The More Marketing Changes, the More Human It Needs to Be

 

What I Took Away From Digital Summit 2026

I went into Digital Summit expecting to come home with pages of notes about AI, social media algorithms, SEO and whatever new marketing tactic we should be implementing.

And I definitely did.

But session after session, one message kept coming up: the more technology changes marketing, the more important it is to be human.

AI is changing how people search. Social platforms are changing how people discover businesses. Getting someone to click through to a website is becoming harder. And we're all competing against more content than ever before.

So, what actually stood out to me?

 

Are We Creating Content Worth Paying Attention To?

As marketers, it's easy to get caught up in the content calendar. We need a post for Tuesday. We need something for the holiday. We haven't talked about this service lately. Before long, we're creating content because the calendar says we need it rather than because we have something worth saying.

One of my biggest takeaways was that brands don't necessarily need to create more. They need to create content that sounds like them and gives their audience a reason to pay attention.

Why would someone care about this? Is it useful? Does it sound like our business? Could anyone else have posted it?

If the answer to that last question is yes, there's probably more work to do.

 

People Still Want People

Another message I heard again and again was simple: show the people behind the business.

AI can create an image, write a caption and generate a video in seconds. That makes real people and real stories even more valuable.

Some of the best content isn't a perfectly staged photo or designed graphic. It's an employee doing their job, someone explaining why they do something a certain way, a customer story or a behind-the-scenes moment.

The challenge? The people with the best stories often don't think what they're doing is interesting enough to share.

But that's exactly what people want to see.

Our job as marketers isn't always to create the story. Sometimes it's recognizing the story that's already happening and helping tell it.

 

The Customer Isn't Following Our Marketing Funnel

One session introduced the idea of a customer journey compass instead of a map, and I loved the simplicity of it.

Traditional marketing funnels make everything look organized. Someone discovers your business, considers their options and eventually takes action. Real life is messier.

Someone might Google a question, see your name, forget about it, hear about you from a friend, see a social post weeks later, search again and eventually reach out.

Instead of trying to perfectly map that journey, think about three things:

Achieve: What are they trying to accomplish?
Answer: What questions do they need answered?
Alleviate: What problem can we help solve?

Whether we're building a website, writing a social post or planning a campaign, are we doing one of those things? If not, we may be talking about ourselves a little too much.

 

We Might Need to Stop Obsessing Over the Click

Another key topic at the conference was zero-click marketing.

For years, digital marketing has focused on getting the click. Visit our website. Read the blog. Learn more.

But people are increasingly getting answers directly from Google, AI tools, social media, Reddit, Maps and videos. Around 60% of Google searches now end without a click at all.

That doesn't mean websites don't matter. It means the content we put everywhere else needs to be useful on its own.

Sometimes, instead of teasing the answer, just give people the answer.

Make the social post useful without the website visit. Put valuable information directly in the email. Create something worth saving, sharing or remembering.

It also means traffic can't be our only measure of success. Reach, interest, leads and actual business results can tell a much bigger story.

And Then There's AI...

Of course, AI was everywhere at Digital Summit. What surprised me was how much of the conversation focused on what AI shouldn't do.

One speaker shared three decisions AI should never make for your brand: audience truth, brand positioning and crisis response.

AI is incredibly useful. I use it. Our team uses it. It can help with research, brainstorming, drafting, SEO and analysis.

But AI doesn't sit across the table from your customer. It doesn't hear the tone of a conversation or know every unwritten rule of a brand. And it doesn't always understand why something technically makes sense but still feels...off.

That's where we still need people.

 

My Biggest Takeaway

After coming home with pages of notes and probably way too many things I want our team to try, my biggest takeaway was pretty simple:

Marketing doesn't need to become less human to keep up with technology. It needs to become more human.

Know who you're talking to. Answer their questions. Tell stories worth paying attention to. Show the people behind the business. Be useful instead of always trying to sell.

And use technology to make those things easier, not to replace the thinking, creativity and connection behind them.

There will always be another platform, algorithm, AI tool or marketing trend to figure out.

But people still connect with people.