The common thread through all of the trends we’re seeing in social media right now: authentic, quality content that speaks directly to your specific audience.
Generic content that attempts to speak to everyone? Out.
Heavily branded, salesy content? Out.
Content that talks more about your brand and product than your audience? Out.
Here’s what’s in instead:
1. More authentic, storytelling content will win
In 2024 and beyond, authentic content that tells a story and connects with your audience on a more personal level is key. This is true not just for content (i.e. see the rise of “talking heads” and content like GRWM Reels), but also for platforms (i.e. BeReal).
Brands who want to create more authentic content need to match these expectations. How? By integrating stronger storytelling, more behind-the-scenes content and an authentic look at your brand and products.
Sephora is a great example of how to integrate authentic, storytelling content into your social strategy. Not only do they feature loads of posts and videos showing how to use their products, the videos feature diverse creators sharing their stories. The videos don’t feel over-produced or particularly salesy, but they do showcase the products in relevant, authentic ways.
2. UGC content will continue to be a must for brands
Similarly, UGC (User-Generated Content) will continue to be a must for brands who want to be authentic and relatable on social media. As brands show more real users, real situations and real use cases for their products, authenticity and trust grows.
Recent research demonstrates the strength of incorporating more UGC content into your social media strategy:
- Almost 60% of consumers say “consumer-created content” is the most authentic type of online content
- 79% of consumers say user-generated content “highly impacts” their purchasing decisions
- 80% say they are more likely to purchase products from companies who showcase real photos and videos from customers
UGC not only drives increased trust, but also more loyalty for brands.User-generated content matters on almost every channel—but especially on social media, where your audience expects to hear from real people like them, and not just a faceless brand.
For a good example of this, look to GoPro. The majority of their feed is videos and photos from customers who are actually using their products. They also have regular contests and hashtag challenges to encourage users to submit UGC. Highlighting this content on their feed not only promotes their products and shows how they can be used, but also showcases their audience and creates a sense of community and authenticity for their brand.
3. Nano- and micro-influencers are on the rise
Bigger is better, right?
When it comes to influencers, not so much.
The influencer game used to be dominated by big-name influencers with hundreds of thousands or even millions of followers. Now, micro-influencers and nano-influencers are continuing to grow in popularity and usefulness for brands.
If you’re new to the influencer world, here’s a quick breakdown of the difference between audience sizes:
Smaller audiences offer connections to highly-engaged, niche audiences that are more likely to trust that influencer and their recommendations more than with bigger influencers. In addition, micro- or nano-influencers lend authenticity to your brand, a crucial element in 2024 and beyond.
Coca-Cola is one of the biggest brands to turn to micro- and nano-influencers to continue to build brand authority and trust. Their ongoing #cokeambassador campaign encourages smaller influencers to snap photos of themselves drinking a Coca Cola—not only increasing their brand prevalence, but also generating tons of authentic, UGC content for their brand.
4. Short form video will continue to be crucial
If you’ve ever gotten sucked into an accidental hours-long TikTok scroll, you know the power of short-form video.
At this point, it’s obvious that almost every platform—from Instagram to Tiktok, YouTube to Facebook, LinkedIn and more—is experimenting with (and having great success with) short-form video content.
Short-form videos are typically between 30 seconds to 3 minutes in length, and they’re one of the primary ways many audiences consume content right now. Regardless of your audience or industry, creating effective and entertaining short-form videos is a must to continue to succeed on social media in 2024.
RyanAir is a popular brand that absolutely smashes the short-form video content game. Most of their content is meant to be entertaining—and young customers (their target audience) eat it up. Many of their videos on Tiktok have hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of views.
The moral of the story? Your short-form video content doesn’t always have to be directly marketing your product—fun, amusing, entertaining or trendy videos can also be a great way to promote your brand.
5. SEO will become more important on social media
When it comes to social media, hashtags are out, SEO is in.
“Wait a minute,” you might be thinking, “isn’t SEO for ranking on Google?”
Yes—but for many younger users, TikTok, Youtube, Instagram and other social media platforms are the new Google. According to Google’s own research, some 40% of users aged 18-24 turn to TikTok or Instagram first when making a search online, not Google.
As a result, brands who want to win on social media going forward need to think of social media channels as search engines, and not just brand awareness or community spaces. Using longer captions that incorporate keywords and common search terms is a more effective way to increase reach on your posts now compared with hashtags.
Apartment Therapy frequently uses naturally keyword-laden captions, seo-friendly hashtags, and other SEO techniques to make their posts more discoverable on Instagram. And with 3M+ followers and more than 2.5M in organic search traffic to their website each month, their techniques are definitely working!
6. Smaller and more niche platforms are in
As larger platforms like Facebook and X decline in usership, especially among younger users, more smaller, niche platforms and communities are popping up—platforms like Mastodon, Substack, BeReal and so on.
While you shouldn’t abandon larger platforms completely, you want to meet your audiences where they are. That means keeping up with new platforms and niche communities, figuring out which ones are most important to your audience, and incorporating them into your social media strategy.
Chipotle is one of the first brands taking full advantage of newer niche platforms. Their Halloween “Boorito” campaign will reward customers who post at Chipotle when their BeReal notification goes off. This contest not only leverages BeReal’s smaller, engaged audiences, but also uses the advantages of the platform while still incorporating branded promotion.
7. Quality > quantity
Finally, the trend at the heart of all the other trends for social media: quality over quantity.
Social media in 2024 and beyond is less about churning out posts and content just for the sake of “regularity.” Given how saturated almost every platform and market are, quantity isn’t enough anymore.
Instead, quality is the name of the game now. Companies who are winning in social—and who will continue to do so in 2024—are the ones who focus on quality content and building an engaged, authentic audience more than the ones who are simply pumping out content.
The bottom line:
Social media trends have definitely shifted in the past few years—but focusing on high-quality, authentic, relevant content will definitely give you a leg up on your competition. However, we know that creating such content is easier said than done, which is why hiring a content marketing agency can help create and execute a social media strategy that actually works in today’s world.
A content marketing agency like Red Basket can help you:
- scale your content production to meet your needs and goals
- build an engaged audience across multiple channels
- introduce more storytelling and authenticity into your content
- stay on top of current trends and best practices
- create a social media strategy that drives results
We understand the evolving trends in spaces that matter to your audience, so we can help you create and execute a strategy that works, while staying true to your brand. To see how Red Basket can help you design a content and social media strategy that grows your brand, connect with our team today.
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