9 Social Media Trends to Capitalize on in 2025

With 72% of U.S. adults using at least one social media platform, there’s no doubt about the power social media holds online. Investing in social media platforms and building your company’s presence is crucial for reaching people interested in what you offer.

The social media landscape is always changing, however, which means you need to stay on top of new social media trends so that you can capitalize on them. So, what are the latest trends in social media?

Here are nine can’t-miss social media trends for 2025:

1. Reddit advertising
2. In-app shopping via product ads
3. First-party data for targeted social media ads
4. Forum marketing
5. Playful, authentic content
6. Community over follower count
7. Social SEO
8. Transparency and ethical AI use
9. Creating “edutainment” content

Keep reading to learn more about these social media trends!

View Post: Digital Marketing Trends 

1. Reddit advertising

Since Google introduced it’s “forum” tab at the top of search results, Reddit has become extremely helpful for brands looking to get their products in front of active social media users.

Since the Google and Reddit deal in early 2024, it’s been reported that “+Reddit” was added to Google searches over 32 billion times. Especially when they’re shopping, people want real answers and opinions from real people, and Reddit offers that. As a result, it’s a great place to start advertising your products during people’s research phases.

2. In-app shopping via product ads

Reddit isn’t the only social platform great for advertising — TikTok and Instagram are extremely influential platforms that are great places to run shoppable social media ads.

Interactive product ads offer a more engaging customer experience in which users can explore products more in-depth (and even make purchases) all without leaving the app. It’s incredibly convenient for users and can yield a significant (return on investment) ROI for brands.

3. First-party data for targeted social ads

Maximizing revenue in 2025 starts with leveraging first-party data for social ads. Through high-quality first-party social media data, you can understand customer behaviors at each stage of the sales funnels and better optimize your campaigns to make a big impact on people at crucial stages.

First-party data usage isn’t limited to ad targeting, either — you can use it to:

• Personalize ad content
• Identify new advertising opportunities
• Locate new audiences
• Prioritize high-performing content
• Optimize your campaigns

4. Forum marketing

Along with Reddit advertising, another 2025 social media marketing trend to follow is forum marketing. Places like Reddit and Quora are incredibly useful for tapping into communities of users who actively engage with others to talk about topics of interest, no matter how broad or niche.

Especially with the recent Reddit Google AI deal, extending your organic social media marketing efforts to Reddit can help you increase your search engine visibility. When engaging in forum marketing, keep these helpful tips in mind:

• Find your audience: Don’t just jump onto any forum — research where your audience spends their time and prioritize places where they’re active. Reddit is ripe with thousands of communities, but you also may find some industry-specific forum sites too.  
• Be transparent and authentic: Be genuine about who you are on forums. Deception doesn’t go over well with forum users, so whether you create a profile for your brand or just yourself, be honest, because trust goes a long way!
• Be helpful, not salesy: Forums aren’t places to be salesy — people go there to avoid being marketed to. Instead, offer helpful, valuable insights to conversations related to your industry to establish your expertise. They’ll see who you are, or represent, through your profile. Leave it at that!

5. Playful, authentic content

Authenticity is a major social media marketing trend for that all brands should be aware of. Users are tired of “staged” content that’s clearly built to sell them something. They’re looking for genuine content that resonates with them.

Your company has a brand and a brand voice –– embrace and showcase yours in your content! If you have a humorous and silly brand, integrate that feeling into your content. If your business is direct and serious, that should be reflected in your content, too. Your brand doesn’t need to be a “certain way” to appeal to people –– you’ll appeal to people solely by your brand being its authentic self.

6. Community over follower count

When businesses build their presence on social media platforms, there’s the misconception that they need to focus on building their follower count. While building a following is a good start, an important social media trend for businesses to remember is prioritizing building an active online community around your brand.

Build your social media community in 2025 by being authentic and engaging with your followers. Help them feel connected to your brand by responding to comments and DMs, joining in conversations, and sharing user-generated content.

People don’t want to be just another number to your business — they want to feel valued and connected. Creating a sense of community enables your audience to feel that connection and encourages them to continue engaging with your brand.

7. Social SEO

It’s time to start looking at social media platforms as search engines. In 2025, a key social media trend will be an increased emphasis on social search engine optimization (SEO). People have always searched for things on social media, from specific users and brands to trending topics and products. But now, more people are using social media to research products, get recommendations, and get to know brands.

A Forbes study found that 24% of consumers prefer to use social media to search and find answers to questions. This number is even higher among Gen Z (46%) users, who say they use platforms like TikTok and Instagram as their primary search engines.

In 2025, take advantage of this social media marketing trend and start optimizing your brand’s social profiles for SEO. Do things like:

• Using relevant hashtags
• Include alt text in your images
• Integrating keywords into your captions
• Utilizing subtitles and captions in your videos for accessibility

Above all, continue to maintain an active, engaging presence online to generate better brand awareness and draw users in!

8. Transparency and ethical AI use

From creating captions to generating content ideas, artificial intelligence (AI) tools like ChatGPT and Meta AI are integrating themselves into all facets of marketing, including social media. But as AI becomes more applicable, it’s important to remember that AI is meant to be used as a creative assistant, not a replacement for content creators.

Recently, there’s been a growing audience demand for transparency when it comes to AI use, and we’ve seen the negative effects of increased reliance on AI:

There’s a big difference between using AI suggestions to create your own content and copying what AI platforms spit out. Be transparent and ethical with your social media AI usage. Use AI to ideate, not completely create.

Always check AI responses for accuracy and consistency (because they’re not always correct). If you’re using it for image generation, add a disclaimer so your audience knows. This way, you can continue being authentic and real with your audience, all while still leveraging the benefits of AI technology.

9. Creating “edutainment” content

One of the biggest social media trends to emerge during the TikTok era is “edutainment” content. Edutainment content is entertaining, educational content that uses scenarios, skits, and trending memes or topics to share critical industry information with audiences.

This type of content continues to appeal to people and produce results for brands because it helps audiences learn things in an easily digestible way. Plus, it doesn’t interrupt people’s scrolling the way a traditional educational post or video would.

To capitalize on this 2025 social media trend, brainstorm creative ways to present industry information to your followers. The most common formats for edutainment posts are skits and scenarios, but you can take any approach to presenting your information in a fun, educational way. This could be in the form of a popular meme or an interactive story.

Need help taking advantage of these social media trends?

If you want to have an impactful social media strategy for 2025, you need to follow trends and adapt your strategy so that you can continue to drive qualified leads for your business.

Feeling overwhelmed having to continually keep up with the latest trends in social media? Consider hiring a social media marketing company like WebFX.

We have a team of over 500 social media experts who will run your campaigns for you. We’ve created over 165,000 social media posts for our clients and know what it takes to create engaging and authentic content.

If you’re ready to grow your business through social media, we’re ready to help! Contact us online or call us today at 888-601-5359 to speak with a strategist about our social media marketing services.