7 Social Media Trends to Capitalise on in 2025

As is the case with all aspects of the online world, social media is constantly evolving, and it’s doing so extremely quickly. This means that we’re set to see a whole host of new trends in 2025. As a business owner, you need to stay ahead of emerging social media trends, as this is how you remain relevant, competitive and a key player in the social media community. If you don’t, you run the risk of being left behind. As we head into 2025, it’s important that you capitalise on the big social media trends to captivate your audience, expand your reach and show that you’re up to date with what customers want.

2025’s Top Social Media Trends for Brands and Businesses

Advertising on Reddit – Reddit has long been a part of the online world, providing users with thousands of ‘subreddits’ on various topics and interests. So, it’s no wonder that Reddit has finally made its way into social media and digital marketing. Google has been pushing forums lately in search results, giving brands the chance to market products and services to social media users, all via Reddit. People are continually asking Reddit for answers to questions – with many even adding “Reddit” to the end of searched questions, wanting answers from a specific online community – giving businesses a chance to showcase their knowledge, expertise and solutions to common customer issues. When someone heads to Reddit for research, you have the opportunity to slide in and advertise what you have to offer, portraying yourself as an expert.

Quality, Not Quantity – Gone are the days when a high follower count meant you were a business to pay attention to. In 2025, it’s going to be all about quality over quantity. When you build your brand on social media, focus on building a community of loyal followers, rather than simply increasing your follower count. It’s better to have fewer followers, but have those followers engaged and commenting, then it is to have thousands of followers who scroll right past your posts. Social media users are looking for genuine, authentic and trustworthy brands to connect with. They want to be part of an online community, and not just another number.

Product Ads and In-App Shopping – There’s been a steady increase in in-app shopping and product ads recently, but it’s set to become even more prominent in 2025. This is especially true on TikTok and Instagram, which have quickly become hubs for product ads and in-app shopping. Product ads on social media platforms are engaging and memorable, and in-app shopping makes purchasing a product quick and easy; customers can shop without even leaving the app. In a world where customers crave convenient, product ads and in-app shopping really provide what they’re looking for from an online experience.

Social SEO – SEO has been an important part of building an online presence for many years, but 2025 is where the shift will move to a more social side of things. People are starting to use social media platforms as search engines, heading to the likes of TikTok and X in search of information. As a business, you can utilise this by making sure you have a strong presence on various platforms, and that you’re providing informative, relevant and up-to-date information to users. Using hashtags and keywords will help you to be found on social media, in the same way keywords help you to be found on Google.

Forum Marketing – 2025 is going to be the year of forum marketing, with people increasingly heading to the likes of Reddit and Quora to have questions answered. Forums enable customers to tap into unique communities, a place where they’ll find experts on various topics, regardless of how niche they are. You can utilise this as a business owner, by finding your audience online – is there a specific subreddit they’re likely to visit or an industry-specific forum that’s popular? – and be helpful. It’s important to strike a balance between being knowledgeable and offering guidance, without being too salesy.

Edutainment – The phrase ‘edutainment’ has started to pop up a lot, and it simply means content that’s both entertaining and educational. This is commonly seen on TikTok, where brands have been creating videos to share information with users. It’s a way to provide users with information about a service or product, without interrupting their scrolling. By adding in an entertainment element, users stay engaged, and they don’t immediately click off because they’re bombarded with educational information they didn’t ask for. Skits and scenarios are popular forms of edutainment, and they give you a way to present information in a way that’s educational, but also fun and engaging.

Using AI Ethically – There’s no getting away from AI, and it’s actually become something that a lot of brands are embracing on social media. But it’s important to do this transparently, honestly and ethically. If you’re using AI on social media – and let’s face it, a lot of businesses are – you need to use it as an assistant, not as a replacement for human content creation and ideas. AI is there to help you with things like coming up with content topics and finding hashtags, it shouldn’t be doing everything for you. You need to find a balance between using AI as a creative tool and making social media users feel as though you’ve tapped out, handing everything over to a ‘robot’ replacement.

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