How New-Age Social Media Marketing Is Changing and What You Need to Know in 2026
Social media best practices and technologies are evolving rapidly. If you want your social media marketing efforts to succeed, you must keep up with the latest fashions. Some of the companies on its list pay Business.com commissions. Editorial Guidelines.
How has video marketing on social media changed? Once upon a time, social media marketing was an exciting new method for businesses to promote their offerings. Businesses set up profiles, gathered followers and began posting regularly. In the beginning, low saturation meant that almost any business could get noticed with little effort. However, in today's world, nearly every business has a social media presence, and social media marketing has become increasingly nuanced and sophisticated. At the same time, new tools, best practices and trends continue to reshape how brands show up online.
Companies today need to know how to use the most recent trends and technologies for brand awareness, sales, customer service, and other purposes in order to succeed in social media marketing. Below, we’ll break down how social media marketing has changed and share practical guidance from experienced marketing and sales professionals.
How has marketing on social media changed? how marketing on social media has changed the graphic From simple cross-posting to complex, data-driven strategies, social media marketing has evolved. As a digital marketing strategy, the social media landscape has become significantly more competitive over time. Platforms are now crowded, and algorithms prioritize engagement over reach. The actual operation of social media marketing has been altered by all of this. What used to be a numbers game now requires more intention, from who you’re trying to reach to how your content shows up on each platform.
Here’s a look at 10 social media marketing trends shaping 2026 that brands should have on their radar.
1. Social media users today prefer short-form videos over long-form content.
Today’s social media users like video content — and they like it short and sweet. According to Wyzowl’s 2025 State of Video Marketing report, 89 percent of businesses use video as a marketing tool, and 85 percent of consumers say watching a video has convinced them to buy a product or service. When they’re trying to learn about a product, 63 percent say they prefer watching a short video.
“Short-form video content dominates, with platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels leading the charge,” said Jason Mudd, CEO of Axia Public Relations.
Digital video ad spending is expected to reach $72 billion in 2025, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau, due to the continued growth of video-first formats (including social video) despite advertisers' tight budgets. In other words, it’s not enough to simply post video content. What matters is what you share, how long it runs and where it lives.
For example, Facebook Live Q&As are well-suited for product demonstrations, TikTok’s short clips can help you connect with a younger audience, and a YouTube channel is a strong way to engage and educate your audience.
Tip
Marketing video content extends beyond social media. Adding videos to your website can keep visitors engaged longer, and customer video testimonials can help build brand trust.
2. In-app sales are today driven by social media marketing. Social commerce is no longer a side feature — it’s becoming a core sales channel. Most major platforms now support in-app purchases, allowing businesses to sell products directly through Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), TikTok and Pinterest without sending users elsewhere.
According to eMarketer, U.S. social commerce sales are expected to surpass $100 billion in 2026, with growth continuing even as year-over-year gains begin to moderate. When shopping is built directly into the feed, social selling shortens the path from discovery to purchase while users are already in buying mode.
Did You Know?
Social selling shows no signs of slowing down globally. Statista projects that worldwide social commerce revenues could exceed $1 trillion by 2028, driven largely by mobile-first markets and in-platform shopping tools.
3. Creator marketing now shapes buying decisions.
Influencer marketing has shifted from a nice-to-have awareness play to a real purchase driver, especially for younger consumers. A clear indication that creator content plays a direct role in what people end up buying is the fact that 79 percent of consumers say they have purchased a product after seeing it used by an influencer, as reported in IZEA's 2025 Trust in Influencer Marketing report. Consequently, brands are concentrating less on the number of followers and more on the creators whose content resonates with particular audiences. This is why: Engagment is typically higher among smaller creators. Aspire’s State of Influencer Marketing 2025 report found that 61 percent of marketers now work with nano- and micro-influencers — creators with as few as 2,500 followers — because they tend to deliver better engagement and campaign performance. These creators often come across as people their followers already know and trust, not traditional advertisers.
Trust matters more than reach. 53% of consumers prefer creators whose values align with their own, and 47% of consumers say authenticity matters most in the influencers they follow. Audiences are more receptive when creators show products as part of their regular content instead of dropping a single sponsored post.
Brands are following the results. Aspire projects the influencer marketing industry will reach $47.8 billion by 2027, with 71 percent of marketers planning to increase their influencer budgets.
4. Content created by users cuts through advertisements and builds trust. Ads fill the majority of social media feeds, and users are very good at skipping anything that seems like a hard sell. When a post looks overly produced or overly promotional, people usually scroll right past it.
