Looking for social media trends that will have a big impact on marketers in 2024? You came to the right place!
Social isolation and the COVID-19 pandemic have been reshaping the way people use social media in the past 2 years. Some of these changes are here to stay, and marketers need to adjust to them.
In this blog, we will cover some of the biggest social media trends to follow in 2024 and beyond.
What Are the Top Social Media Trends for 2024?
Because social media trends are changing constantly, marketers should also consider adjusting their social media marketing strategies. New players are entering the game; existing platforms are changing their algorithms, social isolation and work from home are changing user behavior.
All these factors have a significant impact on how Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn, and other social media channels are used by marketers today. In this blog, we will cover some of the biggest social media marketing trends in 2024, which include:
- Is TikTok Becoming the Next SoMe King?
- Organic Reach Is Not Enough
- Social Commerce and Customer Service Become Crucial
- The Creator Industry and Influencer Marketing Will Skyrocket
- Social Groups and Communities Are The Most Trusted Source of Information
- Focus on Authencity and User-Generated Content
- More and More Marketers Are Investing in Employee Advocacy
- Personal Branding On LinkedIn Is On the Rise
- Social Recruiting Is Hotter than Ever
1. Is TikTok Becoming the Next SoMe King?
Currently, TikTok is the fastest-growing social media platform in the world. We have been talking about the continuous rise of video popularity, and TikTok has leveraged this trend in the best possible way.
Hence, this social channel could have a big impact on your organization’s social currency!
Social media marketers can’t ignore this social channel anymore, and many of them have even been hiring for new marketing roles with expertise in TikTok. However, will TikTok ever become the number one platform used by marketers?
According to extensive TikTok research, only 14% of marketers planned to up their spending in 2021, and only 3% see it as the most effective social media channel.
We are yet to discover the ways marketers will be leveraging this social media for demand generation in the future.
2. Organic Reach Is Not Enough
COVID-19 has resulted in more social media usage than ever. For many marketers, social media marketing is now an absolute must-have. However, many have been struggling to increase engagement on social media platforms. Organic reach is just not enough, and the spending on paid ads will continue to skyrocket in 2024.
According to Hootsuite’s 2022 Social Media Trends survey, more than 40% of respondents indicated that the decline in organic reach and the need to spend more on paid advertising were their biggest challenges. Considering that the average organic reach for a Facebook post is just slightly over 5%, according to Hootsuite’s data, it is clear why paid advertising will become a necessity.
3. Social Commerce and Customer Service Become Crucial
With more buyers using social media today, marketing and customer support professionals are tasked to implement new and optimize existing social commerce and customer service initiatives.
According to research, 18.7% of U.S. social buyers completed their most recent purchase without leaving the social app. Furthermore, Forrester predicts digital customer service interactions will increase by 40% in 2021, and 69% of U.S. Facebook users who message businesses say it makes them feel more confident about the brand.
When users are buying directly on social, it’s not intuitive and convenient to seek customer care anywhere else.
Providing customer service on social media is, therefore, becoming one of the most important social media trends that shouldn’t be neglected.
4. The Creator Industry and Influencer Marketing Will Skyrocket
The creator industry is absolutely one of the biggest and fastest-growing social media trends out there. There are more and more creators on social media every day, and this economy is now worth over $100 billion.
Many platforms are heavily investing in creator marketplaces and creator tools – like TikTok, Instagram, Pinterest, and even LinkedIn.
These tools make it easier for creators to produce and distribute high-quality content, better connect with their audience, and collaborate with brands.
Did you know that over 50 million people around the world consider themselves to be “creators”?
Because high-quality content is getting easier to produce without any design experience, we have also been witnessing increasing popularity in influencer marketing.
There are more micro-influencers than ever before. For some B2C companies, this is the most productive and impactful marketing strategy for reaching highly relevant audiences and increasing sales.
💡 Also, learn about the power and best practices of LinkedIn marketing!
5. Social Groups and Communities Are The Most Trusted Source of Information
Social media is becoming a place where people come together and discuss brands, ask for references, and give their opinions. This social media trend is crucial for building brand trust.
Because people trust people more than brands, these groups are becoming the most trusted source of information for new buyers.
Social media marketers are yet to discover how to use these communities to improve social listening and drive more demand for their products and services.
Most of these communities, however, are sensitive to posts and comments made with the sole purpose of making a sale. Hence, marketers have to approach these carefully and with respect.
Some experts believe that these communities and closed groups not only make a very good sales channel but also serve as a perfect tool for finding new markets and better understanding existing buyer personas.
6. Focus on Authencity and User-Generated Content
#NoFilter seems to be growing in its popularity. People want authentic content, videos, and images in their original formats. Creators and brands are moving away from perfectly curated feed aesthetics and switching to less filtered content.
In 2024, more brands and creators will spend less time creating a picture-perfect perception and more time fostering deeper relationships with their followers.
This is also one of the main reasons why user-generated content is becoming more and more popular. No marketing tactic can beat the power of brand ambassadorship. The more existing customers you have talking about your brand, the more trusted the brand would become.
This is not a new social media trend, but it is still going strong and will continue to do so.
Some brands are doing a very good job in motivating their customers to create content and tag the brand for a chance to get featured on their page. On Instagram, we can see many brands running relevant marketing campaigns that encourage people to submit their entries to be a part of the campaign.
Some brands, like Airbnb, completely rely on user-generated content for their social media content.
