Every year, marketers add more tools.
More dashboards.
More “AI-powered” features.
More subscriptions no one fully uses.
2026 won’t reward that.
It will reward clarity, speed, and distribution leverage.
So instead of chasing shiny objects, here’s the exact marketing tech stack I’m committing to in 2026 — and why each tool earns its place.
No fluff. Just what actually compounds.
The 2026 Marketing Stack (By Function)
Tool: Beehiiv (Get a 14-day trial + 20% OFF for 3 months)
Why it stays:
Social platforms are rented land. Newsletters are owned distribution.
In 2026, my newsletter isn’t “content.”
It’s the operating system:
Audience
Product distribution
Community
Revenue
Beehiiv wins because it combines:
Publishing
Growth (referrals, boosts)
Monetization
Analytics
Workflow:
Every idea → starts as a newsletter → gets atomized into social.
👉 Resource: Beehiiv (the only platform I trust long-term)
2. Content Creation: AI as a Co-Pilot, Not a Crutch
Tools:
ChatGPT (thinking + structuring)
Notion (idea vault + systems)
Google Docs (final drafts)
Why:
AI doesn’t replace taste.
It replaces blank-page anxiety and busywork.
Workflow:
Brain dump → AI helps structure
Human edits for voice
Ship faster, not sloppier
If your content sounds “AI-ish,” that’s not a tool problem.
That’s a thinking problem.
3. Short-Form Distribution Engine
Tools:
CapCut
Native platform editors (Instagram, LinkedIn)
Google Drive (UGC + creative library)
Why:
In 2026, distribution beats production.
The best brands:
Reuse ideas
Remix angles
Test hooks obsessively
Workflow:
One idea →
Newsletter
LinkedIn post
Reel
Carousel
Ad creative
Same thinking. Different formats.
4. Growth & Experimentation
Tools:
Meta Ads Manager
TikTok Ads
Simple landing pages (Webflow / Framer)
Why:
Paid isn’t dead.
Bad creative is.
Ads are now:
Content with a budget
Distribution for proven ideas
If it works organically, then I scale it with paid.
5. Analytics That Actually Matter
Tools:
Beehiiv analytics
Platform-native insights
Stripe dashboards
What I stopped using:
Overbuilt attribution tools
Vanity metrics dashboards
In 2026, I track:
Attention
Retention
Revenue
Everything else is noise.
The Real Stack Isn’t Tools — It’s the Workflow
Here’s the simple loop I’m committing to:
Think → Write → Distribute → Measure → Double down
No complex funnels.
No Frankenstein tech stacks.
No tool hoarding.
Just systems that compound.
The marketers who win in 2026 won’t have the biggest stacks.
They’ll have:
Clear thinking
Owned audiences
Repeatable systems
Tools that disappear into the workflow
That’s future-proof marketing.
If you want more breakdowns like this — tools, systems, and what actually works — you know where to find me.
