My head is spinning (and not because of menopause)

Well it might be menopause, but the reality is A LOT is changing with how Kiwi business owners are marketing their businesses.

A couple of blogs ago, I talked about how AI is starting to buy things. Mastercard is currently testing ‘Agent Pay’ - tech that lets AI agents shop and transact on behalf of customers. No website visit. Just purchasing straight through the agent! This is a fundamental paradigm shift that we will all look back on and laugh (hopefully not hysterically) about the days when we made customers go to our websites to buy stuff. That’s so last year!!!

Retail media is growing fast 📦

Retail media — advertising that appears within retailer platforms like Trade Me or supermarket apps — is scaling quickly in New Zealand. The appeal is obvious: you’re reaching customers right at the moment they’re ready to buy, not just when they’re scrolling mindlessly.

If you sell physical products, this channel is worth getting across. The targeting is sharp and the intent is high. Oh and if you’re wondering about Trademe dropping its success fees - this is clearly in response to social media platforms that also provide a digital market place - think Facebook’s MarketPlace.

Facebook is still winning down under

I know, I know. Everyone’s talking about TikTok. But let’s look at the actual numbers: Facebook holds over 76% of social media market share in New Zealand, with roughly 4.68 million active users. Its ad tools can potentially reach 89% of the entire country.

Don’t let global trends distract you from where your customers actually are. For most Kiwi small businesses, Facebook is still the engine room.

Authenticity is beating polish 🎯

This one keeps coming up and I don’t think it’s going away. Audiences are responding to real reviews, real faces, and real experiences. AI-generated content and stock-heavy posts are losing credibility fast.

The irony isn’t lost on me — at the same time AI is revolutionising how we create content, people are craving more humanity in what they see. The businesses getting this right are the ones using AI for the thinking and the strategy, and humans for the face of it.

AEO is the new SEO 🔍

You’ve heard of SEO. Get ready for AEO — Answer Engine Optimisation. As Google’s AI Overviews become standard (and paid ads start appearing within them here in New Zealand this year), the game is shifting.

If your website content isn’t structured to directly answer the questions your customers are asking, there’s a real chance it won’t surface at all. This is worth a conversation with whoever manages your website and content.

More on this in next week’s blog.

AI now has its own marketing award 🏆

The 2026 YouTube NZ Marketing Awards — celebrating their 35th year — have added a brand new AI category to the programme. If your business is doing something genuinely interesting with AI in your marketing, that’s now something worth entering.

Not sure if what you’re doing qualifies as ‘interesting’? Drop me a line — fresh eyes help (and I’ve been a Marketing Association Judge).

So what do you actually do with all of this?

The same thing I said last time: don’t try to chase all of it at once. Pick the one or two developments that are most relevant to your business and your customers, and go deep on those.

For most small NZ businesses, I’d start with the AEO conversation — because that one’s coming for everyone, whether you’re ready or not. And if you’re still sleeping on Facebook ads, now’s the time to wake up.