7. More and More Marketers Are Investing in Employee Advocacy
There is no better way to start building authenticity, brand trust, and brand advocacy than through your own employees. Large organizations with thousands of employees now understand the power of using social media in the workplace and having their own employees as brand advocates.
According to Entrepreneur, social media content shared by employees gets 8 times more engagement than content shared through the brand’s own social channels. Such content is shared 25 times more frequently.
Finally, an employee advocacy program involving 1,000 active participants can generate $1,900,000 in advertising value. Not only that employees are more trusted than corporate brands, but they can often reach a much wider audience.
The high ROI of employee advocacy is undeniable, and marketers shouldn’t neglect this growing social media trend. Leveraging your own employees to boost your content strategy is a neutral thing to do. Also, this is quite easy to achieve when you have the right advocacy tools to enable and motivate your people to get involved.
8. Personal Branding On LinkedIn Is On the Rise
LinkedIn influencers. Some people thought these two words would never be used together. They were wrong!
LinkedIn is the B2B influencer marketing platform. People have been using LinkedIn to build their personal brands and act as thought leaders in their industries. Companies have been encouraging their sales departments to better leverage LinkedIn as a social selling platform.
One research showed that organizations in which salespeople engage in social selling activities have a much better chance of generating and closing new deals.
So what to expect from LinkedIn marketing in 2024? We will be seeing more creators using the platform, professionals growing their personal brands, and CEOs positioning themselves as experts in their field.
Social media marketers and company leaders will be introducing new initiatives to motivate all employees to build their personal brands by sharing their company’s content with their LinkedIn networks.
9. Social Recruiting Is Hotter than Ever
The great resignation has impacted employers across the world. Younger generations are switching jobs more frequently, so attracting and keeping talent has become the biggest nightmare for HR professionals.
Social recruiting is now one of the most efficient talent acquisition strategies and an important social media trend. Moreover, 91% of employers say that they use social and professional networks to recruit talent.
According to LinkedIn research, companies whose employees share their brand’s social content see a lift in the views that their job postings receive.
Using social media for employer branding is not a new thing, but we are seeing a rapid increase in the popularity of employer branding in general. Because most people follow brands on Instagram, this platform is considered the most efficient social channel for employer branding.
💡 Also, learn about how to build a successful social recruiting strategy!
10 Mindblowing Facts About Top Social Media Trends
Earlier in this blog, we listed a few interesting facts and statistics about the power of social media. Here is some additional data you can’t ignore:
- On average, people use 7.5 social platforms per month
- More than 75% of internet users use social media channels to find info about products and brands
- Nearly 40% of people in Gen Z say TikTok videos are where they go to learn about new products and buy new products
- A HubSpot poll found that 90% of consumers look for an immediate response from a brand when they have a customer service question
- A 2022 survey found that 75% of Twitter users, 59% of Facebook users, and 34% of Instagram users reach out to brands on the social platforms
- 71% of marketers planned to increase their social ad budget in 2021
- SurveyMonkey data shows that 48% of social media users have bought a product after seeing an ad
- Instagram, Pinterest, Linkedin, Reddit and Twitter users all report ‘follow/find information about products/brands’ in their top 3 motivations
- Engagement rates are significantly higher on Instagram compared to Facebook. The 2021 average median engagement rate per post (by follower) is more than 10x higher
- According to LinkedIn, Images typically result in a 2x higher comment rate and Video gets 5x more engagement on LinkedIn, Live Video gets 24x more
Frequently Asked Questions About Social Media Trends
Which social media trend will make the most impact in 2024?
From all the above-mentioned social media trends, we believe that one of them will make the biggest impact in 2024.
Since the current pandemic had a significant influence on people’s trust in media, we believe that user-generated content will be more important than ever.
Buyers will be relying on such content, and brands will be investing more in user-generated initiatives.
How many people across the world use social media?
According to figures from datareportal, there were 4.62 billion social media users around the world in January 2022. This figure is equal to 58.4% of the world’s total population, although it’s worth noting that social media “users” may not represent unique individuals.
Due to the increasing use of social media in many African countries, this number will continue to rapidly grow in the future.
What is the most popular social media channel?
Even though TikTok is the fastest growing social media channel with impressive user adoption, Facebook is still the leading platform.
The following graph by Statista shows the number of active users in 2021.
Are social media platforms safe to use?
In 2024 cybersecurity will be one of the main concerns for social media users. Social media platforms collect a big amount of data about their users, and hackers are getting smarter and smarter about how to access this information.
Even though most sites have security and privacy settings that allow you to control what others see about you, remember that most of your activity online leaves a digital footprint.
Who are the most popular social media marketing influencers?
There are many social media experts who provide free advice and best practices about how to do social media marketing successfully.
Here are some of the most popular ones you can start following today:
- Brian G Peters, Strategic Partnerships at Shopify
- Amisha Gandhi, VP of Marketing and Communications at SAP Ariba
- Konstanze Alex, Global Digital Storytelling at Cisco
- Sandy Carter, VP at Amazon Web Services
Full list of social media marketing influencers.
How to engage employees in social media marketing?
As mentioned earlier, advocacy marketing can be one of the most powerful social media marketing tactics.
The secret lies behind motivating employees to participate, providing relevant content that resonates with their audiences, making the content easy to share on various social media channels, and rewarding the most engaged ambassadors.
Haiilo Share is an employee advocacy platform used by forward-thinking organizations across the world. It enables companies to leverage the power of employee advocacy, enable employees to become thought leaders in their industries, and drive more brand awareness, leads, and new deals.
Want to learn more? Check out our social media policy template!
