We can all agree that social media marketing is not for the faint-hearted.
Our worst nightmare was the unannounced algorithm updates a couple of years ago. Today, we face a complete change in user behaviour and consumer habits and a brand new generation of social media users and spenders with particular needs.
This is why our 2025 social media trends report should become your go-to guide to facing all the challenges. One is ensuring your clients are on board with optimising their social media strategy.
We know change can be tricky, so we backed all prominent social media marketing trends with precious data and research. As a special treat, we're sharing our free social media management trends report with you.
Short-form video will continue to dominate in 2025, with platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, and Facebook Reels leading the charge.
TikTok, the pioneer, now boasts 2.051 billion global users, and it is projected to reach 1.8 billion monthly active users by the end of 2025.
And there's a good reason for it.
Wyzowl's video marketing statistics report clearly shows that video marketing is the way forward:
Research also tells us that users in the US spend an average of 45.8 minutes per day on TikTok and that Instagram users watch 17.6 million hours of Reels daily!
Data and reports aside, if you looked at your own social media networks, we are sure you would notice that you personally consume more short-form videos when scrolling.
If you want your business to be successful on social networks and reach the desired results, engaging social media videos are the way to go in 2025.
When planning your short-form video strategy, it is essential to ensure that you are not blindly participating in trends and experimenting with unique sound clips just to be trendy:
The possibilities of short-form videos are endless, and this is precisely why this social media trend remains the leading one.
In 2025, raw, unfiltered content reigns supreme. Audiences, especially Gen Z and Millennials, want to connect with relatable and transparent brands.
Consumers are tired of overly polished, generic content that feels disconnected from real-life experiences. Instead, they crave genuine interactions and relatable storytelling.
User-generated content (UGC) is a natural extension of this demand, acting as the ultimate proof of authenticity. By blending UGC with authentic, brand-created content, businesses can build trust, foster community, and enhance engagement.
Consumer expectations: A study found that 90% of consumers value authenticity when choosing brands.
Impact on engagement: User-generated content is perceived as more trustworthy and engaging. For instance, 75% of professional marketers find UGC to be a more authentic content type, and engagement increases by 28% when consumers can view a mixture of user-generated product videos and official brand-authored content.
Consumer trust: Consumers are 2.4 times more likely to view user-generated content as authentic than brand content, highlighting the importance of authenticity in building trust.
Influence on purchase decisions: User-generated content significantly impacts purchasing behaviour, with 82% of consumers more likely to make a purchase after seeing user-generated content.
Show your human side:
Participate in real-time trends:
Be transparent:
Encourage customers to share:
Highlight UGC across channels:
Collaborate with micro-influencers:
As platforms prioritise paid content and creator-driven posts, organic reach steadily declines.
Facebook posts now reach just 2.2% of followers on average, while Instagram fares slightly better at 9.5%. This trend has pushed brands to rely more on paid strategies to maintain visibility.
However, not all ads are created equal. Generic, broad-reaching campaigns no longer deliver results in a world where users expect personalised and relevant content. Enter narrow-targeted social media ads, the key to cutting through the noise and maximizing ROI.
While organic reach continues to decline, narrow-targeted ads offer a sustainable path forward. They allow brands to extend the reach of their best content, reach hyper-specific audiences, and drive meaningful engagement in an oversaturated digital landscape. Combining organic strategies with paid precision allows you to achieve visibility and results without relying solely on one approach.
Social commerce is a social media trend that has been on our radar for a long time. Both brands and social media platforms have been working hard to find the right way to convert social media networks into sales platforms.
And before we dive into data and how to integrate it into your social media strategy, here are the top two things you need to know for 2025:
In 2018, 30% of consumers said they would purchase through Pinterest, Instagram, X (Twitter), or Snapchat. Today, 46% of consumers report purchasing products directly through social media. In fact, the global social commerce market is projected to reach $1.2 trillion by 2025, driven predominantly by Millennials and Gen Z consumers.
While the growth is evident, it's important to keep in mind these notable concerns:
Should this stop you? Absolutely not, as stores that have at least one social account have 32% more sales on average than stores that don't use social media. In other words - social presence means more sales.
