay

18 November – Princess day #PrincessDay

19 November – Talk like a pirate day #TalkLikeAPirateDay

22 November – Cappuccino day #CappuccinoDay

23 November – Netflix day #NetflixDay 

24 November – Celebrate your unique talent day #UniqueTalentDay

26 November – Cake day #CakeDay 

27 November – Black Friday #BlackFriday 

28 November – Small business Saturday #SmallBusinessSaturday 

29 November – Electronic greetings day #ElectronicGreetingsDay

30 November – St Andrew’s day #StAndrewsDay #Scotland

December 2026

Themes for the month

Hanukkah: December 4 – December 12

Christmas: December 24 – December 26

December calendar

1 December – World aids day #WorldAIDSDay 

2 December – Eat a red apple day #EatARedAppleDay 

3 December – Make a gift day #MakeAGiftDay 

4 December – Santa’s helpers day #SantasHelpersDay 

5 December – Volunteer day #VolunteerDay 

6 December – St Nicholas day #StNicholasDay 

7 December – Cotton candy day #CottonCandyDay 

8 December – Brownie day #BrownieDay

10 December – Human rights day #HumanRightsDay 

12 December – Gingerbread house day #GingerbreadHouseDay

13 December – Ice cream day (yes, in winter!) #IceCreamDay

14 December – Monkey day #MonkeyDay

15 December – Wear your Christmas sweater day #ChristmasSweaterDay 

16 December – Chocolate-covered anything day #ChocolateCoveredDay 

17 December – National maple syrup day #MapleSyrupDay

18 December – Answer the phone like buddy the elf day #BuddyTheElfDay 

20 December – International human solidarity day #HumanSolidarityDay 

21 December – Winter solstice #WinterSolstice 

24 December – Christmas eve #ChristmasEve 

25 December – Christmas day #ChristmasDay 

26 December – Boxing day #BoxingDay 

31 December – New year’s eve #NewYearsEve 

Let’s wrap up

Don’t miss a single chance to connect with your audience and spark meaningful engagement. Planning your social media strategy ahead of time is key! Use this complete list of key social media dates for 2026 as your guide, and schedule content around these dates to maximize visibility, boost interactions, and help your brand shine all year long.

For example, in ecommerce, you can’t see reactions to products on the shelf. And in B2B or not-for-profit, you miss the cues you’d get in meetings. A website visit takes far less commitment than a physical interaction, so understanding interest and intent is key to turning casual visitors into engaged customers.

In this guide, we’ll show you how to measure customer interest, spot high-intent behavior, and engage your audience effectively, so you can use smarter targeting in your campaigns smarter and boost conversions.

Contact scoring

Contact scoring let’s you score and rank your contacts with two key metrics (scored between 0-100):

• Engagement: scored on contacts’ interaction and behaviors (such as campaign opens, link clicks, and visits to your website)

• Suitability: scored on a contacts’ profile (such as their job title, industry sector, and location)

These metrics combine to produce a third metric – an overall contact score. As a result, you and your brand can manage and prioritize your most promising prospects. 

The level of contact scoring allows you to understand  who each customer is, and how interested they are in your brand and products. It’s possible to tell:

• How many emails and social posts they’ve engaged with
• How long they’ve spent on your site
• What they’ve bought from you
• How much they’ve spent
• If they engage with your content on multiple channels

You can then use this information to work out how you should connect with your audience next.

Using contact scoring

Once you know who your high and low-interest contacts are, you can use these insights to connect with them more effectively:

1. Map messages to each segment:

High-scoring contacts might receive loyalty offers or exclusive updates, while lower-scoring contacts could enter a re-engagement program or nurture workflow.

2. Automate workflows based on scores:

Use your platform to trigger automations when contacts reach certain scores. For example, send a welcome email series when someone’s engagement score hits a threshold, or alert your team to follow up with high-potential leads.

3. Monitor, adjust, and refine:

Review how each segment responds. If high-score contacts aren’t converting, revisit your scoring criteria or messaging. Scores should evolve with your data and customer behavior.

