Global socially-led creative agency We Are Social has released its annual trends report, Think Forward 2026: Building Brands at the Speed of Social, examining the evolving role of social media in marketing and brand strategy.
According to the report, social media has shifted from a supporting role to becoming the dominant media and entertainment ecosystem. A global survey of marketers conducted for the report found that 95% view social media as a critical tool for brand building, with 30% using it across the full marketing funnel—from awareness to direct sales.
Despite this widespread adoption, the report cautions that an effective social strategy remains complex. It highlights that platform usage is plateauing, audience attention is fragmenting, and AI-generated content is becoming increasingly prevalent.
Still, marketers identified social media as their number one channel for generating emotional connection and cultural impact, placing it ahead of TV, print, and other formats. The report also indicates growing use of social platforms for commerce, with 63% of marketers already involved in social selling and an additional 17% planning to begin within the year. This, according to data from the 2026 Think Forward Survey of 286 marketing decision makers in the UK and the US.
“There are still brands treating social as a broadcast channel rather than a place for conversation and culture, or using it as a short-term performance lever,” said Paul Greenwood, Global Head of Research & Insight at We Are Social.
“The question isn’t whether to invest in social – it’s the world’s most powerful media ecosystem where brands can have a huge impact through the funnel. Instead, we should be asking how to do it smartly, turning attention into measurable growth.”
To help brands succeed, We Are Social has introduced The Cultural Power Loop, a strategic framework created to demonstrate how brands are built in social. The four forces within the Cultural Power Loop – Presence, Proof, Power, and Participation – inform the key trends brands can tap into for 2026 to maximise their impact.
2026’s Trends
The report outlines eight cultural trends that will define the next year of social. These include:
- Cringe Confidence: As AI-generated content floods feeds, the pendulum is swinging hard toward the human, the awkward, and the earnest. Brands can resonate in everyday culture by embracing, and enabling unfiltered sincerity.
- Radical Subjectivity: People are gravitating toward voices who embrace subjectivity rather than hide it. Brands can build trust by foregrounding distinctly human perspectives — imperfect, personal, and impossible to automate.
- Rethinking Reality: Marketers are fast adopting AI tools – 81% already use them as part of the creative process, and 17% plan to start this year*. With AI encroaching on creative expression, prestige now comes from imagination that can’t be automated: visions that feel human, original, and impossible to replicate.
- Fandom Architects: 73% of marketers believe fandoms will be critical to their social strategy this year* as fans move from passive observers to creative collaborators. Brands can build advocacy by recognising fans as creative collaborators who shape a brand’s cultural meaning.
“Strong modern marketers are learning ways to build brands online, finding ways to elicit emotion, build trust, and be memorable in interactive and live ways. Appearing next to the niche topics that people love and being part of the conversation is an important strategy, and social platforms are very well set up to deliver on that”, said Dr Grace Kite, who contributed to the report.
“I love the finding from this report that success on social in 2026 means staying creatively human, it’s worth a read just to see how We Are Social unpack that concept”.
Think Forward 2026 was created by We Are Social’s Strategy and Cultural Insights teams, through literature review of strategy frameworks and whitepapers alongside semiotic and thematic analysis of digital artefacts. This was supported by a survey of 300 marketing decision makers across the US and UK.
The report also features case studies from TripAdvisor, Amazon Music, and Samsung, demonstrating how to turn cultural participation into measurable growth.
The full report is available to download.
