UK Instagram trends in 2026: How to turn attention into commercial impact

Instagram’s role in the social landscape is evolving, but its power to connect UK brands with active, high-intent buyers is stronger than ever. According to the 2026 Social Media Content Strategy Report, 32% of consumers plan to spend even more time on Instagram this year, a figure that climbs to 41% for Gen Z users.

This isn’t just passive scrolling; an impressive 60% of consumers actively interact with brand content multiple times per week on the platform. With UK marketers matching this energy, 69% are scaling up investment in Instagram, so it remains a vital commercial engine for brands looking to scale their inbound reach.

To build an Instagram marketing strategy that cuts through the noise, you must align your execution with shifting audience behaviours. We’ve mapped out today’s most significant Instagram trends across content types and strategic approaches to help your brand stay relevant, capture attention, and drive meaningful growth.

What are Instagram Trends?

Trends are popular social strategies used across the network that represent macro-shifts in how audiences interact with brands. In 2026, trends are defined by conversational, creator-led strategies that favour raw, native engagement over polished broadcasting.

They dictate not just what brands post, but how they build community and drive commercial revenue. For UK brands, navigating these shifts is critical. While 69% of UK marketers currently view their social content strategy as effective, maintaining that edge requires aligning with specific regional priorities.

Metric	2026 Data Point	Strategic Impact
Consumer Growth	32% of users plan to spend more time on Instagram.	Audience attention is expanding, not shrinking.
Gen Z Dominance	41% of Gen Z users plan to increase platform usage.	The network remains essential for capturing younger demographics.
Active Engagement	60% of users interact with brand content multiple times per week.	Instagram is a highly commercial, conversational space.
Marketer Investment	69% of UK marketers are scaling up resource investments.	Competition for feed visibility is intensifying.

You can’t manage a successful Instagram account without standout content. Here are the most impactful UK Instagram trends driving engagement today. If you’re looking for more Instagram content inspiration, explore our list of social media post ideas for the UK to find other ways your brand can engage with your audience.

If you’re looking for real-life inspiration and to stay ahead of the latest Instagram trends, consider attending one of the many social media marketing conferences in the UK this year.

Content series and repeatable formats

Short-form video (under 60 seconds) remains the undisputed king of engagement, driving a 52% interaction rate on the network. A repeatable format, whether it’s a weekly tip, a behind-the-scenes series or a themed challenge, gives your audience something to anticipate and return for.

Series work on Instagram because they:

• Build algorithmic familiarity: Instagram’s system learns to push content that consistently earns engagement.
• Reduce creative fatigue: the format is already decided—your team fills in fresh topics each week.
• Create appointment viewing: turning casual followers into loyal fans.

UK coffee brand Grind runs a recurring “Coffee School” series on Instagram, teaching brewing techniques in short, branded Reels. Each episode follows the same visual template, making the series instantly recognisable in the feed.

Reels are the dominant content format

Reels now account for 50% of the time people spend on Instagram and reach over 2 billion users every month. For UK brands, this isn’t a trend to watch from the sidelines—it’s the format that defines the platform in 2026.

The brands winning with Reels share a few non-negotiable habits. They hook viewers in the first three seconds, design for sound-off viewing with on-screen text and captions, and blend entertainment with education. Product tags inside Reels turn passive viewers into active shoppers, making the format a direct line from discovery to purchase.

UK skincare brand The Ordinary regularly uses Reels to break down ingredient science in short, punchy clips. Their approach proves that even technical subject matter thrives in short-form video when it’s delivered with clarity and visual energy.

Source: Instagram

Sustained Influencer Partnerships

UK marketers are swapping transactional, one-off sponsored posts for long-term creator collaborations. Why? Because consumers crave authentic, human-generated content that feels native to the feed.

Gymshark & Huel: Both of these UK-founded powerhouse brands have mastered the long-term ambassador model. Instead of paying creators per post, they secure sustained partnerships with fitness and lifestyle creators. Because the partnerships are ongoing, the products feature naturally in the creators’ daily routines over months or years, which builds deep-rooted credibility and brand recall.

 

Social Selling and Frictionless Commerce

Instagram is no longer just a digital mood board; it is a critical sales engine. UK brands are increasingly blending entertainment with “social selling,” turning product discovery directly into in-app conversions.

Relatable imagery and video content

In the UK, resonating with your audience means creating content that feels relatable and taps into shared cultural references. Create content that reflects real-life experiences, addresses a desire or concern, and uses relatable language and visual cues to connect with your audience.

In 2026, raw and unpolished content consistently outperforms high-production posts. People want to see the real side of a brand—not a perfectly staged photoshoot. This shift rewards teams that prioritise speed and honesty over expensive production.

This means having a strategy that combines knowing what’s trending and performance data with a deep understanding of UK cultural references. You need to go beyond surface-level engagement to build meaningful, lasting connections.

For example, UK fashion brand Lucy & Yak have over 700k followers and promote inclusive, relatable content that directly targets their audience. They employ several tactics to engage their Instagram audience in the UK, including:

• Prioritising user-generated content
• Treating customers as influencers
• Fostering community

Lucy & Yak have honed in on Instagram for engaging video content. They use the network to share their sustainability and ethics, which their audience cares about.

Hashtag strategies

Instagram still uses hashtags, which means brands need them to be seen by the right UK users.

Create an Instagram hashtag strategy with a list of popular hashtags in your niche and how you’ll use them. Make sure you’re researching new hashtags regularly. You can also create unique hashtags for events, campaigns, product launches, UGC engagement and more. An evolving strategy will get your content in front of more people.

Instagram SEO: The New Search Engine

Instagram functions as a primary search engine, especially for younger demographics. Traditional SEO practices now apply directly to your profile. To maximise discoverability, UK brands must:

• Optimise Bios: Write keyword-rich profile names and bios that clearly define your niche.
• Use Natural Language: Craft captions that directly answer common questions your buyers are searching for.
• Implement Alt Text: Add optimised alt text to every image for both accessibility and backend search visibility.
• Leverage Geo-Tags: Surface your content in local UK search queries.
• Evolve Hashtags: Use a mix of niche, campaign-specific, and broad hashtags, treating them as core metadata for your posts.

Treating your Instagram profile like a searchable landing page gives your brand a compounding advantage as more people use the platform’s search bar instead of Google.

Authenticity in the UK: connecting through shared values

In the age of AI, Instagram users in the UK expect authenticity from everyone they follow, brands and influencers.

Authenticity on UK Instagram is about being true to what your brand represents, and preserving those values in your content and how you behave on the network. Consider everything your brand does online, and ask why you’re doing it, and the messages and values you’re promoting while doing so. This will help you get closer to living and communicating your values on social.

For example, Mikaela Loach is a children’s author who posts reflective, open and honest content on her Instagram account about her life as a UK influencer and climate campaigner.

Popular UK Instagram content categories are diverse

Brands and influencers create a variety of content on Instagram, with many gaining popularity through their niche. Some of the most popular UK Instagram content categories roughly correspond with the most talked about topics online in the country.

These include food and drink, entertainment (including music, films and gaming), travel, beauty and fashion. Each of these categories has a notably interested audience in the UK, but their popularity can lead to increased competition.

UK Instagram trends in marketing

These are some of the leading marketing Instagram trends in the UK.

Celebrity collaborations

Alongside influencers, a popular trend on UK Instagram is content partnerships with celebrities. These partnerships allow brands to connect their products with recognisable faces that fans know and trust.

A great example is US-based hot sauce brand Frank’s RedHot, which recently expanded into the UK market. They’ve teamed up with Danny Dyer for a recurring content series on Instagram to tailor their product promotion to UK audiences.