Modern signals to include

In addition to using traditional metrics like email opens and clicks, you should also consider first-party signals from across your channels, such as:

• Website interactions (time on key pages, product views, downloads)
• Mobile app engagement
• SMS or push notification responses
• Webinar attendance or form submissions

Tracking these signals ensures your scoring reflects real intent, even as privacy rules reduce the reliability of third-party tracking.

eRFM

If you’re in the ecommerce space, eRFM (Recency, Frequency, and Monetary) is another great tool available to you. eRFM is an ecommerce behavioral model designed to help you better understand the potential of your contacts. It’s a combination of the RFM model that looks at a contact’s purchasing behavior, and our engagement model that looks at the engagement of a contact. For example, their:

• Email opens and clicks
• Web sessions
• Abandoned carts

Dotdigital combines these models, to help you better understand and detect purchase intent across various customer types – from inactive contacts to champions.

You can use eRFM groups within your audience segment building stages to make highly accurate segments based on the customer’s likelihood to purchase. You can then continue the use through your marketing automation programs to target customers with the right message, at the right time.

What content should you consider for your customer engagement strategy?

To score your customers’ engagements effectively, as well as your website and product pages, you need content to track against. This is especially useful for new customers that haven’t made a purchase yet, or if your product or service is something people tend to think about for a while before committing. 

Here’s five types of content to consider for your strategy and why:

Blog posts:

Blog articles are liked by most audiences because they’re topical, digestible, and consistent. Many brands will post blogs at least a couple of times a week, typically to distribute via multiple channels to drive engagement. 

This type of content is a great way to measure someone’s level of interest in your company. For example, if they’re frequently reading your posts and clicking through to your site, then you’ll want to consider allocating a good proportion of points to these actions.

Emails:

Marketing emails are a great way to measure your customers’ interest in your brand. You can see when they’ve clicked through and converted, or haven’t, as the case may be. Each time they do or don’t engage with your emails, the more points you’ll reward or deduct.

Webpages:

You want customers to get to your site but you want them to spend time there, navigating through it, and not just bouncing after viewing one page. The more pages a customer views on your site (and the longer they spend on it), the more points you should give them.

Landing pages with forms:

Customers who’ve landed on your page and completed a form are making contact. They’ve taken the time to complete the fields, which means they’re interested in your brand. You should therefore consider giving this type of engagement a sizable weighting in your overall score, and follow up while they’re still warm.

Social media:

Prospects and customers who follow you on social media are likely to be engaged with your brand. By recording this information, you can use it to target customers on a platform they already use, with content they’ve shown interest in.

How to implement customer interest scoring (step-by-step)

If you’re new to measuring customer engagement, here’s a simple way to get started:

1. Decide what“interest”actually looks like for your business:

Start by listing the actions that signal intent. That might be email clicks, product views, form submissions, checkout activity, or time spent on key pages. Pick the signals that matter most to your goals.

2. Group actions by level of intent:

Categorize each signal as low, medium, or high interest. For example, opening an email might be low, while viewing a pricing page or adding an item to cart is high.

3. Assign weights to each action:

Turn those groups into a scoring model. Give high-intent actions more points and low-intent actions fewer. This doesn’t need to be complex — even a simple model will give you a clearer picture of engaged vs passive contacts.

4. Connect your data sources:

Make sure engagement signals from your CRM, ecommerce platform, website, and email tools feed into one place. The more complete your picture, the more accurate your scoring.

5. Create segments based on score ranges:

Build dynamic segments like “high-intent customers,” “warm leads,” or “at-risk contacts.” These help you tailor your messaging based on where someone is in their journey.

6. Test and refine your model:

Monitor how people move between segments. If your “high-intent” group isn’t converting as expected, revisit your weights and criteria. These models are meant to evolve with your data.

What to watch-out for when measuring customer engagement and interest

Even the strongest scoring model has blind spots. Here’s some of these points to keep in mind:

Not all engagement signals mean intent: 

A click doesn’t always equal interest. Sometimes people are curious, distracted, or mis-clicking.

Scores decay over time:

Someone who was hot last quarter may be cold today. Make sure your model includes time-based decay so scores stay relevant.

