Customer Communications Continue to Move Forward in 2026

16 Jan Customer Communications Continue to Move Forward in 2026

Our founder, Harry Stephens, always loved a good quote. One he favored—and we uphold—is: “Stick with the things that move the needle.” In other words, focus on initiatives that visibly move businesses forward. In late 2025, Keypoint Intelligence, a data and market intelligence provider for the digital imaging and print industry. released research on shifting customer communications trends. Here are three of the findings we believe will strongly shape CCM strategies in 2026.

1. Investments in modernization
The research found that despite steady progress, most organizations describe themselves as only partially modernized and are still plagued by data silos and inconsistent integrations that affect the customer experience.

This matches analysts’ predictions: incremental upgrades to workflow, automation, and analytics rather than wholesale platform overhauls. Organizations that focused on improving data pipelines and connecting silos made notable gains in customer satisfaction in 2025.

Going forward:
Modernization needs to be viewed as a continuous commitment. The most critical investments will be in improving core data quality and real-time integration so that automation and personalization actually work to get the results we are looking to achieve.

2. Customers want clarity, not complexity
Despite customers engaging with businesses across multiple channels, including email, print, app notifications, and portals, a clear theme emerged: simplicity wins. Plain language and clear next steps are essential, no matter what the industry.

One highlight is the role of print. Contrary to some narratives predicting print’s demise, the research shows that print remains highly relevant. Printed communications remain a preferred option for many documents, such as record-keeping, sensitive information, financial matters, and official documentation.

Going forward:
As we discussed in our blogs last year, customers aren’t rejecting digital or clinging to print. They are choosing the channel that fits the moment, and they expect organizations to adopt a strategy that incorporates into this ecosystem accordingly.

3. AI Is only useful with good data
Keypoint’s research also highlighted consumer scrutiny around AI. AI is welcomed when it improves accuracy and convenience, but mistrusted when it introduces errors, irrelevant responses, or generic messaging. While in 2025, many businesses rushed to adopt AI tools for customer communication, successful deployments were those anchored in strong data governance, rules, and quality controls. When data is fragmented or poorly maintained, inaccuracies are amplified.

Going forward:
The best use of AI appears to be as an enhancement, not a replacement, for solid communications fundamentals. Before deploying AI for content generation, one thing was clear: underlying data, rules, and content must be strong before AI enters the picture.

Keypoint Intelligence’s opinion on CCM in 2026:
“Organizations are modernizing, consumers are becoming more discerning, and the balance between digital and print is stabilizing into something far more strategic than the ‘digital takeover’ predictions of the past. Customer communication is changing in ways that are subtle, but meaningful.”

The research indicated that organizations that poised to succeed in 2026 will be the ones that:
• Modernize steadily
• Design for trust and clarity
• Strengthen their data foundations
• Leverage AI thoughtfully
• Approach communication as an ecosystem rather than a set of disconnected channels

At Datamatx, we know customer communication success isn’t about chasing trends. It’s about knitting excellence into every message to produce accurate, coordinated, and trusted communications that build strong relationships and lasting progress. We are here to help you do just that.