Small business owners wear many hats, and a marketer is just one of them. One way to succeed in your entrepreneurial dreams is to take advantage of emerging and evolving marketing trends, so you can use consumer behavior to your benefit — all while staying one step ahead of changing rules and regulations.

Artificial Intelligence
It should come as no surprise that artificial intelligence (AI) dominates this year’s list of must-watch marketing trends. AI continues to reshape the way marketers work, capturing efficiencies and streamlining tasks that would otherwise take away from more important work.

Once the shiny new toy, AI has become an expected part of our digital landscape. Here’s what you have to know and what it means for you as we move through 2026:

• More small businesses are embracing AI – A recent survey by the U.S. Chamber of Commercefound that small businesses’ use of AI increased by 18% in 2025 compared to 2024, and that usage has more than doubled since 2023. In fact, more than 58% of respondents reported using AI tools, including a combination of generative AI chatbots, coding tools and image-creation tools.

AI continues to be a valuable boon for small business owners, enabling them to operate at a higher level and excel at tasks that would have been beyond their reach.

Whether small business owners need help with creating content, marketing their services, selling products or handling administrative tasks, there is a growing tool chest of options designed to meet their unique needs. In fact, Meta aims to fully automate advertising with AI by 2026, making it easier for small businesses to develop campaigns on the platform. 

That doesn’t mean, however, that there aren’t some new legal challenges as well.

• Regulators are cracking down on AI – The growth of AI in our lives is unprecedented, outpacing even the spread of the internet. Due to its explosive spread and the many possibilities it presents — especially to those who use this technology to create illicit deepfakes with the intent to commit crimes — regulators around the world are taking measures to enshrine AI transparency into law.

Some of these laws, such as the California AI Transparency Act, require providers to include tangible disclosures in AI-generated image, audio and video content. It also requires that the provider make a free public AI detection tool. With more states enacting AI laws — as well as nations like the European Union and China — it’s important for small business owners to understand the laws governing their state and develop clear standards on when and how to label AI-generated content. For a detailed list of AI laws in the U.S., click here.

Short-Form Video
Short-form video is no longer a trend; it’s how millions of people consume content every day. Quick, bite-sized and mobile-friendly videos continue to deliver the best results for marketers across spaces where video dominates, such as TikTok and Instagram, and even for the professionally minded at LinkedIn.

Consider taking advantage of these short-form video trends for your small business in 2026:

• Personalization is king – Rather than making one video for your entire audience, segment your content to take advantage of personalization opportunities. Create versions of your videos that speak to specific audiences and their interests, so your fans feel seen and heard.
• Use good judgment when building AI-generated video content – AI allows small business owners to create lush videos they wouldn’t otherwise have the talent or bandwidth to produce. But there is a downside: People can tell when something is generic or fake. “AI slop” is the newest way audiences are referring to the flood of low-effort, low-quality, mass-produced digital content online. To avoid your hard work being perceived as slop, make sure it still has a human touch, such as by recording yourself or your employees or using real photos you took.

Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing is a collaborative marketing approach — usually centered on social media — that leverages the profiles and followings of well-known content creators to feature sponsor brands' products and services.

According to research by the World Federation of Advertisers  (WFA), 61% of brand marketers believe influencer marketing will become more important in the future. On top of that, respondents' use of influencer agencies to find talent rose to nearly 74%.

However, as more brands look to work with influencers as a powerful way to channel human connections in an increasingly digital world, it’s important to understand an emerging trend that could impact potential partnerships — the likelihood of regulation. In 2025, China tightened control on its influencers by requiring anyone giving “professional advice” or discussing professional subjects online, such as medicine, law, finance, education and others, to prove their credentials or lose their platform. The European Union  (EU) also has laws targeting influencer marketing, but they are fragmented across different regulations.

This is an important effort to combat misinformation, address misleading influencer marketing practices and improve transparency in the digital economy. Make sure your influencers understand the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) guidelines for conduct, as the commission is known for extracting hefty fines for bad behavior, and keep abreast of any new laws or regulations.

With these trends and tips, small business owners can navigate a shifting digital landscape with confidence, lean on the dominance of short-form video for engaging content and make smart decisions when partnering with influencers. For more insights on ways you can help your small business succeed, please read our other informational articles at americanbusinesscoalition.info.

Articles in this newsletter are supposed to be informative, enlightening and helpful to you. While all information contained herein is meant to be completely factual, it is always subject to change.

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