New research shows that almost half (44%) of advertisers are planning on bringing more of their media planning functions in-house as they look to maximize their budgets.
We surveyed 120 brand and agency senior leaders in February 2026 to understand their concerns around marketing mix and AI investments.
The report shows that 62% of advertisers expect to see their budgets increase in 2026 compared to last year, with social media seeing the biggest increase in investment at 63%. Retail media networks (56%) and AI chatbot advertising (50%) were also expected to see significant increases in spending in 2026. Surprisingly, CTV expected to see the lowest increase in investment, at 19%, trailing linear TV, search and digital audio.
However, social media was also the top channel where advertisers were planning on pulling their investments, at 27%, suggesting marketers are pulling from certain social media networks to increase investment in others. AI chatbots and retail media networks at 16% each were also the channels expected to see decreases in investment to fund other channels.
Other key findings include:
- Shifting spend in retail media networks: 26% of retail brands plan to pull out of retail media networks to fund their investments in other channels. On the other hand, 72% of tech brands plan to increase their investments in retail media networks., with 36% using investments in AI/chatbot advertising to fund this shift.
- Embracing Generative AI: 26% of marketers are actively testing or spending on advertising within generative AI interfaces like ChatGPT or Gemini. Another 23% of advertisers are researching it but haven’t invested in ads yet. Brainstorming campaign ideas (47%), media planning (47%) and campaign creation (44%) are the most popular current use cases for AI among marketing teams. However, marketers are hesitant to fully buy in, as 33% say the loss of human connection is their biggest concern regarding the rise of AI.
- Data quality issues in forecasting: Data quality and reporting limitations (30%) are the biggest inhibitors in having reliable forecasts. Having too many moving pieces across channels (21%) and too many stakeholders changing plans mid-flight (18%) were the next biggest challenges.
- Historical vs. real-time signals: Almost half (42%) of marketers rely on a balanced mix of historical and current signals for future planning. Real-time data and immediate trends (29%) were the next most popular data source for media planning, followed by almost a third (28%) still relying on only historical MMM data. Travel, entertainment and tech brands were the most likely to still rely solely on historical data.
“These findings suggest that advertisers are constantly looking for new ways to innovate, ” said Bradley, Keefer, CRO at Keen Decision Systems. “By testing AI capabilities or looking for ways to better use their first-party data, it’s clear there are opportunities for the industry to embrace new models and data-driven services that deliver outside-the-box thinking.”
