The IF Blog: Social Media Insights and Trends

2016 is when social stopped being “posts in a feed” and became a ranked system that decides what gets seen, shared, trusted. In 2026 that same logic sits everywhere, in-platform search, Google snippets, and AI overviews that summarise your brand before anyone clicks. Ofcom says around 30% of UK keyword searches now show AI overviews, and 53% of adults often see AI summaries. The uncomfortable truth is that buyers get a machine-written version of you, then sanity-check it with humans in DMs and group chats. Brands win when their claims are clear, proof is easy to find, and real people show up consistently.

AI is helping B2B organic content rebound on LinkedIn and Reddit, so SEO optimisation for posts has never been more important. We’ve got a playbook to help you get started on boosting that organic visibility on Google and LLMs. First things first – we do often preach here at Immediate…

B2B marketing feels slower because you’re selling to a buying group, not a decision maker. Forrester says the average buying decision involves 13 people and 89% of purchases involve two or more departments. Add three generations with different trust cues and you get rework, internal debate, and “one more version” forever. Buyers are also doing more research without sales, which makes guessing expensive. This LinkedIn Live with Tejal Patel is about buyer behaviour, trust cues, and what social is doing in research and validation, so you can build one narrative that travels across the group and saves your team time.

We’re only a couple of weeks into 2026, and social already feels…different, in the best way possible. This year isn’t just about flashy new features or the next viral sound; it’s about making the internet feel more human, more useful, and a lot less exhausting.

Buyers are hunting answers, and social is deciding who they trust The short answer Mahoosive behaviour change for customers is already here. Search is being replaced by an answer layer, and social is feeding it. When Google’s AI Overviews show up, people click less, sessions end sooner, and your carefully-crafted…

Social media is where brands get seen, heard and remembered. But behind every post, reply, and campaign is a person juggling deadlines, algorithms and constant feedback. If we ignore the mental health of social media professionals, we risk burning out the very people who keep our brands visible. Social media…

Instagram has announced a significant change to how hashtags work on the platform, introducing a new limit of five hashtags per post. The update, which will be rolled out gradually, is part of Instagram’s ongoing efforts to reduce spam, improve content quality, and refine how people discover…

Reddit has quietly become one of the most useful places for B2B marketers to understand where real buying conversations are happening. But not by pretending to be ‘part of the community’. No, brands should not be joining subreddits to “spark discussion”.Thought leadership doesn’t really work anonymous forums – and the…

We’re closing on 24 December and back on 5 January. Before we switch off, a straight take on what 2025 proved about social, what actually worked, and what we think will matter most in 2026.

Your 2026 plan is hiding in your 2025 panic I have spent the last couple of months sat with marketers who are knee deep in 2026 planning. Everyone is wrestling with the same mix of fear and ambition. Budgets are flat or shrinking, targets are going up, AI is quietly…

As 2026 rolls in, design feels smarter, warmer, and far more personal. We’re waving goodbye to the overly polished perfection of past years and stepping into an era that blends aesthetics with intelligence. The upcoming trends reflect a world that’s as intuitive as it is beautiful, with a little dash…

It’s been a while since AI really took off on social networks. On LinkedIn, it’s been a mixed bag – and we don’t see AI as all bad, but we do see the limitations. If you’re doing paid or doing one-click content/responses…we advise you to read on. Firstly, some stats…

Community isn’t a channel, it’s how your social actually works Over the last few weeks I have lost count of how many marketers have said some version of this to me: “We’re thinking about community for 2026.” Often it comes with a hopeful look, as if community will magically fix…

 A few weeks ago we wrote about Instagram testing a brand-new way to help creators grow their audiences, and it centres around Early Access Reels. This new feature lets creators publish a Reel that only their followers can watch for a set period of time. Anyone who…

Christmas on social media is a brilliant excuse to play, experiment, and add a little magic to your feed. It’s not just about throwing red and green everywhere; it’s about capturing that cosy, festive feeling in a way that still feels true to your brand and your style. Start with…