Navigating the AI Contradiction on Instagram

Right now, there’s a massive disconnect between what UK marketers prioritise and what Instagram audiences demand. According to the 2026 Social Media Content Strategy Report, “experimenting with AI-generated content” is the top priority for UK marketers this year. But consumers demand the exact opposite: human-generated content.

If you want your Instagram strategy to succeed, you must strike a delicate balance. Flooding your feed with AI-generated posts will alienate followers who are craving authentic, human connection. Instead of using AI as a content-creation crutch, the most successful inbound marketers are using it as their ultimate social intelligence analyst.

Here is how you should be applying AI to your UK Instagram strategy in 2026:

• Pivot to Social Intelligence: The true potential of AI isn’t in drafting captions or generating images, but in analysing content to gather timely audience insights.
• Uncover Audience Cravings: Use AI tools to synthesize your performance data so you can clearly see your followers’ specific concerns, curiosities, and cravings. This ensures the content you create cuts through the noise.
• Free Up Creative Time: Plug AI into your manual workflows, such as performance reporting and data analysis. Use the hours you get back to craft the stronger, human-generated short-form videos that your audience wants to watch.

By shifting your AI use from content generation to content analysis, you can scale your operations efficiently while keeping the human touch that UK consumers demand.

Humour as an engagement tactic

UK brands and influencers often use humour to build a recognisable brand identity. Aldi UK is a popular example with over 850k Instagram followers. They post light-hearted and often comedic content. These posts have helped build Aldi UK’s brand identity as an accessible, friendly supermarket brand. Aldi is a discount supermarket known for lower prices, so this comedic and lighthearted tone lends well to an open and welcoming brand ethos.

Think about what type of comedy works for your brand image. But don’t overdo it, as trying too hard to be funny can backfire.

UK Instagram trends in social commerce and monetisation

Instagram isn’t just for expanding your reach—it can also become a powerful sales channel for your business. By leveraging these Instagram trends, you can unlock new monetisation opportunities.

Social commerce through Instagram Shopping and Instagram Ads

Instagram Shopping now supports only Shops with in-app checkout, streamlining the buying experience so customers never leave the app. Brands can also tag products directly in Reels, Stories and grid posts, turning every piece of content into a potential storefront.

Social commerce in the UK is a huge trend, and using these features can represent a significant growth opportunity for brands looking to sell more products. Read up on the best tactics for selling on Instagram in the UK. This is particularly important if you’re trying to master using social media for retail in the UK.

Alongside posting content organically, Instagram offers brands the ability to create paid ads that can reach more users.

For National Pizza Day, Pizza Express combined an Instagram ad campaign with a free pizza giveaway at their restaurants. This was a smart campaign as it promoted UGC (user-generated content) and meant more people were visiting their local Pizza Express restaurants to take advantage of the free offer. Combining this promotion with National Pizza Day made the campaign topical and increased its ability to trend.

Source: Instagram

Remember ASA regulations

All advertising on Instagram in the UK is regulated by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). They have set rules for social ads, including always stating clearly when you’re advertising something.

All brands and influencers have to follow these ASA laws when creating partnership campaigns, when promoting products and when managing competitions on social media, among other situations. It’s vital that you keep up to date with their regulations.

How to create a winning strategy around UK Instagram trends in 2026

Knowing the current Instagram trends is half the battle; now, you need to apply them. Here’s how:

Keep a pulse on your audience with social listening

With social listening on Instagram, you can track conversations as they happen across your account.

An intuitive platform like Sprout Social helps you instantly identify trends relevant to your audience, so you always know exactly what your followers expect.

Lead with authenticity

Another approach is to embed authenticity into every corner of your strategy. Create a content strategy that includes behind-the-scenes videos, interviews with real customers or day-in-the-life follow-alongs.

Content like this will give audiences a better understanding of who you are and what you stand for.

Pay attention to keyword optimisation

Writing long-form, engaging captions with a clear SEO approach and keyword strategy is a proven way of getting your content seen by more people and standing out from the crowd.

Pair your caption strategy with the Instagram SEO fundamentals covered earlier: keyword-rich bios, descriptive alt text and geo-tags. When every surface of your profile is optimised for search, the compound effect drives consistent organic growth.

With Sprout’s AI Assist, you can get help writing engaging captions at scale. Small teams should also consider outsourcing this work to a creator.

Invest in micro-influencer collaborations

The most effective influencer collaborations rarely involve partnering with a big name. Campaigns are often more effective with micro-influencers that have 10,000 to 100,000 highly engaged followers.

As an example, English food producer Branston created a new potato brand, Nanna Tate, and partnered with food influencer Joe.Oxley on a unique recipe to engage his 50k+ followers who are all interested in food.

Source: Instagram

Humanise your brand

Going viral might still sound appealing, but sustainable success on Instagram is a long-term process that involves community building.

That means regularly responding to messages and comments, commenting on influencer content related to your niche and promoting and engaging with user-generated content. Use your brand’s Instagram account to foster meaningful connections with your fans and as a way of showing the human side of your business.

Keep up with the latest UK Instagram trends

With these UK Instagram trends and strategies, you can start to refine a stronger Instagram marketing approach. If you want to save time bringing it to life, start a free Sprout Social trial today and use our intuitive platform to drive smarter, faster results.

 

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2026 UK Instagram Statistics: Demographics, Engagement and Benchmarks

Instagram turns 16 this year, but its landscape in the UK is shifting faster than ever. While the platform’s overall dominance shows no signs of slowing, a major regulatory pivot is on the horizon.

With the UK government planning to ban under-16s from major social media platforms in Spring 2027 including Instagram, and switching off livestreaming and stranger communication by default for 16- and 17-year-olds, the era of unrestricted youth access is coming to an end. As the platform and its regulations mature, some brands must recalibrate their social strategies.

Discover the latest UK user stats, demographic shifts, and key digital marketing metrics. We’ll delve into exactly what has changed over the last year, what foundational truths remain the same, and how your brand can confidently navigate the rest of the year.

UK Instagram statistics that have changed in 2026:

• The Gen Alpha Blackout: With plans to block social media access for under-16s from Spring 2027 and 16- to 17-year-olds facing heavy default restrictions, brands can no longer rely on young teenagers for explosive, top-of-funnel viral growth.
• The Shift to Hard ROI: Vanity metrics are out. The influencer economy now demands hard performance data, prioritising Earned Media Value (EMV) and credibility scores to justify marketing spend to the C-suite.
• Democratised Reach: The algorithm heavily favours short-form vertical video, allowing smaller accounts (under 10k followers) to achieve massive 20% view rates on Reels without needing enterprise-level ad budgets.

UK Instagram statistics that remain the same as 2025:

• Unrivalled Engagement: Despite global shifts, the UK remains a powerhouse for screen time. Users still spend a massive 53 minutes per day on the app, far exceeding the global average.
• The Core Purchasing Demographic: The 25–34 age group remains the largest and most lucrative segment (29.7%), demanding authentic, high-trust visual storytelling.
• Static Ads Still Drive Revenue: While video is critical for discovery, in-feed static image ads remain the unsung heroes, driving 53.7% of global ad revenue with incredibly efficient CPCs.

What are the key Instagram usage statistics for the UK?

Let’s start by understanding the basics. Here’s a rundown of local social media statistics.

Monthly active users

Instagram has roughly 35 million users in the UK and 2 billion globally, as of 2026. That’s almost 60% of the population over the age of 13. That makes the UK one of the top countries for Instagram use per capita.

Year-over-year growth in the UK has slowed—last year’s was 2.7% while it was 10% globally. This isn’t a cause for concern—Instagram is likely reaching a saturation point in the UK. As you’ll see below, the app is very popular.