Don’t over-score single-channel behaviour:

If a customer only engages on email or only browses your site, you might be missing the bigger picture. Multi-channel data gives you a more balanced view.

Watch for data gaps:

Missing ecommerce or CRM data can lead to inaccurate scoring. Make sure the foundational data is clean, synced, and complete.

Keeping these in check helps prevent overestimating or underestimating customers’ true interest.

The impact of privacy changes and new engagement signals

Customer behavior is shifting and so is what you’re able to track. With cookie restrictions, increased privacy controls, and changes from platforms like Apple and Google, traditional signals (such as email opens or third-party cookies) aren’t as reliable as they used to be.

• In-app behavior
• Event attendance
• Onsite search
• Mobile app interactions
• Zero-party data customers willingly share
• Product views and browsing patterns
• Preferences captured through forms or surveys

These signals give you a clearer, privacy-friendly view of customer interest. They also help you build trust because customers know how their data is being used.

Final thoughts

When selling and building relationships online, brands need to work harder to gauge the interest of browsers and customers. Luckily, technology allows you to track this reliably, perhaps even more accurately than in person, as someone behind a screen feels no societal pressure to be polite.

Make sure you’re tracking your customers and potential customers, and have segmentation and automation set up to react to changes. When you’re acting on customer engagement and activity, you’ll be offering super reactive, relevant customer service, at scale.

But there’s an opportunity to be seized here: 82% of marketers think they’re not personalizing enough, and only 23% of consumers think the marketing messages they receive are truly relevant. So, marketers know there’s some way to go to deliver the kind of messages customers really want. Brands that take the time to create a personalization strategy will be able to create the kind of marketing that cuts through the noise and delivers results.

What effective personalization actually looks like

Great personalization isn’t guesswork. It’s powered by meaningful data, unified insight, and a clear understanding of customer behavior. That’s what allows brands to produce moments that feel relevant, timely, and genuinely helpful – with relevancy being key to building customer connections. The good news is that creating successful, cross-channel, personalized campaigns doesn’t have to be overly complicated, and can actually be broken down into six key areas:

1. Relevance at every touchpoint

Every message is an opportunity to get closer to the customer, or lose them. When marketing communications are relevant, as well as personal, conversions improve across the board.

2. Email

Email is still the reigning king of marketing channels. A customer’s inbox is where they expect to find real value, tailored recommendations, helpful content, loyalty updates, and personalized offers. When done right, personalized emails see 29% higher open rates and 41% higher click rates.

3. SMS and WhatsApp

Mobile marketing channels like SMS and WhatsApp are short, direct, and high-impact. That’s why they’re perfect for reminders, stock alerts, delivery updates, or time-sensitive nudges. Personalized SMS activity can increase click-through rates by 41% and 72% of consumers have made a purchase directly after receiving a text from a brand.

4. Push notifications

Messages are strongest when they’re timely, and push notifications deliver messages directly to the palm of a customer’s hand. Push notifications can be used as a reminder triggered during browsing, a stock-running-low nudge, or a timely alert that builds urgency. And, when personalized, they can generate 59% more engagement than non-personalized push messages.

5. Social and retargeting ads

Social and retargeting ads deliver impressive results when they’re driven by real-time customer behaviors like browsing on-site products, creating wish-lists, and adding items to a cart. When aligned with genuine customer interest, retargeted users are 43% more likely to convert.

6. Website experience

Websites are often overlooked despite being one of the most valuable spaces brands own. When a site adapts to behavior, intent, and preferences, it stops acting like a static storefront and starts becoming an active part of the customer journey. Overall, personalized web experiences consistently drive higher conversion, more repeat visits, and stronger loyalty.

Creating personalized customer journeys 

Customers don’t separate channels in the way that marketers do. Their experience with a brand is an ongoing relationship. Behavioral science even shows that familiar brands activate areas of the brain linked to emotional processing, similar to how we react to seeing people we care about.

Consistency across touchpoints strengthens that relationship. When a personalized web experience is followed by a relevant SMS reminder or an email that reflects what someone browsed, it creates a smooth flow that feels natural. Brands that deliver seamless experiences see 10–15% revenue uplift on average.

