Digital Content Trends to Watch in 2026

With 2025 coming to a close, and all eyes moving to what our content will look like in the coming year, it’s time for all the content strategists on the internet to predict what’s to come.

I’ll summarize here: I think this is the year of focusing on your story and letting it lead your strategy in a way that feels authentic, grounded, and motivational.

But if you want to know more about the top content strategy trends for 2026 and how you can use them in your own planning, read on.

1. Long-form Content

Long-form content consumption has been seen as the antidote to our society’s lost attention spans, with popular TikToks dedicated to sharing what articles or longer videos people have been watching. It’s been on the horizon for a while now, but I predict that a trend in content strategy for 2026 is going to be content that allows for deep dives, sharing, and sparks conversations.

The best part is that this actually works nicely with the updated best practices for SEO, AEO, and GEO, which all reward relevant, quality writing over keyword stuffing.

Don’t be afraid to produce content that can be digested over their morning coffee or highlighted and shared with friends. Think of how popular the platform Substack became this year alone, reaching a staggering 5 million paid subscribers. Blogs are back, baby.

And it goes for videos as well. Maybe it's streaming fatigue, but more and more people are turning back to YouTube for their entertainment. Polls show that the platform was outpacing others for growth in 2025. While short-form videos like Reels and TikTok are still popular, it might be a good time to incorporate content repurposing into your strategy for 2026.

This trend can even be used in writing for social platforms. Instagram recently changed its algorithm to reward relevant, quality captions over hashtag use. Storytelling that lives in the captions or a video that acts more as a CTA to get audiences to read the caption are going to be everywhere. Something I’ve personally been enjoying is using captions in my IG photos. I like the way it turns a carousel into something more like a short story about whatever moment I’ve shared.

2. Authentic, off-the-cuff, content

We live online. We answer emails throughout the day, unwind while scrolling, and notice, on average, around 100 ads a day.

Meanwhile, people are experiencing influencer fatigue and are feeling less brand loyalty than in previous years.

The kind of content that’s going to catch people’s attention in 2026 might not be the super-curated stuff we’ve been seeing.

Instead, consider showing content that’s a bit more authentic.

Relatable.

Off the cuff.

Ok, that’s all great, but I’m not going to show the pile of coffee mugs next to my desk in the name of authenticity. So, what does that mean?

Talk about your struggles or what you’ve learned.

Everyone loves an underdog, so show people where you came from.

Find your story and stick to it.

Where did you come from? Why did you begin? Own your story and make it a pillar in your content strategy.

Create authentic behind-the-scenes content.

Brainstorms, scribbling out ideas, how to stay awake during a day full of meetings- we’ve all been there

Share thoughts from your commute.

Show your audience how you prepare for your day, what you listen to on the way to work, and what you’re prepping for.

3. Nostalgia and Analogue

For a few years now, polaroid cameras, digital cameras, and filters to make photos look retro, have been en vogue. I’ve been seeing more people uploading videos with the grainy quality of the handheld video recorders of my childhood. Starbucks is saying it’s going back to a cozy feel, comparing it to Friends.

Consumers are hungry for simpler times when we couldn’t see every pore on a model’s face and photos were to remember moments, not sell a lifestyle. Like the previous trend, this could partially be because we’re being sold to and talked at for most of our waking hours.

I think we can expect to see more images and designs that capitalize on the warm, grainy, blurred imagery that makes consumers feel something and connect with simpler times. Think back to the Global Village Coffeehouse vibes, the communal feeling from shows set in pre-9/11 New York, uploading unedited photos of a night out and then disappearing offline while you live your life.

And maybe this comes into play with content that sounds more like you’re talking to someone in person vs digitally. Maybe companies begin setting up a sort of office hour coffee house chat to announce new initiatives to the public or share exciting news. We could also be seeing a resurgence of more print marketing materials, especially when paired with a well-placed QR code.

4. Rallying around a cause

As Sprout Social mentioned in their trends for 2026, audiences want to feel like they are part of something bigger and it helps YOU when you build a community rather than just a customer base.

One way to capitalize on this is to choose a cause and mobilize your audience.

Is part of your authentic content about how you built your company because you needed non-toxic beauty products after a cancer scare? Did you struggle in school and create something that would have helped you? Pick a cause and connect it to your business.

Not only does this help your customers feel more connected to your brand, but it also helps them feel good about spending their money with you.

5. Transparency

On the topic of money, people want to know where their money is going, what it’s getting them, and whether their values align with the company they are buying from. There are a few angles you can lean into for this:

Quality

Let them know about the quality of your CPG product, where it’s sourced from, and the story behind it. Along with rising prices has come an interest in materials that make the goods people are buying worth it. This is an especially good angle for clothing and goods made from sustainable or natural products. It can also work well with food, beverage, and beauty industries.

Feel-good Spending

Talk about the causes you support and donate to, or show your employees and leadership giving back to the community. As mentioned above, this can help customers feel more connected to your brand. It also shows them where their money is going. They can feel better about spending with your company if they know a portion is going to a good cause.

The Humble-brag

Does your company pride itself on low carbon emissions? Tell your audience about it and show the proof via charts and infographics. Do your employees enjoy fantastic, out-of-the-ordinary care, such as on-site child care? There could be some great thought leadership pieces or employee-driven content discussing the benefits of this.

6. AI Integration that focuses on our weaknesses

At some point, the use of AI will even out. Right now, it’s a polarizing topic, and rightly so. For whatever reason, AI was created and immediately positioned as a tool that could replace any human in a job, beginning with creative fields.

2026 may bring a happy medium where people agree that no, AI cannot produce art or literature that matters the way human-created art does, but what it can do is help with the aspects of our lives that we struggle with. It can be a personal assistant, a reminder, a reference, a body double.

We might see more people using it to keep themselves organized, remind them of tasks, or keep notes for them. It could be leveraged as a fantastic tool to help neurodivergent people thrive in the workspace.

AI might also start getting its own influencers. More talks about how to use it as a productivity tool, how to ask it the right prompts, and how it can be an assistance rather than a replacement. Think of the thought leadership possibilities.

We may learn moderation.

It might also be the year we begin to use it with some critical thinking. Maybe we won’t blindly trust everything it pulls offline. Maybe we won’t treat it like an omniscient brain that holds all the answers. Maybe we can coexist.

7. Very human content

The authenticity trend and my hopes for a peaceful, productive coexistence with AI culminate here.

I think one way we will see people combating the use of AI is through creating very human content. Think of it as a kind of digital “showing our work.”

There are a few ways that I think we could see this:

• Phrases that show personal voice and brands built on it

• Strike-throughs left in

• Odd Capitalization

• Stream of consciousness writing

• Books with unconventional structure, like House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski or S. by J.J. Abrams and Doug Dorst

• Thought Leadership via Livestreams or influencer-eque walking videos.

• Showing brainstorming processes

Give them proof that you’re human. Show them your work.

2026 is going to focus on creating connections and conversations. It’s going to do that by bringing back some nostalgic, cozy vibes, developing content that isn’t afraid to have over a ten-minute read time, owning the conversation around what it’s producing, and showing that behind the brand, there are people.