South African marketers are still often forced to rely on global reports to guide their digital strategies. However, international data rarely reflects the realities of local platforms, audience behaviour, and market-specific challenges.
That gap is exactly what the Social Media Landscape Report (SMLR) aims to address. Produced annually by Ornico in partnership with World Wide Worx and Ask Afrika, the report builds a detailed picture of how South African brands, agencies, and marketers are using social media. It highlights what is working, what is shifting, and where the industry is heading.
“The value of the Social Media Landscape Report lies in its ability to reflect the realities of the local market,” says Oresti Patricios, CEO of Ornico. “Now in its 16th year, it remains one of the few industry resources built on direct input from South African marketers. The more the industry contributes, the more powerful and relevant the insights become.”
The strength of the report depends on industry participation. The broader the contribution to the 2026 survey, the more accurate and representative the findings will be.
Take the survey now: https://survey.zohopublic.com/zs/iwCZ1f
The 2026 report will explore:
- Platform performance and usage patterns in South Africa
- The evolution of paid and organic social strategies
- Content and creative trends across industries
- Key strategic priorities and challenges facing marketers
- Differences across sectors, organisation sizes, and roles
Marketers, PR practitioners, social media managers, and digital teams are encouraged to take part. Whether working in-house or within an agency environment, each response contributes to building a more accurate view of the industry.
All responses remain confidential and are reported in aggregate only.
The 2026 Social Media Landscape Report will be released at the end of June, in alignment with World Social Media Day.
About Ornico
Ornico provides reputation, media, advertising and brand research with a suite of products that includes Brand Intelligence® across the African continent. It does this to help marketers and brand owners make sense of the flood of information that occupies traditional and social media.
By collecting and analysing media data across many channels, Ornico informs brand owners and marketing decision makers about the most important strategic decisions regarding their brands.
From editorial and advertising monitoring services, social media analytics to advanced brand research, Ornico provides a holistic and independent view of brand performance as reflected by television, radio, print media as well as social and digital media.