The move toward predictive personalization

Predictive personalization has enhanced the experiences marketers can create, moving marketing moments from reactive to predictive and genuinely relevant.

Instead of waiting for customers to act, marketers can now anticipate behavior and meet needs proactively. Predictive analytics and AI help forecast what customers might want next, allowing you to deliver helpful content ahead of time – a strategy that has been shown to lift conversion rates by up to 20%.

This connects directly to behavior-based messaging and real-time activity: what someone browses, adds to cart, or repeatedly returns to, creates a live understanding of intent. If a customer spends time comparing running shoes, an automated email or push notification showing that product, a relevant alternative, or a timely incentive feels natural, not forced.

Over time, these behavior patterns build deep understanding. Customers who prefer sustainable products can be invited to early access to new eco-collections, and seasonal gifters can enter journeys that help them find the right items faster each year. This is how personalization becomes an adaptive system rather than a series of isolated tactics.

Measuring what matters

Getting to the predictive, adaptive stage is the goal, but every personalized experience, regardless of sophistication, only gets better when you can actually measure it. Real success is about figuring out the customer behaviors that genuinely impact your results. To discover this, you can look at the following metrics: 

• Engagement: Are people opening, clicking, or just browsing? 
• Conversions: Which personalized elements drive checkouts, recovered carts, or higher-value purchases?
• Retention and loyalty: Are customers coming back more often? Are they spending more over time? What’s changing in your churn rate and NPS (Net Promoter Score)?
• Revenue attribution: How are your personalized campaigns contributing to average order values and customer lifetime value?
• Channel performance: Where do personalized messages perform strongest? What needs rethinking?

The more crystal clear you are on these metrics, the easier it is to scale what works and ruthlessly edit what doesn’t.

Your five-point personalization action plan

Often, marketers struggle with implementing personalization tactics because they lack confidence in their data. The good news, however, is that small steps can build momentum quickly. Here are five quick and easy steps you can take to begin your personalization journey:

1. Start with a clear goal

Decide what matters most: increasing full-price sales, boosting loyalty, recovering carts, re-engaging lapsing customers, or reducing reliance on discounts. Clarity here shapes everything else.

2. Audit the data

Review what you collect, how it’s collected, and whether it’s connected to your campaigns in a meaningful way. The quality and connectivity of your data directly impact your ability to act on customer intent.

3. Review the tech

Ensure your marketing tech-stack delivers a single customer view, real-time triggers, cross-channel reach, and simple workflows that make personalization manageable. Dotdigital can help with all of this.

4. Prioritize fast wins

Focus on activities that make a big difference. Example tactics include:

• A personalized welcome journey
• SMS cart recovery
• Dynamic product recommendations
• Behavior-based segmentation

These are high-impact, low-complexity steps that deliver immediate value.

5. Choose partners that support your growth

The strongest results come from platforms and partners that help unify data, simplify workflows, and support long-term adoption. The best technology providers combine amazing software with human understanding, which helps teams test, learn, and scale efficiently.

Make every campaign count with the power of personalization

Delivering relevant personalization for your customers isn’t about perfection; it’s about progress, one touchpoint, one message, and one meaningful interaction at a time. The opportunity to rise above the noise is too significant to ignore. By getting your data in order, focusing on the metrics that matter, and acting on intent, you can build creative marketing campaigns that treat your customers as individuals and deliver serious returns.

• Explain what spam is
• Give a clear example
• Share the top 10 reasons why sending it is a bad idea for your brand and your audience

What is spam?

Spam is any email someone didn’t ask for or want. Whether you use email for work or personal reasons, you have probably seen plenty of it. As marketers, it can be tempting to send mass emails to reach more people. But that approach can do more harm than good. 

Let’s look at why.

Example of email spam

Imagine you signed up for a newsletter about productivity apps. A few weeks later, you start getting dozens of emails from unrelated companies, like fitness supplements, travel deals, or random software offers. 

These messages clutter your inbox, waste your time, and make it harder to see the emails you actually care about. This is spam, and it is exactly what you want to avoid sending as a brand.