In fact, the GoDaddy report revealed that the top three platforms are:
Statista reports that social media platforms have become the latest shopping destinations. Their data reveals that in 2023, the social commerce market in the United States generated approximately 75.6 billion U.S. dollars in revenue. Projections suggest this figure will almost double within the next five years, surpassing 141 billion dollars.
So, what does all of this mean for you?
As buying online becomes increasingly common and consumers use social media to either buy products or review them, you must provide easy ways for customers to buy from them.
You want to work with them to minimise any potential purchasing frustration and set them up with native shopping experiences and opportunities available through social media apps like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. This will result in a higher ROI and a better user experience.
Regarding social selling, the social media strategy is slightly different from what you might use for a service-based business.
One of the ongoing messages we see on social media is that you need to build a community.
This might sound vague or idealistic, but the fact is that 66% of branded communities say that the community has had an impact on customer retention. And according to the Global Web Index, 76% of internet users are participants in online communities.
The amazing thing about a focused and mighty community is that this is where the brands’ most loyal and dedicated customers are. These are those ride-or-die, forever customers who are first to purchase and support.
With all this in mind, it's no wonder that some social media platforms, like TikTok and Instagram (Reels), now have handy features that allow you to respond to comments with videos, or share comments to your Instagram Story, and provide even more value.
But, you can take this even further by creating private communities.
In 2025, the focus will shift even further from amassing large follower counts to fostering engaged, meaningful communities. Public feeds are no longer the primary stage for interaction; instead, users are migrating to private groups and niche communities on platforms like Facebook Groups, Discord, and Slack.
This transition reflects a desire for personalized interactions and deeper connections, where users feel valued and heard, not just targeted.
Build exclusive groups:
Encourage user participation:
Facilitate deeper connections:
Facebook Groups: Create a branded Facebook community around shared interests or goals (e.g., social media tips for small business owners). Use it as a hub for sharing resources, sparking discussions, and running live Q&A sessions.
Discord: Build a server tailored to your audience's niche interests, offering dedicated channels for Q&A, product feedback, and live events. Utilize Discord's voice and video features for interactive sessions.
LinkedIn Groups: Focus on professional discussions, industry insights, and peer-to-peer networking. Use LinkedIn Groups to share exclusive industry reports or facilitate meaningful B2B connections.
Slack Communities: Ideal for B2B brands, Slack groups can provide an intimate space for professionals to share ideas and solutions. Organize channels by topics or projects to streamline discussions.
Instagram Broadcast Channels: Use Instagram’s broadcast channels to connect directly with your audience through curated content. Share exclusive updates, behind-the-scenes insights, polls, and resources. Since these are one-to-many messaging features, they are perfect for fostering a sense of inclusion and keeping your followers informed in real time.
In 2025, success on social media isn’t about chasing numbers—it’s about building a home for your audience. Private communities allow brands to create safe, trusted spaces where followers evolve into loyal advocates. By focusing on depth and fostering genuine connections, brands can build lasting relationships that drive engagement and loyalty.
In an oversaturated social media landscape, users are becoming increasingly selective, engaging with fewer high-quality posts.
New York Times said that TikTok is the new search engine for Gen Z, and Senior Vice President Prabhakar Raghavan, who runs Google’s Knowledge & Information organisation, said:
When you pair this with the factors that affect the TikTok algorithm (that's influencing changes in all the others), you'll realise that hashtags alone don't cut it anymore.
So here's how you can optimise your marketing strategy and introduce social SEO to it:
AI-generated content refers to content that is created using artificial intelligence tools such as natural language processing, machine learning, and computer vision. With the rise of social media platforms, there is a growing demand for high-quality, engaging, and personalised content. This is where AI-generated content comes in, enabling marketers to create content quickly and efficiently, saving time and resources.
Several AI tools have emerged that can help marketers create content for social media. Here's just a quick breakdown of the most famous ones:
But, if you'd like to opt in for an undisrupted experience, we suggest you try Sendible's AI Assist. Save time by quickly generating engaging captions, ideas, and ensuring brand consistency directly from Smart Compose Box, freeing you up to focus on other important tasks.
