6 Social Media Trends to Watch in 2024
2024 is JUST around the corner. With social platforms constantly changing, and businesses and creators constantly feeling like the algorithms are kicking us while we’re down, how do you know what’s going to work tomorrow? Next week? Next year? How do you know what to include in your strategy and what to leave behind? This is the million-dollar question that every social media manager thinks or claims to have the answer to.
I will say, there will always be algorithm changes. And the strategy around those changes should be to adapt more to your audience behavior than anything. Most algorithms reward an engaged audience and ultimately, you’re not posting for an algorithm, you’re posting for your audience.
If you want to build connections and really “move the needle” with your social media and build an engaged audience, you have to know what they want to see from you, AND, you too have to be engaged. Knowing your audience is so key to having not just social media success, but overall marketing success. Understanding how our audiences are utilizing social media should be one of the key factors to driving your social media strategy in the months and years ahead.
Here’s some of what your social media strategy should include in the year ahead.
Short Form Video is Still Here to Stay
91% of businesses utilized video as a marketing tool in 2023, meaning if your competition is on video and you’re not, you’re already behind. Wyzowl’s video marketing report for 2023 states that 91% say video marketing has increased traffic, and if the 17.6 million hours of Reels watched PER DAY by Instagram Users doesn’t tell you something then maybe the 89% of people who say that video has convinced them to buy a product or service will. Short-form video is just not something that can be ignored anymore and high-value short-form video needs to be a component of any social strategy from now on. Some short-form styles that are likely to be making their way onto the feeds are more talking head style posts and slightly longer videos.
AI Isn’t Going Anywhere
Listen, if there’s one thing I keep hearing it’s that AI is making marketing tasks easier. I have clients who regularly use it to churn out blog content, and well the number of tools seems to grow by the week. There are SEVERAL to help make your social media content creation easier, from ChatGPT to Jasper. However, and I tell this to everyone who asks me about AI content; edit and ensure you’re personalizing your content. According to Hootsuite, “It’s not about who (or what) creates your content anymore, it’s about the brand experience your content creates for the customer.” Work smarter by utilizing AI to speed up the content process but be sure to edit for tone (you can also speed this along by prompting AI with your tone “Keep the tone professional” or “I am a [blank"] supporting [blank]. Help create X social media posts describing A, B, and C using a fun and upbeat tone. “ Always be sure to fact-check and edit for your voice.
Authenticity is EVERYTHING
Listen, branded photos have a place in every business. Even in social media. However, the bigger trend in social media content in 2024 is going to be reliability. Showing the behind-the-scenes, and building authentic connections with your followers. We’ll be keeping space within client calendars for more behind-the-scenes, and a little last-minute authentic, in-the-moment content. Every client who shows their face, or shows more in-the-moment content, tends to get better results.
Social SEO is Necessary
There is no question that Gen Z is using social more and more like a search engine. Ensuring your captions have keywords, that your profiles are optimized,
Community Management is EVERYTHING
Listen, we’re way past the day of posting and ghosting. Social media is meant to be social. There are dozens of engagement strategies - if you’re DIYing, I recommend engaging with followers in a way that feels AUTHENTIC to you and your brand.
Long Form Content is Back Jack
Listen, I started my career because I had a blog - it started as a LiveJournal blog back in 2001. The blog evolved over the years after moving to Wordpress in 2007, and then kind of died out when I became a working parent in 2014 after I took ~11 months with little Man. Everyone is saying this is true with creators (fact, check your GRWM and DITL content on IG and TikTok). I think it’ll also be true with brands - especially as social media engagement and reach are generally trending downwards across various platforms. Longer-form content such as blogs, email newsletters, longer-form videos via YouTube are all significant marketing opportunities for businesses in the year ahead. Not to mention it’s a great way to add thought leadership, opportunities for repurposing AND longer term organic search opportunities. #JustSaying
Need to better understand how to adjust your social strategy for the year ahead? Schedule a strategy session to help you get clarity on how you can show up authentically in the year ahead to build connections with your followers that really move the needle.
