Keeping up with the fast-changing social media trends is difficult. Knowing what will happen or almost knowing the predictions helps align your social media strategies with your brand mission. Therefore, we are going to see the expert predictions on social media in 2024.
Top Expert Predictions on Social Media
1. Authenticity and Personalization:
Authenticity is not just a word, but the real foundation for any brand these days. Especially for Millennials, Gen Z and Gen Alpha target audiences. Carolyn MacLeod, Senior Manager of Social Media at PBS Kids, states that authenticity will remain crucial, especially with the increasing prevalence of AI. Hence, social media managers will have to adapt to a creator’s mindset to stay relevant to this change.
2. AI Integration:
Have you seen the images of your favourite Marvel characters in different parallel avatars?
Or have you seen different corporate cats/dog images getting viral on social media?
All thanks to these visual content creation tools such as DALL-E, and Midjourney. Just recently Google also joined the same trend, now you can generate any image with just one click right from Google Search itself.
3. Short-form content:
The more attention you have, the more conversion you can achieve. But with the attention span which is just 5 seconds, it has become difficult. This is where short-form content helps.
Notice how small creators leverage Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, and TikTok to increase their reach and followers. Well-known entrepreneur, Dank Koe, leveraged short-form content and managed to build a community of 1 million followers with just short-form content.
4. SEO for Social Media:
During the Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference, Google’s Senior Vice President, Prabhakar Raghavan, shared insights from Google’s internal research. He stated that almost 40% of young individuals opt for platforms like TikTok or Instagram rather than Google Maps when they want to decide on a spot for lunch or dinner.
This is how important SEO has become not only for content marketing but also for social media marketing. Now if you have already noticed, Instagram has added “Add Topics” sections where you can add the categories of your niche/product/service, and hence the algorithm will try to push your content to your target audience.
5. Community Building:
Individual creators like Jasmin Alaric, Dank Koe, and Ankur Warikoo have a very strong community of their own. Now your followership on social media will no longer play the vanity game. You should focus more on:
- How much engagement do you get on your content?
- What is the number of individuals who save and distribute your content?
It will showcase the community engagement and your true audience. Also for community building, creators leverage social media management tools to monitor, execute and analyze their content.
6. Sustainability and Social Responsibility:
Brands will have to focus on sustainability and social responsibility while building their audience. As Gen Zs care about the environment and nature, companies are adapting to improve their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
For the product owners, approaching sustainability in their product manufacturing will help to attract more Gen Z audiences.
7. Influencer Collaboration with Transparency:
Tamara Littleton, Global CEO and Founder of The Social Element, highlights the delicate balance in influencer marketing. Consumers desire authentic experiences and are averse to feeling pressured into purchases.
However, transparency regarding advertisements and paid partnerships remains essential to maintain trust with followers. Now you can expect influencers to adapt to transparency and authenticity. Without these, brands cannot sell their product or services to their target audience.
8. User Generated Content (UGC):
UGC is used across all stages of the buyer’s journey to influence engagement and increase conversions.
Additionally, 90% of consumers find UGC useful and believe what existing customers say about brands. Hence, brands will have to work on creating user-generated content to attract the best deals.
Many marketers suggest using a social listening strategy to analyze your audience before creating user-generated content. It helps amplify your marketing efforts.
9. Employer Branding:
Gen Z candidates care more about authenticity and work-life balance. Therefore, organizations are investing heavily in employer branding initiatives to attract and retain top talents. Hence, employer branding will play a vital role for all the brands as an employer.
Whereas social media marketers are in the picture, they will have to demonstrate the company’s unique selling point to attract top talent.
10. Creators as Consultants:
According to Paula Perez, Community Manager at Oatly, brands will recognize the growing importance of creators, realizing they need them more than creators need them.
In this evolving landscape, social listening becomes a critical tool for brands, enabling them to get insights into how customers feel about their products or services & leveraging the right creators to create a positive brand image.
Especially in the beauty and cosmetic industry, where brands collaborate with lifestyle creators. Taking consultation from the top 1% of creators in the respective niche has become a necessity, fueled by insights gained through social listening.
11. Video Content:
World’s market-leading explainer video company, Wyzowl, states that, “88% of video marketers see video as an important part of their overall marketing strategy” Thanks to AI tools such as Synthesia, Colossyan, Pictory, and Descript.
Now, business owners will be able to generate unlimited videos with just a simple prompt. Therefore, video content was here from the start, and it is going to stay here for a while now.
Word of wisdom:
Find your “Why” and you will know your “How”. Analyze what message you want to deliver to your target audience, and what goals you want to achieve for your brand.
Analyze which predicted trend can help you align your message and brand mission. Execute your ideas in the correct format in front of your target audience, the outcome will be impactful. Lastly, you can also leverage social media tools to manage your content, strategy, and track results.