How much time do UK users spend on Instagram?

People in the UK still use Instagram significantly more than the global average. UK users continue to spend an average of 53 minutes per day, or six hours a week, on the platform. What is changing is the global average. This year that has moved from 29 to 33 minutes per day—or just over three hours a week. While the UK remains a powerhouse for screen time, global adoption of immersive formats like Reels is dragging the worldwide average upward.

How many people have downloaded Instagram globally?

Instagram is the leading social media network in terms of downloads, with 3.8 billion downloads globally as of early 2025.

The exact number of downloads in the United Kingdom isn’t publicly available. However, given its healthy active user count and high time spent on the app, it’s likely that app download numbers are also high.

How often do UK users post on Instagram?

Roughly 95 million posts are uploaded to Instagram daily, worldwide. While Meta doesn’t publish country-specific data on posting, based on their high engagement on the platform, it’s likely that UK users contribute more than their fair share.

Who uses Instagram in the UK? 2026 demographics

Gender distribution

Globally, Instagram has a roughly equal split between male and female users, around 50.6% male and 49.4% female. But in the UK, it skews female.

As of recent data, 55% of UK Instagram users are female and 45% of users are male.

Age groups

The bulk of UK Instagram users are Gen Z and Millennials, but Gen Xers and Boomers are still active on the platform.

Here’s the current breakdown:

• 18–24 years: 19.1%
• 25–34 years: 30.5%
• 35–44 years: 20.7%
• 45–54 years: 13.8%
• 55–64 years: 9.8%
• 65+ years: 6.2%

Instagram’s core UK audience is maturing . A key difference we see in year-on-year Instagram data is that the 25–34 year olds are securely the largest segment. As the user base shifts solidly into their prime purchasing years, brands need to pivot their content from pure top-of-funnel entertainment to high-trust, conversion-focused storytelling.

Regional penetration

Instagram is used widely across major UK cities, but there is some regional variation both in the size of the user base and frequency of use.

Londoners use Instagram far more than any other city—more than half use Instagram once per month. After that, the highest percentage of Instagram users can be found in other major cities like Manchester, Leeds, Edinburgh and Glasgow, or student towns like Cambridge.

Usage is lowest in the North East at 29.6% and across Wales at 30.9%, where the median age is slightly higher than that of the rest of the UK.

In short, Instagram use is higher where the average age is younger.

6 essential Instagram marketing statistics for UK brands

Now that the basics are covered, take a look at the key stats behind the social network.

1. Popular Instagram post types

Check out a brief rundown of the different types of Instagram posts:

• Instagram Reels are short-form, vertical videos designed to entertain or inform quickly. Instagram Reels often reach a wide audience due to Instagram’s algorithm favouring them over other posts.
• Carousels are multi-image or video posts that users swipe through. Great for storytelling, tutorials or sharing detailed information in a visually engaging way.
• Instagram stories are content that disappears after 24 hours. Ideal for behind-the-scenes, quick updates, polls and casual engagement. Use Instagram stories to engage your existing audience, not to reach new people.
• Static images are single-photo posts that appear on your main feed. They’re best for striking visuals, announcements or clean branded posts.

Here’s an example of a static Instagram post:

Source: Instagram

2. Leading creators on Instagram UK

Looking to launch an influencer marketing campaign to help you reach your target audience? The Instagram influencer economy in the UK is shifting away from vanity metrics (follower counts) toward concrete ROI (Earned Media Value). Marketers need this data to justify their ad spend to leadership.

Molly-Mae Hague (@mollymae)

Source: Instagram

• Followers: 8.5M
• Earned Media Value (EMV): €397K per post
• Niche: Fashion, beauty & makeup, lifestyle

Molly-Mae has one of the highest Instagram follower counts in the UK. She’s known for her chic, yet down-to-earth and relatable style. Collaborate with her on your next fashion, beauty or wellness campaign.

Arron Crascall (@arron_crascall)

Source: Instagram

• Followers: 4.6M
• Earned Media Value (EMV): Reels EMV of €499K (7.34% average Reels engagement rate)
• Niche: Comedy, entertainment, and lifestyle

Arron is one of the UK’s top online comedy talents, widely recognised for his hilarious public reaction videos and offbeat sketches. With an incredibly high engagement rate on Reels, he is perfect for brands looking to inject humour into their campaigns and reach a broad, highly active 18–34 demographic through viral-style content.

Simon Squibb (@simonsquibb)

Source: Instagram

• Followers: 5.7M
• Earned Media Value (EMV): Estimated €100K EMV specifically on Reels
• Niche: Business, entrepreneurship, and inspiration

Simon is the most followed business influencer in the UK, famous for his grassroots “#GiveWithoutTake” movement and inspiring street interviews. He’s on a mission to help people start their own businesses, making him an ideal partner for B2B brands, tech platforms, or financial services looking to connect with a motivated, highly engaged entrepreneurial audience.

Mega-influencer benchmarks are great for inspiration. But tracking follower counts and manual engagement calculations won’t help you prove real campaign impact to leadership. Right now, too many marketing leaders are stuck fishing for true business value in a sea of disjointed creator spreadsheets. To turn unpredictable creator partnerships into a reliable engine for business growth, your team must look past surface-level vanity metrics.

Sprout Social’s Influencer Marketing platform eliminates the guesswork by pulling accurate performance metrics directly via official network APIs. Instead of getting bogged down in manual tracking, your teams can automatically capture Earned Media Value (EMV), map out exact campaign ROI and build executive-ready reports showing how your creator strategy directly fuels your bottom line.

3. Popular hashtags on UK Instagram

While we recommend primarily choosing hashtags that best describe your niche, hopping on a popular Instagram hashtag with high search volume is also worthwhile. Like entering a lottery, you’ve got to be in it to win it.

Here are some frequently used hashtags in the UK, according to Tags Finder:

• #london
• #travel
• #uk
• #love
• #photography
• #instagood
• #england
• #photooftheday
• #art
• #unitedkingdom
• #picoftheday

4. Engagement rates for Instagram posts

Now take a look at average engagement rates we collected from Sprout Social Influencer Marketing.

Engagement rates are calculated by:

Engagement rate = (Total engagements ÷ Total reach or followers) × 100

Engagements include likes, comments, shares and saves. The average engagement rate across all content types is 1.8%.

Carousel posts

Source: Instagram

Average engagement rate: 1.7%

Great for sharing multiple related images, storytelling, tutorials or showcasing products. Engagement rates aren’t the highest, but having users swipe through the content increases time spent on the post, improving discoverability.

Instagram Reels

Source: Instagram

Average engagement rate: 2.08%

Small accounts (under 10,000 followers) achieve impressive 20% view rates on Reels, as the algorithm heavily favours short-form, vertical video for brand discovery. Short, engaging videos that capture attention quickly. Use these to attract new followers and to keep your audience engaged.

Instagram Stories

Source: Instagram

Average engagement rate: 5–10%

Brands with under 10,000 followers have seen a 35% increase in their Story reach rate. While engagement rates are typically high, Instagram stories last only 24 hours and are shared only with your followers. Use stories to keep your user base engaged and up to date.

5. Popular brand categories

Instagram is all about creating rich, aspirational video content—more so than any other social media platform. If you’re selling products with visual appeal or are associated with an aspirational aesthetic, you’ll find a natural home on Instagram.

Categories that shine on Instagram in the UK:

Fashion & apparel

With a predominantly female audience (roughly 55%), fashion and apparel thrive in the UK. Mega-influencers like Molly-Mae Hague (whose audience is 81% female) frequently collaborate with fashion brands like Adidas.

