5 Social Media Trends to Power Up Your Presence

The world of social media is evolving rapidly, with new trends, features, and changes emerging every year. In such a dynamic landscape, businesses must adapt to stay ahead and look for creative ways to take advantage of these shifts.

In this blog, we will look at some of the top social media trends for 2024, covering the rise of the Fediverse, AI, and more.

1. Social media platforms as search engines

The growing importance of social media for research

Social media platforms have increasingly become a go-to source of information on brands, products, and more. In fact, research suggests that more than half of social media users report using social media to research products and services.

Prioritizing informative and engaging social content

Given this social media trend and the growing importance of social media as a source of information, it’s clear that businesses must prioritize creating informative and engaging social content to foster discovery and engagement.

This means creating content that resonates with your target audience, is visually appealing, and communicates your brand message in an authentic way. Read more on crafting compelling social media content.

The critical role of social SEO

To stand out, it’s critical for brands to optimize their content with social SEO, including relevant hashtags and keywords, to boost visibility and reach on social media search engines.

Social SEO involves researching and incorporating relevant keywords and hashtags into your posts to make them more discoverable on social media platforms. Moving forward, social media trends indicate that businesses will increasingly need to treat social media less as a bonus channel and more as an essential search engine in their overall digital marketing strategy.

By understanding the importance of social media as a search engine and adopting a holistic approach to social SEO, brands can boost discoverability, engagement, and results on social media in the coming years.

2. The popularity of text-based posts

As videos and images flood social media feeds, text-based content remains a vital part of any successful social media strategy. Despite the growth of video and image-based content, there is still power in the written word.

Even the most visual-focused platforms like Instagram and TikTok have proven the continued relevance of text-based content, as this social media trend continues to grow in popularity. TikTok, for example, has rolled out text-based posts that allow users to write up to 1000 characters of text, similar to Instagram stories.

But beyond that, people are using social media platforms as search engines for information on brands, products, and more. This is why social SEO, such as the use of the right hashtags and keywords, is becoming increasingly important.

Transitioning from Twitter to X

While transitioning to X, Twitter—the go-to for text-based social media for years, did experience a drop in rankings. However, the format and platform still have their place, which is why individuals and brands are still active on it.

With X still in its early stages, its future is uncertain. For now, it would be wise to maintain a presence on it, and monitor engagement.

Why text-based posts will continue to be relevant

Text-based content has always been a reliable and evergreen option for businesses when it comes to social media. They represent an opportunity to present value through content and connect with an audience through personal stories and experiences. As you take advantage of this social media trend, it’s also important to maintain your visual branding, which can be achieved by using select fonts, colors, customized backgrounds, etc. For text-based as well as image- and video-based posts, consider investing in professional social media design services.

3. The rise of the Fediverse

The Fediverse operates on a decentralized model, which means that each instance is separate from the others but can interact with other instances as part of a larger network. Users on Mastodon, for example, can interact and communicate with users on other Fediverse-compatible platforms like Pleroma, Pixelfed, and Funkwhale.

The implications of the Fediverse for brands

This emerging social media trend presents new opportunities for businesses to reach a broader audience beyond the conventional social media platforms. As adoption of the Fediverse grows, it is expected that more businesses will leverage its unique model to create communities and engage with audiences in a new way.

How brands can leverage the Fediverse for their benefit

To leverage the potential of the Fediverse, businesses should first identify which platforms their target audience is on. They can then create accounts on those platforms and begin contributing value through content and engagement.

It’s also essential to have a consistent brand voice across accounts and to adhere to good posting etiquette on each platform. With time and effort, it’s expected that the Fediverse will present significant opportunities for businesses to build relationships with their target audience.

4. Evolving video length limits

Short, snackable videos have been a crucial social media trend in recent years. However, platforms like Instagram and TikTok now support longer videos, suggesting that there is value in longer videos as well.

Monetization problems surrounding short videos

While short videos remain popular, few platforms allow for monetization of the content they feature. In response, many creators are turning to other platforms like Patreon, where they can monetize their shorter videos with their followers’ support directly.

As short video monetization continues to be a problem, some platforms are increasing or considering changes to their video length limits. Instagram, for example, now allows for reel videos up to 15 minutes long, and TikTok now supports videos up to 10 minutes long. While snackable videos are important for engagement and brand awareness, investing in longer videos for conversions may prove necessary.

The importance of investing in longer-form videos

Longer videos allow for more in-depth storytelling and can be leveraged to engage audiences and attract customers—which our video production team specializes in.
See our work

In keeping with this social media trend, brands should be considering longer-form content pieces that offer value and insight into their products and services that short videos can’t achieve.

Read: ‘20 B2B video content ideas every company should know about’

5. Shifting brand decision-making away from ROI

As the world becomes increasingly digital, brands are changing their approach to digital marketing. In particular, they are moving away from funnel-based strategies and prioritizing touchpoints and interactions.

Moving beyond funnels and ROI-based strategies

Funnels have long been a staple of digital marketing, with businesses channeling customers through stages of awareness, interest, decision, and action. However, brands are realizing that while funnels have their place, they can be restrictive in terms of scaling marketing efforts and customer experiences.

Strategic focus on touchpoints and quality of interactions

By shifting to touchpoints- and interaction-focused marketing, brands can maximize customer lifetime value, or CLV. By nurturing relationships at every opportunity, brands can create stronger bonds with their customers and cultivate a loyal following in the process.

Less reliance on ROI as the top measure of success

Measuring success with ROI alone—for ad campaigns as well as organic activities—has been a primary concern for brands in the past, particularly when it comes to social and digital platforms.

However, it’s starting to become apparent that investing in an online presence is crucial and should not be contingent upon ROI per platform alone. This social media trend is set to change the way brands invest in and, ultimately, benefit from social media.

Bonus tip: AI & authenticity

Artificial intelligence (AI) has become increasingly prevalent in marketing, helping businesses automate content production, customer service, and engagement on social media and other online platforms. However, some experts advise that authenticity remains essential to creating lasting engagement with customers.

The combination of AI tools and human expertise

One way to leverage this social media trend without losing authenticity is to combine AI tools with human expertise.

By using AI to handle repetitive tasks like data analysis and customer service, brands can free up more time to focus on human-led initiatives like building customer relationships and creative collaboration.

Why AI and authenticity are a powerful combination

By using AI tools to optimize efficiency and incorporating authentic human creativity, businesses can create a comprehensive and impactful social media presence. The ultimate goal is to strengthen customer relationships and drive business growth. By embracing AI and authenticity, brands can achieve just that.

Conclusion

Social media trends are always evolving, and businesses must adapt to stay ahead of the curve. In 2024, there is plenty for brands to explore—including the rise of text-based posts, new social media platforms, changing video length limits, an increased focus on touchpoints and quality interactions, and finding new ways to balance AI and authenticity.

Whether it’s leveraging social SEO, experimenting with new platforms, or embracing long-form video content, there are ample opportunities for businesses to thrive on social media—especially with well-written, impeccably-designed posts. To elevate your brand on social media with high-quality content and design, get in touch.