User-generated content (UGC) doesn’t read the same way. It shows real customers using a product in their day-to-day lives, which makes it feel more like a recommendation than an ad.
According to Emplifi's director of customer solutions, Gabriel Tay, UGC can also produce measurable outcomes. Tay elaborated, "Unique content creation [UGC] contributed to driving 63 percent year-over-year revenue growth, underscoring just how compelling authentic content from real customers can be." "This is especially beneficial for small businesses because UGC can drive measurable outcomes across social platforms at no cost." For many brands, the next step is using that content more widely. Videos, pictures, and customer reviews can be used again and again in social media feeds, advertisements, product pages, and even email marketing campaigns. Encouraging customers to share how they use your product, whether through a hashtag, a giveaway or a feature on your own channels, helps turn everyday buyers into visible brand advocates.
FYI
Positive customer reviews are one of the most common forms of UGC, but they're far from the only option. Unboxing videos, customer photos, blog posts and podcast mentions can all serve as trusted, reusable content across your marketing channels.
5. Social media today welcomes experimentation.
For years, brands were told to keep their marketing tightly consistent across every channel. A clear voice still matters, but on social media, consistency doesn’t have to mean playing it safe.
Social media is being used by more brands to test concepts that wouldn't work in a traditional campaign, like a looser tone, unexpected images, or a little humor. Posts that break the pattern are often the ones people actually pause on as they scroll.
Social media also makes experimentation less risky. Posts move quickly, and not everything has to land perfectly to be worthwhile. Without committing to a full campaign, attempting something playful, topical, or unconventional can pique interest, humanize a brand, and provide quick feedback on what resonates. Did You Know?
Staying connected remains the top reason people use social media. According to Statista's 2025 global survey, just over half of users say they use social platforms primarily to stay in touch with friends and family, while many others turn to social media to pass the time, well ahead of following celebrities or influencers.
6. Today, social media marketing includes customer service on the platform. Social media accounts aren’t just for promotions anymore. For many customers, they’re one of the fastest ways to reach a brand when something goes wrong — or when something goes right.
People routinely turn to platforms like Instagram, Facebook and TikTok to ask questions, flag issues and share feedback, often in public. Customer support on X tends to be especially visible and fast-moving, which means brand responses (or the lack of them) can quickly shape public perception.
Handled well, social media support can strengthen customer loyalty and show that your business is paying attention. Quick, thoughtful responses signal accountability, while silence or canned replies can do the opposite. Many businesses now rely on social listening tools and the best CRM software to track messages, comments and brand mentions, making it easier for marketing and support teams to stay aligned and address issues before they escalate.
7. AI-created content on social media is here to stay.
AI is no longer a novelty in social media marketing. It’s become a practical way for teams to keep up with the pace and volume modern platforms demand. In McKinsey's global AI survey for 2025, 88% of businesses said they use AI in at least one business function, with generative tools most commonly used in marketing and sales. For many marketing teams, especially small ones, AI fills a real gap. Instead of replacing creativity, it helps handle the repetitive, time-consuming parts of social media work, such as:
writing and improving post copy for use on a variety of platforms transforming long-form content like blog posts, videos, and other content into social formats Developing or evaluating brand images and other visual assets without arranging for extensive photo shoots Mood Magic's founder, Lee Gentry, has witnessed this shift firsthand. Gentry provided the following explanation: "Our customers come to us to augment or replace their traditional photo production pipeline with generative AI to save time and money." “Some of our clients report savings of up to 91% in time and up to 99% in costs. The quality and accuracy of the technology are already at a point where synthetic content is indiscernible from analog.” Gentry mentioned that results differ depending on the use case and production setup. 8. Social listening helps brands keep a finger on the conversation.
For a long time, brands relied on survey data, focus groups or gut instinct to understand how customers felt. Now, much of that feedback is already out in the open, playing out in comments, mentions and replies across social platforms.
Social listening helps marketers pay attention to those conversations in real time. Tracking brand mentions, keywords, and hashtags with tools like Sprout Social, Meltwater, and Brandwatch makes it easier for teams to see what's working and what isn't. Social listening can be used for more than just preventing problems. It can bring product feedback, new trends, and questions that people are already asking to light, often before those insights appear in sales data. It also gives brands a chance to spot brewing issues early and respond thoughtfully, rather than scrambling once a problem has gone public.
Tip
Email can also be influenced by what you hear on social media. Repeated questions, feedback or themes often translate well into email newsletters or updates, especially when you're using the best email marketing services to tailor messages to different audiences.