10 reasons to avoid sending spam emails

1. It annoys potential customers

Nobody likes getting emails they didn’t sign up for. People already get hundreds of email messages every day and don’t want to waste time on irrelevant content. When you send spam, you risk frustrating the people you are trying to reach.

2. It’s against privacy laws

Sending spam can get you into serious trouble. For example, regulations such as Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) and other privacy laws are in place to protect consumers and businesses from the misuse of digital technology.

To avoid legal headaches, follow your region’s email marketing rules. By respecting privacy and being transparent, you build trust and protect your brand.

3. It’s unethical

Spamming doesn’t just break rules. It’s unfair to recipients too. It wastes their time and resources. Remember, many email users pay for their internet service based on usage or time spent online. 

So when you send your unsolicited email, you’re essentially imposing financial costs on others. This unethical practice reflects badly on the sender and can seriously damage the integrity of your brand and relationship with your customers.

4. You’ll lose customer trust

Customer trust is important for strengthening relationships, driving customer loyalty, and promoting positive word-of-mouth. But spam makes your brand feel careless or intrusive, which can lead customers to take action like:

• Unsubscribing from your emails
• Reporting your emails
• Stop engaging with you altogether

To keep the trust of your customers, always get permission before emailing someone. Tell people what they will receive and how often. When your emails are welcome, relevant, and personal, you’ll earn loyalty and better engagement.

5. Disappointing marketing results

Spam emails don’t perform well. They often end up in spam folders where no one sees them. And even if they reach inboxes, they’re unlikely to get clicks or conversions. Instead, focus on consent-based marketing.

Investing time and resources into a marketing strategy that spams people is a waste of time and effort.

6. It’s malicious

Some spam emails contain malware, unsafe links or phishing attempts. These can damage devices or steal personal data. Even if your emails are safe, being associated with spam makes people wary of your brand.

7. It’s not targeted

Spam ignores who recipients are and what they care about, which isn’t how successful email marketing works.

Instead, you should you should personalize your emails by segmenting your mailing lists and sending targeted messages. With this approach, you can deliver tailored content that resonates with your audience. When people feel understood, they are more likely to engage.

8. It lowers deliverability for genuine emails

Sending too many spam-like emails from your domain can hurt your ability to reach inboxes. Internet service providers (ISPs) monitor sending behavior closely. If they detect high volumes of unsolicited email, they may flag your domain or IP address. This can affect even your legitimate campaigns, meaning emails people have opted into might land in spam folders instead of the inbox. 

Over time, this can:

• Reduce engagement
• Make it harder to communicate with your audience
• Undermine the performance of your email marketing overall

9. It has a low ROI

Spam rarely delivers meaningful results. For example, some studies show spammers might need to send thousands of emails just to get a single click or response. That’s a huge investment of time, effort, and resources for almost no payoff. 

In contrast, campaigns carried out with a proper email marketing platform can achieve much higher engagement and ROI. 

Focusing on quality over quantity helps your emails:

• Reach the people who actually care
• Improves campaign performance
• Protects your brand’s reputation

10. It damages your brand reputation

Once people label you as a spammer, it can be very hard to recover. Spam makes your brand look careless, untrustworthy, or unprofessional. Even if the content of your emails is good, being associated with spam can leave a lasting negative impression. 

Building a strong reputation takes time, and one poorly targeted campaign can undo a lot of that effort. By focusing on ethical, permission-based email marketing, you:

• Protect your credibility
• Maintain trust with your audience
• Show that your brand values meaningful connections

Say no to spam

Spam doesn’t help anyone. It frustrates recipients, damages trust, and makes inboxes a less enjoyable place. Instead, focus on responsible email marketing that looks at sending genuine, targeted, and ethical emails your audience wants to receive.

The better approach is to create campaigns that show your customers you value them. When you build trust, tailor content to their needs, and communicate thoughtfully, you’ll see stronger engagement, better results, and a more positive brand reputation.

FAQs about spam

Q: How does spam affect email deliverability?

