2025 is set to be one of the biggest years for social media ever. With so many external factors threatening to impact content, from societal change to the rise of AI and even looming legislation, digital marketers need to be reflexive to cement their success online.
Staying ahead of the latest social media trends in 2025 means more than just creating content that performs well. Having a solid understanding of the fabric of our social media landscape will help you drive sales, build community, strengthen your reputation, and grow your impact.
Micro-trends are one thing, but what really matters as we face the year ahead are the big things – the seismic shifts in social media behaviors that will govern the way brands and businesses show up online.
To help you plan out your 2025 social media content strategy, we’re unpacking the four biggest trends we predict will shape Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook and more throughout the year.
Social Media Trend 1. Niche Micro-Communities
Just five short years ago, social media was dominated by big-name influencers, celebrities, and personalities, from the Kardashians and Tammy Hembrow to Mr Beast and Logan Paul. In the short time since, though, our attitudes as digital consumers have done a total 180.
Rather than clamoring to interact with the most popular and prolific creators, users want to feel seen and heard by relatable people with similar interests. Hence, the rise of the micro-influencer and their ‘micro-communities’ – a trend we predict will continue well into 2025.
Research from micro-influencer platform Statusphere shows that brands are collaborating with 33% more micro-influencers each year and the reason why is pretty clear. The average engagement rate for short-form video (SFV) posts for an account with between 10,000 and 100,000 followers is an impressive 11.9%.
Micro-influencers reinforce all of the broader societal trends we’re seeing at the moment – leaning into the things you love, connecting with others both online and IRL, and taking time for intentional interaction rather than mindless scrolling.
Instagrammer Laylah Lifts has built an offline run club leveraging her 120,000+ social media followers.
And now, the people behind these accounts are using their influence to build communities that promise endless value to their members. Using new features and platforms like Instagram broadcast channels and group chats, smaller creators are connecting their audiences both digitally and in the real world.
From virtual book clubs to in-person meet-ups in the form of coffee chats, run clubs, and more, 2025 is the year that we leverage the power of online mediums to enrich our offline lives.
The Shameless Book Club, an offshoot of popular podcast Shameless, has amassed a huge 78,000 likeminded followers and built a strong online presence.
Social Media Trend 2. Diversified Content Strategies
Everyone’s watching the impending TikTok ban like a hawk, waiting for a consensus over the app’s future in the United States – so it’s only natural we’re simultaneously looking for ways to diversify our content strategies and build community and brand awareness on other platforms.
We predict that 2025 will be the rise of new social media apps, including Bluesky, Threads, and a few soon-to-be-established platforms.
This year, we suspect we’ll see a mass migration to other content channels, whether they’re established favorites like Instagram and Snapchat, or new apps that are waiting to capitalize on TikTok’s demise. From Threads and Bluesky to Lemon8, Noplace, and even Letterboxd, there’s so much opportunity when you look outside of the box, and 2025 is the year to seize it.
![Two reviews of the movie Wicked [2024] on Letterboxd.](https://www.plannthat.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/5.png)
Movie reviewing app Letterboxd has become a social media hit and a hub for engaging commentary from creators – could brands follow their lead in 2025?
Plann tip: When you’re setting up a presence on a new social media app, leverage existing avenues for cross-promotion. Share your content to your TikTok and Instagram Stories, add a LinkTree in your bio with your other handles, and consider collabs or giveaways to quickly build a strong following on your chosen platform.
Social Media Trend 3. Creativity over Consistency
As is the case for any marketing channel, social media trends are bound to become stale over time – and because of how fast the trend cycle online moves, this happens quickly. We’re at a point where even macro trends like user generated content (UGC) and behind-the-scenes insights are getting a little old, and collectively, we’re yearning for something more.
That’s why we predict that 2025 will be the year of creative, outside-the-box, experimental content – even for established businesses with harder-to-crack brand guidelines and identities. Consistency is about to take a much-needed backseat, and instead, we’re forecasting a rollercoaster of a year where the confines of social content really open up.
It’s been occurring right under our noses for years, but it’s been masked by the fast-paced nature of the social media machine.
Take Duolingo, for example. From viral in-person stunts at the Sweat Tour to positively unhinged commentary on X, the owl app has been shaking things up for a very long time. We laud them as an early adopter, one of the first brands to truly break the mould of what’s ‘acceptable’ online as a business trying to sell a product… but have they actually been 10 steps ahead of the rest the whole time?
@kelsdempz every week is a new side quest @Duolingo #sweattour #charlixcx #duolingo ♬ Talk talk featuring troye sivan – Charli XCX
Over the course of this year, we’re forecasting more and more brands who ditch their picture-perfect content strategies, abandoning or modifying their pillars to create more space for trial-and-error-based content with a human focus.
Of course, this doesn’t mean you need to treat your social strategy like the Wild West. Instead, think about what your audience craves and look to deliver it to them in unique, engaging ways that diverge from your usual approach. Introduce a new series or character, play with editing techniques, mix up your content formats, or broaden your scope with new topics, and see what comes of it.
Quirky brands like Scrub Daddy are already breaking the content mould, and seeing more success than ever from it.
Social Media Trend 4. AI-driven Commerce Opportunities
If 2024 was the year of social commerce, then we predict 2025 will be the year AI kicks it up a notch. It’s easier than ever to find and purchase products without leaving your go-to social media app, and with AI on our side, this process is set to become even more seamless and beneficial for brands and businesses.
Social commerce opportunities like TikTok Shop will become even more personalized and advanced as AI capabilities grow.
Here’s a look at how:
- More personalization: We’ve all come to expect a tailored shopping experience from the comfort of our own homes, or, rather, our social media apps. AI can deliver this by analyzing customer data and offering up targeted suggestions, including recommended products to purchase and categories to browse. AI can also help auto-fill data, infer location information, select ad or product creative that will resonate with certain demographics, and much more, creating a shopping environment that rivals its in-person equivalent.
- Better customer service: The introduction of AI chatbots and customer service agents is set to revolutionize in-app social commerce. Think seamlessly answered customer queries, real-time support, and customized upselling – all without having to invest additional staff resources into human customer service. Instead, you’ll be able to focus your efforts where they count, like creating content and dealing with complex customer queries.
- Reactive feedback implementation: Have you noticed feedback buttons popping up on your social media feeds, whether they’re for organic content or ads? Well, this data is pure gold when you add AI to the mix, as it permits reactive feedback implementation to strengthen campaigns quickly. AI can analyze this data and use it to serve up products or ads that fit your preferences, whether that’s showing you something you’re likely to want to buy, or changing the way it’s presented (e.g., the ad copy or ad creative).
- Augmented reality (AR) integration: One of the perils of online shopping is not being able to envision a product on you or in your space. But, new AI tools are set to completely revolutionize the online shopping game, with augmented reality-powered features like virtual try-ons and design tools. Once this is better integrated into social commerce on apps like Instagram and TikTok, we envision less customer decision fatigue, more confidence when purchasing, and an increase in average order value.
Of course, lots of this is already underway on apps where social commerce is booming. However, one thing we know to be true about social media is this – there’s always room for more innovation. We can’t wait to see further developments at the intersection of artificial intelligence and shopping in 2025, and see how businesses leverage them for happier customers, faster sales, and better brand loyalty.
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