9. Today, social search is becoming increasingly important. For many people, especially younger users, social media has become a starting point for product research, not just a place to scroll. They are searching directly on social platforms rather than opening a search engine in order to view demos, reviews, comments, and opinions from actual customers. That shift is already showing up in usage data. For example, according to Statista, 41 percent of respondents say they’ve used TikTok as a search engine. Additionally, according to the We Are Social Digital 2026 Global Overview Report, 43.7 percent of consumers use social platforms to conduct online brand research. Discoverability is more important than ever as social feeds double as search results. Tay emphasized that brands must consider more than merely posting for engagement. “To win on social media marketing [in the future], businesses need to ensure their content is both discoverable and searchable on social platforms,” he advised. “Creating educational and informative content that directly addresses consumer queries will be a crucial strategy.”
10. Social media marketing now comes with clearer rules.
Social media marketing isn’t unregulated anymore, and most brands know it. Disclosure requirements, data use and transparency expectations are now part of doing business on social platforms, not edge cases.
In the U.S., the Federal Trade Commission has updated its Endorsement Guides, raising the bar for how influencers and brand partners disclose paid relationships. When you collaborate with creators, that responsibility extends beyond them. It is expected of brands to make sure that disclosures are easy for users to understand, consistent, and clear. Regulators, including the FTC, are also taking a closer look at how consumer data is collected and used for targeted advertising, so it’s smart to stay conservative with data practices and be clear with customers about what you collect and why. The easiest way for marketers to stay safe as these rules change is to lead with transparency, use data sparingly, and avoid strategies that only work in gray areas. What is the future of social media marketing?
Graphic of the future of social media marketing The future of social media marketing will harness AI, video and advocacy to deepen customer connections.
Nothing about social media is guaranteed, and the technology behind it keeps moving fast. Still, the way platforms and audiences are evolving gives us a pretty clear sense of where social media marketing is headed. These are a few trends worth watching.
AI and chatbots As social media has become a go-to customer service channel, more brands are using AI chatbots on their social profiles to answer common questions and route more complex issues to live support teams.
Advances in natural language processing have pushed chatbots well beyond simple scripted responses. Today’s AI-powered assistants can handle more natural back-and-forth conversations, offer tailored product suggestions and resolve routine issues without a human stepping in. While still meeting customers where they are, this reduces the volume of incoming calls and emails for many businesses. FYI
Many of the best call center software platforms now include AI chatbot tools or support them through third-party integrations. These systems are increasingly used for omnichannel communication, making it easier for businesses to manage social media messages alongside phone, chat and email in one place.
Brand advocates at work Not every brand has the budget — or the appetite — for influencer marketing. Instead, many are leaning on something simpler: their own employees.
When employees talk about their work or share content from their employer on social media, it often has more weight than a paid post. These are real people, using their own voices, with firsthand experience of the product or service. That credibility is increasingly difficult to acquire and difficult to fake. However, genuine employee advocacy is essential for its success. Audiences will quickly spot forced enthusiasm or copy-and-paste captions, especially when it all sounds the same. Employee engagement and a strong company culture matter here, as team members are much more likely to participate when they actually like where they work and feel comfortable speaking in their own words.
Closed groups and private communities
As organic reach continues to shrink on public feeds, more brands are experimenting with smaller, private communities where they have more control over who sees — and responds to — their content.
On platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram, invitation-only groups may function more like member spaces than traditional social channels. When done well, these groups give brands a direct line to their most engaged customers and create room for more honest feedback, discussion and testing than a public post ever could.
Some businesses are also moving these conversations off major platforms entirely, using private community tools like Circle to host branded spaces with messaging, live events and member-only content. The objective is not to replace social media; rather, it is to establish a platform where engagement is unaffected by an algorithm. Live video events
Evergreen video still does a lot of heavy lifting for brands, but live video offers something pre-recorded content can’t: immediacy. When audiences know something is happening in real time, it feels more human and less polished, which is often the point.
Today, live video is less about chasing massive view counts and more about creating moments of access. For product walkthroughs, Q&A sessions, launches, and behind-the-scenes looks, brands are using live formats that encourage participation rather than passive viewing. When done well, these events help build trust and spark more meaningful engagement than a standard post.
While live events can take place on a variety of platforms, such as Twitch, TikTok, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and TikTok, relying too heavily on just one platform poses a risk. Live content should be distributed across multiple destinations or repurposed after the event, as platform rules, algorithms, and features frequently change.