Odds are, your business is likely doing some social media marketing and advertising already. Odds are equally as high that the majority of your customers are frequent social media users, too. In fact, over half of the global population is on social media every day.
So, if you’re trying to step up your social media game in 2025, that totally makes sense. However, as platforms develop and change, your best bet for staying ahead of the competition is to know what’s trending.
Luckily, we’re breaking down the top social media trends for 2025 and how your business can use them to its advantage in the coming year.
Let’s get started!
Contents
- AI will continue to streamline social media marketing
- Social media marketing and advertising will be top strategies for small businesses
- Businesses will invest more in social ads in 2025
- Micro-influencers will be a small business social media must
- Facebook and Instagram will continue to reign supreme
- More employee-generated content will trend on social media
- Short-form video social media trends will be moving targets
- More businesses will use social media to promote long-form content
Top 2025 social media marketing trends
Here are the most notable social media trends for small businesses in 2025.
1. AI will continue to streamline social media marketing
It’s no secret that businesses use AI for social media marketing and advertising ideation, creation, and management. Over 73% of businesses were already using AI to generate content used in social media. In fact, social media copywriting and social media images are two of the top three generative AI use cases for businesses. So this will only continue to grow in importance and prevalence throughout 2025.
Platforms are also acknowledging this shift as well, as Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, stated in a recent interview that he predicts more social media content will be AI-generated.
Using AI for social media can be easy, but using it the right way, effectively, can be a common small business challenge. To stay on top of this social media marketing trend, be sure that you or your team manually review any AI-generated content to ensure you maintain brand consistency and that “human touch.”
Additionally, try to perfect your AI prompts to increase the quality of your AI outputs. These AI social media prompts, and this list of over 200 AI prompts, can be helpful starting points.
💡 Learn how AI benefits your social ads and more in our complete guide to powerful ways to use AI in advertising.
2. Social media marketing and advertising will be top strategies for small businesses
Saying that social media marketing isn’t going anywhere in 2025 is an understatement. It turns out that social media marketing and advertising are the top two marketing channels small businesses are using. This positions social media in front of other top channels like search advertising, SEO, email, and more in 2025.
This social media trend suggests that if you aren’t yet maximizing your social media strategy and taking full advantage of all that platforms like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and more have to offer, you should try to do so in 2025 to stand out from the competition and complement your other channels.
3. Businesses are planning to invest more in social ads in 2025
Not only are the majority of businesses already using social media to market and advertise their brands, but they’re also planning to put more marketing budget towards social ads in 2025. In fact, over half of businesses plan to invest more in social ads this year.
While this social media marketing trend indicates an exciting direction for the social ad landscape, it could equate to increased competition as more businesses advertise on social media. You may need to reevaluate your marketing budget and reallocate funds to your social media campaigns to stay on top.
4. Micro-influencers will continue to be a small business social media must
Although partnering with an influencer to promote your business will continue to be a top social media trend in 2025, the days of ultra-popular influencers with huge followings are over. It’s been found that social media users now prefer to follow creators who generate meaningful discussions they can participate in in the comments.
In fact, it’s recommended that businesses choose influencers to partner with based on the influencer’s engagement rate rather than reach. This means that micro-influencers, or influencers with a following of less than 100,000, can be ideal when you’re looking to tap into your business’s niche market in 2025.
To get started with micro-influencer marketing, check out these influencer outreach tips and templates.
An example of how you could approach social media influencer marketing in 2025.
5. Facebook and Instagram will continue to reign supreme
If you’re wondering what social media platforms will be trending in 2025, plenty of data has emerged regarding just that. Facebook and Instagram are the top two social media channels small businesses have been taking advantage of, followed by LinkedIn, X, YouTube, and more.
Even if you feel your audience members don’t frequent these platforms, increased targeting capabilities offered by platforms like Meta Ads make it possible for you to reach new potential customers with ease.
👀 Wondering what else is trending in small business marketing? Download our free, exclusive small business marketing trends report for 2025!
6. More employee-generated content will trend on social media
As the social media space continues to become more saturated, brands will be looking to build more trust and credibility with audiences to maintain authenticity.
It’s predicted that more employee-generated content will be popping up this year. After all, who can speak on your business better than those who work there day in and day out? Plus, this social media trend puts emphasis on the importance of building your employer branding.
To give employee-generated content a try, you could ask a superstar employee to do a “social media takeover” of your business’s accounts for the day to give your followers a behind-the-scenes look at all your brand has to offer.
7. Short-form video social media trends will be moving targets
With the rise in content from platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts, this social media trend might not necessarily be surprising. In fact, over half of small businesses have either already tried, or are interested in trying, to create more short-form videos. Trends in short-form video, however, have been proven to shift on a daily basis.
So, don’t get hung up on repeating a single video trend. This year, it will be important to focus on short-form videos that stay true to your brand voice, regardless of what’s trending.
8. More businesses will use social media to promote long-form content
While short-form videos are a social media must this year, long-form content will have its moment on social platforms, too. It’s predicted that businesses will have to strike a balance between both short and long-form content as social users can become fatigued if they see too much of one or the other.
To follow this social media marketing trend, you could use your social accounts to promote blog posts or other types of long-form content. When you share it, provide a longer caption to give your followers a preview of what your longer content covers.
Use these social media marketing trends to your advantage this year
When you know what’s trending on social media, you can tailor your business’s strategy to stay ahead of the curve this year. See which of these trends might benefit your business and act on them throughout the year to keep your social media content fresh and effective.
For more help with keeping up with social media trends, see how our solutions can maximize your social media marketing and advertising campaigns year-round—regardless of what’s hot on each platform.
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