We have two goals at Edible Asheville.

1.) To create compelling content that is considered “essential reading” for locals and tourists. 

2.) To create dynamic marketing campaigns for our advertising partners and help them grow their businesses through powerful storytelling and messaging.

With those aims in mind, here are the marketing trends we’re seeing for 2026:

PRINT MAGAZINES ARE WELL POSITIONED IN 2026

In 2026, print marketing seems exceedingly well positioned—even more so than the past five years, when marketing researchers started to tout the benefits and authenticity of print in the digital era.

With the integration of AI in our lives, consumers across all age groups, genders and geographies are reporting a strong preference for authenticity and genuine interactions.

Print publications—and particularly, high-value lifestyle publications like Edible Asheville—are becoming more trusted and valued among consumers, making them ideal marketing platforms.

“The business benefits of magazine advertising include enhanced brand credibility through association with reputable publications, longer ad lifespan compared to fleeting digital ads, and more immersive storytelling via rich visual and editorial content,” said the New York-based market research firm Markets.US in December 2025. 

As of 2025, 86% of US adults are reading magazines and, interestingly, much of the growth in readership is coming from adults under the age of 35.

Similarly, magazine readers continue to be a high-value target audience, as they are consistently more affluent than general consumers and also more likely to take action on the ads they view.

Edible Asheville aims to ride this wave of popularity by continuing to invest in high-quality “must read” content, with a heightened focus on exclusive local content that can’t be commoditized or generated online.

Similarly, we are always looking to refine our audience, and so we are also expanding our direct mailing efforts to reach high-income households within the dozen or so zip codes around Asheville. Along with our ever-expanding distribution network, the direct mailings help you have greater control over your marketing reach.

IT’S ALL ABOUT BUILDING BRAND STORIES IN 2026

For the last several years, print magazines have expanded their roles and taken the lead on creating new “native content” marketing opportunities for their advertising clients. Native content, which we call “marketing features,” help local businesses tell their stories, establish a more genuine connection with future customers and clients, and stand out in crowded fields.

When combined with visually stirring ads, which serve as the foundational and consistent marketing presence, these types of marketing features are helping local businesses reach their customers.

Print magazines are stepping into these new roles, which have traditionally been held by third-party marketing and PR firms, by pitching ideas for smart marketing campaigns—and then executing on those projects across various platforms they oversee, including (as is the case with Edible Asheville) appearances in the print magazine, website, digital newsletter and social media platforms.

This expanding dynamic between lifestyle magazines and their clients is sometimes called “Integrated Marketing Partnerships.”

Edible Asheville is following this trend, and we continue to expand our menu of dynamic marketing options. We want to create fresh new ways to tell your story and then showcase it across our platforms. In other words, we aim to be an extension of your marketing and PR team and deliver ideas that align with your brand and marketing goals, and then we will do the work to execute on those ideas.

We continue to roll out new opportunities, as well as customized plans to meet our individual client needs, and we are always building out our team of writers, editors, photographers and designers to make sure the finished product represents the high standards of your business.

MARKETING PROS FIND THEIR AUDIENCE IN PRINT

If you open up a recent copy of Food & Wine magazine, you’ll find a diverse lineup of advertisers—Lexus, American Express, Oceans Cruise Lines and Sleep Number Mattresses, in addition to major food and kitchen brands.

These days, national brands (and their ad buyers) are putting a priority on high-value audiences and are seeking out the platforms that deliver those audiences. The idea that advertisers have to find editorial content that matches their own product or service is no longer true; these days, the right fit is all about the right audience.

Within the popular category of “lifestyle” magazines, there are few more desirable than food and drink magazines, and those types of magazines often offer a wide content reach that also includes health and wellness trends, outdoor adventure and home and design advice. The readership among many of these magazines is steady across gender, geography and age groups.

Edible Asheville is following the same trajectory. We are diversifying our content to include health and wellness features, as well as home and design articles, allowing us to appeal to an even broader audience and step closer to our goal of being “essential” reading to both residents and tourists.