In our final round of predictions for the professional services marketing community, we turn to a wider group of marketing consultants, many of whom work in and outside of the professional services bubble.
We have thoroughly enjoyed gazing into the marketing and business development crystal ball, and we hope you have too.
Sophie Mellish, Director at communications agency INFINITE
AI has been the biggest game-changer for marketing and BD in terms of efficiency and boosting productivity, but it isn’t here to kill everything either. Take SEO, for example. AI search works (among other things) via some of the most basic SEO strategies from 20 years ago. So we’re not rewriting the rulebook, rather it’s an evolution of the tools and tactics that we’re already using.
The same is true for PR. We’ve all read that earned media is having its moment in the spotlight thanks to LLMs – and that is true, at least for now – but it means that we need to evolve how we’re doing PR in 2026. Having a dual pathway mentality where material is crafted to target both reporters and robots is going to be crucial. The human factor is still there, and we still need to be able to sell stories to journalists, but we also need to ensure that the answers these LLMs provide about our firms are up to date with our latest news and service offerings. The firms that linger here will likely become laggards once we’re out of the Wild West phase of AI search.
What’s more, pressure to perform is only going to intensify in 2026. In-house marketing and BD teams are expected to deliver more and more activity with less resource. That’s where agencies can help to alleviate some of the internal strain and provide external comms counsel, while allowing the internal team to focus on mission-critical matters.
Steph Ward, Forward Business Solutions
AI and human-centred marketing. AI will increasingly be used to capture attention in marketing, but the human element will remain essential for turning that interest into real engagement. Teams can use technology to handle repetitive tasks and free up time for strategy, creative storytelling and genuine client relationships. The key is to use it to support people, not replace them, so that every interaction reflects a human perspective.
Personalised thought leadership. Maintaining a trusted human voice at scale relies on understanding your audience, listening to feedback and testing what works. Technology can help with drafting or organising content, but credibility and trust come from humans shaping the message and responding personally to clients.
Micro-experiences and events. One-to-one engagement will become even more important in 2026, as automated communications increase. Clients still value meaningful human interaction, which creates opportunities for highly personalised experiences. Genuine attention is becoming scarce, making these connections more valuable and allowing service providers to focus on the clients they work with best.
Abby Hartley, Marketing Director, Event Concept
Marketing teams across every sector are being asked to do more with less budget, and it’s no different for professional services. To address this challenge, we will see a greater focus on events in 2026.
Event budgets have consistently grown over the past year, a testament to the ROI they deliver for brands. In Q3 of 2025 alone, event investment increased by 10.9%.
In professional services, events are increasingly recognised as a powerful driver of reputation, relationships and ROI. That momentum will only grow next year, as trust becomes an even more critical differentiator in an intensely competitive sector.”
Events remain the most effective channel for creating authentic human connection, engaging clients as true partners rather than simply providers.”
Adam Biddle, CEO and Co-founder of social agency GHO5T
In 2026, professional services marketing will be rebuilt around personalisation. Social platform advancements will continue to evolve to allow us to target and tailor messages for the individual.
AI search will reward firms that structure expertise so models can surface the right adviser for the right query. Firms need to be thinking about content that allows them to show up in AI search with terms such as “employment lawyer for fintech scaleups in London”.
Video will play a central role. Audiences want real people, not synthetic realism. Short, adviser-led films will outperform generic explainers because they show expertise, intent, and personality. When an audit partner talks directly to a CFO about a live regulatory shift, it feels authentic and believable. Real beats perfect and always will.