Welcome to social media in 2024, where trends go from brat to demure in a matter of days.
Brands push creative boundaries while social audiences’ attention spans tank. Add generative AI, TikTok Shops, and the ever-growing expectation for social to drive business impact to the mix, and it’s enough to make even the savviest marketer’s head spin.
But no need to spiral, friends. We’ve got solutions. Here are the top 15 social media trends you need to know heading into 2025 — and actionable tips to help you bring them to your accounts.
1. AI is a permanent part of the social landscape
ChatGPT’s launch in late 2022 may have signaled the start of the AI revolution, but AI adoption only kicked into high gear in 2024. These days, social media platforms and marketers are embracing AI to streamline content creation and inform, inspire, and refine every part of the process.
Social platforms, in particular, are leading the charge with some impressive AI-driven releases — and we’re pretty sure this is just the beginning.
Meta’s AI, launched in the spring of this year, offers everything from content suggestions for creators to real-time answers to customer questions. It can even generate tailored replies and insights during conversations, making it a powerful tool for both customer service and community engagement.
LinkedIn, meanwhile, creates collaborative articles by pairing AI-generated topic suggestions with contributions from relevant LinkedIn members. The resulting articles benefit both the platform and its users: members get to position themselves as thought leaders, while LinkedIn gets content that keeps their community on the platform longer.
It’s not just Meta and LinkedIn, either. X (Twitter) is using tweets to train its AI, TikTok’s Symphony Assistant helps creators explore trending topics, and Canva’s AI tools can literally create custom designs from a description.
At Hootsuite, we’re seeing firsthand how AI can transform a social strategy — and we’re adapting our features in response. Tools like OwlyWriter AI make content generation easier than ever, while our social performance score uses AI to provide a clear, weekly snapshot of your content’s performance.
If it feels like everyone is suddenly using AI, that’s because they are.
For social marketers, it’s no longer a question of if you should use AI but how you’ll use it. And that’s where things get interesting.
While we’re all familiar with using ChatGPT to shortcut the writing process, Hootsuite’s Social Media Trends Report shows that AI is no longer just a helpful tool for content generation.
Instead, marketers are using AI to refine their social strategies, turn messy notes into organized presentations, and brainstorm new ideas. It’s a thought partner, not a job-stealer.
TL;DR? AI isn’t something to be wary of; it’s a critical tool to master if you want to stay competitive.
To-do list:
- Explore AI tools on each platform. If you haven’t already, start playing around with AI tools on top social platforms. Which ones fit your brand’s goals and can genuinely enhance your processes?
- Practice your prompts. AI’s smart, but it still needs your guidance. Spend time experimenting with different ways to phrase prompts for content generation, analysis, or engagement ideas to get the best results.
- Train your team. Don’t keep your AI wisdom to yourself! At Hootsuite, our team regularly shares tips to help improve our use of these tools, and together, we’re all getting a lot better at incorporating AI into our workflows.
2. Social marketing = performance marketing
It’s easy to view social media as “just” a channel for engagement and brand awareness, but its potential as a revenue-driving performance channel is growing.
What does this mean?
Performance marketing is all about driving measurable business outcomes (e.g., sales, leads, and customer acquisition) at the best possible ROI.
Until recently, connecting social media to these business metrics has been challenging. Success on social was typically measured by “vanity metrics” like likes, comments, and shares.
While important, these indicators don’t have a crystal clear connection to revenue. This often left social marketers feeling underappreciated and overlooked in strategic business conversations. It also made securing stakeholder buy-in for new hires, better tools, and higher budgets difficult.
But don’t sweat! The good news is that this is finally changing.
Thanks to tools like social listening and advanced social media analytics, SMMs can now prove the ROI of their work and link social activity to real business impact.
With real-time insights about customer sentiment, emerging trends, and competitors’ weaknesses, you can go from this:
Our social posts drove 2,735 likes and 842 comments this month.
… to this:
Social listening identified customer complaints about our competitors’ lengthy customer service wait times. So we created a ‘No-Wait Guarantee’ campaign, which we launched as paid and organic social posts. It drove 35% more traffic to our site and a 10% lift in new customer sign-ups.
In-depth social data can inform smarter marketing budget allocation — but also improve product development, customer service, and corporate strategy.
In the coming year, more brands will lean on social media as a core performance channel, driving measurable growth and producing invaluable business intelligence. SMMs skilled in listening and data-driven strategy will not only improve their results but also earn a “seat at the table” and a larger share of their organization’s marketing budget.
To-do list:
- Understand the performance loop. Every insight from social should guide an action that drives business results. This, in turn, will generate more insights.
- Prepare your sales team for social leads. As your social strategy starts delivering more qualified leads, make sure your sales team is ready to handle them with the same priority as leads from other channels.
