Marketing trends for 2026: strategies, systems and workflows with PIM and DAM

In an increasingly fragmented retail environment, it is not the loudest brands that win, but the most reliable ones. Customers are looking for clarity, transparency and consistency – across all channels. This reliability is not a communication promise, but the result of clean data, intelligent systems and clearly defined processes.

Trust in commerce today is a question of the system landscape. Inconsistent prices, contradictory product data or unavailable offers lead directly to abandoned purchases. On the other hand, those who rely on clean data models, integrated platforms and consistent processes create transparency – and thus a measurable competitive advantage along the entire customer journey.

Hybrid print: Print + digital merge even more closely — ‘smart print’

• Printed catalogues, flyers and brochures are increasingly being combined with digital elements — e.g. QR codes, personalised URLs, NFC or web AR — to seamlessly guide customers from print into the online/omni-channel world.
• Retailers use print as an entry point — with a haptic (physical) effect — while enabling real-time interaction, product information, ‘click & collect’ alternatives or online discounts via smartphone.
• Advantage: Print retains its emotional and sensory power, but loses its rigidity — and becomes part of a flexible, data-driven overall approach.

Digital signage and in-store media as a central partner — print as a complementary tool

In 2026, the trend will move away from static displays: digital, interactive screens, touch kiosks or LED walls in stores will dominate, according to forecasts. Advertising at the point of sale (POS) will become more important: dynamic displays that show offers, promotions or product recommendations in real time — in combination with print ads that function as vouchers or discount coupons, for example. Print can serve as a ‘trigger’ — such as a flyer with a QR code that links to an in-store display or activates exclusive promotions.

Personalisation and data-driven communication on a new level

While personalisation already played a major role in print in 2024, this trend will become even stronger in 2026 thanks to AI and improved data analysis — i.e. individually tailored mailings, personalised offer sheets, location-specific marketing, etc. By linking data from online purchases, loyalty cards, in-store behaviour and CRM, retailers can target very accurately and use print as a personalised, appreciative form of communication – with a higher chance of conversion.

There is a lot of power in personalisation. Consumers already have a strong emotional connection to a tangible message that they can receive and hold in their hands. However, when retailers combine the impact of direct mail with personalisation through customer data, individual greetings and product recommendations, this connection is further strengthened. Personalised direct marketing leads to a 135 per cent higher conversion rate.

Customers feel valued and privileged when they receive a message from a brand that is specifically intended for them. Perhaps that is why 75 per cent of millennials say they feel special when they receive personalised direct mail – and there is something very powerful about that. With advances in publishing solutions, personalised printed marketing materials are easily achievable. Personalisation can be a simple and cost-effective way to strengthen the relationship between retailers and consumers. It can include location-based customisation, industry-specific marketing and even customer retargeting – something that was previously not financially feasible due to high printing costs.

Versioning, localisation and personalisation will be solved systemically by 2026

By 2026, it will no longer be practical for companies to work with manually maintained variants of marketing and product content. The growing number of channels, markets, languages, target groups and touchpoints is leading to an exponential increase in versions. What is still being solved today using individual layouts, copies of documents or manual coordination will finally reach its limits in the future.

Instead, versioning, localisation and personalisation are developing into systemically controlled core functions of modern marketing and content platforms. In 2026, content will no longer be created as individual, static master documents, but as rule-based content architectures. Based on central data models from PIM, DAM and campaign systems, intelligent systems will automatically generate the appropriate variant for each country, language, target group, channel, price segment or legal framework.

Localisation will no longer be understood as a downstream translation process, but as an integral part of content logic. Regional product ranges, cultural imagery, country-specific claims, legal notices or pricing structures will be controlled directly from the connected systems. Global brands will thus maintain their consistency while ensuring local relevance in every market.

Personalisation is also undergoing a fundamental shift towards hyper-personalisation: it is no longer designed manually at campaign level, but is an integral part of the system logic. Marketing assets, texts, product selection, image motifs and price messages are dynamically compiled on the basis of customer profiles, behavioural data, usage situations and preferences. A single content set can thus be used to create thousands of individually tailored displays – without any additional operational effort.

The key advantage of this systemic approach lies in its scalability and process reliability. Companies avoid media breaks, reduce sources of error, accelerate approval processes and, at the same time, massively increase the relevance of their content. By 2026, versioning, localisation and personalisation will no longer be perceived as complex additional tasks, but as automated basic functions of a powerful multichannel architecture.

With Comosoft, you are always one step ahead of the trends

LAGO by Comosoft is a unique marketing automation tool that revolutionises the entire collaboration process in real time, enabling retailers to store data and digital assets in a secure repository that can be accessed from anywhere. The result is a more efficient production process that keeps you up to date with the latest developments. When you manage all your digital asset management (DAM), production information management (PIM) and production processes from one place, you have more resources to keep up with the latest innovations.

Comosoft LAGO is an all-in-one marketing production solution that comes with both a PIM and a DAM solution. It secures your workflows with integrated support for workflow collaboration, optimised versioning and an intuitive proofing system.