The TwoSix team is back and ready to share what’s On Our Radar for December so that you can stay ahead of the always-evolving digital marketing landscape. This month, the TwoSix team discusses short-form content tips, the state of email report, “The Internet Wrapped” and more! Keep reading to find out what we’re keeping On Our Radar for December 2025.

Short-form, vertical content isn’t going anywhere! 2026 trends indicate it will only become more influential. Unfortunately, it sure can be a time suck to create and distribute if you don’t have an efficient process. One of the best pieces of advice I received in 2025, when it comes to creating quick, impactful short-form video, was a ridiculously simple strategy. One shot per sentence. That’s it. Set yourself up for success by limiting each shot that you take to one sentence.

There are a number of benefits to leveraging the “one shot per sentence” approach:

Less Editing: This is perhaps the biggest advantage. No more wading through hours of footage for those 2-3 second clips. If you can make it a point to delete your bad takes from the camera roll, it’s even easier!

Less Rambling: Being forced to limit yourself to one sentence per shot also helps you get to the point. That helps you reduce errors, and it helps the viewer get information succinctly. If you can get to the point, you lessen the swipe away! That increased engagement will only fuel your reach. One way to make this even easier is to prompt AI to generate a video script for you!

Quicker Tempos: Your videos will instantly have a quick pace that fits well with the viewing habits of users on these vertical video platforms.

Replication: Creating videos like this makes them easy to recreate and tweak for Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts. One of the most painful processes is finding and trimming your parts and avoiding copyrights and annoying watermarks.

Instead of struggling through the next vertical video project, give the “one shot per sentence” approach. It seriously changed the video production game for me. I am confident that you’ll be blown away by how the process is streamlined and how the quality of your videos improves almost immediately.

I see one overarching theme defining the coming year: attention is all. If attention is the currency of social media platforms, then boy, do we have inflation. From social media and podcasts to games and TV, our life is defined by the media we consume. And there’s just so much of it. To win in 2026, you need to cut through the noise. Adopt the strategies that work on you. If you find yourself thinking “I’m bored” while creating a piece of content, imagine how someone who has no interest in it yet will feel. Level up your game and reap the rewards.

If there was one topic that dominated not just our industry but the tech world at large this year, it was AI. We were told that ChatGPT and OpenAI were going to change the way we all used the internet, and they still might. I am not here to say they will not. But according to data collected by Similarweb and presented by Visual Capitalist, ChatGPT logged about 864 million visits in the US over the period they measured. That is a big number, but it is also roughly half of what Yahoo pulled. And I do not know about you, but I have not heard anyone talk about Yahoo ads this year.

The ranking is a good reminder that while we in marketing live in what other people would call cutting edge technology, most users are still spending their time in very familiar places. The top spots are still owned by the usual suspects like Google, YouTube, Facebook and long running portals like Yahoo. AI tools may be the shiny new thing in our feeds, but day to day behavior has not pivoted nearly as fast as the discourse around it.

That disconnect matters. On our side of the screen, we are already using AI to write copy, build audiences, test creative and optimize bids. On the consumer side, a lot of people are still just checking email, scrolling social and searching the way they always have, with AI showing up as a helper more than a destination. The same kid who cheats on a test with ChatGPT is still watching YouTube and reading Reddit threads when it is time to actually make a decision.

For marketers and CVBs, the takeaway is not to ignore AI, but to keep it in context. The tools are evolving fast, the habits are not. The internet your visitors live in still looks a lot like the one they have known for a decade, which means the basics still matter: strong search, useful content, good video and clear paths to conversion. AI may change how we work, but it has not yet changed where most people spend their time online.

As we are looking forward to the new year and making new moves for our marketing strategy, Meta has shared some tips on how to maximize Reels performance. As of this year, time spent on Reels accounts for over 50% of Instagram usage. So, if this is where the people are, we need tips on how to best reach and resonate with them.

Get to your point quickly, Meta says state your main message within 5 seconds. We’re fighting the scroll so I challenge you to do it in 3 seconds. Next time you find yourself scrolling, time how fast you scroll from video to video, I bet it’s faster than you think. You really need to grab their attention fast to keep them engaged.

We want to hear your voice! Music is an easy go to but it doesn’t make you stand out. Tell us why your destination is awesome, give an itinerary, tell a story. If you aren’t comfortable in front of the camera, voiceover works well when you’re getting started!

Showcase the people. Slice of life content is trending big time. Show the people of your destination. Give someone a spotlight of how they spend their weekend or even a day in the life of someone living in your city.