- Integrate social data into your CRM. Tracking social data alongside other customer information in your CRM will provide a fuller picture of your leads, empowering better-targeted sales and marketing efforts.
- Elevate your reporting. Go beyond vanity metrics (like likes and follows) to capture the business impact of social. Track how social insights fuel campaigns that drive traffic, conversions, and customer retention. Your tech stack should include a social listening tool, a social media analytics tool, a cross-channel analytics tool (e.g., GA4 or Adobe Analytics), and a business reporting tool (e.g., Tableau).
3. Trendjacking vs. trend detox
Social trends (or, more and more often, micro trends) come and go so fast that marketers rarely have time to make an informed decision about whether to join in or step back.
While 82% of social media managers report being up-to-date with current trends, fewer feel participating is always a good idea. And a healthy dose of apprehension is called for.
Brands that jump from one viral moment to the next without an underlying strategy risk appearing inauthentic — and, ultimately, annoying their audiences (or disappearing in a sea of nearly identical posts).
So, how do you know when to join in on a trend?
The two extreme approaches are trendjacking (folding all major trends into your social strategy) and the polar opposite, a trend detox. (The latter is Jack Appleby’s concept of taking deliberate breaks from current events to produce original content true to a brand’s identity and goals.)
Luckily, you don’t have to choose between extremes. Digging into context and making strategic, data-informed decisions is the smart in-between. And social listening tools can help you do just that.
Social listening doesn’t just help brands spot emerging trends. It also helps marketers gauge the relevance and sentiment of a trend, predict its longevity, and identify key creators contributing to the viral moment.
With these insights, brands can make informed decisions about which trends to engage with and when to step back. In either case, flexibility is key.
27% of social marketers say they regularly adjust their content strategies based on current trends, whether that means joining a viral moment or strategically hitting the brakes.
Currently, only 29% of social marketers use social listening for trend monitoring — but the majority of those who do report seeing a positive impact on their business.
In 2025, expect to see fewer brands diving headfirst into every hot trend. Instead, more will be using social listening insights to carefully pick their moments — and focus on creating unique, original content when a trend simply doesn’t work for them.
To-do list:
- Set guidelines. Make sure your social media strategy includes a framework for when you should hop on a trend. Plus, if trendjacking is part of your strategy, leave some space in your social media calendar for when a relevant trend pops up.
- Analyze trends thoroughly. When a trend gains traction, use social listening tools to assess its sentiment, lifespan, and potential impact.
- Occasionally, take a break. Stepping back from some trends will allow you the time and focus to create original content centered around your brand’s personality, values, and goals.
4. Brands are building community in the comments
We’ve all seen it — the trending TikTok with a comment section full of blue-checked accounts whose connection to the content seems tenuous at best. Ariana, what are you doing here?
It’s nothing new; brands have been using comments to boost awareness for ages. In fact, there are entire TikTok accounts dedicated to the practice.
But while in the past it seemed like brands would comment on any and every post, in 2025, those outbound engagements will become much more strategic.
Consider Dove, which has been using comment sections to amplify its message of body positivity and self-care. In an interview with Marketing Brew, the social strategists who work on the Dove account explained their approach: it’s all about engaging directly with customers and building positive brand sentiment.
Before commenting, they look at the age of the video, the “volume and velocity” of comments, and the number of brands already commenting. If the TikTok passes the vibe check, Dove comments, allowing the brand to both build community and increase visibility in prime social real estate.
In other words, the comment section is like a mini ad space — if you’re showing up authentically, it can pay off big time.
Hootsuite’s Social Engagement Coordinator, Paige Schmidt, has also noticed that outbound engagements are evolving.
“These days, we’re seeing more strategic thinking: brands are considering which posts to reply to, the tone they’ll use, and which platforms to focus on,” Schmidt explains. This shift isn’t just about visibility — it’s about learning from your audience and shaping brand perception.
If you’re considering joining the conversation (and we’ve always said that social is a conversation, not a one-way broadcast), think of it in terms of relevance, not volume. When done right, thoughtful comments can boost brand recall and build connections without coming off as unplanned or opportunistic.
To-do list:
- Define your outbound engagement strategy. Decide on your tone, which platforms you’ll focus on, and what type of content is most likely to attract your target audience. You might also want to decide on some no-go zones; Dove, for example, doesn’t comment on posts made by underage creators.
- Set clear engagement goals. Are you trying to increase brand awareness? Build relationships with your community? Drive sales? (Actually, we wouldn’t recommend that last one). Make sure you know what you’re trying to achieve before you start commenting.
- Keep an eye out for opportunities. Yes, this means you can officially say scrolling on TikTok is an important part of your job. Just pick your posts carefully and keep your engagements authentic — how can you add value to the discussion?
- Use social listening to track your success. Track metrics like mentions and brand sentiment to see if your outbound strategy is working.
