CTV and TV gain ground in 2026 holiday marketing plans

Rebecca Stone

Forty-five percent of surveyed brands and retailers plan to use CTV/streaming advertising for the 2026 holiday season, a 22 percentage-point rise from 2025. The same survey found 33% plan to use television advertising, up 20 points from 13% in 2025.

Glossy+ Research surveyed 90 brand and retailer professionals and interviewed marketing executives for The 2026 guide to holiday marketing strategies. The report includes A-Frame Brands, Mastercard and Ritual and examines which commerce channels dominate marketers’ holiday strategies.

What changes in planned use?

Across the survey, brands and retailers plan to adjust their 2026 tactics from those used in 2025. The largest measured shifts favor CTV/streaming and television.

CTV/streaming use rose from 23% in 2025 to 45% in 2026. That 22-point increase followed a 14-point decline between 2024 and 2025, making the rebound unusually sharp.

TV advertising moved from 13% to 33% over the same year. Its 20-point rise followed a comparatively mild 4-point decline from 2024 to 2025.

Brand experiences were the most-used tactic in 2025, then slipped to second behind streaming/CTV in 2026. Planned use fell from 50% to 41%, a 9-point retreat.

Gift guides lose 19 points of planned use in 2026 versus 2025. Influencer hauls and unboxing videos fall 14 points; the report identifies them as the only tactic to decline in both historical performance and intended 2026 use.

Why is streaming more than a holiday-only bet?

Ritual chief growth officer Laura Brodie said: “Streaming is a really valid channel to invest in during the holidays because consumption of that media spikes.” She warned that entering only for the holidays would be risky for smaller brands; a full year of channel data and associated ROI metrics should establish performance before spending spikes.

Ari Bloom, founder and CEO of A-Frame Brands, said streaming and television can convert specific demographic groups, particularly women over 30. He also described A-Frame’s work in daytime television and on QVC, adding that audience segments become significantly larger from November through mid-December and always merit extra attention.

For media buyers, the practical sequence is test, measure, then scale. Seasonal consumption can justify a holiday spike when annual data supports the channel and its ROI; without that record, the calendar is not evidence.

What still performs?

Gift guides and brand experiences retain the top two positions for best-performing holiday tactics over time. Gift guides lead with 31% of marketers naming them best for their company, while 28% choose brand experiences.

Pop-up shops rank third. CTV/streaming and TV advertising tie for fourth despite their rising planned use, while influencer hauls/unboxing videos are the only tactic to decline in both historical performance and intended 2026 use.

Brodie expects gift guides to gain importance in AI-driven search because AI-powered search tools often rely on best-of lists and curated recommendations to answer consumer queries. She connected the tactic to AEO and LLM optimization.

She described best-of lists and gift guides as close relatives of AI search results that can bridge LLM research and AI overviews, particularly during holidays. Her conclusion was bullish.

The decline in planned use therefore masks two separate realities: weaker deployment this season, but stronger long-term performance and a potentially larger role in AI-mediated discovery. Those numbers should not be treated as interchangeable.

Where does print still fit?

Bloom recommends catalogs for 2026, particularly when shoppers are ready to buy. “Catalogs have always been very successful, and they’re heavily conversion-focused,” he said.

He said discount-driven catalogs can carry offers available only on physical paper and drive shoppers into stores. For brand and retail teams, print therefore retains one clear function: conversion, not decoration.

The next test arrives during the 2026 holiday season: watch whether the 45% CTV and 33% TV plans deliver reported ROI, and whether gift-guide and catalog use revives in the November-to-mid-December window. The survey establishes intent; post-season results will establish what worked.