Retention Edge E21: The Social Growth Playbook for 2026

Heyo, we’re back with another episode of The Retention Edge Podcast.

In this episode, Eric sat down with Jason Keath from Social Fresh to break down how your brand should be thinking about retention, creators, and discovery in a world where TikTok and AI are replacing Google.

The way people actually discover brands now is very different from even a year ago. And don’t expect the changes to slow down in 2026, either.

This episode is super relevant, timely, and dense with insights. Let’s dive into the key takeaways now.

Why Retention Is a Research Problem, Not a Tactics Problem

Anyone who understands their unit economics knows that retention is a major factor for growth right now.

But most brands go about it the wrong way. They’re looking for some kind of hack, a new idea that’s going to completely unlock retention.

This was one of the first topics we discussed with Jason; and he shared why this is the wrong mindset.

He says the foundation of retention is not tactical; it’s understanding why customers buy, stay, and leave.

If you want to boost retention, take a research-first approach: talk to your customers, identify their pain points, objections and purchase triggers, and then deliberately over-deliver on those moments.

You don’t need a massive research project to start. Even a few ongoing customer conversations can surface insights that meaningfully improve loyalty and repeat purchases.

How to Build Trust

One of the biggest gaps in modern marketing is a lack of human presence. And that’s a big problem when it comes to building trust.

As more brands embrace AI, this is only going to get more pronounced.

If your brand solely relies on polished ads or static content, you’ll struggle to build trust. Your customers won’t feel that intimate connection to your brand, and they won’t stay loyal.

Founder-led content, internal experts, podcasts, interviews, and creator partnerships consistently outperform because they feel real and credible.

Retention improves when customers feel like they know the people behind the brand.

More human touchpoints = more trust = higher lifetime value.

Social Platforms Are Now Search Engines

TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram are no longer just distribution channels. They’re where people actively search for products, recommendations, and reviews.

Younger consumers, in particular, use social platforms as much as Google when deciding what to buy.

If your brand isn’t showing up in video, through reviews, explainers, or creator content, you’re invisible during key discovery moments.

This shift is happening right now — and it should change how your brand thinks about SEO, content, and awareness.

Feeding the Algorithm

At the core of TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, and any social platform is the algorithm. And that’s where your reach lives and dies.

The way these platforms are set up today, most people discover content without context.

They don’t know all the background about your brand. They may not be aware of the 150 videos or 2,000 posts you published before this one.

Instead of thinking about your content as a linear brand story, think about creating:

• Serialized content (episodes, parts, recurring formats)

• Repeatable structures (reviews, interviews, feature breakdowns)

• Strong hooks that tease value without clickbait

You can increase watch time, reach and follow-through by starting “in the middle,” pulling the most interesting moments forward, and treating content like an ongoing narrative.

Why Brand Awareness is Key for AI Discovery

Consumers are already using AI to search and find products. And you can only expect this pattern to increase in 2026.

As these tools compress discovery and consideration into just a few interactions, brand familiarity becomes a major advantage.

AI search rewards citations and mentions across podcasts, videos, PR, and social. And at the same time, brands customers recognize are far more likely to be chosen when options are summarized instantly.

Imagine — ChatGPT throws out five suitable options for the product you’re looking for. Four you’ve never heard of, and one from a brand you constantly see across your Instagram/Facebook/YouTube feeds.

The one recognizable brand starts with a major leg up. And the search becomes less about discovery, more about confirmation.

The strategic implication you can take away: focus your brand, content, and creator efforts on a narrow, high-value audience, and show up consistently where they spend time.

This topic is super relevant right now, and I think it’s going to become a bigger deal over the coming year.

Definitely worth dedicating a few minutes to thinking about how you’re approaching these channels in the new year.

Watch or listen to the episode below:

You can also find it on Spotify. Wherever you listen, don’t forget to like, rate, review, comment, subscribe. Each interaction helps us bring more experts on to share their wisdom (always free, btw).

You can connect with Jason on LinkedIn here, and learn more about Social Fresh, his digital agency-slash-marketing conference here.

I’ll be back later in the week with the latest from around the ecom world, plus our regular deep dives into retention and sustainable growth strategies.

Talk soon,

Pietro and The Retention Edge Team

PS: thinking about launching your own app? Go to our website to get a preview of your app for free, or shoot me a DM on LinkedIn to talk about it.