The State of Social 2026, what the trust gap means for brands and how to win

A major industry report by BrandWatch, published on 24 September 2025, analysed 910 million online mentions to understand how brands can succeed on social in 2026. The headline is clear, most brand conversations happen without you. Reputation is being made, or broken, in the 99 per cent of conversations where brands are not present.

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Fast highlights for 2026

• 99 per cent of brand conversations happen without brands present
• Mentions of hidden fees rose 40 per cent, deinfluencing mentions rose 79 per cent
• 54 per cent of ad conversations are negative, authenticity in influencer mentions is up 66 per cent

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Why trust is breaking down, and how to turn it in your favour

1) Transparency gaps into honesty wins

Consumers expect clear pricing and truthful claims. Hidden fees and over-promised products generate backlash and fuel deinfluencing content.
Practical moves:

• Publish clear pricing and explain any extras up front
• Set realistic product expectations and provide proof such as tests, FAQs and return data
• Acknowledge mistakes quickly and share fixes in plain language

2) Bad experiences into loyalty

Delivery delays, slow refunds and unhelpful support drive boycotts and do not buy threads. Helpful service and stress free resolutions earn disproportionate praise.
Practical moves:

• Show service standards publicly and meet them
• Use automation for simple tasks, escalate to humans quickly for complex issues
• Measure time to calm and time to refund, not only first response time

3) Digital overload into mindful engagement

Mentions of digital detox and social anxiety continue to grow. People want healthier experiences.
Practical moves:

• Reduce posting frequency and increase usefulness
• Ship lighter formats such as checklists, one tip posts and calm how tos
• Offer screen light moments such as phone free events and time boxed campaigns

4) Ad fatigue into value first connections

More than half of ad related conversations are negative. Clickbait erodes trust.
Practical moves:

• Replace clickbait with clear benefit headlines and evidence
• Target by intent and cap frequency
• Offer control with skippable or quiet formats and include a reason to save or share

5) Superficial influence into authentic impact

Audiences reward disclosure and lived experience. Micro and niche creators often convert because they feel real. Finance and other high stakes categories face higher scrutiny.
Practical moves:

• Prioritise creators with community trust over raw reach
• Insist on proper disclosure and evidence, especially in regulated sectors
• Use hybrid compensation models such as fixed fee plus outcome bonus and allow creative freedom

6) AI anxiety into a human first approach

People like AI that solves real problems. They dislike AI that adds friction, cost or environmental harm.
Practical moves:

• Explain what your AI does, where data goes and how to opt out
• Keep humans available for review and escalation
• Publish performance and accuracy benchmarks that matter to customers

Platform rules of engagement for 2026

TikTok

• Join culture rather than dominate it
• Use trend scaffolding and add utility within the first three seconds
• Collaborate with creators and keep series consistent

Instagram

• Use Reels for reach, Stories and comments for depth
• Social proof and UGC outperform polish when trust is the goal
• Pair shoppable moments with education and FAQs

LinkedIn

• Teach with specifics, frameworks and case studies
• Executive voice works when it is frequent, useful and human
• Webinars and carousels convert when they deliver real takeaways

Reddit

• Be a person, declare interests and be useful
• Participate in existing communities and avoid sales language
• Host AMAs only when you can answer hard questions

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Your social expectation matrix

• Be clear: pricing, product limits, delivery and data use
• Be fast: respond where the conversation is happening, not only on owned channels
• Be useful: one concrete takeaway per post, save worthy beats scroll stopping
• Be accountable: disclose partnerships, publish fixes and close the loop publicly
• Be human: match the tone of the community, not the tone of a press release

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Execution blueprint, from insight to live in a week

Many in house teams take 1.5 to 2 months to move from insight to live campaign, due to sourcing creators, contracts, approvals and measurement setup. A specialist agency with pre-vetted partners and established workflows can launch in as little as seven days.

Day 1 to 2, listen and decide

• Spin up listening dashboards for category, competitors and care topics
• Identify trust gaps, hidden fee risks, ad fatigue triggers and creator opportunity spaces

Day 3 to 4, design and resource

• Draft creative north stars and disclosure ready creator briefs
• Shortlist creators with audience fit and clean track records
• Build a measurement plan with incrementality or holdouts where possible

Day 5 to 7, launch and learn

• Contract, asset handoff and pre flight checks
• Go live on one primary platform, syndicate to two secondary channels
• Report daily on saves, shares, comment sentiment and search lift

Roundup, the state of social in 2026

Frustrations around intrusive ads, hidden fees and poor experiences are widening the trust gap. The upside is significant for brands that respond with transparency, useful content, authentic creators and human centred AI. Trust has become the real currency of social. Brands that listen, adapt and act with clarity will earn it.

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