Social Trends for 2025 to Consider
The Shifting Social Landscape: What Businesses and Brands Need to Know for Late 2025
If you have been in digital marketing long enough, you know the landscape changes rapidly. We are more than halfway through 2025, and the social media landscape continues its rapid evolution, challenging social media marketers, content creators, and influencers to constantly adapt. From the pervasive influence of AI to the rise of new content formats and shifting audience behaviors, staying agile and informed is crucial for driving real business results and social media success. Here’s a look at the top trends shaping the rest of the year.
1. AI is No Longer Optional – It's Foundational
AI has moved from a buzzword to a permanent and indispensable part of the social landscape. Content creators, influencers, and social media marketers are heavily embracing AI to streamline content creation, refine strategies, and brainstorm new ideas, viewing it as a "thought partner" rather than a job threat. Major social platforms like Meta, TikTok, X, and LinkedIn are leading this charge with impressive AI-driven features, such as content suggestions, real-time customer service answers, and trending topic exploration. Marketers are even seeing a culture of transparency emerge around AI use, with brands and independent marketers openly sharing their prompts rather than gatekeeping their AI-assisted outputs. The key takeaway is to explore AI tools on each platform, practice your prompts, and train your team to effectively incorporate AI into workflows. You'll also need to adapt to Artificial Intelligence Optimization (AIO), where AI-generated social search results summarize content, meaning your posts need to provide clear, direct answers to user queries. Don’t forget those keywords!
2. Social Media is Driving Measurable Performance and Commerce
The focus on social media has decisively shifted from "vanity metrics" such as likes and comments to measurable business outcomes such as sales, leads, and customer acquisition. Thanks to tools like social listening and advanced analytics, social media managers can now prove the Return on Investment (ROI) of their work by linking social activity directly to business impact. This allows social media to inform broader corporate strategies, product development, and customer service.
Beyond traditional performance, social commerce is emerging as the new front door for brands. Platforms like TikTok Shop are transforming into full-fledged marketplaces where users can discover, shop, and buy directly within the app. This low-friction, in-app purchasing experience is quickly becoming one of the biggest commerce channels, with product discovery increasingly happening directly on social platforms rather than traditional search engines. Brands should experiment with TikTok Shop and leverage in-app features for direct sales and affiliate marketing opportunities.
3. Authenticity and Personality Over Consistency
Traditional marketing emphasized rigid cross-channel consistency, but audiences in 2025 respond better to authenticity and relevance, even if it means looser brand consistency across platforms. Brands are experimenting with different tones and personalities on platforms like Threads and X, using them as "playgrounds for brand experimentation" to ditch polished messaging for unfiltered, real-time posts. The goal is to blend seamlessly into each platform’s culture and feel like a natural part of the conversation. Brands should consider relaxing brand guidelines where appropriate, set new platform-specific success metrics, and get leadership on board with this shift.
This drive for authenticity also extends to content creation. In-real-time content is gaining massive traction because it feels authentic and unplanned, often outperforming heavily pre-planned posts. Furthermore, User-Generated Content (UGC) creators are becoming the new influencers, offering brands a cost-effective and highly authentic alternative to traditional influencer marketing. These creators produce content that feels organic, such as unboxings or tutorials, which audiences tend to engage with more because it feels genuine and user-driven. Similarly, employee-generated content (EGC) is on the rise, leveraging team members to create authentic, often iPhone-shot, real-time content that performs exceptionally well and requires less budget.
4. Strategic Engagement in Niche and Community Spaces
Instead of blindly jumping on every trend, brands are becoming more strategic, utilizing social listening tools to gauge the relevance, sentiment, and longevity of trends before deciding to engage. This "smart in-between" approach helps brands avoid appearing inauthentic or annoying their audiences.
Community building is also changing, too! Brands are now building community directly in comment sections through strategic outbound engagements, rather than just using comments for general awareness. This involves carefully considering which posts to reply to, the tone to use, and which platforms to focus on, aiming to add value to the discussion and shape brand perception.
Furthermore, niche channels are the next big thing, moving away from a one-size-fits-all marketing approach. Modern consumers are seeking spaces uniquely tailored to their interests, leading to a rise in exclusive content and private communities like Instagram broadcast channels or private Facebook groups. Brands should explore niche platforms like Reddit for authentic, peer-driven engagement, remembering that Reddit is a place for building relationships through helpful conversations, not pushy sales tactics. But be careful, our advice is to consider which social channels YOUR audience uses and engage them there. Said differently, you don’t need to be on every social channel if your audience can only be found on two or three of them.
5. Gen Z and the Evolution of Content Consumption
Gen Z is the new golden audience, controlling over $450 billion in global spending power. This tech-savvy generation reshapes the buying journey with product discovery starting and ending on social media, especially platforms like Instagram and TikTok. 46% of Gen Z begin their B2B search on social, not Google. To connect with them, brands need to be creative, authentic, and embrace community content over traditional ads, even collaborating with micro-influencers they trust.
The dominance of short-form video continues to reign supreme across platforms like TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn, proving to be the best way to capture attention and increase engagement. Short-form video is an ideal opportunity to build relevance, spark conversations, and capitalize on shared cultural moments. Social media itself is entering its entertainment era. Users often binge-watch episodic content. Brands should adopt a "Hollywood mindset," thinking in terms of episodes, utilizing cliffhangers, and maintaining a consistent posting schedule.
Platforms are also prioritizing new creators more than ever, meaning your follower count matters less than the quality and engagement your content generates. If content is engaging and fills a void, it can go viral regardless of your existing following. Brand recognition is also increasingly trumping traffic volume, as platforms prioritize content from well-known brands due to perceived authority and trustworthiness, especially in a landscape prone to misinformation. Small businesses and creators can build a brand by consistently publishing new, unique content and repurposing it across multiple platforms.
The social media landscape is dynamic, requiring businesses and brands of all sizes to continually adapt and adjust to stay ahead. By focusing on these key trends, businesses and brands can enhance their strategies and connect more deeply with their audiences for the remainder of 2025 and beyond.