• 55% of Gen Z and Millennial Instagram users say their fashion purchases were inspired by Instagram.
• Fashion brands see an average 1.65% engagement rate on Instagram compared to 0.58% on Facebook.
• Instagram Stories account for 25% of fashion campaign impressions.

Beauty & skincare

Creators actively partner with beauty and skincare brands, capitalising on the platform’s young, female demographic to promote products through tutorials and reviews.

• Beauty content video views on Instagram rose by 68% year-over-year in the first half of 2024.
• 4 out of 5 beauty shoppers use Instagram daily.
• 67% of beauty shoppers turn to influencers to find new products.

Health & wellness

Fitness creators generate heavy engagement in this sector, connecting via highly curated aesthetics.

• 67% of Gen Z and Millennial users follow at least one wellness brand on Instagram.
• Reels featuring fitness content see 2x the average completion rate.

6. Instagram ad reach

When it comes to advertising on Instagram, what we are seeing this year compared to last is that despite the hype around video, static image ads remain the bread and butter for revenue growth.

Instagram saw a 1% increase in potential ad reach in the UK. That’s 300,000 users. It may seem modest, but keep in mind that Instagram launched 16 years ago. It’s well past the explosive growth stage we’re seeing on TikTok. At this stage, a 1% increase is meaningful.

Here’s a quick breakdown of ad performance per format:

Instagram Carousel ads

• CTR: 0.8–1.2%
• CPC: $0.70–$1.00
• CPM: $5–$7
• Conversion rate: 1–1.5%
• Engagement rate: 0.91%

Instagram Reels ads

• CTR: ~1.5%
• CPC: $0.60–$0.90
• CPM: $6–$8
• Conversion rate: 1.2–1.6%
• Engagement rate: 1.48%

Instagram Static Image ads

• CTR: 0.5–0.8%
• CPC: $0.80–$1.10
• CPM: $4–$6
• Conversion rate: 0.8–1.2%
• Engagement rate: 0.69%

Instagram Stories ads

• CTR: 0.3–0.6%
• CPC: $0.90–$1.20
• CPM: $5–$7
• Conversion rate: 0.7–1.0%
• Engagement rate: 0.40%

How often should you post on Instagram in the UK?

Conventional wisdom says that 3–5 times per week and sharing a daily story is the minimum you should post. This allows you to:

• Remain top of mind for your existing customer base
• Reach a wider audience
• Experiment and adjust based on audience reaction

But can you overdo it? The answer is complicated but in short, yes. Overposting is an overlooked but important issue that needs to be considered.

Overposting can lead to:

• Unfollows and mutes
• Reduced engagement
• Brand damage and a loss of trust
• Less inspired content

But where do you draw the line? This is where it gets tricky—it depends on your audience. Our take? Experiment. Try upping your posts. If you’re met with an icy reception, you might be overdoing it. If your engagement is still going strong, keep cracking.

When is the best time to post on Instagram UK?

If you can only manage the bare minimum for an effective Instagram strategy, it pays to get your timing down. In fact, a handful of well-timed posts can be better than regular posting during off-peak times.

Here’s a quick breakdown of the best times to post per industry:

• Retail & e-commerce: Tuesdays and Thursdays at 12 PM
• Food & beverage: Saturdays at 11 AM
• Health & fitness: Around 6 AM

Remember that these times aren’t ironclad, and there may be slight variations depending on your specific audience. We recommend you try Sprout’s ViralPost®. It algorithmically determines your best time to post based on your own data.

Social media marketing guided by insight—with Sprout Social

Instagram in the UK is a different animal. It has one of the highest penetration rates per capita, and users are on the platform for longer per month than anyone else in the world. In short, Brits love Instagram and smart marketers should take note.

But knowing trends is half the battle. The next step is to take action. That’s where Sprout Social comes in. With powerful analytics, content scheduling and performance insights tailored to your audience, Sprout makes it easy to act on the trends explored here.

Try Sprout Social today and turn your Instagram insights into real business results.

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Put Your Signup Form Exactly Where You Want It

Where a signup form sits on your page changes who fills it out. A form embedded in your content catches someone mid-read, already interested. A form in a sidebar catches someone who's scanning.

AWeber's AI Signup Form Builder now creates inline forms and places them on your site visually. Pick the spot on your live page, confirm it, and the form is there. No code required.

Create your inline form in seconds

Three starting points, depending on how you like to work.

1. Custom prompt: Describe what you want and mention it's an inline form for your site.

2. Fill-in-the-blanks: Answer a few prompts and select "embeds directly on my website" as your form type.

3. Template gallery: Browse the gallery and choose any inline template to start from.

All three start in the same form editor. Adjust your copy, design, and settings before you place anything.

Place it with four clicks

Once your form looks right, placing it takes four steps.

1. Click the Settings tab in the form editor

2. Set the domain where you want the form to appear and confirm your signup form snippet is installed

3. Click "Place on my site"

4. Your live site opens with the placement widget active. Click the section you want, then click "Confirm placement"

The placement widget shows your actual site, not a wireframe or a preview. You're clicking a real location on your real pages. Then you click confirm, and the form is there.

Works on self-hosted sites

This works on self-hosted sites: WordPress, Shopify, Wix, Squarespace, Lovable, and more. Each domain connects independently in Settings. If you manage multiple sites or client accounts, each form connects to a specific domain and placements stay organized across properties.

Put your form where your readers already are

Your content is already bringing people in. An inline form turns that attention into subscribers, without sending anyone to a separate page or hoping they notice a sidebar. Open the AI Signup Form Builder, build your inline form, and place it exactly where it belongs.

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How to use Snapchat for business in 2026

Snapchat marketing is a direct line for brands to engage and build trust with younger audiences.

The network has over 900 million monthly active users as of 2025, and continues to grow in popularity, with Gen Z and younger millennials using Snapchat daily to connect with friends, family and creators. This presents an opportunity for brands to become part of these conversations through ephemeral content and influencer partnerships.

In this article, we share Snapchat’s core features, tips on how to build your Snapchat marketing strategy and highlight brands already making an impact on the network.

If you’re new to the platform and need a complete walkthrough of its features, get up to speed with our comprehensive guide on how to use Snapchat.

What is Snapchat marketing?

Snapchat marketing is a digital marketing strategy that uses the network’s features and advertising tools to attract an audience and grow your bottom line. The key is to create strategies that work with how users naturally engage on the network.

For brands catering to Gen Z or younger millennials, Snapchat marketing offers a significant opportunity to impact your business. Snapchat reaches 90% of 13 to 24-year-olds and 75% of 13 to 34-year-olds in more than 25 countries, making it one of the most effective networks for brands looking to target Gen Z and younger Millennials.

Beyond the user base, what sets Snapchat apart is how it’s used. Snapchat’s 2024 How We Snap Report, found that users connect (59%) and share content (49%) with friends and family on Snapchat more than any other social network. They also open the app more than 30 times a day, showing how central Snapchat is to communication and decision-making.

The frequency of use and intimacy make Snapchat a valuable space for brands to engage younger audiences in a way that feels authentic.

To start using Snapchat for marketing, your brand will need a public profile. If you want to run ads, access analytics through Snapchat Insights or unlock features like creating AR Lenses, you’ll also need a Snapchat Business account.

Let’s go through Snapchat’s core features and how to use each one strategically.

Stories

Stories are Snapchat’s most versatile feature. They’re short (up to a minute), vertical video or image Snaps that disappear after 24 hours, and they’re useful. Stories can support just about any marketing goal, from driving traffic to boosting engagement.

The key is to keep Stories casual, timely and built around a strong hook. Netflix gets this right. The example shows how they use Stories to promote new shows like KPop Demon Hunters.

