How To Decide Which Marketing Trends To Ignore
The Anti-Trend Marketing Field Guide
Every January, the marketing world does the same thing.
It publishes lists.
“Top Marketing Trends for 2026.”
“What You Must Be Doing This Year.”
“If You’re Not Using This, You’re Already Behind.”
If you’ve followed me for any length of time, you may notice that I’ve done this exact same thing.
The tone is urgent. The advice is confident. And the underlying assumption is always the same: that paying attention to everything is the same as being strategic.
Guess what? It’s not.
This field guide is intentionally different. Don’t get me wrong. I love a good trend. When people tell me I’m trendy, I feel a sense of confidence and gratitude. Like I’m cool or something. Trends aren’t useless. But discernment matters more.
Instead of giving you another list of things to try, I’m giving you clarity about what not to chase, and hopefully you’ll gain the confidence to opt out without feeling irresponsible.
How to Strategically Decide Which Marketing Trends to Adopt
Why Trends Are So Hard To Ignore
Marketing trends are compelling for a reason. They promise efficiency, relevance, and progress. They offer the illusion of certainty in an industry that rarely delivers it. These are all things we crave. Who wouldn’t want to be efficient, relevant, and certain?
But trends also prey on a subtle fear: what if everyone else figures this out before we do?
That fear pushes teams into reactive decisions. Have you found yourself testing tools you don’t fully understand, shifting messaging before it’s had time to land, or reallocating budgets without a clear reason beyond “this is where things are going?” Perhaps you’ve landed in a trend-chasing spiral.
The result of trying to chase trends isn’t producing innovation. It’s causing fragmentation.
Eventually, your marketing will become a series of disconnected experiments instead of a cohesive system that serves the business.
Yikes.
Not Every Trend Deserves Your Attention
Here’s the thing: most marketing trends are not designed with your business in mind. Think about that for a second.
Trends are designed for platforms trying to increase adoption, tools trying to gain market share, and agencies trying to sound ahead of the curve.
That doesn’t make them evil. It just means their incentives are different from yours.
A trend might be interesting, impressive, or even effective in the right context, and still be the wrong move for your business right now.
Successful, strategic marketing stays aligned with business objectives.
The Difference Between Awareness and Adoption
Awareness and adoption are two different things. One of the most helpful shifts you can make is separating trend awareness from trend adoption.
Awareness is passive, whereas adoption is a commitment.
You can track what’s happening in the marketing landscape without letting it dictate your priorities. There is power in knowing! It is worthwhile to take the time to observe how trends evolve without reorganizing your strategy every time a new one appears.
This distinction alone removes a lot of unnecessary pressure and allows you to make wise, discerning decisions when the time is right for your business.
Remember, being aware does not obligate you to act.
A Business-First Lens for Evaluating Trends
So, how do you know if you should pull the trigger on a marketing trend? Here’s how I look at it. If a trend is going to earn your attention, it should be able to answer a few hard questions clearly and honestly.
1. Does This Support a Real Business Goal?
If you can’t connect a trend directly to a current business objective, such as pipeline health, client acquisition, retention, clarity, trust, etc… it doesn’t belong in your plan. “Because it’s working for others” is not a goal. Your business is different from other businesses.
2. Does This Strengthen Our Message, or Dilute It?
Trends often introduce new formats, tones, or platforms. Before adopting one, ask whether it reinforces what you’re already trying to communicate, or if it pulls your message in a different direction. Consistency builds trust. Your customers won’t remember you if you constantly change things up. Consider the impact a change will make to your audience. Will it erode trust, or build it up?
3. Do We Have the Capacity to Do This Well?
Half-implemented trends are worse than ignored ones. If your team doesn’t realistically have the time, skill, or margin to execute something thoughtfully, it will likely create more noise than value. If the trend does align with a business objective and will build trust for your customer base, consider ways to create more capacity for your team. This could look like saying “no” to certain projects, hiring, or reallocating resources.
4. Will This Age Well?
Some trends are tools. Others are fads. Ask yourself whether this will still make sense in a year, or whether it will quietly disappear after consuming a disproportionate amount of energy.
The “Adopt / Observe / Ignore” Framework
One of the simplest ways to handle trends without overreacting is to categorize them deliberately. I like this method because it forces you to decide what to do with a trend right away, sort of like how you sort through your daily mail.
Adopt
These are trends that clearly support your goals, align with your message, and fit your capacity. They earn a place in your strategy because they solve a real problem.
Observe
These are trends worth watching, but not acting on yet. You’re curious, not committed. You gather information without disruption.
Ignore
These are trends that don’t serve your business, audience, or values. You let them pass without guilt or second-guessing.
In my experience, most trends belong in the observe or ignore categories.
When Opting Out Is the Smarter Move
There is power in choosing not to participate. Opting out protects your team from burnout, preserves message clarity, builds consistency over time, and signals maturity to your audience.
Some of the strongest brands aren’t the fastest to adopt trends. They’re the most consistent in their presence. They don’t feel rushed, desperate, or like they’re trying to keep up.
That steadiness is not accidental. It’s the result of choosing restraint.
Marketing as Stewardship, Not Spectacle
From my perspective, it is imperative that we use marketing for good. Let’s work together toward a world where marketing isn’t exploiting attention, but is rather stewarding our businesses well and getting our message to the right people so we can help to solve their problems.
Every message you put into the world asks something of your audience: their time, their trust, their focus. Trends that prioritize novelty over usefulness often fail.
Purposeful marketing asks a different set of questions:
Is this true?
Is this helpful?
Is this respectful of the people we’re trying to serve?
If a trend doesn’t pass those questions, it’s okay to let it go.
What This Means for 2026
2026 does not need to be the year you chase harder. It can be the year you choose more carefully.
This year, make your marketing feel calmer. Keep your message consistent long enough to be recognized. Let your strategy be guided by discernment instead of urgency.
Ignoring the right trends is not falling behind. It’s how you build something that lasts.
You don’t need to prove you’re current.
Instead, prove that you’re trustworthy.
Trust is built through clarity, consistency, and care, not by chasing every new thing that comes along.
If you want help evaluating what’s worth adopting and what’s safe to ignore, I’d love to help you build a marketing plan rooted in purpose, not pressure.
Because sometimes the most strategic move is choosing not to run at all.
Next Up in the Field Guide Series:
Is Your Website Supporting Sales or Slowing Them Down?
