Last year I mentioned the importance of balance when it comes to digital marketing for small businesses.

In that post I described how keeping a balanced approach can help you avoid disruption: if any one channel (search, social, etc.) gets disrupted (AI, regulation, etc.), being able to rely on other channels is vital.

While that still holds true this year (any year really), balance is especially important in 2026 for another important reason.

More Options For Customers

Last week I mentioned some of the newer surfaces emerging as alternative sources for folks to get information from.  (A “surface” being new platforms as mentioned below.)

Google search is still leading the way on that front, but Large Language Model (LLM) platforms like ChatGPT, Copilot, Grok, Claude and Meta AI have gained some ground in the past few years – where responses are more conversational rather than a list of businesses, web pages and other search features.

More Options For New Surface Platforms, As Well

Also mentioned last week, many of these new surfaces are relying on traditional search patterns & search resources when generating those responses.

And just like traditional search, these new surfaces are pulling information from many different sources – social, 3rd party review sites, forums, as well as the content on your website – acting as a new “liaison” or middleman for your customers.

Essentially data points across the entire digital space – connecting dots from personalized layers (messages and emails), to group layers (social media and forums) to organizational layers (search & AI/LLMs) – and everything in between.

Every time your small business is mentioned somewhere in those spaces, it’s a potential data point for these surfaces to get an understanding of who you are, what you do, who you serve and what makes you unique (differentiation) – and potentially display that information in a response for your customers.

Balanced Consistency

Being balanced is one thing.

Being consistent is quite another.

Consistency can come in two forms: in the way you communicate and represent yourself, and how often you communicate and represent your small business.

If you look or respond differently across different channels or aren’t consistent in posting or responding, it can cause folks to hesitate – which ultimately can decay trust in your small business.

Customer-Centric Balance

When looking for areas where you can find more balance online, remember to keep your customers at the heart of every decision.

Strive for balance because your customers are present in more places online.

Strive for balance because your customers may be reading responses from new surfaces that include more of those places.

Strive for balance because you want to be closer to them in those places and surfaces – in moments they need your products and services.

Balance for balance’s sake is wasted time.

Balance that makes you undeniably relevant in your category – for the right customers, in the right places – is time well spent.