One feature of Stories is that you can add swipe-up or tap-through links if you have a Snapchat Business account. This allows viewers to take direct action, making Stories a valuable tool in your broader Snapchat marketing strategy. And with Sprout Social, you can schedule and publish Stories alongside your other networks, ensuring your campaigns launch at the appropriate time.

Saved Stories (Story Highlights)

Saved Stories, or story highlights, let you pin select content to your public profile so it doesn’t disappear after 24 hours.

Treat it as your “About Us” section on Snapchat. It should be evergreen content that helps new viewers quickly get a feel for your brand. Bumble, for example, uses Saved Stories to share dating tips and brand values, providing a clear snapshot of what it stands for.

Spotlight

Spotlight is Snapchat’s answer to scrollable short-form video. Public profiles can submit video Snaps to Spotlight, giving brands a chance to expand the reach of their Snapchat marketing without adding budget. Spotlight is also a good place to repurpose vertical content that has performed well on other networks (just be sure to remove the watermark) or test new creative. With Sprout, you can easily identify and repurpose successful content from other networks for your Spotlight, and then schedule and publish it on Snapchat all in one place.

If your video is selected, it appears on the Spotlight feed and on your Spotlight tab, giving your brand a credibility boost and wider exposure. Spotlight content tends to perform best when it features relevant trends, leads with personality and fits Snapchat’s casual tone.

Discover

Discover is Snapchat’s curated content feed featuring Stories from media partners, creators and sponsored brand content. It’s personalized to each user’s interests and engagement history, offering a prime spot for visibility.

While organic Stories from public profiles don’t appear in Discover, your brand’s Snap Ads and Sponsored Stories do, putting you alongside trusted content creators. This is what makes Discover one of the best ways to connect with users already looking to engage.

AR Lenses

AR Lenses are Snapchat’s signature feature. They are interactive, enabling users to try on products, play branded games or explore immersive 3D animations.

As an example of a seasonal approach, Carhartt created a gamified Santa Lens where users dressed as Santa flew over homes dropping Carhartt products onto houses. Branded AR Lenses like these are fun and memorable, making them a smart way to promote products and enhance brand awareness and engagement.

Filters

Filters are static overlays that users can add to a Snap after it’s taken, like frames, color treatments or location-based tags. Branded Filters are best used to boost visibility around product launches, holidays, events or store openings by encouraging shoppers to create user-generated content (UGC).

Why use Snapchat for business?

On Snapchat, the ephemeral nature of the content is valuable to brands. Stories vanish after 24 hours, and this drives immediate engagement compared to the slow-burning reach of in-feed content.

When paired with a user base comprising of Gen Z and Millennials who value unfiltered content, it essentially creates an environment where brands meet audiences that are eager to engage and connect.

Here’s a breakdown of how the ephemeral nature of Snapchat is helpful to brands.

Encourage brand engagement

Ephemeral content is one of Snapchat’s defining features and biggest engagement drivers. Because Stories disappear quickly, they create a built-in sense of urgency and trigger FOMO, prompting users to act fast.

The time limit also lowers the pressure to engage. When content feels temporary, it encourages more spontaneous views, clicks and replies. This low-stakes environment helps brands drive interaction in a way that feels native to the network.

Build trust through authenticity

Snapchatters value realness. Almost 80% say it’s where they are their “most authentic and real” selves. When brands meet their audience with the same level of authenticity, it creates deeper loyalty and stronger emotional connections.

A Sprout Social study found that 64% of consumers say they want to feel more connected to the brands they follow. Snapchat’s brand of ephemeral content removes the polish and pressure and delivers on that desire.

Reach Gen Z and Millennials easily

Three-quarters of Snapchatters are under age 35. This network gives you a direct line to Gen Z and younger millennials because Snapchat is already part of their daily habits.

Here are the top five daily activities on Snapchat:

1. 66% Watch stories from friends and family
2. 65% Send messages (to an individual or group)
3. 60% Watch videos
4. 58% Take pictures using the app camera
5. 52% Watch stories from content creators

Posting content frequently that feels casual and spontaneous helps you match the way users already behave on the app.

If your goal is to connect with younger consumers, Snapchat helps you meet them on a network they already trust and use every day.

How to use Snapchat for business marketing

Snapchat has a lot to offer brands that use it strategically.

To do that, you’ll need clear goals, a keen pulse on your audience and a way to measure success. It’s also important to know which Snapchat features, influencers and ad formats align with your goals, because content alone won’t drive results.

A smart Snapchat marketing strategy uses the right tools to deliver the right message to the right people. Here’s how to make it happen.

1. Define your objectives

Your Snapchat strategy should ladder up to your broader social media goals. Here are some examples of what that could look like:

• To increase website traffic, use link sharing in Stories to drive users to your website.
• To boost brand awareness, use Discover or sponsored Lenses to reach a wider audience.
• Focused on loyalty? Partner with a creator or post more frequently on Stories to keep followers coming back.

Decide what Snapchat metrics you want to improve, and create content that will help you get there.

2. Know your audience

Creating a strong social media content strategy comes down to knowing who you’re talking to. Snapchat Insights give you access to audience demographics like age, gender, location and general interests so you can speak directly to the right people. Use this information to refine your content and tailor your creative accordingly.

If you’re working with creators, audience alignment matters just as much. Use Sprout’s Influencer Marketing solution to identify Snapchat influencers and review their Public Stories, Spotlight posts and past brand partnerships to make sure their audience and content align with your goals.

 

3. Create engaging content

The 2025 Sprout Social Index™ found that consumers want authentic, relatable and entertaining content from brands, and Snapchat content is no exception to this.

People open the app to see and share real moments, so create content that reflects your brand while also meeting that expectation.

Here are some tips for creating engaging lo-fi content for Snapchat:

• Shoot vertically, and use movement, varied camera angles and POV shots to keep things visually dynamic.
• Add captions, filters, frames and music to match Snapchat’s casual, expressive style.
• Use stickers to give your audience a way to participate and make your Stories feel more like a two-way conversation.
• Focus on content that shows humor, challenges, behind-the-scenes moments or real customer experiences. According to the 2026 Social Media Content Strategy Report, consumers say brands should make human-generated content their #1 priority, and these topics feed into that desire.

Looking for ideas to get you started? Try behind-the-scenes stories about your products or people, tutorials, sneak peeks into upcoming launches or branded filters and lenses that inspire user-generated content.

4. Leverage Snapchat’s features

Snapchat offers creative tools to help your brand stand out. Each serves a different purpose, so make sure you’re choosing features that support your goals.

Lenses (AR filters)

Tre best used for brand engagement. These interactive filters let users play with your brand in a fun, immersive way. The average Snapchat user interacts with a Lens for at least 20 seconds, and is likely to share images or videos of themselves using the filter, turning branded content into promotional UGC.

Geofilters

Geofilters are ideal for location-based awareness and in-person engagement. These static or animated overlays appear when a user is in a designated area. Use them around storefronts, events or product drops to boost in-person engagement and visibility. For example, Adidas created a custom Geofilter to celebrate the reopening of its redesigned Oxford Street store in London.

Discover and Spotlight

These are ideal for broadening reach. These areas give you a place to showcase content that’s more editorial, entertaining or creator-driven. Consider series-style Stories, branded storytelling or creator collaborations that fit Snapchat’s tone.

5. Engage in influencer and creator collaborations

Influencer marketing enables you to tap into built-in audiences and build credibility with younger users. The 2025 State of Influencer Marketing Report found that 86% of consumers make a purchase inspired by an influencer at least once a year, and Gen Z is most likely to make purchases based on influencer recommendations.

One option is a Snapchat takeover, where a creator posts directly from your brand’s account for the day. These takeovers encourage followers to engage and often include cross-promotion on the influencer’s own channels.