Spam triggers email filters in a few key ways. For instance, providers look at your:

• Sending IP
• Domain reputation
• Engagement metrics

Things like low open rates or high complaint rates can push emails into spam folders. Sending responsibly helps ensure your legitimate campaigns reach the inbox and perform as intended.

Q: Can subject lines affect whether my email lands in the inbox or spam folder?

Not necessarily. In most cases one word alone won’t make your email go to the junk folder. Major mailbox providers now rely more on sender reputation, domain/IP reputation, and how recipients engage with your emails. However, that doesn’t mean subject lines don’t matter at all.

Q: What are the hidden costs of sending spam?

Spam doesn’t just have a low ROI. It can also cost your business in less obvious ways, like platform fees, wasted team hours, and missed opportunities. Over time, these hidden costs add up and outweigh any small gains. Targeted, permission-based campaigns are a smarter investment for your time and budget.

Q: What are some best practices for ethical email marketing?

Follow these steps to stay ethical and effective:

• Always get explicit permission before sending emails
• Segment your audience so messages are relevant
• Use re-engagement campaigns for inactive subscribers instead of blasting everyone
• Give people a clear and easy way to unsubscribe

Doing this helps you avoid complaints, improve engagement, and build a stronger, more trustworthy brand.

Sure, we know targeting, automation, and personalization are essential for hitting goals, but visuals are the hook. In fact, people are 6.5 times more likely to remember your message if you show it rather than just say it.

So, take a second to look at your email template. Is it memorable? Does the design change how customers feel about your brand? 

During my research for Dotdigital’s Hitting the mark report, I was inspired by what some brands are doing (and surprised by what many weren’t doing) and I want to share that with you. 

To give you a quick hit of inspiration, I’ve rounded up the email design elements that leave a lasting impression on the reader. From countdown clocks and calls to action (CTAs) to interactive emails, here are the design features that make emails sleigh.

1. Countdown clocks

Countdown clocks grab attention, inspire urgency, and drive sales. We often see them in ecommerce emails during sales, but that isn’t the only way to use them.

Here are a few ideas to get the creative juices flowing:

• Birthday treats: Build anticipation by counting down the days until loyal customers can expect a special gift 
• Event reminders: Countdown to a reservation or event to encourage recipients to check directions or check-in details
• Shipping deadlines: Let shoppers know when the cut-off for seasonal shipping is approaching

Why does this email work?

This email from B2B brand Square Signs proves that countdown timers aren’t just for retail. By using the timer to drive competition submissions, they prioritized engagement (rewarding creativity) over a hard sell. Plus, paired with a spooky Halloween theme, it sticks in the mind.

2. Social proof 

Social proof (like reviews or star ratings) is essential for customers during the decision-making process. Customers want honest opinions from peers, not promises from brands. It all comes down to trust, and indecisive shoppers trust peers more than brands. So, try adding third-party blocks from platforms like Trustpilot or Feefo into your email campaigns to give uncertain shoppers that extra nudge.

Why does this email work?

Yes, this review block has a lot of copy, but the star rating and Trustpilot branding instantly build trust. Partnering with a recognized review platform helps to validate your message because the trust is already established between that brand and the customer.

3. Actionable CTAs

The most common CTAs we see are “shop now” and “buy now.” These are fine, but in a flooded inbox, they blend into the background. Plus, they focus on your goal, not the reader’s experience.

To create irresistible CTAs, experiment with language. If you’re in B2B or non-profit, “buy now” might not even apply, so try using phrases that focus on the value for the reader rather than the transaction:

Once you’ve settled on your language, check the design. Is it a button or a text link? Does the color pop? Is it easy to tap on a phone? All of these are essential components to create an irresistible CTA.

Why does this email work?

This example from the England Rugby Club pairs varied CTAs with relevant content. It offers chances to buy tickets while keeping the focus on engaging the audience with exclusive information. The brand knows that if fans feel part of the experience, they become more loyal, high-value supporters later.

4. Quizzes 

Another technique that stood out to me as part of my Hitting the mark research was the impressive use of fun quizzes. Beyond offering a unique experience (such as personalized product recommendations) quizzes can be a goldmine for data. They provide you with relevant insights that help build detailed customer profiles, which can, in turn, help shape future marketing decisions.

