2024 has come upon us with the widespread adoption of AI, the introduction of new social media platforms, increased dependence on video content, and the ever-changing algorithms of popular platforms. With these developments, social media marketing is set to witness many changes.
Hearsay and guesswork won't be enough to keep you updated in what's changing in the social media space. You need data. And of course, expert insights.
We've used a mix of both to list some social media marketing trends that will be big going forward.
- 1. AI Has Crept into Social Media
- 2. Engaged Communities Will Drive Revenue
- 3. Text-Only Posts Will be a Hit
- 4. Social Media Platforms Are the New Search Engines
- 5. Video Content Will Take the Lead
- 6. TikTok Shop Will Fuel Social Commerce
- 7. Micro and Nano-Influencers Will Be the Go-To
- 8. Social Data Is Bound to Be Key
8 Social Media Marketing Trends to Add to Your Arsenal
While some of these trends are platform-specific, others are overarching trends that will affect all platforms. Whether you're a marketer, a business owner, or an influencer, you'll benefit immensely from these insights.
1. AI Has Crept into Social Media
Starting with the most obvious development, artificial intelligence (AI) is bound to get deeper into the social media world. Its role is two-way.
Not only are social media platforms using AI to optimize recommendations and ads, but marketers are also using the technology to cut down content creation time and improve personalization.
Moving forward, the adoption of AI tools will skyrocket among marketing teams. A Hootsuite survey found an increase in the use of AI tools for all marketing use cases from chatbots and image generation to content editing and idea development.
Similarly, a HubSpot report also found that 87% of marketers who use generative AI find it effective. In fact, nearly half of marketers surveyed said that AI is ''extensively integrated'' into their marketing workflows.
We're not just talking about the good old ChatGPT. Think AI image generation tools, video generators, audio tools, chatbots, co-pilots, virtual assistants, and so on.
Most of the marketers (45%) use AI tools for ideas and inspiration. Also, 31% use AI to create outlines, while 18% draft content with AI writing tools.
Statista data shows that 90% of marketers use AI to automate customer interactions, while 88% use it for personalization. Other main use cases include process automation, programmatic advertising, and customer segmentation.
It is due to this mainstream use of AI that the market value for AI in marketing is expected to increase from $15.84 billion in 2021 to $107.5 billion by 2028. That's almost a 580% increase in just seven years!
How to Implement
The first step is to decide which of your social media tasks can be done by AI. Now, let's say you assign AI to generate visuals for your social media posts.
The next step would be to select an image generation tool. There are plenty of options like:
Choose a tool based on its ease of use, functionality, and your budget. You can now do the same with all other use cases, be it social monitoring, data analysis, video generation, or managing customer interactions.
Don’t let AI do all the work, though. As Ashely Sidi, digital marketing lead at Croda, explains, ‘’Think of it as having a personal virtual assistant. If you use it in this manner, it will be effective. However, it’s important to sprinkle in the real stuff. Maintaining a healthy balance between technology and authenticity is key.’’
Human involvement is a must even with the best AI tools in your toolbox.
2. Engaged Communities Will Drive Revenue
David Alston, the founder of Marketswell Solutions' CMO Accelerator program, says, "Social media is not a media. The key is to listen, engage, and build relationships."
In 2024 and beyond, this advice will hold truer than ever. There's far too much competition now.
If you don't provide value to your customers or audience, they will simply move on to another brand that does. Social media platforms provide a one-in-one avenue for brands to engage with their customers.
Engagement is not only important to stay memorable in your customers' minds. It will also help you leave a positive impression.
The thing about social media is that people like to share stuff on there. A single bad comment or review on your page can do damage that would take you a long time to recover from.
Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, puts it quite well. He says, "If you make customers unhappy in the physical world, they might each tell 6 friends. If you make customers unhappy on the Internet, they can each tell 6,000 friends."
You don't want that, do you? That's why it's important to keep your customers engaged so that they can first come to you with any complaints or issues before they go public.
If you never reply to comments or the direct messages you get, it shows your customers that you're unreachable. So, they resort to public uproar to get their voices heard.
In recent years, there has been a spike in the mention of digital communities online. It shows that people want to be a part of these communities and engage with their favorite brands closely.
How to Implement
Use social media to become a part of your customers' lives. Share content that's not always about selling your products or services but rather about entertaining them or simply offering them something relatable.
Take a leaf out of Gym Shark's TikTok strategy. The brand posts relatable content that gets people talking.
Vessi does something similar on its TikTok page but with a funny and TikTok-y twist. Their content involves challenge videos and fun POVs.
