South Africa, Jan. 16 -- This cheat sheet outlines the key influencer marketing trends B2B marketers should watch in 2026.

Communities

Communities is the new buzzword in influencer marketing, but it is being used incorrectly. Brands are stating they have communities when, in fact, these are often just databases. A database and a community are two different things. Collecting third-party data of your consumers is not the same as building a space for an engaging community to emerge and grow. Brands forget that social media was not created for brands; it was created for people.

As marketers, we need to understand how we create online spaces for communities to evolve, or alternatively, how do we tap into existing communities. The trend tha...