In Q1, marketers pivot to spending backed by AI and measurement

""Marketers are prioritizing spend where data shows the highest propensity to perform, while still recognizing the need to prime demand," Swapnil Patel, co-president at Attention Arc, a performance marketing and media agency, told Digiday in an email. Massive advertisers like P&G, Kimberly Clark and others have already set the tone, focused on improving the effectiveness of its advertising - at least that's the case based on earnings calls at the start of the year."

""Budgets have remained mostly flat from where we forecasted for the year... we have seen a little bit more push into bottom of the funnel," said Mile Marker president and CEO Scott Shamberg, without revealing specific figures. This isn't the playbook of the last digital bust. where budget skewed toward performance. Madison & Wall consultancy forecast that U.S. ad revenue will grow 6.6% this year (excluding political ads) following an 11% surge in 2025."

""After a big swing toward performance in 2025, things are starting to rebalance," Taylor Miles, vp of human insights and strategy at Two Tango Collaborative, a creative and media agency, said in an email to Digiday. Miles added, "Brands are bringing brand marketing back into the mix, not instead of performance, but alongside it." Citing diminishing returns, advertisers are shifting budgets away from Meta and Google, and toward brand channels - but still with the expec"

Between mass layoffs and shaken consumer confidence, brand advertisers entered early 2026 cautious about ad spend. Consumer demand is harder to predict, so advertisers seek clearer performance signals before committing budgets. Marketers prioritize spend where data indicates the highest propensity to perform while still priming demand. Large advertisers focus on improving advertising effectiveness. Budgets remain mostly flat with a tilt toward bottom-of-funnel activity. Industry forecasts predict U.S. ad revenue growth, but advertisers continue scrutinizing spend. Brands are rebalancing to combine brand marketing alongside performance and shifting spend away from dominant platforms toward alternate brand channels.

Read at Digiday