Social-First Trends 2026

Post-trend era, death of the funnel and five other trends for social-first in 2026

Social media marketing evolves in 2026 to an ever more all-encompassing and sales-driving part of the media mix, states our new report. Trends predictions by 22 agencies from thenetworkone, the world’s leading independent agency network, were compiled into a 90-page report to help marketers make the most of the changing media landscape.

The annual report compiled by SAMY identifies seven key trends for 2026.

“This is the 13th time we’ve compiled our trends report, and rarely have there been more interesting insights, comments Jari Lähdevuori, the analyst-in-chief of the report, and Executive Creative Director at SAMY Nordics.

“We’re seeing huge shifts all over the funnel – even the reshaping of that funnel itself. What’s more, social is no longer just about social media. As the report shows, social is best used as a starting point for something that can span all other touchpoints, too. To highlight the sea change, we renamed our report: from social media trends to social-first trends.”

Download our free report (pdf)

Access the PDF directly without entering any additional information.