There’s no crystal ball in an industry where trends change as quickly as feeds refresh, but that won’t stop us from making predictions.

We asked experts and executives in the marketing industry what they think will be the biggest social media trends to watch for throughout 2026.

AI, but maybe only in private: If there’s one thing Dan Murphy, SVP of marketing at Liquid Death, expects to see this year on social, it’s “more and more AI slop,” which he would like to reserve the right to engage in if only for parody purposes. “It’s this weird, confusing time where you see something with high production value and you assume a lot of thought has gone into it, but it’s no longer the case,” he said, adding that “the ability to create content has so far outpaced good content” creation.

As generative AI makes it easier to churn out pictures and videos, Manu Orssaud, CMO of Duolingo, said brands should seek to put forth extra effort to stand out. “As audiences become overwhelmed by automated content, attention will shift toward content that feels real and intentional,” he said. “Originality and personality will matter more than ever.”

Craig Brommers, CMO of American Eagle, predicts a return to longer-form storytelling on platforms in response to the rise of AI-generated content, citing the brand’s success on platforms like Substack. “It’s clear that our mostly Gen Z audience is craving deeper understanding, deeper connection, and deeper differentiation,” he told us.

Continue reading here.—KH

Like it or not, there was no doubt that AI had a huge influence on marketing last year.

Whether it was AI-generated ad creative’s increasing frequency, the tech’s proliferation on CTV platforms, or the focus on building “algorithmic trust” to improve brand visibility when consumers shop using AI-powered tools, AI is reshaping marketing workflows and objectives. In the new year, there’s no sign of it slowing down.

We asked several CMOs and marketers what they’re prioritizing in 2026—and unsurprisingly, adjusting to AI continues to be a top focus. We rounded up some of those marketers’ answers below to get a sense of how they continue to adopt the new technology.

Brand discovery: “How do you get your brand discovered in a world of AI? The landscape has completely shifted, and so [we are] really heavily focused on how we are showing up everywhere that people are searching online. Whether that’s on Instagram, whether that’s on LLMs, whether that’s in Google, showing up in AI overviews, brand discovery has completely shifted.”—Sara Brooks, chief growth officer, BetterHelp

Focusing on human power: “AI is changing the center of gravity in marketing. Execution is increasingly automated, so our teams’ value comes from what AI can’t do—deep customer insight, strategic judgment, and creative curiosity. My priority is building a culture of “master prompters” who know how to get the best out of AI to move faster while differentiating us in ways that are more human.”—Thomas Ranese, CMO, Intuit

Trying it out: “One of my top priorities is upskilling my team—helping everyone get more hands-on with AI to work smarter, collaborate better, and build new ways of operating. The first step: giving people permission to experiment…I encourage my teams to test various tools, summarizing documents, refining messaging, and finding all the big and small ways AI can simplify workflows.

The next big opportunity is rethinking how our teams work in an AI-first world: redesigning processes, expanding roles, and giving people more ownership across end-to-end workflows. The upside is huge: new opportunities, new skills, and real career growth.”—Stacy Martinet, VP of integrated marketing and communications, Adobe

Continue reading here.—AM, JS, JN, KH, KM

Throughout last year, retail media continued to outgrow, well, retail.

Case in point: WPP recently expanded its commerce-driven ad revenue reporting to include travel and financial services media networks in the network’s recent advertising forecast, reflecting retail media’s evolution into commerce media as brands from more categories have joined in. The agency’s forecast predicts that commerce media will account for 15.6% of total ad revenue in 2025 and 17.2% by 2030. That 15.6% represents about $178.2 billion in ad revenue, bringing the spend above that of total TV ad revenue for the first time.

“One of the most significant shifts in 2026 will be the redefinition of what ‘retail’ actually means,” Nick Van Sicklen, CEO of luxury marketing agency Interluxe Group, told us in an email, noting that he expects luxury brands to grow their own efforts in the space. “Travel, hospitality, automotive, and experience-led brands are increasingly behaving like retailers, owning first-party demand signals and transaction data.”

To understand how the retail, er, commerce media landscape will continue to evolve in 2026, we caught up with experts in the space to understand what could be coming next, be it consolidation or disruption.

Continue reading here.—KM