Marketing the Right Way for 2026: 5 Ways to Increase Engagement

Posted on 6/1/2026, 2:25:22 PM

If you run a business, marketing is always going to be one of the most important factors. No matter how great the product or service you’re selling is, if your target audience isn’t seeing it or otherwise coming across it in the first place, it doesn’t really matter. 

As such, the art of selling is just as important as what you’re actually selling, and failing to prioritize building a great marketing strategy is to kiss rapid growth goodbye. 

Of course, that’s easier said than done – especially in 2026. Things have changed a huge amount, even just over the last decade, and there’s a lot to learn if you want to make a big impact. If you’ve just started your business or are looking to level up a tired one, here are five ways to increase engagement in the modern age. 

Prioritize Social Media Community Engagement

Fundamentally, one of the best ways to increase engagement is by building a community around your products and services. People become most invested in what you have to say when they feel part of it, and today, there are many ways to achieve this kind of investment. 

Social media is a powerful marketing tool that will be discussed several times in this article. One of the key benefits is that having users follow your Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook accounts effectively makes them subscribers to your brand. 

They’ll receive your posts peppered throughout their feed, and they’ll be able to interact with you and other subscribers on your page directly. There are also paid memberships: these offer a higher tier of engagement and a more premium service with special benefits alongside whatever it is you’re selling. 

Be Authentic in Everything You Do

If there’s one important principle to live by as a brand, it’s authenticity. These days, people have become increasingly good at seeing through sales tactics; the public is much more aware of scams and shady marketing given the free-for-all that is the internet (compare this to the highly curated formats of TV and magazines). 

These same digital tools that have exposed inauthentic brands have made it easier for authentic ones to flourish. Setting up a YouTube channel, for example, allows you to give a behind-the-scenes look into the creation of your product or service without everything you have to show visually being the result of a scripted advert. And again, the ability to communicate with your audience directly via a social media marketing team adds a much-needed human touch. 

It’s also important to think about your physical presence, too. With everything being as digitally-focused as it is, there are now fewer businesses utilizing in-person campaigns, and this gives you the opportunity to stand out with seminars, street booths, and trade shows if your product or service allows for them. For people to meet you in person is now a novel perk, so see if you can capitalize on it. 

Use AI Tools to Your Advantage

AI is everywhere now, and it’s become quite the controversial topic. Not a day goes by without a headline decrying the technology as the end of the world as you know it. Simultaneously, counterarguments are presented suggesting the advancements are only of benefit to humanity as a whole. 

Wherever the truth lies, one thing is for certain: AI can definitely help you in business. You don’t have to (and shouldn’t) rely on it entirely, but tools like Supermetrics give you access to advanced marketing analysis tools at a fraction of the cost of traditional methods. There are also platforms like AI STUDIOS by Deepbrain AI, which can help you create realistic AI videos for showcasing your products. Then, you have organization and productivity tools that have adopted this technology to make their existing services more seamless, like Notion. 

Human input should always be the backbone of your organization, but there are plenty of benefits to embracing what the latest tech has to offer.

Offer Interaction

The more ways you can engage your target audience through interaction, the better. Not only does this offer people more interesting ways to engage with your products and services, but it can also provide valuable insights that you can use to better them. 

Take quizzes, for example. These provide a fun five to ten minutes during someone's coffee break, but depending on how they’re structured, the results also give you insights into how your customers think and behave as a whole. 

You could consider contests and giveaways, too. These can be offered to customers via social media, email, and physical mail, incentivising them to interact with you while giving the opportunity to win something (and free stuff is always going to go down a treat!). 

Utilize Short Form-Video

When considering digital content and the benefits from a marketing perspective, you’ll find there’s no better choice than short form-video. 

The smartphone revolution has given people a lot of benefits, but better attention spans isn’t one of them. It’s the case now that if you’re not capturing someone’s attention within a split second, you often may as well not bother. 

As such, videos of five to ninety seconds long are a fantastic way to engage someone casually scrolling through Instagram and TikTok on their phone. From short tutorials to quick tips and product demonstrations, they’re excellent for showcasing the full gamut of modern marketing content, and they can be shot on a smartphone with ease. 

You can learn to shoot these yourself, use AI video products as described above, or approach a digital marketing company specializing in videography if you need something more in-depth or specialized. Regardless of the approach you choose, you’ll always be onto a winner with short-form content. 

Wrapping Up

Hopefully, you now have a better idea of what to prioritize when marketing your business in 2026. There’s a lot to consider, and the above points don’t cover absolutely everything, but implement just one or two of these methods to begin, and you’ll be putting your best foot forward. Good luck!