ROKK’s Digital Trends for 2026

This year’s digital world was filled with everything from AI content and targeting, to the resurgence of right-leaning news, social and paid media platforms and influencers, to advancements in strategic ad targeting options and more. With 2026 election year battles and America250 celebration themes in plain sight, ROKK’s Digital & Paid Media team is breaking down their top trends for the new year. It will be crucial for clients to keep these in mind as they plan and shape yearly goals, budgets, content target audiences and the best ways to digitally reach them. Now, on to the digital trends!

Changes in Social Media Platform Usage

Election years typically drive increased social media and news consumption, especially among public affairs audiences. On the flip side, according to Pew Research Center, younger people are spending 10% less time on social media sites compared to 2022 and almost half of teens self-report spending “too much time” on social media. Meta continues to release tools (most recently its feature that scans your device’s camera roll and creepily suggests which ones to post) that aren’t winning over users and it appears that no platform has an effective strategy to deal with the AI content that is swiftly taking over feeds. As this happens, smaller social media platforms like Bluesky, Threads and Pinterest have all reported a growth in active users and niche community platforms like Discord and Reddit are beefing up their ad offerings. 

As social media remains a reputational, policy and advocacy mainstay, but becomes more fragmented, we need to more carefully consider our social platform mix and where to place advertising dollars to reach target audiences. Investing in Meta and LinkedIn is still a good bet, but as user behavior evolves, consider where else a clients’ online presence belongs.

– Molly Nicholson, Senior Account Executive, Digital & Paid Media 

Political Decision Makers’ Podcast Consumption 

Podcasts have been a preferred method for quick news hits, and sponsorship opportunities, for Washington, D.C.’s policy elites for a long time. But with this new administration and ever-changing political landscape, we’re seeing an interesting shift in the types of podcasts these decision makers turn to for their news.

More and more, clients and DC opinion elites are consuming their daily news during their morning commutes. They’re listening to everything from POLITICO’s “The Playbook Podcast” to Punchbowl News’ “The Daily Punch,” via Spotify and SiriusXM apps that now connect to cars and mobile phones. And while the New York Times’ “The Daily” or Wall Street Journal’s “The Journal” podcasts remain popular for public affairs audiences, there has been a significant increase in the listenership of podcasts like the “Joe Rogan Experience,” “Triggered by Don Jr.” and the “Tucker Carlson Show” which aren’t news-related podcasts. Public affairs audiences are finding cultural leaders that resonate with their beliefs and then following the stories these podcast hosts are most interested in.

While creating paid media strategies to reach decision makers, we see that while tried and true placements on more traditional news sites remain important, cultural and broader-reaching placements like these podcasts (and their listeners from an audience targeting perspective) are becoming critical to the bipartisan  media mix. In 2026, new podcasts from trusted DC-based media entities (i.e. Axios, POLITICO, Punchbowl News and NOTUS) will emerge focusing on Members of Congress (and midterms) and live podcast recordings and surrounding events will re-emerge surrounding key DC moments in time such as America250, SOTU and WHCD.  

– Rebecca Matwijkow, Vice President, Digital & Paid Media 

Optimizing Digital Strategies With and for AI

AI is everywhere, and it’s changing the game in digital media and policymaking. And as with most digital trends, organizations will need to pay to keep up with it in 2026. Paid media platforms, from social to DSPs, are rolling out AI solutions for finding the right audiences, and research platforms are creating reports and insights using the ability to pull together large amounts of data quickly. Searches through Google, where even ChatGPT users tend to do most general searching, have seen major changes due to the introduction of AI Overview on Google search results, with 60% of searches now ending without a click to another site, emphasizing the importance of GEO (generative-engine optimization). 

Having a strategy for GEO is an opportunity to get ahead. From weighting paid sponsorships with digital and news media publications like Axios, Forbes, Reddit and YouTube that are ranking higher in Google AI results to adding answers to commonly asked product questions or a plain-language description of your coalition’s purpose to your site to making backend technical adjustments, it’s within your power to make it more likely that AI search summaries use your organization, website or executive as a source. 

Paid search ads are still a great way to reach hand-raisers with your message. We still see well-tailored paid search ads appear above the AI Overview on Google Search. A combination of the introduction of GEO and paid search is likely the best way to adapt to changing search habits while ensuring awareness and engagement with your message. 

– Jenna White, Director, Digital & Paid Media

Unexpected, New Digital Ad Channels, Voices & Places

2026 will bring a shift in how and where users spend their time online (and offline), inside and outside of DC. When political candidates and even Taylor Swift have to pay to play to show up in unique ways (i.e. Taylor’s digital out-of-home billboard takeovers and cross-industry brand partnerships with AMC, Capital One and Target), it’s a sign that organizations must continue to know, find and meet audiences where they are to stand out in compelling and new ways. Communicators will need to take note when designing digital and paid media strategies to reach public affairs audiences in DC and back in their home states. 

Other support signals for this trend range from CEOs spending more time in DC for events such as Semafor’s World Economy Summit and Business Roundtable initiatives, differentiated news outlets such as Puck and The Spectator growing in the DC market, more and more DC-centric podcasts launching to replace Sunday news shows, Mastercard launching its own commerce platform for ads, to emerging Substack and Threads ads and reporters as paid influencers.

– Rachel Winer, Executive Vice President, Digital & Paid Media

Interested in applying smart digital strategies to your public affairs campaigns? Contact us to get started!