Why does this email work?

The goal here is to simply get recipients to take the quiz. Three Spirit uses a short explainer on why the reader should take it, followed by clear CTAs focused on the experience rather than the sale.

5. Videos and GIFs 

We’re living in a video-first world. People spend about 141 minutes a day on social media, much of it watching Reels and TikTok videos. If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video is worth a million. It’s an effortless way to communicate without struggling to cut your copy down.

Why does this email work?

Claridge’s Hotel in London communicates the care and dedication of its kitchen staff in this simple 20-second video that gives subscribers a unique behind-the-scenes look at the food awaiting them. I also love that they paired the video with a text explanation of the dishes, ensuring the email remains accessible to everyone.

6. Interactivity

The ultimate goal of email marketing campaigns is to drive the recipient to the next stage of engagement, but to get that engagement, you need to stop the scroll. 

Adding interactive elements to your email transforms a static message into an engaging experience. It stops subscribers from flicking past you and buys valuable time in the inbox to make an impact. By prioritizing a customer-first experience in the inbox, you’re building the kind of deep engagement that makes them want to continue their journey with you. 

Why does this email work?

This is a fully immersive experience. By letting fans explore the racecourse directly in their inbox, the reader gets exclusive insights on where to watch on race day. These customer-first experiences drive loyalty and long-term value.

7. Year in review

Spotify has proved that data can be a real conversation starter. Spotify Wrapped is a hotly anticipated moment in the calendar for brands and customers, but for Spotify, there’s a bonus benefit: it unites the community. Having a happy community of customers is key to improving average order value (AOV) and customer lifetime value (CLV), and “year in review” emails are perfect for that because they deliver memorable, shareable content. 

Why does this email work?

Paypal’s infographic style makes valuable info highly consumable. While this example is a general business overview, the CTA drives recipients to check their personalized results. It’s community building wrapped in a personalized bow.

8. Footers

Footers are often overlooked, but they deserve some TLC. In my Hitting the mark analysis, I found many brands stuck to standard, out-of-the-box footers. A thoughtfully designed footer can address blockers for customers not yet ready to buy, so when you’re building your email templates, think about the key links that will improve the customer experience.

Why does this email work?

This is an excellent example of a footer that removes barriers to conversion. Visual cues deliver essential info about delivery and store locators, while the Trustpilot rating and B Corp Certification build trust in every single send. Small touches like this have a big impact.

Bonus: Accessible design

Accessibility isn’t a “nice-to-have.” One in six adults has a disability, making accessibility a design principle you shouldn’t ignore. Despite this, the Email Markup Consortium(EMC) found that a shocking 99% of emails contain “serious” or “critical” issues.

In Hitting the mark, only 10% of brands met best-in-class accessibility standards. To get a full breakdown of how to create accessible templates in minutes, check out our latest accessibility blog, but first, let’s look at who’s getting it right. 

Why does this email work?

Zapier ticks almost every box with this email. The high contrast between the background and text makes it readable; the message remains clear even with images off (which is vital for screen readers) and the CTAs are descriptive and actionable. The only thing missing is alt text for the images, but since the copy covers the critical info, readers won’t miss out.

Ready to make your emails sleigh? 

I hope these examples sparked some ideas for your next campaign. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel; just a few tweaks to your visuals, CTAs, or adding in some interactivity can make a massive difference in how your audience connects with your brand.

Mailbox providers like Gmail, Yahoo, and Outlook have changed the rules on how they handle marketing emails. Just look at the recent updates to the Gmail Promotions tab. If you haven’t changed with them, you might find your best marketing emails sitting in the junk folder while your competitors get the sales.

Here is the lowdown on why making an impact in the inbox feels tougher this year, and exactly what you need to do about it.

Stuff that used to work might not work now

Back in the day, you could send a ton of emails during BFCM week, cross your fingers, and hope for the best. As long as you weren’t being obviously spammy and you ‘sort of’ segmented your list, you’d generally get through.