5. Personality matters more than consistency
Traditional marketing made us believe that cross-channel consistency is essential to brand integrity. However, the evolution of social media is proving that audiences respond better to authenticity and relevance than to rigid uniformity in voice and style.
Hootsuite’s 2024 trends survey revealed that above all else, people want to be entertained on social media. Last year, we found that brands were struggling to meet this expectation, focusing too much of their social strategies on products and services. This not only made their content less engaging — it also negatively affected ROI.
Recently, creative marketers have been less risk-averse. And brands that choose to adopt separate content strategies for different social platforms (rather than rigidly enforcing style guidelines across all channels) are seeing impressive results.
This trend aligns with TikTok’s 2024 forecast on “creative bravery,” which encouraged brands to be bold, go big, and embrace platform-specific styles. The inevitable side-effect of this approach is looser brand consistency.
In the last year, 43% of organizations tried out a new tone or personality on social, with some bold enough to diverge significantly from their standard brand voice.
Hever Castle’s playful Instagram posts or the official TikTok account of the Paralympics are great examples of organizations finding unique, platform-appropriate voices — and audiences rewarding these efforts with engagement.
While most organizations aren’t exploring creative extremes (not everyone can pull off Nutter Butter’s abstract humor), even subtle voice adjustments are helping brands blend more seamlessly into each platform’s culture and feel like part of the conversation.
In 2025, expect more brands to push creative boundaries on social and create stronger connections with new and existing audiences. We’re here for it!
To-do list:
- Relax your brand guidelines (but not entirely). Define non-negotiables and identify the brand elements you’re willing to loosen on social. Some strict guardrails can inspire creativity while allowing experimental content to still reflect your values.
- Set new success metrics. Embracing new personas calls for platform-specific KPIs. This may be the perfect moment to lean into “vanity metrics” like engagement. Spikes in likes, comments, and sentiment reveal if audiences are responding to the new voice.
- Get leadership on board. For some decision-makers, the idea of creative shifts without immediate ROI may seem risky. Emphasize that social engagement drives brand loyalty and potential purchases. A follower today can be a customer tomorrow.
6. You need to get on Reddit
Known for its wide range of niche, community-driven subreddits, Reddit is the place to be for authentic, peer-driven engagement.
And guess what? It’s only gaining momentum.
ICYMI: Reddit’s global user base surpassed 1.22 billion in 2024, making it a major player in the social media landscape.
As traditional marketing methods continue to lose their steam, Reddit is becoming one of the most powerful platforms for authentic engagement.
It’s also the platform that users trust the most when learning about new products and brands:
That’s because, unlike platforms that rely heavily on paid ads, Reddit thrives on organic conversations and peer-vetted recommendations. It’s where people go to talk about products, share experiences, and give honest feedback.
For marketers, that means Reddit is a goldmine for insights. You can use social listening to track what users are saying about you and your competitors — or you can jump in and engage with them directly.
But here’s the catch: Reddit is not a place for pushy sales tactics. It’s a space where authenticity and transparency matter. Marketers who succeed on Reddit get there by building relationships through real, helpful conversations rather than simply pushing products.
Take brands like The Washington Post and the NBA. They’ve leveraged Reddit’s communities to connect with users on a deeper level, building trust while addressing pain points and providing value.
Follow their lead to foster real connections with existing Reddit communities and build trust over time.
To-do list:
- Monitor key communities for insights. Start by lurking in subreddits that are relevant to your brand or industry. Pay attention to what people are talking about and take note of their pain points. Use these insights to inform your strategy.
- Engage authentically. Don’t just drop an ad and leave. Reddit is all about real conversations, so focus on providing value rather than promotion. Share helpful tips, offer advice, and build relationships, not transactions.
- Make Reddit a long-term play. Think of Reddit as a marathon, not a sprint. Build your presence slowly by contributing over time. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t see immediate results from a one-off campaign.
7. TikTok is becoming the real “everything app”
So far, the North American market has yet to replicate the runaway success of “everything apps” like WeChat or KakaoTalk. Still, while some tech giants have tried to position their platforms as the next go-to app, we think TikTok might actually be doing it.
With the launch of TikTok Shop, the app has transformed from a social platform to a full-fledged marketplace. Users can now discover, shop, and buy directly from their favorite creators — and TikTok is set to generate a whopping $17.5 billion in ecommerce sales in 2024, proving it’s a serious player in the online shopping world.
Beyond shopping, TikTok is also the birthplace of nearly every major social trend. The app’s influence on pop culture is so intense that it has essentially created a new kind of “micro trend” cycle.
