One month into 2025, what can we say?
It’s been a crazy ride already… that’s for sure.
The social media landscape has been on an equally crazy rollercoaster ride. In just one weekend, TikTok died and was revived, Instagram released new grid sizes, and an upcoming CapCut competitor was announced.
Even amidst the craziness, we’re seeing some trends arise. We’ll talk about the trends we’re watching (and leaning into). They’re focused on connection and efficiency – two of our favorite humans first, workers second qualities!
Trend 1: Continue to connect with your people on multiple platforms…including email.
Marketing experts like Amy Porterfield and Jenna Kutcher have said for years: Don’t build your business on rented land. AKA social media platforms that you don’t own.
The temporary TikTok shutdown was CLEAR evidence of how important this is. So many business owners and creators built amazing (and robust) TikTok platforms that they lost, if only temporarily.
Give your community chances to connect with you on other platforms, but most of all, invite them to join your email list. Even if social media platforms never disappear, the algorithms are always changing. Email communication doesn’t have to face those same types of algorithmic changes. You can reach your people whenever you want to!
Trend 2: Showing up as yourself is more important than ever.
Authenticity is an overused word (but crucial for social media).
I mean it. The words authentic, genuine, original, etc., no longer feel authentic, genuine, or original. But it’s what the people want.
Your audience wants to see the behind-the-scenes, messy middles, and half-baked thoughts. We have a couple of clients who prefer polished feeds and well-produced videos. There’s nothing wrong with that, but when we can slip in less engineered content (with their permission), it ALWAYS performs better.
Trend 3: Content creation is no longer the top priority on your to-do list.
Hear me out… I’m not saying to put content creation aside. I’m saying: make sure the time you spend on content creation aligns with your business priorities.
How can we make good content quickly so we can do the other things we need to do? For one, leaning into half-polished content (see above) can help. Using B-roll and repurposing long-form content to make social posts are two of our other favorite ways to make good, quick content.
Influencers will say it all the time: sometimes, the content they spend less time on often does better than the content they labored over. While you and I may not be influencers, I think it’s something to pay attention to as we figure out our content creation priorities.
**Shameless plug** If you want to spend even less time on content, you could sign up for the Stratos Social Club—we’ll help you with strategy, graphics, and captions… just saying.
Trend 4: Conversations are shifting to private communication channels.
Social media users are engaging less and less publicly (in likes and comments) and more and more privately (in DM’s and email). There’s certainly reason to invite all sorts of engagement, but notice where your people tend to respond to you the most. Continue the conversations in those places.
These connections are vital to social media because they keep it social. In a world of technology, that’s what people are looking for. Private conversations (DMs and emails) with brands and business owners allow your followers to feel like they have a personal relationship with you. This is how you turn followers into customers and your customers into fans.
Trend 5: Use AI… but appropriately
AI took a foothold in content creation in 2024, so it’s naturally going to be a big deal in 2025. We love using AI to create social media, but we are sticklers about using it WELL.
What do we mean by that? Well, AI is still a robot. It’s a fancy (and fantastic) robot, but it is still a robot. And your audience can tell. Write your own outline and ask it to fill in the details. OR ask it to write the outline so you can fill in the details. Either way, you have to add a human touch to it.
AI can help you spend less time on content (see point #3), but don’t be tempted to rely on it exclusively.
Obviously, trends are only trends, and you are NEVER obligated to follow them. (Case in point…I’m having a hard time stomaching all the 90s trends circling back around. ) BUT, when it comes to social media trends, these will create content that resonates with your audience so you stand out and connect with them.
Let us know if you plan on leaning into any of these this year! You’ll see us embracing them on our channels: Stratos Creative Marketing and the Stratos Social Media Club.
0 Comments