2026 Unfiltered: Culture, Content and Creator Marketing Predictions
Goat’s annual “Unfiltered” report recaps the biggest trends and creator marketing shifts from the past 12 months, before sharing our predictions for the year ahead.
What can you expect?
- 2025 through a Rearview Mirror: 8 defining creator, content and online culture shifts
- 2026 Online Culture: What could capture the zeitgeist in 2026?
- 2026 Content: What will define 2026 in terms of creator content?
- 2026 Creators: Who could be the reigning archetypes?
- Key Takeouts: What should brand marketers consider when planning next year’s influencer marketing strategies?
2025 has been a seismic year for the creator economy.
It was the year that AI well and truly became part of our everyday lives and thus, our media plans). It was the year that online creators cemented their authority as this generation’s cultural taste-makers and influencers. And it was the year that social media became, well, less social.
As platforms have evolved into endless streams of video content, we’re all scrolling more than ever. And yet, true engagement and memorability is getting harder to achieve.
In 2026, brands need to work with creators and influencers to stay relevant in the eyes of their audiences. And they need to understand, really understand, what’s driving the trends and conversation at a macro level.
So, as in our 2025 Unfiltered Report, we’ve explored some of the key consumer and online cultural shifts we’ve seen in 2025, then dived into how we see them impacting 2026 creator and content marketing plans.
“We don’t claim to have all the answers or correct predictions (and anyone who says they do is lying!), but what we do have is a ton of data, insights, and a chronically online team of social media and creator obsessives. So this is our annual amalgamation of all of that, and we’re offering it out for free.” – Alex Burgess, Global President