As soon as one trend peaks, another is already on the rise, which means brands that can tap into these trends early can gain significant visibility — but you have to move quickly. (If you haven’t posted your demure or mindful content yet, maybe ditch that post)
And yes, we know TikTok is facing regulatory challenges that could impact its long-term growth. The platform has already been banned on government devices in Canada and may face similar restrictions in the United States.
While a full consumer ban hasn’t yet been enacted, these moves reflect an increasing focus on privacy concerns around the app, which may shape its future accessibility and usage.
Those concerns aside, we firmly believe that TikTok is redefining what it means to be an all-in-one platform. As the first “everything app” with widespread North American adoption, it offers users a pretty primo combination of social interaction, entertainment, and shopping.
To-do list:
- Experiment with TikTok Shop. If you haven’t already, explore how TikTok Shop might work for your brand. Unfortunately, it’s not available in all markets yet, but if you do have access, it’s time to start using it.
- Stay on top of trends. Don’t miss the next micro trend. Use tools like TikTok’s Creative Center or Hootsuite’s social listening features to catch emerging trends early and align your brand with what’s hot right now.
- Work with UGC creators. If you can’t move fast enough, partner with someone who can. Many creators excel at viral content and can naturally integrate your brand into the next hot trend.
8. Gen Z is the new golden audience
Marketers are putting their money where their future is — and in 2025, that future is Gen Z.
Known for their tech-savvy ways, quick wit, and meme-fueled humor, Gen Zers control over $450 billion in spending power globally. If your brand isn’t paying attention to them, you’re missing out.
But here’s the thing — Gen Z shops differently. Remember, this is the generation who grew up on their phones but rarely uses them to talk. It’s only fitting that, full of contradictions, they wouldn’t follow the same buying rules as Millennials or Boomers.
Enter B2Z marketing.
Coined by Hootsuite’s CEO Irina Novoselsky, the term hints at how Gen Z is reshaping the buying journey, even in B2B industries.
Gen Z’s product discovery process starts and ends with social media, especially platforms like Instagram and TikTok, where creators, influencers, and viral trends influence their purchasing decisions.
In fact, 46% of Gen Z begin their B2B search on social, not Google. Think of them as the self-service generation — everything they want needs to be at their fingertips.
Irina says, “They’re a TikTok generation with 6-second attention spans but will research 13 pieces of content before reaching out to a sales rep.”
Gone are the days of traditional ads or relying on Facebook to reach this demo. To connect with Gen Z, brands need to be creative, authentic, and meet them where they are.
“For companies, it’s time to rethink how you show off your products — ditch the demos and build intuitive platforms that let Gen Z buyers find the value themselves, at their own pace,” shares Novoselsky.
Take, for example, how Chili’s taps into viral trends on TikTok, like this Brat summer call-out:
Or this spin on a viral sound with a slew of Chili’s menu suggestions:
Both posts racked up hundreds of thousands of views — plus chatty comment sections flooded with Gen Zs responding to the playful yet relatable approach.
What’s more, these social efforts helped drive business impact: 15% increase in same-store sales for the quarter.
So, what does this mean for your brand? If you want to break through (and sell) to Gen Z, your strategy has to evolve.
With social media driving brand discovery and research, Gen Z expects businesses to meet them where they are. The days of downloading demos or meeting with sales reps to find out more are numbered; Gen Z wants all of this information upfront (and on social) to make their purchasing decisions
To-do list:
- Make your brand fit into Gen Z’s digital-first world. This generation spends most of their time online, so that’s where your brand needs to be too. Whether it’s through interactive content, gamified experiences, or easy-to-digest visuals, make sure you’re catering to their digital lifestyles.
- Ditch ads and embrace community content. Gen Z isn’t interested in traditional ads. Focus on creating organic content that sparks conversation and builds community. Engage with your audience in an authentic, relatable way that feels like a conversation, not a sales pitch.
- Collaborate with influencers they trust. Gen Z is heavily influenced by creators — partner with micro-influencers who have a genuine connection with their followers.
9. Short-form video for long-term wins
Look, we’re not too proud to admit when we’re wrong. Last year, we were pretty sure that long-form video was about to make a big comeback. This year, we can admit that short-form video continues to reign supreme.
Platforms like TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn have embraced short-form video as the best way to capture attention and increase engagement. With our shortened attention spans and well-honed scrolling habits, we want content that’s quick, engaging, and instantly shareable.
Video isn’t just for B2C brands, either. LinkedIn is seeing huge success with short-form video, noting that video content is now its fastest-growing format. No matter your industry, you can create videos that go beyond entertainment to inform and connect with your audience in seconds.
And while TikToks can now be up to 60 minutes long, consider that an outlier. The average TikTok video may be getting longer, but it’s still under a minute.
Even Instagram Head Adam Mosseri confirmed that Instagram won’t pivot to long-form video since the format doesn’t align with the platform’s connection-focused primary goals.
(@hootsuite)
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