Also, respond to comments regularly. Hold polls and giveaways. Answer the DMs you receive.
Try to help your customers out with queries. You should also ask for their opinions on new products or services and share user-generated content to show appreciation.
Often, building communities is also about making your audience feel seen. In an industry where models are predominantly slim, Lounge Underwear posts photos of women of all shapes and sizes, making their audience feel represented.
The comment section shows how appreciative the customers are.
3. Text-Only Posts Will be a Hit
Yes, video content is cool and all, but text-only posts can do wonders, too.
You're scrolling through Facebook or Twitter, and a post catches your eye; it's text-only, but you find it intriguing enough to stop scrolling and read.
These posts will do numbers in the following years, especially with X getting a new rival in the form of Meta's Threads. The app gained millions of daily active users just months after it was released.
Another similar app is Mastodon. While it's no X, it's growing and has gained a substantial following of 1.8 million monthly active users.
Text-only posts also allow for more creativity, as they rely on wordplay and clever wording to catch the reader's attention. They also tend to spark more conversations in the comments section. The never-ending discourse on X is a testament to this.
Then, there's LinkedIn. The platform is dominated by text-only posts, with articles and updates being shared daily.
How to Implement
Creating text posts can become a bit tricky for brands. But there's a lot of room for experimentation.
A good thing about apps with text-only posts is that they also let you hold polls. You can use this feature to conduct surveys and gather feedback from your audience.
For example, Whole Foods conducts surveys to ask its followers what they would like to see in the brand's seasonal trail mix.
The brand also uses these polls to ask customers about their favorite scents, flavors, and so on.
DiGiorno Pizza uses text posts on X to get people to engage. Many of their posts are inquisitive, encouraging people to respond. But they don't do it in a way that comes off as ''salesy'' or pushy.
They simply post witty questions related to their products and get plenty of comments in return.
You can also use text posts to share educational content. It can be tips, quotes, statistics, anecdotes, fun facts, etc.
4. Social Media Platforms Are the New Search Engines
Internet users now have qualms with Google because the search engine has become a hub for ads. People constantly complain about the largest search engine in the world being useless nowadays.
In a post, a Redditor said, "Google search is now just a promotional platform for other Google products. Google DOES NOT fulfil the function of a legitimate search engine, which is to crawl the web and surface content from all sources that is related to the users search."
People on X also seem to be on the same page.
Social media platforms are filling the void. They are becoming the new search engine for users looking for specific information or content.
It's not just about hashtags and keywords anymore. Platforms like X and TikTok have advanced search options that allow users to filter their search results.
Young adults are driving this shift, with many of them shifting to TikTok to get their news in the US.
There's a very small difference in the percentage of people using search engines and social media platforms for product research. While 48% of Gen Zers use Google and similar search engines, 44% of them turn to social media sites.
It has gotten to a point where Google itself has admitted that social media platforms are taking over its audience. In an interview, Prabhakar Raghavan, Senior Vice President at Google, said, "In our studies, something like almost 40% of young people, when they're looking for a place for lunch, they don't go to Google Maps or Search. They go to TikTok or Instagram."
All these changes and shifts in user behavior point to the fact that traditional search engines like Google are no longer meeting the needs of users. They are not providing relevant and unbiased information, and their algorithms are often influenced by advertising and paid content.
Brands need to up their social media game to cater to the audience's social search needs.
How to Implement
Use social SEO by incorporating keywords in your social media profiles and posts. Also, create content that answers your audience's common questions.
You want people to find your brand when they search for related topics on social media platforms.
5. Video Content Will Take the Lead
Considering the trends for the past few years, it shouldn't be surprising that video content is still in its prime, and it's not going anywhere anytime soon.
Kyle Denhoff, Director of Marketing at HubSpot, says, "There are two changes in the market indicating a need for more video content. First, the search landscape is being disrupted by AI. Second, we're seeing a shift to a video-first consumption of content for audiences."
So, people are not only watching videos. They're also using videos to research and learn about products or services.
The interesting news is that short-form videos aren't the only ones doing numbers. Longer videos will be just as popular in the coming years.
But long doesn't mean an hour-long video unless it's a podcast episode or a key event. Instead, it means a video between 10 to 30 minutes. Wistia's video marketing report shows that videos 5 to 30 minutes long have a 35% play rate.
Similarly, videos that are 3 to 5 minutes long have a 47% engagement rate, which is really impressive when you compare it to a 17% engagement rate for videos that are more than 60 minutes long.
Many platforms are increasing the video length you can upload. For example, X Premium lets you upload up to 2 hours of video content, while Instagram Reels can be 15 minutes long now. TikTok has also released a 10-minute video-length feature for some users.