A tip to keep in mind: Make the takeover content exclusive to Snapchat. It might seem like a good idea to repost stories from another network, like Instagram, but you want to encourage people to follow along specifically on Snapchat.

Another strategy is to supply products for unboxings, demos or reviews and give creators the space to share their unbiased opinions. The more the content feels genuine, the more likely it is to build connection and drive action. The same report found that 47% of consumers said they want authenticity from influencers, even when posting sponsored content.

Whatever type of collaboration you try, aim to prioritize creators who already use Snapchat regularly and match your tone.

6. Invest in Snapchat ads

If you have an ad budget, Snapchat ads offer several ways to reach your audience and drive results. Snapchat ads combine formats (how an ad looks and behaves) with placements (where users see them).

Strong Snapchat ads capture attention fast. Keep them short, use motion, bold text and vertical design, use sound strategically and include a clear call to action.

For targeting, use Snapchat’s Ad Manager to reach users by location, interest, demographics or behaviors, and test different ad types to see what lands with your audience.

Here are the most common ad formats and what they’re best used for.

Sponsored Snaps

Sponsored Snaps are Snapchat’s most basic and widely used ad format. They are single-image or video ads that include a swipe-up CTA and are shown between Stories, Discover or Spotlight. Sponsored Snaps are a fast, full-screen way to drive action without complex creative.

Collection ads

Collection ads are commonly used by e-commerce brands. These ads have shoppable, tappable tiles that link directly to products and are shown in the same places as sponsored Snaps.

Story ads

Full-screen, skippable vertical ads (3–20 frames) shown in the Discover tab. These ads are often paired with an interactive call-to-action link to drive brand awareness, app installs or conversions. Candy Crush ran a Story ad featuring a paid actor giving a testimonial as he plays the game, with a direct CTA to download the app.

Sponsored filters and lenses

Boost reach and awareness with sponsored versions of Snapchat’s most engaging features, Filters and Lenses. These can be targeted by location or interest.

For example, the Superman movie promo featured a full sponsored Lens tab with multiple options, including a virtual movie theater experience co-branded with Toyota.

Commercials

Commercial ads only appear within curated shows on Snapchat Discover. These ads are non-skippable for the first 6 seconds and are ideal for high-impact brand awareness during premium content.

Lead generation ads

Lead gen ads include an embedded lead form, allowing Snapchatters to quickly share details like their email and name without leaving the app. They are great for service-based brands.

7. Measure and optimize

To measure success on Snapchat, you need to track performance consistently. Every Snapchat business account has access to Snapchat Insights analytics, where you can monitor metrics like Story views, average view time, completion rate and audience demographics.

Start by setting benchmarks aligned with your goals and adjust accordingly. If a Story has a high open rate but low completion, test shorter or more visual content. Or if your goal is conversions, track swipe-ups or lead form completions. This is how you optimize for impact.

When partnering with creators, Sprout’s Influencer Marketing platform enables you to track influencer performance across Snapchat campaigns. You can also monitor metrics like views, shares, subscribers and engagement to better understand ROI and refine your strategy with every campaign.

Snapchat marketing strategy examples

Thanks to its playful features and highly engaged audience, Snapchat is full of creative marketing campaigns that brands are using to meet their goals. Here are some real-world Snapchat marketing strategy examples from top brands on Snapchat to inspire you.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC)

The IOC partnered with Snapchat to create a series of AR Lenses for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

To celebrate 100 years since the Olympics were last held in the city, two of the Lenses blended archival visuals with iconic locations. Fans in Paris could walk down the Champs-Élysées or Rue de Rivoli and see them transformed into 1924 Paris. Meanwhile, global users got a glimpse of the original Yves-du-Manoir stadium (see below).

These kinds of immersive experiences show how you can use AR to bring people into a story, and gives you a glimpse into what’s possible when content meets context.

Hopper

Hopper, an app known for finding the best flight deals, ran static Sponsored Snaps that targeted users by location. Users saw deals from their own city, which worked. Snapchat users were 37% more likely to download the app and view a specific flight compared to users from other networks.

This campaign is a great example of how smart geo-targeting can drive results.

Gatorade

Gatorade brought its classic Super Bowl “Gatorade dunk” to Snapchat with a viral AR Lens. Snapchatters could open their mouths to dunk themselves, and send it to friends, turning a well-known sports moment into something fun and shareable.

The success of this Lens is proof that when you can turn a brand ritual into an interactive experience, people want to join in.

Temu

Temu nailed influencer marketing on Snapchat by paying creators around the world to show off their $0 hauls. The campaign promoted a deal where new users could get free items just by signing up and using an influencer’s code. It’s an offer that sounds too good to be true, but with trusted Snapchat creators behind it, people were more likely to convert.

Embrace the future of Snapchat marketing

Used intentionally, Snapchat helps brands reach Millennials and Gen Z, drive traffic and influence purchase decisions.

As Snapchat grows, the demand for authentic, unpolished content remains strong. By prioritizing network-appropriate content, genuine storytelling and smart collaborations, your brand can stay ahead and capture lasting attention on this dynamic network.

Begin incorporating Snapchat into your brand’s social media approach with a free Sprout Social trial.

The post How to use Snapchat for business in 2026 appeared first on Sprout Social.

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Social media in sports: 9 Proven strategies to win engagement and fan loyalty

The role of social media in sports is quite literally game-changing. Far more than just a marketing channel, social media is now the most important way that fans communicate and interact with their favorite sports brands. According to the Q2 Sprout Social Pulse Survey, 80% of consumers watch live events through social media.

Whether it’s tracking real-time scores, searching for the latest event or getting excited about product launches, fans get all the biggest news from social media. The Q1 Sprout Social Pulse Survey also found that 49% of people use social media to discover breaking news, ahead of TV, podcasts and news apps. It’s more important than ever for brands to capitalize on this by learning how to harness social media in sports marketing.

We’ll outline the critical elements of social media management for social media marketing in sports based on insights from some of the biggest sports teams in the world: the Detroit Tigers and Chicago White Sox.

How social media is impacting sports

Social media is directly tied to every side of sports at a national and global level. According to our Q1 2026 pulse survey, 93% of Gen Z and 85% of Millennials follow live events by tracking social posts (via official event channels, attendee uploads, influencers or news outlets). Teams now use official accounts on socials to feed and grow their passionate fandom before, during and after the game.

Social has also created a fundamental shift in how we interact with sports, athletes and teams. Beyond follower counts, these team accounts build dedicated niche fan communities, fostering collective engagement across channels. This level of connection also extends to individual players and their interactions with fans, with many of the world’s most famous athletes working as social media sports influencers and brand ambassadors.

Brands need to not just acknowledge this new level of connection, but dedicate time and energy to building their own communities across socials.

The influence of social media in sports marketing

The increased influence of social media over all things sports has completely changed the way teams are marketed. It’s also introduced new fan expectations that brands need to be aware of to continue thriving across all networks. These are some of the most important social media marketing shifts in sports happening right now.

Fans expect real-time, always-on engagement

What used to be a one-way broadcast is now a conversation with the masses. To succeed, teams first need to keep up—which is easier said than done.

Today’s sports fans expect real-time updates from teams. Certain updates are particularly important, like breaking news, scorelines or injury updates. Think of each sport as an ecosystem where fans want to feel connected to what’s happening at all times. They want to be in the loop.

Sports brands have to consistently deliver these updates from official channels to please fans and keep control over their communications and narrative. That means social accounts, particularly on key breaking news platforms like X, Reddit and Instagram, need to be managed on and off-season.