But times have changed. If you try to blast the same big lists without warming things up or checking your engagement, there is a good chance your emails will get blocked. Mailbox providers are protective of their users, and they have new ways to keep the noise out. 

Why are inbox filters behaving differently this year?

First things first, remember: it’s not just you. Mailbox filters have gotten smarter, and the rules are stricter. Here’s an overview of what’s really happening behind the scenes: 

• AI is reading your mail. Filters aren’t just looking for “bad” keywords anymore. They are using AI to read content and look at user behavior to decide if an email is worth showing
• Filters aren’t the same for everyone anymore. The same email can land in the main inbox for one person and totally vanish for another, all based on that person’s habits
• Starting in November 2025, Gmail has ramped up its enforcement on non-compliant traffic. If your messages don’t meet sender requirements, you’re looking at temporary or even permanent rejections
• Gmail just added more tools to help people mass-unsubscribe or block marketing emails. It puts the power in users’ hands now
• Mailbox providers are investing heavily to make inboxes cleaner. They want quieter inboxes, packed with relevant stuff, not clutter.  Unfortunately, this sometimes means regular marketing emails get caught in the crossfire if engagement is low

What hasn’t changed (and what still works)

The fundamentals of good email marketing still work. In fact, they work better than ever because fewer people are doing them right. To land with impact this BF/CM and throughout 2026, make sure you have the following in place: 

1. Clear customer consent

Make sure every person on your marketing list has explicitly consented to receiving your marketing. This makes sure your list is full of contacts ready to engage.

2. Keep your marketing lists clean

Regularly clean up your marketing lists by removing closed or unresponsive accounts. If someone hasn’t opened or clicked an email in a long time, they’re hurting your sender reputation. Send out regular re-engagement messages to prompt preference updates and remove unengaged contacts before BFCM. 

3. Build trust with rock-solid email authentication

Get your technical house in order so providers can trust you are who you claim to be. Sender Policy Framework (SPF) and DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) help demonstrate brand legitimacy. Domain-based Message Authentication Reporting and Conformance (DMARC) tells a receiving email server what to do after checking SPF and DKIM: whether to reject or accept the incoming email. 

If these aren’t set up correctly, your high-volume BFCM emails could be quarantined as spam, undelivered, or even lead to brand impersonation. Make sure you have all three in place before hitting send.

4. Send consistently

Maintain a steady, predictable sending pattern in the run-up to BFCM. Suddenly increasing your number of sends will look like suspicious activity, so just keep doing what you’re doing and don’t worry about reducing your sends before the sales period.

5. Think engagement first

Mailbox providers use opens and clicks as signals that people want and like receiving your marketing, so don’t treat them like vanity metrics; they’re all important. Instead, focus your segments on your most active, engaged contacts during this period.

6. Make sure unsubscribing is easy

Having a simple, one-click unsubscribe option included in your email template is essential. The process should be effortless to reduce user frustration and prevent future spam complaints.

What should you do differently this year?

Here are a few of my top tips:

• Don’t send huge volumes out of nowhere — start slow and increase volumes gradually so you don’t look suspicious
• Target smarter, segment your audience properly so you’re sending the right message to the right people, not just taking a batch and blast approach
• Relevance is huge. Do your contacts want and expect your emails? Are they opening and clicking? Better engagement means better inbox placement, and if your emails aren’t super relevant, they get filtered out
• Mix up your channels. Try SMS, push notifications, whatever works for your brand, don’t put all your eggs in one basket
• Change up strategy. If you haven’t changed anything in your sending strategy but your results suck this year… well, that’s why! The filters changed, so you need to change them too
• Track your deliverability, use data and tools to check where you’re landing now (inbox, promotions, spam), and set a baseline in advance. This is key for spotting issues before the BFCM rush

Quick takeaway

The big idea for 2025 is simple: you cannot just repeat previous years’ strategies. Sending smarter, more relevant emails and keeping a constant eye on your deliverability data is critical.

If you get ahead of these changes and adjust your plan now, Black Friday and Cyber Monday can still be your biggest days of the year. You just have to play by the new, stricter rules.