2026 social trends — the live recap
Our live Q1 recap: what worked, what flopped, and what's about to hit everyone's feeds next.
March 1, 2026 · 45 min watch
A live 45-minute teardown of 2026's first-quarter social landscape. What actually moved the needle for growing brands, what the big agencies spent budget learning, and which formats are likely to dominate the next two quarters.
What worked in Q1
Vertical video formats held their ground. Brand-specific AI voice training stopped feeling optional. Community-led growth outperformed paid acquisition in three of the five verticals we tracked.
What flopped
Generic AI-generated imagery tanked engagement across every vertical. 'Inspirational' brand posting with no product tie-in continued its downward run. Longer-form LinkedIn posts beat carousels for B2B.
What's next
Pre-production approvals are moving from 'nice to have' to 'how do you ship without this?'. Instagram's Story-with-link-stickers API is quietly becoming the highest-converting organic channel. And AI-written insight commentary is rapidly moving from 'neat' to 'the only way your CMO opens the report.'
Full recording
Watch the full 45-minute replay via the link in the resource description above. Q&A included.
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