Social media marketing trends are the latest ways businesses use platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and others to connect with people, promote their products, and grow online. In 2025, these trends include using short videos, working with smaller influencers, offering shopping directly in apps, and using AI to personalize content. Brands also focus more on being honest, eco-friendly, and interactive with customers. Following these trends helps businesses stay popular, build trust, and reach more people in a smart and creative way. Here we discuss 10 Social Media Marketing Trends in 2025.
Trend 1: Video is still king
Of course, video is the first social media trend on our list. TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts and other emerging video formats on LinkedIn and Threads have created feature parity, making video content a priority across networks. And although TikTok’s future in the US is uncertain, it’ll remain a mainstay in international markets. We already know short-form video is one of the best ways to connect with your audience and reach new followers. But long-form video is resurging. TikTok, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube have all offered longer lengths over the past few years. For example, as of October 2024, YouTube Shorts can now be up to three minutes long. And the 2025 Index found that YouTube is one of the top three platforms where people have social media profiles.
Trend 2: Cultural fluency is must for brands
Social media is the epicenter of culture. Today’s consumers are flocking to screens to learn about the latest happenings—gone are the days of traditional media. The Index found consumers definitively agree: Across generations, 90% of consumers use social media to keep up with trends and cultural moments, even more than TV and streaming services, talking to friends and family and other digital media.
Trend 3: Strong brand storytelling and engagement are audience must-haves
Social media saturation forces marketers to find ways to stand out from the crowd so they can resonate with target audiences. Creating original content is one-way brands are differentiating themselves from others on the timeline. When consumers rank the most and least important traits of brand content, they rank authenticity, relatability and entertainment first. On the other hand, polished, product-centric and off-the-cuff are ranked as the least important.
Trend 4: The creator economy grows
This social media trend is unsurprising. Creators and influencers are integral to the ecosystem of social media and marketing. The creator economy will continue to evolve as there is a diverse array of creators and influencers that can address various niches and industries. Brands aren’t solely looking to people with massive followings because there’s value in working with smaller creators and influencers. For example, user-generated content creators—who don’t need large followings or recognizable personal brands—will remain important contributors for brands seeking content that looks and feels organic. Meanwhile, B2B creators are rising on LinkedIn, using the platform to share industry insights, thought leadership and valuable content that helps businesses build professional networks and drive growth.
Trend 5: Artificial intelligence (AI) is a solution to creative burnout
Marketing departments across all industries and sectors have invested in using AI to help them become more efficient. In the year ahead, AI’s influence will continue to grow. Half of marketing leaders say they’ll spend 2025 maximizing the AI tools they’ve already purchased and 48% want to invest in more. Social practitioners are using AI tools to automate timely tasks and reporting, streamline workflows and most notably, brainstorm new ideas. Social marketers must maintain a steady stream of content. But when you’re constantly producing for multiple audiences and networks, creative burnout becomes a risk.
Trend 6: Social search is a top priority
Networks like YouTube and TikTok have asserted themselves as major search engines, emphasizing the importance of optimizing for social media search. Consumers are flocking to the search bar to find answers, but they’re also using features like Instagram and TikTok’s searchable map features. And as more networks introduce AI-driven search features, discovery is continuing to evolve.Similar to Google’s AI Overview, AI social search results provide content summaries to give direct, scannable answers to user queries. The next generation of marketers are using social engine optimization and learning how to master artificial intelligence optimization (AIO).
Trend 7: Niche communities go IRL
We’ve talked about how social media is a hub for culture, but it’s also the foundation for subcultures to thrive as well. Niche communities will continue to grow in 2025 in many ways. For one, brands, creators and influencers alike are leaning into private communities and subscription-based models to share exclusive content and connection opportunities. Think Instagram subscriptions and broadcast channels, invite-only LinkedIn groups and social networks, like Lapse, that focus on friendship over followers.
One great example of this is 222, which provides curated experiences in real life.
Trend 8: Quality in product, commerce and customer care trumps all
There’s only one thing that surpasses original content and engagement: quality product and services. Some 63% of consumers say their favorite brands on social media have quality products or services. Even the most creative social posts can’t compensate for a poor-quality product or customer experience. From native search bars to direct messages and user-generated content, social media innately encompasses so much of the customer journey.
The buyer journey exists on social media and goes beyond posts, carousels and short-form videos—brands are shaping holistic customer experiences. In the year ahead, social will have an even larger impact in commerce and customer care. Customer care teams are familiar with high-volume inboxes and dealing with social inquiries across networks. Responding quickly is a must as 73% of social users agree if a brand doesn’t respond on social, they’ll buy from a competitor.
Trend 9: Emerging networks offer opportunities to experiment
Longstanding social networks are changing. Newer platforms are evolving, creating their own communities and cultures while attracting diverse user bases. These emerging networks are becoming testing grounds for innovative content and engagement strategies, allowing creators and brands to experiment with fresh ideas. Threads, for instance, is gaining traction with its focus on short, threaded conversations, providing a more nuanced and interactive experience. As more social media networks emerge, brands will have to be more intentional about where they spend their time.
Trend 10: Social data remains key
Our last social media trend on our list is one of the most important: marketers will be more data-driven than ever. Proving the value of social media is a common challenge for marketers, and leading with data can show the impact behind their efforts to secure more buy-in and resources. The Sprout Social Index™ found 65% of marketing leaders say demonstrating how social media campaigns are tied to business goals is crucial for securing social investment, followed by quantifying cost savings using social (52%). Sharing social data via dashboards or data visualizations are two other priorities.
Social teams will evolve how they measure success. Although overall engagement will remain important, social teams will also consider other factors such as production efficiency and the volume of positive feedback from leadership. Measuring the number of teams using social data to inform their work or share content is also important.