As we move into 2025, social media continues to evolve, offering brands new opportunities to connect, engage, and grow. According to Hootsuite's Social Media Trends 2025 report, three overarching themes—Content Experimentation, Social Listening, and AI—will dominate the landscape. Within each of these areas, there are specific trends that brands can leverage to stay ahead of the curve.
Let’s dive into these key themes and their implications for the future of social media.
Social media in 2025 will push the boundaries of creativity as brands experiment with new forms of content to capture attention and foster deeper connections with audiences. This year’s trends point to a growing appetite for bold, boundary-pushing strategies.
The Creative Disruption Trend
Gone are the days when rigid brand consistency ruled social media. In 2025, brands will fully embrace creative disruption, prioritizing content that is entertaining, educational, or emotionally resonant—even if it breaks traditional brand guidelines.
According to the report, nearly half of surveyed brands create content that entertains, educates, or informs their audience without directly promoting their products or services. For a subset of these brands, dubbed "Creative Risk-Takers," this type of content accounts for a staggering 81% to 100% of their social media output.
This shift reflects a broader trend toward adopting a platform-native approach, where brands tailor their tone, style, and persona to fit the unique culture of platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and LinkedIn. For example, brands are experimenting with tones and personas so distinct that their social media presence often feels entirely separate from other marketing channels. This bold experimentation allows brands to engage more deeply with platform-specific audiences while building authenticity.
In fact, 43% of organizations have tried out a new tone of voice, personality, or persona on social media within the last year, and many are seeing significant rewards for doing so. This willingness to push creative boundaries makes brands feel more authentic and human. As brands continue to loosen the reins on rigid guidelines, they’re finding that social media is not just a tool for communication but also a powerful channel for cultural participation and audience connection.
By prioritizing creative disruption, brands in 2025 will redefine how they engage with audiences, making bold content the new standard for success.
The Outbound Engagement Trend
Another exciting development is the rise of outbound engagement, where brands strategically participate in conversations within creators' comment sections. This proactive approach builds visibility and fosters community. By engaging thoughtfully, brands can establish authentic connections, particularly with Gen Z audiences who value meaningful interactions over passive marketing.
To succeed, brands must focus on relevance, timing, and value when commenting on creator posts—turning casual engagements into powerful community-building opportunities. Emojis play an important role in brand comments, adding personality, emotion, and visual appeal to make interactions more relatable and engaging for audiences.
Here are some popular examples of outbound engagement:
Netflix: Engages with fan edits and memes about shows like Stranger Things with witty, playful comments that amplify the content and connect with fans.
Duolingo: Uses its owl mascot to respond to creators' language-learning struggles with funny, on-brand comments like “We’re watching you 👀.”
Sephora: Comments on beauty tutorials or unboxings with supportive questions or compliments, subtly promoting their products, like “Which shade of our foundation are you using? 😍”
Mastercard: Amplifies heartfelt "priceless" moments with emotional comments like “Now that’s priceless. ❤️,” aligning with their iconic campaign.
Social listening has transitioned from a "nice-to-have" to a mission-critical tool for brands. In 2025, organizations that master social listening will gain a competitive edge by understanding their audiences, identifying opportunities, and driving measurable results.
The Micro-Virality Trend
The days of chasing broad virality are over. Instead, brands are focusing on micro-virality, creating content that resonates deeply within niche audiences. Social listening tools will enable brands to identify cultural moments, emerging trends, and audience preferences, allowing them to craft targeted campaigns that inspire meaningful engagement.
According to the report, 27% of social marketers already adjust their content to align with cultural opportunities like memes and trends, while 31% of social listeners use tools to analyze these trends for actionable insights. This approach helps brands assess whether a trend aligns with their audience's preferences, ensuring relevance and maximizing engagement. Attitudes around "going viral" have also shifted as brands recognize the limitations of broad virality. Instead, they are focusing on smaller, targeted wins that drive meaningful engagement within their own communities. Social listening plays a crucial role, allowing brands to strategically tailor their content to niche goals and foster authentic connections with their audiences.
The Social Performance Trend
Social listening also unlocks the ability to measure and prove ROI. Brands are using this data to guide everything from campaign strategy to customer service improvements.
For example, social listening tools enable brands to monitor competitors and identify weaknesses, such as frequent complaints about long wait times or limited product features. By addressing these unmet customer needs with targeted campaigns or product enhancements, companies can gain a significant edge in the market. Additionally, these tools help brands track real-time sentiment and engagement, refining their strategies for greater impact and efficiency.
According to the report, 62% of social marketers now use social listening tools, and organizations that integrate these tools are more confident in their ability to prove ROI. This confidence stems from the ability to link social media activities directly to measurable business outcomes, such as increased sales, improved customer retention, or greater brand visibility. With these tools in place, brands not only build stronger connections with their audiences but also maximize the value of their social media investments, driving growth and sustained success.
AI has become an indispensable tool for social media marketers, offering new ways to streamline workflows and enhance creative strategies. In 2025, AI will play a pivotal role in content creation and strategic decision-making.
The AI Content Trend
Generative AI is no longer experimental — it’s a core part of the marketing toolbox. Marketers are using AI to generate captions, visuals, and even short videos at scale, helping them keep up with the ever-increasing demand for content. This surge in adoption is fueled by AI's ability to take over repetitive tasks, allowing social marketers to focus on higher-value activities like campaign ideation and audience engagement.
The adoption of generative AI is transforming content creation, with 83% of marketers reporting that AI helps them produce significantly more content than they could without it. This surge in use includes applications like editing and refining text (up by 180%) and generating images (up by 86%). Most brands now aim to produce between 48 and 72 posts per week across platforms, making AI indispensable for maintaining an always-on social presence. Key applications include producing text from scratch (80%), completely revising text (72%), and editing or modifying images (67%).
AI's efficiency allows social marketers to focus on high-value activities like trend analysis and campaign optimization while managing routine tasks like writing captions and generating DM replies. Even heavily regulated industries like healthcare, finance, and government have embraced AI, surpassing less-regulated sectors in adoption rates. These advancements position AI as a cornerstone of scalable and effective content strategies in 2025.
The AI Strategy Trend
Beyond execution, AI is increasingly being used at the strategic level. Social strategists are leveraging AI to analyze data, forecast trends, and optimize budgets in real-time.
More than 75% of social strategists are now using AI for activities like developing new ideas (75%), completely revising and rewriting text (72%), and producing content from scratch (70%). Interestingly, strategists responsible for high-level planning are adopting AI even faster than those in execution roles. This shift is driven by AI's integration into daily tools for data analysis, campaign planning, and performance tracking, enabling faster and more informed decision-making. Organizations that frequently update their social strategies are also the most likely to rely on AI, with agile teams using these tools to respond quickly to market shifts and platform changes.
By incorporating AI into their workflows, social strategists are enhancing efficiency, improving creative outputs, and driving stronger business outcomes, positioning AI as a vital "thought partner" in 2025.
As we look ahead to 2025, the social media landscape will demand creativity, authenticity, and adaptability. Brands that lean into content experimentation, leverage the power of social listening, and integrate AI into their workflows will thrive in this dynamic environment.
By embracing these trends, you’ll position your brand not just to keep up with the competition, but to lead the charge into the future of social media. Lucie Content will work hand-in-hand with you in 2025 to push your social media content and strategy to the next level. Contact us today to get started.
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