How organic social will really contribute to business growth in 2026

Plenty of social media-related companies, brands and creators have created some excellent summaries of 2025 or predictions for 2026.

This is something different.

These are my thoughts on the role organic social should have for any business in 2026.

Organic social in 2026 is all about building recognition, then trust

It’s not too unfair to say that there’s still a huge amount of scepticism in organic social from those sitting on SLTs or in board meetings.

I get it, and I’ve faced those questions.

In these ‘high-performing/high-growth’ businesses, social is often forced to behave another advertising platform that pumps out sales messages to its audiences rather than its more effective use as a channel that builds community, connection and trust.

The thinking, largely from the top, is that every marketing channel needs to directly support sales and growth, ahead of a future sale or further investment.

As pointed out by Megan Morreale in her Sprout Social article, “Organic content helps brands build relationships and earn consumers’ trust. People are generally more inclined to trust content that doesn’t look like an ad…”. This holds a lot of uncomfortable truths for those wanting instant results – that’s not organic social’s role for your business.

The brands that get the most from it (e.g. that airline, that supermarket, that gambling company) don’t treat like it like a broadcast channel or one-off campaign, but with the consistency it deserves. They recognise its about about delivering a regular, recognisable brand presence in audiences’ feeds – wrapped up in the messages they want people to connect with – and underpinned by a connection to business goals.

You can’t achieve this by endless sales messages – they don’t build memory, trust or relevance.

Your audience is researching – it’s time to be visible and discoverable

While the general principle of the marketing funnel still exists in some loose form, it’s really the messy middle that more accurately demonstrates customer decision-making.

And social media plays a role in all of it.

It’s often one of the first places we discover new brands, seek reassuring opinions or look for trust signals, or just absentmindedly scroll to switch off from other noise. It can also be the place where we’re finally convinced to go and make that purchase. Brand activity on social media platforms should connect business goals with real customer challenges, delivering content that fulfills as many of those needs as possible. If you help your audience make more sense of what you do, or the challenge that you can help fix, you’ll start to win.

More importantly, it helps senior teams to recognise that discovery is multi-layered process that doesn’t start and end with: “We have this product, you should buy it.”

The rise of social search makes this even more important in 2026.

An absent or ineffective organic social media presence means fewer touchpoints in early consideration and research journeys. In non-marketing speak, that means: if you’re not showing up, customers can’t find you.

If audiences can research, so can you

Research works both ways. While potential customers will use social to find out more about you as a company – you can do the same about them.

It’s why audience research is one of the most important stages of any social media strategy work – or any marketing generally. This can be as direct as simply asking them for product or service feedback, or wider questions that give you insight into their thought processes.

Comments and engagement reveal can reveal just as much as data, often more. And social media is the perfect testing ground to directly dig around to try and find things your audience likes and, in particular, the things they don’t. You can also understand the language they use, either to make your engagement-led content more relevant and interesting, or to playback to other teams in your business.

Despite many of his cringeworthy flaws, Jeff Bezos said: “When the data and the anecdotes disagree, the anecdotes are usually right.” This is why social listening, or even reading your own comments, are vital.

Don’t forget, you can also have some fun with audience ‘research’! (That link is a hilarious way to spend five minutes).

And after all of this, if you still need to convince a budget-holder why research on social matters, just explain how cheap it is!

Organic social is strategic, not ‘just’ content

A big criticism that’s often levelled internally at organic social is that it’s mostly an entertainment channel, and – despite the success of Ryanair, Aldi or Paddy Power – it’s a hard battle to try and win.

But social media is strategic, if used effectively. And those brands are proof.

And if budget if something that’s holding you back, then it’s important to prioritise your efforts where they’re most needed. Research will give you that insight.

By understanding some core questions about the business and your audience, you’re far better prepared to really make an impact. Setting those foundations early not only shows nous, but also critical understanding of the business of your business: how it wins or loses customers.

Most importantly… how it makes money!

In 2026, organic social doesn’t need to justify itself as entertainment – it earns its place by making the rest of your marketing work harder.

About Dave Endsor and Chapter

I'm Dave, a social media strategist and founder of Chapter. I have over 15+ years of agency and in-house experience, helping hundreds of people and businesses use social media more confidently, strategically, and purposefully.

I've worked with well-known brands including Blue Light Card, Miller Homes, Bayer, The Access Group and many more.

Fun fact: I led the social media team that helped Game of Thrones star, Emilia Clarke, launch her charity SameYou.