Greetings!

Welcome to the April 2026 issue of Key Notes - Marketing Keys' monthly newsletter! As the season of fresh starts kicks into full swing, we hope your business is gaining momentum and stepping up to the plate for a strong year ahead! Key Notes is an informative, quick-read newsletter to get you caught up on all things media and marketing. Our goal is for you to be informed and entertained with the latest media and marketing happenings quickly and efficiently. 

Marketing to moms today is focused on trust, real-life experiences, and guidance rather than traditional advertising. Modern moms rely heavily on recommendations from friends, family, and other parents, as well as reviews and hands-on experiences, to make purchasing decisions. They take a careful approach, considering their options thoroughly, which means brands need to provide helpful, credible content instead of just promoting features. Building genuine connections and offering social proof is what captures their attention and loyalty.

Millennial moms, emerging Gen Z mothers, and older Gen X or boomer caregivers are changing how brands approach this audience. Technology has a big role in this shift, with AI-driven search tools and optimized online content making it easier for moms to discover products quickly. The research phase of buying has become more streamlined, but brands need to be present in the right places and provide clear and trustworthy information when moms are searching. Being useful and supportive is now more important than simply being visible.

The modern mom is usually a millennial woman balancing work, family, and daily responsibilities, often raising two or more children in suburban areas. She is digitally connected but selective about what she trusts online. Time is always limited, so she looks for efficiency, value, and reassurance in the products she buys. She often makes decisions for her entire household and sometimes influences purchases beyond her own family, making her a powerful decision-maker in multiple circles.

Because moms face constant time pressures and daily challenges such as home organization, finding personal time, and meal planning, brands that make decision-making easier have an advantage. Word-of-mouth and peer recommendations influence moms far more than traditional ads, while online reviews, in-store trials, and social media engagement play a big role in discovery. Moms find products across search engines, retail platforms, and social media, with posts and short videos being the most effective formats. Brands that succeed focus on reducing friction, providing practical solutions, and giving moms confidence that they are making the right choices for themselves and their families.

Is this the future of TV buying?

Comcast Advertising’s latest report highlights how TV continues to play an important role in driving marketing performance, not just awareness. The data shows that adding TV to a broader media strategy can significantly improve how well audiences remember a brand. Compared to using a single channel alone, brand recall increases substantially when TV is included, especially alongside search, but also with social media and podcasts. The overall message is that TV does not just work on its own, it strengthens the impact of other channels.

The report also points to the power of both traditional and streaming TV in creating lasting impressions that influence consumer behavior. Rather than simply increasing visibility, TV helps brand messaging stay with viewers and encourages action. One key finding shows that combining TV with search advertising produces better results than simply increasing search ad spend. This is especially relevant as search becomes more competitive, with AI-generated summaries taking up more space and making it harder for brand messages to stand out.

At the same time, Comcast is updating how advertisers plan and execute TV campaigns. Its new platform, Outcomes+, uses artificial intelligence and a partnership with Amazon Ads to make campaigns more efficient and precise. Advertisers can now reach large streaming audiences, including those on Prime Video, while also delivering localized messaging within a single national campaign. Early results show noticeable improvements in both brand perception and sales conversions.

To support these advancements, Comcast is also focused on improving measurement and transparency. New tools help identify new audience opportunities, automate media planning, and connect ad exposure to actual purchases through partnerships with major data providers. With access to a wide range of premium streaming platforms and better efficiency for smaller advertisers, Comcast is working to position TV as a more measurable and results-driven channel.

AI-powered search is quickly becoming a major driver of website traffic. In 2025, more than a quarter of companies saw over half of their site visits come from AI search, and nearly half expect to hit that threshold by the end of 2026. Overall, AI search has grown from 35% to 50% of website traffic, outpacing traditional search growth. Yet even as AI usage rises, business leaders still expect conventional SEO to grow, predicting a jump from about 45% to 53% by year’s end.

This shift is creating new challenges for marketers. Many companies are investing heavily in AI, yet nearly 80% report difficulties in tracking and measuring results. While organizations can see positive outcomes, they often lack the tools and processes to fully understand the customer journey or the impact of AI-driven campaigns.

To keep up, businesses are adjusting strategies and budgets to support AI initiatives. Investments focus on improving website crawlability, tracking AI traffic, creating content optimized for AI platforms, and keeping content current for AI-driven summaries. These steps show the growing effort required to maintain visibility and effectiveness.

Despite the learning curve, AI search is already delivering results. In 2025, nearly nine in ten leaders reported that AI improved marketing performance. About a third saw significant gains, and over half experienced smaller yet meaningful improvements. The trend shows that success with AI search depends on aligning people, processes, and tools to fully take advantage of the opportunities it presents.

Peacock saw a major boost in February, attracting 5.2 million new sign-ups, including both free trials and paid subscriptions, according to Antenna. Much of this growth came from its 17-day live coverage of the Milan-Cortina Olympics and the NFL Super Bowl, which drew viewers looking for must-see events.

Paid subscriptions played a big role, with Peacock taking about a third of all new paid sign-ups for the month. That amounts to roughly 4.9 million of the 16 million new users across the streaming market. Over the past year, Peacock has added nearly 30 million new accounts, placing it second among nine major premium streaming platforms. Hulu came in third with just over 29 million, while the top platform reached 32 million.

Overall, February was a challenging month for the streaming industry. Seven of the nine major platforms saw declines compared with last year. Only Peacock and Disney+ posted gains. Big names like Netflix, Paramount+, and Apple TV experienced noticeable drops, showing that live events and exclusive coverage can give certain services a strong advantage in attracting new subscribers.

The NCAA’s “March Madness” tournament drew huge crowds this year. Through the Elite Eight round, games are averaging 10.3 million viewers, up 9% from last year and the strongest start since 1993. CBS, TBS, TNT, and truTV have been the main hubs for fans, with the standout moment coming when UConn stunned top-seeded Duke in a last-minute thriller, pulling in 13.4 million viewers.

Advertisers are taking full advantage of the attention, spending an estimated $1.04 billion on national TV ads during the first two weeks. That is slightly higher than the $1 billion spent in the same period last year. The ads aired 11,497 times and generated 21.7 billion impressions. Leading brands investing in the tournament include AT&T Wireless, Capital One, Geico, and Progressive Insurance.

The results are strong for marketers. Ads are capturing 18 percent more attention than the average TV commercial while viewer interruptions remain very low at just 1.94 percent. CBS is also using the tournament to promote its own shows, highlighting series such as “Survivor,” “NCIS,” and “Fire Country/Sheriff Country” to audiences already tuned in for the basketball excitement.

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