Sports content lives beyond game day (videos, memes, interviews, behind the scenes)

Sports content is about so much more than what happens on the field. Just ask Tim Brogdon, Director of Digital Content for the Chicago White Sox. In a recent interview with Sprout, he shared, “While there is fan focus on the games themselves, sports marketing is so much more than those individual events. We strive to authentically grab attention and engage with our audience year-round.”

In the past, sports fans only saw game-day footage captured by professional broadcast crews using high-tech cameras and audio equipment. Today, meeting fans’ growing demand for content requires a small army of contributors. Everyone plays a role, from digital content teams and fan services to the athletes themselves, ensuring a steady stream of engaging content.

Brands need to be creating pre- and post-game content such as interviews, training updates, recaps and commentaries. Your fans want to engage with teams beyond game day, and know how the team is preparing for the future and what they can look forward to. Game days are vital, but an effective sports social channel has several content pillars, with different types of content being published every day.

The shift from passive audiences to active communities

With social, sports fans aren’t passive observers anymore—they’re participating in active communities with evolving opportunities for engagement. According to the 2025 Content Benchmarks Report, organizations in the leisure, sports and recreation sectors typically receive 623% more inbound engagements on their content each day compared to other industries.

This means all the content you’re creating for a sports brand should target more than just views—it should be made with fan interactions in mind. Whether it’s inviting user-generated content or event sign-ups, sports fans want to feel like they’re a valued part of a much bigger community.

Benefits of social media in sport marketing

Sports marketers who step up to the social media plate can score major rewards for their franchises. Here are three ways social media strategies can benefit the teams they support.

It promotes fan engagement—even during tough seasons

A social-first media strategy allows teams to connect with fans in a less corporate, more relatable way, making teams less reliant on wins for positive engagement.

This is a key way sports marketing accounts foster a strong sense of community among followers. Support becomes a two-way street, where teams can express appreciation to individual followers and encourage them to keep the faith through tough times.

It expands reach into new audiences

Thanks to the rise of the algorithmic feed, a stranger is just a fan who hasn’t come across your content yet.

“Our strategy doesn’t hinge on follower growth,” explains Brogdon. “The algorithms are feeding people content whether they’re following the Chicago White Sox accounts or not. Instead, we want to create content that encourages people to pause, view, like and comment. Shares and sends (DMs) are also important, because that impacts virality.”

Here’s a recent example of the Chicago White Sox using the celebrity first pitch trend to create Instagram content. By partnering with an influencer, their account is getting in front of highly-engaged followers in addition to their own.

It creates new revenue opportunities

Corporate sponsorships have long been a key revenue stream for professional sports teams, but in the past, opportunities for promotion were mostly limited to stadium signage and jerseys. With social media, however, the potential for lucrative partnerships has expanded dramatically.

Here’s another first pitch content example, this time from the Detroit Tigers. They partnered with Kellogg’s, having Tony the Tiger throw the first pitch of a recent game to bridge the team with a global brand.

Sports social media trends shaping 2026

Sports social trends are evolving all the time, and teams need to be aware of the latest strategies to stay in the game. These are the most important trends shaping sporting content on social media, including popular format types, partnerships and campaign ideas.

Short-form video is driving discovery and reach

Sports lend themselves well to short-form video content. Clips of games, interviews and recaps and other video content give fans what they’re already wanting to consume most on social. They’re also a smart way to build the reach of your team’s account and bring in more fans.

According to Sprout’s Content Benchmarks Report, 32% of all Instagram content from leisure, sports and recreation accounts was in the form of a single video post. Here’s a recent example from the Miami Heat, who posted a short-form highlight of the team’s defensive capabilities in the previous season to keep the momentum going.

Long-form content is building deeper fan loyalty

Long-form content is another ongoing trend and an effective way for teams to engage fans. Where short-form videos are perfect for reach, long-form is better catered to existing fans who are interested in more in-depth insights into your team.

Networks like TikTok and YouTube lend themselves well to long-form videos. They also work effectively as episodic content series, which is a popular entertainment format on social media. Here’s an example from the Toronto Blue Jays and their recurring content series Extra Innings.

Creator partnerships are outperforming celebrity endorsements

Sports have long been associated with celebrities, with many star players becoming globally recognized names. But when it comes to social content, creator partnerships can be a smarter choice than traditional celebrity endorsements.

Creators bring more of a fan-focused, community-driven element to campaigns. It allows teams to continue to build their own communities hand-in-hand with creators, which can be particularly powerful if the creator is already a fan themselves. With Sprout Social Influencer Marketing, you can find influencers who are already fans using our AI-powered search and check for brand alignment with the Brand Fit Score.

Here’s a recent example of a successful collaboration between Jesser and the Chicago Bulls, which resulted in almost 50k likes.

Women’s sports are creating new growth opportunities

An ongoing positive trend for sports on socials is the growing popularity of women’s sport. Interest continues to build in female teams, as well as individual female athletes who are advancing their sports on a global level.

Focusing on the women’s game across your sports brand account helps you tap into this popularity, while also contributing towards an important win for diversity and inclusion. Women’s teams are seeing successes with dedicated accounts. Here’s an example from WNBA Champions New York Liberty, who have over 400k followers on their Instagram.

AI-powered personalization is changing fan engagement

New AI technologies are also offering sports brands greater opportunities to foster more engagement from fans. AI allows brands to offer personalization to individual fans at scale. Exact implementations continue to emerge, but the world’s leading sports brands are already starting to pull away with their own AI solutions.

For example, Ferrari recently partnered with IBM on an AI-driven redesign of their fan app. This collaboration aims to offer fans more interactive tools, including an AI assistant and AI-driven race recaps. These AI features and personalization capabilities are likely to become more common across all social platforms as the trend develops.

9 Strategies to win social media in sports: What high-performing sports brands are doing differently

Several of the biggest sports brands in the world are already racing ahead with their social strategies. We’ve listed some of the key things they’re doing to stand out, alongside insight and examples directly from teams like the Chicago White Sox and the Detroit Tigers.

1. Use social insights to understand fan sentiment and drive momentum

Gathering social insights and intelligence is a core way for sports teams to use their social followings to better understand their audience and what they expect from the brand.

The Director of Social at the Detroit Tigers, Emma Nye, couldn’t overstate the importance of listening to a social audience enough in her recent webinar with Sprout: “I’ve learned a lot about what culturally is important to people in Detroit and what matters to them. The voice we’re building on social really plays into all that—really listening to and paying attention to that audience.”

This cultural understanding can drive all other activities on social. By conducting sentiment analysis, you can also gain deeper insight into how commenters feel about your team right now, emotions that can then guide future content strategies.

2. Collaborate with the right athletes and influencers that audiences connect with

After listening to your audience, fan sentiments can be leveraged further for successful social campaigns, which is exactly what the Detroit Tigers did during a recent season.

They jumped onto an existing song created by the musician Gmac Cash, integrating it into social content and eventually inviting him to perform at the end of the season. An opportunity like this was only possible because the brand was listening intently to their audience and what they were already engaging with and creating themselves.

The campaign worked firstly because of existing fan sentiment, but also because it involved the right influencer that people were familiar with. As seen in Sprout’s 2026 Social Media Content Strategy Report, Nike has found similar social successes by partnering with athletes from celebrities to influencers with niche followings.

3. Create social-first campaigns instead of repurposed ads

Most major sports teams also feature heavily in traditional advertising forms like television, radio and billboards. The most successful sporting brands don’t just recycle that content; instead, everything they post is created with social in mind.

Socials are a unique form of marketing because they also exist as a communication channel. Fans can’t engage directly with a TV ad or a billboard; they can with anything you post on social. That engagement potential has to be considered—and encouraged—in social-first campaigns that really speak to the community you’re building.