While there are benefits to using AI-generated content, such as faster content creation, increased personalisation, and cost savings, there are also some drawbacks.
One of the biggest concerns is AI-generated content's lack of creativity and authenticity. There is also the potential for errors, biases, and ethical concerns around using AI-generated content.
Social media marketers must understand the benefits and drawbacks of AI-generated content and use these tools effectively and ethically. By leveraging AI-generated content, marketers can achieve their goals more efficiently while maintaining their content's authenticity and creativity.
In conclusion, AI-generated content is a growing trend in social media marketing. While there are some concerns about using these tools, the benefits of faster content creation, increased personalisation, and cost savings cannot be ignored. As AI tools continue to improve, we will likely see even more creative and innovative uses of AI-generated content in social media marketing.
And that's not just because Sendible is about to release Threads integration.
Here's a little back story.
Within less than 24 hours, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that Threads had reached 30 million users.
Now, this number is over 150 million users and 23.6 million daily active users.
Threads, created by the Instagram team as a major competitor to X (formerly Twitter), enhances your experience of sharing texts and engaging in public discussions. Or so they say.
It provides a dedicated space for self-expression, meaningful conversations, and connecting with like-minded individuals. You can easily log in with your trusted Instagram account, personalise your profile, and immerse yourself in a vibrant community.
Take control of who mentions and replies to you, fostering positive interactions. Filter out specific replies by hiding certain words. Explore posts from accounts you follow and discover recommended content. Seamlessly share your thoughts to Instagram and other platforms. With Threads, there are no limits to your creativity.
I know what you're thinking. Building an engaged and respectful community takes some extra time. And it might not even work! But we would definitely encourage you to try it, especially if you and your clients have an Instagram account.
You see, you can easily link the two to promote them and share the same bio and profile images. This means you'll be able to create a new profile in a few clicks! And if you're not in the mood for coming up with an entirely new strategy, here's what we suggest (as a start):
A growing number of brands are rethinking storytelling by treating every post or video as a “chapter” in a larger narrative.
Rather than posting disjointed, trend-driven content, these brands create interconnected episodes that build character arcs and ongoing storylines.
This approach not only provides a cohesive brand narrative but also hooks followers by inviting them to tune in for the next “episode” of the story. Whether it’s through a dedicated content pillar or integrated across multiple channels, episodic storytelling is proving to be an effective way to deepen audience engagement.
I know we're all keen to get to the bottom of what happened to the Duo Owl.
In a significant shift, social media managers are stepping out from behind the scenes to become the human face of their brands.
Instead of interacting solely through generic, faceless brand accounts, audiences are now connecting with real people who embody the brand’s values.
For example, SEMrush has set a precedent by positioning its social media managers as approachable experts, fostering stronger relationships and enhancing brand authenticity.
B2B marketing is undergoing a transformation, with a noticeable shift from lead generation to brand awareness.
This trend aligns closely with the evolving emphasis on storytelling and personal connection. By prioritising brand awareness, B2B companies are not only enhancing their market presence but also aligning with the broader digital trends that favour authenticity and long-term engagement over immediate conversion metrics.
It’s not as alarming as it might sound. Social media networks are increasingly behaving like search engines, which means Social SEO is becoming essential. Just like traditional SEO, Social SEO involves a variety of elements, with hashtags being just one part of the mix.
You can’t simply add 20 hashtags and hope for the best. It’s important to be intentional with your choices. Your hashtags should align with your keywords, description, and the content of your post to be effective. Whether you use three or ten hashtags, what matters most is that you choose them thoughtfully.
Staying on top of the yearly social media trends is important for adjusting your social media strategy. But if you're serious about reaching those business goals, you'll want to keep in touch with the latest social media news as well.
This will allow you to develop new tactics and experiments and act promptly to adjust your content strategy.
Here are the latest ones:
Don't forget to subscribe to our monthly newsletter Insider to stay on top of the news.
There are numerous trends you could hop on to. But be careful, as it is too easy to get lost in them. This is why we carefully picked these eight trends that could potentially make the biggest difference for your clients.
And now that you're familiar with everything there is to know about the latest social media trends, it's time to work on your strategy! So, read our handy guide on content pillars and start planning social media content calendars for your clients.