If you’re a founder or CEO heading into 2026, marketing probably feels louder and scarier than ever. Every week, it feels like there’s a new platform, a new AI tool, a new “must-do” tactic promising to fix growth, pipeline, or visibility overnight.
And yet, many founder-led companies are still asking the same questions:
Why does marketing feel so busy, but not always effective?
Why does it feel disconnected from sales?
And why does it seem harder to get clarity instead of easier?
That’s the tension we’re seeing inside a lot of growing businesses right now. So instead of adding more noise, we wanted to slow the conversation down.
Jonathan Barnes, Founder of Work Heartily, sat down with Kari Brown to talk candidly about what’s actually changing in marketing as we head into 2026, and what hasn’t changed at all.
Kari is a Fractional CMO who works shoulder-to-shoulder with founder-led companies, helping leadership teams bring clarity to their message, alignment to their growth strategy, and focus to their marketing efforts. She’s not here to chase trends. She’s here to help businesses build momentum that lasts.
Listen in to their straight-talk conversation about trends vs. truth, and what founders really need to pay attention to next year.
Q. Kari, founders are being hit with a lot of “you have to do this” marketing trends heading into 2026. What’s the biggest misconception you’re seeing right now?
Kari Brown:
Honestly? That success comes from doing more. More tools. More content. More platforms.
What I see in the companies that are actually growing is the opposite. They’re doing fewer things, but doing them well. They’ve made decisions about who they are, who they serve, and what really matters right now. Trends don’t kill growth. Distraction does.
Q. Are there any trends you think founders are over-indexing on right now?
Kari Brown:
AI. Period. And don’t get me wrong, it’s incredibly powerful. But it’s not a strategy.
A lot of founders are trying to automate marketing before they’ve nailed their positioning, their message, or how marketing supports sales. AI can scale what works, but it also exposes what doesn’t, fast.
I also see a lot of high-volume content without a clear point of view. If your content doesn’t reinforce why you win or help a buyer feel confident choosing you, it doesn’t matter how optimized it is.
Q. So what’s the truth founders really need to understand about marketing in 2026?
Kari Brown:
Marketing only works when it’s tied to the business, not just the brand.
In 2026, it’s not about impressions or activity. It’s about momentum. Does your marketing help sales have better conversations? Does it reduce friction in the buying process? Does it create trust before a deal ever starts?
If it doesn’t do those things, it’s probably not helping as much as you think.
Q. Where should founder-led companies be focusing instead?
Kari Brown:
There are three areas I come back to again and again:
- First, message clarity. If your leadership team can’t clearly explain what you do, who it’s for, and why it matters, marketing will always feel harder than it needs to be.
- Second, sales alignment. Marketing should support real conversations—not just produce content that looks good in a report.
- And third, owned assets. Your website, your email list, your leadership voice—those matter more than any rented platform. They compound over time.
None of this is flashy, but it’s what actually works.
Q. How should founders think about AI without getting caught up in the hype?
Kari Brown:
AI is leverage, not leadership.
If you put clear thinking and strong strategy in, AI can help you move faster. If you put confusion in, you just get faster confusion.
The founders who win won’t use AI to replace judgment. They’ll use it to support it.
Q. What’s a hard truth founders don’t always want to hear, but probably need to?
Kari Brown:
When marketing feels chaotic, it’s usually not a marketing problem.
It’s often a leadership clarity issue. When priorities shift constantly or success isn’t clearly defined, marketing teams are stuck reacting instead of building. Stability and focus at the leadership level show up everywhere else.
Q. How does marketing leadership need to evolve in 2026?
Kari Brown:
The days of marketing being “just execution” are over.
Strong marketing leadership understands revenue, sales cycles, operations, and customer behavior, not just campaigns. That’s why fractional leadership works so well for founder-led companies. You get senior-level thinking without adding permanent overhead, especially during moments of growth or transition.
Q. If you had to leave founders with one guiding principle heading into 2026, what would it be?
Kari Brown:
Stop chasing trends. Start building trust.
The companies that grow in 2026 won’t be the loudest. They’ll be the clearest.
Founder-led companies don’t need more tactics. They need focus, alignment, and leadership that understands the business behind the marketing.
That’s where the right support makes all the difference.