4. Use memes, trends and culture without feeling forced

Memes are now an inescapable part of a social strategy, but the most successful meme posts are carefully crafted or chosen. “We would literally go into meetings with printed out memes to share as examples during presentations,” shares Brogdon, explaining how memes must pass sense checks before being used. “We had to prove that our ideas were grounded in best practices while breaking our normal cadence. We wanted to move forward with a more relatable version of our existing brand voice, but wrapping that up in a presentation that appeals to executive staff takes some time, effort and energy.”

If a meme passes these tests, it can become incredibly successful content. The Detroit Tigers took this one step further with their Magnum PI campaign, which was built for socials and the home ground. They leveraged the popular meme of Magnum PI watching a game, which their fans had already turned into a community-led annual tradition. It ended up being their best-performing TikTok of 2025.

As Nye explains, the campaign succeeded because it used the niche obsession with Magnum PI and how it intersected with the Detroit Tigers. “It made for the perfect social media moment because of listening to our audience and how it was something unique to them.”

5. Match content formats to platform behavior

Social networks are all used in different ways thanks to how they’re set up. X encourages conversations, whereas TikTok values views and shares. Reddit builds deeper conversations and communities, whereas YouTube is where your fans settle in for longer watches.

A lot of this behavior is driven by which content formats are popular on each platform. When creating your strategy, match your content formats to the platforms where they’ll perform most effectively. There might be some overlap; TikTok and Instagram, for example, sometimes share content. But overall, you should plan distinct content approaches for each network you’re active on.

6. Build community through behind-the-scenes content

One of the best ways to make your audience feel included is to bring them behind the curtain. Behind-the-scenes content gives your fans what they want to see; a more personal look at your team. It’s also the perfect type of content for social media, where everyone values more personal stories.

For 2026, the Chicago White Sox partnered with Rate to present an eight-part content series on YouTube called Beyond 162. The series takes fans BTS to see how the team is training and dealing with the many ups and downs of the season.

7. Use live moments to drive conversation and shares

Sports teams are blessed to have many live moments to draw from when managing social accounts. Part of the reason why the Detroit Tiger’s Magnum PI campaign was so successful is because it also involved something happening live in the stadium. This meant the team could share not just recaps, but also live footage of the reveal.

These live moments make fans feel like a greater part of the club. They naturally build conversations and shares around your brand. They also encourage followers to attend more games in person so they don’t miss these experiences, which helps drive ticket sales and can increase the team’s following over time.

8. Build two-way conversations instead of broadcasting

Even though sports games are broadcast traditionally, you shouldn’t take that same approach with social content. The most successful teams recognize that social posts are all two-way conversations that invite collaboration directly from your audience.

Here’s a recent content example from the Detroit Tigers on Instagram, where fans were given a short music competition outside of the stadium. Not only is the act of content creation itself encouraging conversations, this post also fosters comments and engagement from viewers. It’s one of several strategies the biggest teams are using to make fans feel included on all sides of their social accounts.

9. Adopt sponsorships that feel native to social platforms

Global teams often partner with different companies during a season. Not all of those belong on social media; your social should be promoting the sponsorships that feel native to the platforms you’re on.

The Detroit Tigers’ Kioh + Co Creator Clubhouse is a great example. They used creators to drive the collaboration, and picked the right influencers using an influencer marketing tool. As Nye explains, they then created a distinct event at their stadium called Girl’s Day Out at Comerica Park and continued “using creators to really drive the conversation,” later sharing everything on socials. As Kioh + Co are a retail brand local to the team, they were a smart choice for a more personal, social-led sponsorship.

Social media best practices sports marketers need to know

When it comes to professional sports, a great strategy can’t be built in a silo. There are countless other teams and individuals that’ll impact and be impacted by your efforts. To create more seamless social-first experiences, you need to work with all of them. Here are five best practices for getting it done.

Use social listening and predictive analytics to never miss an opportunity

Teams often have millions of fans and followers from all over the world. Without the right tools, it’s easy to miss key conversations or sentiments that could’ve been game-changers for social reach. Social listening helps teams hone in on the real feelings behind comments, messages and conversations across all social platforms.

Outside of direct socials, media monitoring tools like NewsWhip can help teams predictively analyze conversations surrounding their league and team. This can help social and comms teams prep upcoming content based on how the season is looking. An AI agent like Trellis can turn this data into actionable social intelligence, turning these conversation spikes into successful social campaigns that speak to your audience.

Sports all move quickly, and so does social media. Tools like Sprout help your team stay on top of the conversation. Your social team can continue delivering online, whilst your players continue to deliver on the field.

Take the time to secure internal buy-in

In a perfect world, all of your colleagues would be on board with your strategy after a single presentation. In reality, it’s never that easy, but the time you take to secure internal buy-in plays a critical role in the success of your strategy.

“Communicating and building relationships with other people who have the ability to enhance your strategy can’t happen overnight,” says Brogdon. “It takes time and effort to sell your strategy internally. There are so many stakeholders that need to buy in, including the social and video teams, marketing, sponsorship and supervisors, etc.”

Take the time to talk with individuals across your organization, share the rationale behind your ideas and listen to critiques. This will help you create a stronger business case.

Lean on your network

The role of social media in sports marketing is major, but teams are still smaller than you might expect. If you’re a sports marketer in need of some creative inspiration, try looking beyond your organization for help.

“One of my favorite things about sports marketing is the community,” says Brogdon. “It’s much smaller than people realize. You’re able to see a lot of cool success stories from people you’ve worked with or run into over your career.”

Sharing victories and losses with other social media professionals working in the sports industry can spark big ideas. “Everyone creates content around their core and secondary audiences, all while taking their brand identity and account demographics into consideration. It’s interesting because we all get access to the same data, but everyone does something different with it.”

Make the most out of time with players

Players are your greatest content creators, but their main focus is on performing on the field. So how can you prep them to capture social content without disrupting their game?

The Chicago White Sox social team maximizes their limited time with players by integrating content strategy into existing touchpoints. “We have two major opportunities to educate our players on social media,” explains Brogdon. “We connect with newly acquired players at a social media session in the fall in Glendale and hold a full team session during Spring Training”

These sessions not only allow the social team to introduce the White Sox digital brand but also give players a glimpse of how the social and video teams will work with them throughout the season. It’s a relationship Brogdon describes as ‘symbiotic’—players learn how to support the social team’s efforts, while the social team helps players amplify their personal brands.

Develop a reporting infrastructure to support corporate partnerships

When the Chicago White Sox sought a new social media management solution, Sprout Social’s Tagging feature stood out as a game-changer.

“The ease and convenience of reporting through custom Tags stood out to us immediately,” says Brogdon. “Being able to provide marketing, PR, corporate partners and senior leadership with precise, channel-level data is huge for us.”

MLB isn’t alone in recognizing the benefits of this feature. The Atlanta Hawks social media team also uses Sprout to implement their sophisticated Tagging strategy.

“Everything we post gets a content pillar tag and a content medium tag, at minimum,” shared Katie DuPre’, Atlanta Hawks’ Social Strategy Manager, in a previous interview. “We also create campaign ID tags for any larger marketing campaigns. For example, when we were at All-Star Weekend, all live content coverage got a specific tag. After the event concluded, we were able to go back and recap the success of our event coverage.”

The future of sports marketing is social-first

Sports marketers across countries, teams and leagues are doing some big things on social. These efforts don’t just impact marketing KPIs, they introduce franchises to the next era of fans.

The most important part of successful social media marketing in sports is always being able to listen to your audience. Find out more about Sprout’s social listening capabilities and how you can use them to gain a new layer of insight into your fans and community.

The post Social media in sports: 9 Proven strategies to win engagement and fan loyalty appeared first on Sprout Social.

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