Happy 2026! As we kick off the new year, our digital team spent some time discussing where marketing and social media are headed next. We’ve rounded up the trends we’re most excited about, from new ways to find audiences to the magic of video storytelling. Here’s a look at what we’re keeping an eye on!

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Georgia: Employee Advocacy 

I believe that integrating employee advocacy on channels like LinkedIn is an absolutely crucial element for our 2026 marketing strategy.
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While LinkedIn is a fantastic platform, it's becoming quite crowded, much like other social media channels. Because of this, I think 2026 is the year when posting from individual employee profiles becomes more important than solely relying on the company page.
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This certainly doesn't mean we stop posting on the company page; a strong company-level presence is still hugely necessary. However, the employee advocacy posts should work to support and amplify those company page posts, helping us reach a much wider audience and drive better engagement.
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An individual's LinkedIn network is a powerful tool for reaching the right people and further promoting your company message, thanks to the natural connection with relevant industry contacts.
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Besides promoting the company, there’s always room for content based on personal insights, knowledge, and opinions. If you attend an event, like BIBA, post about it! We can assist you in sharing your key takeaways, posting photos of talks, and really getting across your own expertise.

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Tom: AI Will Continue to Reshape Website Traffic

AI is not only changing the way we work, but also our behaviour and how we consume information. In 2025, website visitors have declined across the board, with some companies reporting a 55% drop.
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This shift is driven by how people now access data and the journey they take to get the information they want. AI-powered search results and generative platforms such as ChatGPT are the drivers of this change, delivering answers directly to users without the need to click through to a website. In 2026, this trend will become even more prominent, with website traffic continuing to decline.
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While this creates an obvious problem for brands, it also opens up a new opportunity for increased visibility across these AI channels. To capitalise on this, brands will need to rethink how their content is structured and optimised. Here are some quick tips:

• Focus on answer rank, not page rank. AI surfaces the most relevant answers, not just the highest-ranking web pages.
• Compete for AI citations instead of clicks. Being referenced by AI can drive awareness even without direct visits.
• Create clean, digestible content for machine consumption. Structured, concise content is easier for AI to interpret.
• Ensure your site is AI-accessible. Minimise JavaScript rendering and use semantic HTML to make your content easily crawlable.

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Mollie: Short-Form Video Storytelling

Short-form video content is showing no signs of slowing down, and in 2026, it will become even more central to marketing strategies. Platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts have proven that audiences love short, engaging stories that capture attention immediately.
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But it’s not just about being ‘fast’ or ‘trendy’. The key is storytelling that connects with your audience on a human level. Think behind-the-scenes glimpses, event highlights, customer success stories, or practical tips, delivered in bite-sized, visually compelling formats.
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Brands that can create a steady flow of authentic short-form content will benefit from higher engagement and a stronger connection with their audience. It’s about consistency, creativity, and making every few seconds count. Short-form video is a chance to showcase your brand personality, highlight your team’s expertise, and demonstrate the value of your services in a way that feels approachable and shareable.
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At brandformula, we help clients bring short-form video to life - capturing key moments, sharing stories, or highlighting expertise in ways that feel authentic. In 2026, these videos will continue to play a central role in helping brands connect with audiences in meaningful, memorable ways.

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Jake: Brands putting more budget behind user-generated content on LinkedIn

One thing that we have touched on throughout this year, and which certainly looks set to continue into 2026, is brands increasing their paid social budgets. This is nothing new and has only been further incentivised by platforms like LinkedIn, reducing the organic reach of company posts massively over the last few years.
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To combat this reduction in reach and engagement, brands have been pulling out their wallets and promoting their organic content to paid audiences, but we are also seeing more brands starting to put budget behind user generated content (UGC) from their employees and partners. This is because UGC is outperforming branded posts, generating higher reach and engagement rates, and can now be promoted via Campaign Manager through Thought Leader ads. My prediction is that we are only going to see more brands begin to shift insight content away from their company pages and start sharing and promoting these insights as UGC LinkedIn articles, which are then boosted with budget to their key paid audiences.
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Another new ad type that LinkedIn introduced in 2025, which will further support this increase in paid promotion of UGC, is Partnerships. This new option within Campaign Manager allows brands to promote posts that have directly mentioned their brand, meaning that you can now directly promote industry leaders who are shouting your praises from the proverbial rooftops on LinkedIn.

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India - LinkedIn AI Algorithm Changes and Dwell Time

I’m sure this won’t be the first time you’ve read about ‘Beating the LinkedIn algorithm,’ and it certainly won’t be the last, but there’s a reason it’s such a prevalent topic of conversation in the B2B space. As mentioned by Georgia above, LinkedIn is becoming over-saturated with what feels like infinite content, so cutting through the noise of the other 1.2 billion members (that’s almost one sixth of the entire global population who has a LinkedIn profile) has to be a top priority for marketers. 
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In June 2025, the LinkedIn algorithm (or ‘algo’ for the keen marketers among us) underwent a shift, meaning it started to rely more heavily on AI for post recommendations. Along with this came the increased importance of dwell time as a key metric. This means that for the first time, traditional engagements (likes, shares, comments, clicks, and so on) are not prioritised by the algorithm to signal a post’s relevance. 
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Instead, the amount of time someone spends simply looking at your content is what really counts. This is a direct result of what is called the ‘attention economy’, an economic concept that deems human attention a valuable commodity, and in the age of TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and Instagram Reels, a doom-scroller's attention is worth more than ever before.
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So, what’s the number one way you can boost your LinkedIn content going into 2026? Create content that can capture a user’s attention for long enough to stop the scroll. This will signal to the algorithm that your content is worthy of attention, and it will outrank other, less scroll-stopping posts. 

Elliot: Full-Funnel Social Strategies Driving Real B2B Conversion

For a long time, social media in B2B has been treated primarily as a top-of-funnel awareness channel - great for reach, engagement, and brand presence, but rarely trusted to drive meaningful conversion. Going into 2026, that mindset is finally changing.
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More B2B marketers are adopting full-funnel aligned social strategies, where organic and paid social play a clear role at every stage of the buyer journey - from initial awareness right through to consideration, conversion, and even retention. Rather than operating in silos, social is now being planned alongside CRM data, sales pipelines, and performance marketing objectives.
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At the top of the funnel, this still means strong thought leadership, video, UGC, and brand storytelling to build familiarity and trust. But the real shift is happening further down the funnel. Platforms like LinkedIn now allow marketers to retarget users based on increasingly nuanced behaviours, video views, document engagement, website interactions, job seniority, and buying signals, enabling highly relevant mid- and bottom-funnel messaging.
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We’re seeing social used far more deliberately to:

• Nurture warm audiences with case studies, proof points, and industry-specific insights
  
• Support sales teams with account-based and role-based targeting
  
• Drive measurable actions such as demo bookings, event sign-ups, and gated content downloads
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In 2026, the most effective B2B social strategies won’t be judged on impressions or engagement alone, but on their ability to move prospects through the funnel and contribute directly to revenue. This requires tighter alignment between social, paid media, sales, and marketing automation - but when done properly, social becomes one of the most powerful conversion channels in the B2B mix.
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At brandformula, we’re already helping clients design social strategies that don’t just build awareness, but actively support pipeline growth. As platforms continue to improve their targeting, attribution, and integration capabilities, full-funnel social will move from a “nice to have” to a core pillar of B2B marketing success.

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