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.

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CONNECT WITH GRACE

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/graceandrewsss/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@graceandrewsss

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@graceandrews7

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