Tell your story, jumping on a trend can occasionally work but you have to be on it, trends are fast paced, what’s trending today is old tomorrow. Instead of or in addition to following the trends, tell an original story. Something unique to only your destination, get people invested and don’t forget a CTA, direct them what to do next, visit your website, download a visitor guide, continue following for more videos and insights.

With all of this in mind, have fun with it, sprinkle in some humor. A Reel doesn’t need to be a produced piece of content. Take your phone out on a little adventure and capture some authentic moments. Post what you like, think about compiling and posting the bloopers and discard the rest. I hope that come the new year creativity bursts and new ideas and content are on the horizon!

Every year, Litmus drops one of the most important reports in email marketing, the State of Email Report. The 2025 report makes it clear that inboxes are noisier, AI is everywhere, and successful email strategies are shifting from “send more” to “send smarter.” For DMOs and CVBs, this means optimizing your strategy, tightening your workflows, and treating the email inbox like a true visitor-planning touchpoint, not just another distribution channel. Let’s dive into some of the standout findings:

35% of companies now see an ROI of 36:1 or higher from email

Email, when done right, can undoubtedly be one of most impactful pieces of your digital marketing strategy! To achieve these impressive ROIs, marketers need to lean into personalization, segmentation, and content quality. Litmus notes that the highest performers invest more budget, dedicate more time, and rely heavily on lifecycle emails and customer-engagement content. These types of messages would resonate with potential travelers who are searching for whaere to go next!

Content creation is now the most in-demand email skill

The report explains, email has moved beyond solely delivering promotions, it’s become a storytelling channel where relevant, helpful content wins. Like what I discussed in last month’s On Our Radar, DMOs should lean into trip-planning content, seasonal inspiration, and highly skimmable newsletter formats that read like a itinerary or “plan your trip” landing page.

89% of marketers expect up to 75% of their email operations to be AI-driven by 2026

Of course, the report dives into the digital marketing talk of the town… AI! Email marketers are expected to lean more onto AI tools, whether through segmentation, send-time optimization, content generation, or analytics. The teams embracing AI in 2025 are already seeing better engagement and more confident reporting! While it’s important we don’t depend on AI for these things, it’s crucial we lean into new tools so we get our emails to where they need to go and continue driving real results.

Those are just the main takeaways that stood out to me but you can click the button below to take a deep dive into the report for yourself! If you’re ready to optimize your strategy for 2026, don’t hesitate to reach out!

You may already know that structuring content as questions and conversation helps boost visibility in AI-powered search. What’s often overlooked is the power of original data and research. AKA, content that AI can’t find anywhere else.

DMO’s have a unique strength: access to data and insights that generic tourism publishers, travel-planning sites, and bloggers do not. This could include data surrounding seasonal occupancy rates, visitor demographics, average length of stay, etc. Revealing this data can position your site as a credible source, which is exactly what generative search engines are looking for.

According to one analysis, content based on proprietary research attracts 2.3x more backlinks than standard posts. Backlinks remain a strong signal of authority, and in AI-driven search environments, strong authority correlates with higher likelihood of being cited.

For DMO’s, this means transforming generic messaging into helpful storytelling backed by real data. For example, instead of saying “visitors love our outdoor scene,” try: “last year, our state parks saw over 200,000 visitors, a 35% increase from the previous year.”

You can begin to sprinkle these data-based insights into your already existing content now, and don’t be afraid to publish new pieces that put your findings front and center. For example, conducting original survey research and publishing a blog such as “must-try downtown restaurants: Recommended by our 2025 Visitors survey.”

In the world of organic search, Your site’s authority remains a Core pillar of its health, and original research and data is one of the best ways to prove your credibility.

We all love to reminisce, especially when it comes to trips and travel experiences that shaped us. Whether it’s a childhood vacation, a favorite family tradition, or the first place we solo traveled, those memories stick with us.

People crave the comfort and familiarity of “the good old days”, and your marketing efforts for the new year should absolutely tap into that feeling. Weaving nostalgia into your DMO’s strategy can include a variety of content, such as:

• A throwback video series (old commercials, interviews, etc.)
• Old branding/retro-inspired visuals
• Travel itineraries built around historic or iconic spots
• Stories from long-time locals in your area (residents, businesses, museums, etc.)
• Vintage photos and postcards (antique shops have been my personal go-to for finding old postcards of places I love!

Plus, you can get user-generated content by asking your audience to share their own “then and now” stories and images. It’s a simple way to stand out, and it inspires people to return to the places that shaped their favorite memories.