Grace Andrews on the Social Trends Reshaping Brand Advocacy in 2026

In this episode of Building Brand Advocacy, Verity sits down with Grace Andrews to unpack the real shifts happening in social right now and what forward-thinking brands are doing to stay ahead in 2026 and beyond. Grace brings a sharp, strategic lens to one of the most underutilised growth levers in marketing today: employee advocacy. We go deep on why building brand growth from the inside out isn't just about brand culture but something much bigger. We then go onto discuss how to build an effective and experimental content eco-system as well as understanding how to navigate YouTube as long form presence is growing within the digital landscape. In this episode, we cover: The evolution of social trends shaping brand strategy in 2026 A strategic framework for building genuine employee advocacy How to drive real brand growth through your people not just your paid channels Effective content experimentation strategies that actually move the needle Why YouTube is the deepest, most underrated content channel for brand building The trends smart brands are already preparing for in 2026/2027 CHAPTERS 00:00 Episode Trailer 01:30 Meet Grace Andrews 02:23 2024 Trend Check 06:52 Employee Advocacy Basics 09:20 Building The Employees Advocacy Infrastructure 14:52 Ownership And Founder Role 17:11 Incentivising Employee Advocacy 19:22 Building A Content Experimentation System 22:29Dummy Social Channels for Safe Testing 24:09 Case Study of the Shameless Network 28:48 YouTube vs Social Scrolling 31:29 Where YouTube Fits into Teams 33:48 Low Lift YouTube for Brands 35:30 Future Creator Brand Partnerships Whether you're a founder, marketing lead, or brand strategist, this conversation will change how you think about where your next wave of growth actually comes from. 🔔 Subscribe to Building Brand Advocacy for weekly conversations with the people reshaping how brands grow. CONNECT WITH GRACE Instagram:   / graceandrewsss   YouTube:    / @graceandrewsss   TikTok:   / graceandrews7   FOLLOW US Verity:   / verityhurd   Subscribe:    / @buildingbrandadvocacy   Instagram: www.instagram.com/building_brand_advocacy TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@building.brand.advocacy