NEW YORK, Feb. 03, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Dash Social today released the first issue of its 2026 Social Media Trends Report, The New Rules of Social Discovery and Distribution, offering a timely look at how discovery and distribution are evolving across social platforms.
The report reveals a new reality for marketers: social no longer follows a single playbook. As discovery shifts beyond owned audiences, creative quality has become the primary driver of reach, influencing how far content travels in the algorithm and how momentum builds across platforms and formats over time. Creative excellence is not one-size-fits-all, with performance increasingly driven by content tailored to how different audiences discover, engage with and share content across platforms, rather than by uniform brand formulas or past best practices.
Drawing on performance data and case studies from brands including Brooklinen, TRESemmé and Vevo, the report outlines six trends shaping social performance in 2026. From the rise of non-follower discovery to the growing influence of creators and purpose-driven publishing, the findings point to a clear shift: volume and follower count are no longer reliable indicators of success.
Social performance is now earned through relevance, not scale. As algorithms prioritize entertainment and creator-led discovery, brands investing in brand-specific creative intelligence are pulling ahead.
“Social discovery doesn’t follow a single formula anymore,” said Maggie Hickey, executive vice president of marketing at Dash Social. “What drives impact for one brand won’t work for another. The brands breaking through pair strong creative instincts with brand-specific intelligence, turning creativity into sustained momentum and measurable impact.”
Six Trends Defining Social Media Performance in 2026
The 2026 Social Media Trends Report analyzes platform performance data across TikTok and Instagram to identify six shifts shaping how brands earn reach today:
- Growth Lives Outside Follower Count: For You Page impressions have risen from 31 per cent in 2023 to 58 per cent by the end of 2025 and Instagram non-follower views grew from 30 per cent in 2024 to 49 per cent in 2025. As algorithms accelerate non-follower discovery, brands need to measure outcomes, not audience size.
- Performance Increasingly Hinges On Creative Quality: Entertaining content directly extends watch time from six to nine seconds on TikTok and Instagram, reinforcing creative quality as a primary performance driver.
- Creative AI Needs Brand Direction: Creative AI performs best when grounded in historical performance. At Anthropologie, AI-predicted top content drove 142 per cent higher engagement and 54 per cent higher reach than low-predicted content.
- Social Is Not One-Size-Fits-All: Content performs differently across platforms and formats, making cross-channel measurement more complex. Tower 28 Beauty and Brooklinen show how distinct strategies can drive impact: 54 per cent of Tower 28’s Total Social Impact (TSI) comes from TikTok, while 26 per cent of Brooklinen’s TSI is driven by Pinterest.
- Creators and UGC Are Driving More Social Impact: UGC’s share of TSI grew from 8.2 per cent to 13.3 per cent in two years, with TikTok emerging as the leading driver of creator-led discovery.
- Purposeful Content Drives Performance: Brands posting fewer than six times per week see higher engagement, up 13 per cent on Instagram and 63 per cent on TikTok compared to higher-volume posting.
Creative Intelligence as a Competitive Advantage
The report underscores a clear opportunity for brands: connect social performance across channels and use brand-specific intelligence to guide creative decisions. When teams pair a holistic view of impact with AI grounded in their own brand intelligence, they earn greater discovery, protect brand integrity, and turn creativity into sustained momentum across their social footprint.
Access the Full Report
Dash Social’s Social Media Trends Report: The New Rules of Social Discovery and Distribution is now available and provides actionable insights, benchmark and brand examples to help marketers adapt to today’s entertainment-first algorithms.
Download the full report here.
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About Dash Social
Dash Social is a social media management platform that equips brands with intelligence and speed to stay ahead of the curve. Through its sophisticated cross-channel insights and workflow tools, Dash Social enables brands to create content that entertains, engages and drives consistent business results. To discover how Dash Social empowers brands to outsmart social, visit dashsocial.com.