However, this doesn't mean short-form video content is dead. HubSpot reports that short videos generate the most return on investment (ROI), which is why 25% of marketers plan to increase their investments in short-form video content.
How to Implement
The key is to follow the conventions of the platform on which you're posting videos. For example, bite-sized videos do best on TikTok.
On Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram Reels, you can post slightly longer videos. In fact, Facebook recommends that "If you're interested in generating revenue from ads placed in your video, ensure that your videos are three minutes or longer."
As for YouTube, it's perfect for longer videos, but even there, aim for no longer than 60 minutes unless it's a live stream or event coverage.
YouTube is also ideal for posting teasers for new products. Crumbl Cookies is known for its product teasers on the platform.
6. TikTok Shop Will Fuel Social Commerce
Social commerce already started booming in 2022, when its overall revenue went to $992 billion worldwide. Statista forecasts that this figure will reach $8.5 trillion by 2030. That's massive!
If you have already tapped into social commerce, you may be using Instagram or Facebook shops to sell your products. But TikTok Shop seems to be the new hero in this space ever since its release in the US in 2023.
Some TikTok shops are making up to a million dollars per month. But how?
The main reason for the success of TikTok Shop is its confluence with video content. Since both social commerce and video marketing are rising trends, it makes sense for the blend of two to do even better.
How to Implement
TikTok Shop is relatively new, but there's still a lot you can learn from its short presence in the industry. One, people are conscious of scamming and low-quality products, so full transparency is mandatory.
Also, there's a wave of ''deinfluencing'' content on TikTok, where creators are promoting the avoidance of overconsumption and impulse shopping.
So, for your TikTok Shop to work, your content and product should be genuine, transparent, and actually useful rather than just an impulse buy. Offer a clear value proposition to potential buyers to show them that your product is really worth their money.
7. Micro and Nano-Influencers Will Be the Go-To
While macro-influencers or celebrities can bring a lot of traffic to your shop, they're extremely expensive. Some of them are charging upward of $10,000 for a single story mention.
Most brands cannot afford that.
Our influencer marketing benchmark report shows that 47.4% of brands spend less than $10k on influencer marketing and only 8.9% spend between $50k and $100k on this medium. So, affording a macro-influencer is not possible for most businesses.
But that doesn't mean brands are giving up on influencer marketing. They're turning to micro and nano-influencers, who have smaller followings but higher engagement rates.
These influencers are more relatable to their followers and are budget-friendly, too. They also have a stronger sense of community, making their recommendations more trustworthy.
In our report, we found that nano-influencers are the most preferred among brands, compared to their micro and macro counterparts.
The low cost and high engagement rates are undeniably the driving factors here.
How to Implement
Find micro-influencers in your niche and work with them. Instead of trying to work with as many influencers as possible, partner with a few who have significant engagement rates.
You can use our TikTok Money Calculator to estimate what an influencer will charge for your campaigns based on their following and engagement.
If you’re having a hard time finding influencers, AI can help you in this regard. Our report shows that 55.8% of businesses use AI to identify the right influencers for their campaigns.
8. Social Data Is Bound to Be Key
Now that AI is also in the picture, social data collection has become even more important. Marketers now have more channels and verticals to track.
Interestingly, this data will not only guide social media operations, but also the decisions made by other departments. The Sprout Social Index found that 76% of marketers believe that social media insights inform other departments in the company.
Brands will now have to pay extra attention to the data they collect from social media. For example, if you find that your new product or campaign is receiving a lot of negative feedback on social media, this could warrant a call for a product revamp or communication strategy change.
Similarly, social media data tells you a lot about your consumers. How old are they? What are they interested in? What is their purchasing power?
All this information can be used by your email marketing team to personalize messaging or the product development team to create audience-relevant products.
How to Implement
Invest in a social media analytics tool that can help you gather and analyze data from multiple channels. Talkwalker is a handy tool with features like media monitoring and social listening.
It also features benchmarking technology that lets you see how your brand is performing against others in your industry.
Besides using analytics tools, dedicate a team to this task. Also, work on removing silos in your organization to ensure cross-departmental collaboration.
Conclusion
Moving forward, you can expect social media marketing to be more dynamic yet personalized. AI will be a common factor in social media strategies, and brands will have to make data-driven decisions.
Bland and unrelatable content will not work anymore. The audience craves relatability and community. That's what you need to provide to them.
Working with nano and micro-influencers will also become more common. More importantly, there will be a shift toward social search and social commerce.
