If you’ve seen Hootsuite’s Social Trends 2026 report (and if you haven’t yet, you should!), you’ll know it’s packed with insights on how social media is evolving this year. Rather than pass on the whole thing (it’s a whopping 46 pages, and we know your time is precious!), we’ve pulled out our key takeaways so that you can check out what matters most for home and garden brands, and their marketers and comms teams.
So whether you’re reviewing your content strategy or planning budgets for the year ahead, these trends offer a clear lens into how social platforms are behaving and evolving, and most importantly, what audiences are responding to.
Culture is key to reaching the right audience
Knowing your target audience has always been important, but over the past 12 months, it’s clear that different generations are responding to very different cultural cues, and brands need to tune into that nuance.
Gen Alpha, for example, is gravitating towards surreal, chaotic, often humorous content that feels playful and unpolished. Meanwhile, Millennials and Gen Z are increasingly drawn to messaging that reflecting real life, prioritising work-life balance, mental wellbeing, and brands that align with their beliefs and struggles. Gen X, on the other hand, continues to engage strongly with nostalgia-led content that taps into familiarity and shared cultural moments.
Understanding your audience culturally, not just demographically, is now essential. Content that tries to speak to everyone often ends up resonating with (you guessed it) no one! Brands that take the time to understand what their audience cares about, and how they want to feel, are the ones that will cut through.
Attention is a scare commodity
One of the big themes in the report is that attention is more valuable, and harder to capture, than ever before (and that’s really saying something!). Short-form content, micro-dramas and page-clipping behaviour are signs that audiences aren’t just scrolling – they’re scanning fast and deciding instantly what’s worth their time.
Generic content simply won’t cut it. Winning content must now meet a clear need, answer a question or fit into a moment in culture.
Brands should therefore focus on relevance over volume. You don’t need to be posting x4 times a week to get seen – you need to make sure every post is worth your followers time and attention, either by entertaining or educating your audience.
Social is becoming a search engine
Social platforms aren’t just feeds to see what your friends or celebs have been up to anymore – they are destinations for discovery. In 2026, social content needs to be optimised for search and discovery, not just engagement. That includes captions, keywords, photo alt text, and even audio descriptions where relevant. Platforms like TikTok, Instagram and LinkedIn are increasingly indexing content for broader search use.
You might have already seen accounts ditching a long list of hashtags in favour of a list of a couple of keywords, so always create content with discoverability in mind.
The trick is to make your content both SEO-friendly and user-friendly – no one wants to read a caption crammed full of keywords! Luckily for home and garden brands, we can help strike that balance by crafting copy that exudes your brand voice while ticking the search engine boxes. Find out more here!
AI is here to stay, but trust is the real currency
AI tools are now firmly part of the social media landscape (and let’s face it, the whole marketing landscape!), helping teams move faster, test ideas and analyse performance more efficiently. That means big opportunities for social teams!
But the report highlights an important tension – audiences are becoming more sceptical of what they see online. As AI-generated content becomes trickier to spot, users are questioning what’s real, what’s been overly polished, and what’s been produced without much human thought behind it.
That’s why authenticity matters more than ever. Content that feels too perfect or too generic can quickly erode trust. Brands should therefore show real people, honest opinions and slightly imperfect moments to feel more credible, and more relatable.
Influencer activity is evolving
With authenticity reining supreme in 2026, one-off influencer posts and vanity metrics like number of followers or reach will no longer cut it when it comes to influencer collaborations. Instead, longer-term partnerships should be prioritised, allowing followers to gain trust, communities to grow, and stories to develop naturally. This is something we already do here at Honest – check out our work with Hillier Garden Centres and its partner content creators in 2025 here.
Employee advocacy amplifies this effect. When team members share their own experience or expertise, it humanises the brand and builds trust. At the same time, internal teams are becoming content creators, blending brand voice with personality to make messaging feel genuine and relatable.
Influence now thrives through ecosystems of authentic voices – whether that’s creators, employees, or internal storytellers, all working together. Brands that embrace this approach build deeper trust and stronger connections than those relying on faceless channels alone.
So, how can brands apply these trends to social strategies?
These trends show that social success in 2026 isn’t about chasing the algorithm – it’s about understanding your audience, being purposeful with content and blending creativity with smart strategy.
If you want to dive deeper, download the full Hootsuite Social Trends Report here and explore the insights in full detail.
And if you’re thinking “Great, now how do I turn this into action?” get in touch with us at Honest Communications for expert social support. We’re a specialist home and garden PR and social media agency, and we’d love to help you bring these trends to life!