Social Media Trends 2025
Social media trend forecast for 2025
What awaits companies this year
In 2025, the world of social media will remain dynamic and full of innovation. Platforms will continue to evolve, new functions will emerge and the influence of AI and AR on social media will grow. In this article, we offer you a comprehensive forecast of the most important social media trends and developments that will set the tone in 2025.
- The most popular platforms and new developments
- Social broadcasting: new channels and functions
- Paid functions and premium options
- AR and visual content: A new standard
- Artificial intelligence (AI) as a driver in social media marketing
- Virtual influencers: The future of social media marketing
- Conclusion: Social media trends and forecasts for 2025 summarised
The most popular platforms and new developments
Social media platforms with the greatest growth
The most used social media platforms worldwide in 2024 were Instagram, closely followed by WhatsApp, Facebook and WeChat. In fifth place was TikTok (Meltwater, 2024). Instagram led in terms of global downloads, followed by TikTok, Facebook, WhatsApp and Threads (Appfigures, 2024). Threads is expected to become even more important in 2025 and, following the major migration from X to Bluesky, the two platforms could overtake X (formerly Twitter) as a platform for news, discussions and conversations.
Facebook and LinkedIn: growth potential for companies
Facebook recorded significant growth among teenagers in 2024, particularly in the USA, and will remain an important platform for social media ads in 2025. LinkedIn claims to have over one billion members worldwide, including 6.8 million monthly active users in Germany and 800,000 in Austria (social media statistics, 2024). LinkedIn will therefore become even more relevant in 2025, especially for B2B companies, as the platform continues to grow in importance and introduce new functions for companies.
Social broadcasting: new channels and functions
Broadcast channels on Meta, LinkedIn & WhatsApp
From 2025, all meta accounts will be able to create broadcast channels. Broadcast channels are a one-way communication channel in which you as the admin send messages, while your followers can only respond with emojis but cannot reply directly. LinkedIn also offers a new way to get in touch with the target group directly with B2B newsletters - the newsletters are sent directly to the LinkedIn inbox and by email. The WhatsApp channels already reach 500 million monthly active users and could soon become available to more companies.
extended functions for broadcast channels
Meta is planning new functions for broadcast channels that offer users extended interaction options. These include markers in the feed, challenges, livestreams and emoji moderation. These functions are currently in the beta phase and will be further developed in 2025. On Facebook, however, Broadcast Channels will only be available for accounts with at least 10,000 followers.
Paid functions and premium options
more paid options on meta, TikTok and LinkedIn
Platforms such as Meta, TikTok and Snapchat already offer paid ad-free versions, limiting potential reach for paid advertising. Meta is also introducing Meta Verified, which will cost between US$15 and US$350 per month and includes premium features such as links in reels.
LinkedIn premium company pages
LinkedIn offers premium company pages, but the benefits are currently still limited. For many companies, investing in a premium page is therefore not yet worthwhile, as the number of additional features is relatively low.
AR and visual content: A new standard
AR trends and filters in social media
Meta remains a leader in the use of augmented reality (AR) through interactive filters and special effects on Instagram. From January 2025, however, all in-house filters will be switched off and only filters developed by Meta itself will be supported.
changed content preferences
Video will remain the most important content type in 2025. TikTok is increasingly focussing on longer videos and is testing content of up to one hour in length. Instagram is also promoting carousels and image posts with music, which are now often displayed in the reel tab. A dedicated video tab is being introduced on LinkedIn, and TikTok is now also pushing images via the specially developed ‘TikTok Notes’ app.
Artificial intelligence as a driver in social media marketing
AI-supported content and new AI functions
Artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly important for social media. Meta and TikTok offer new tools that help with content creation and allow users to tag AI-generated content. Many platforms already label AI-generated content automatically, although content that was not created by AI is also often labelled here. Meta AI, which is currently being tested in the USA, offers new possibilities such as image generation and optimisation in WhatsApp and Ads Manager.
Personalised AI experiences and automated responses
YouTube is testing an adaptive AI that automatically responds to comments, while TikTok allows users to clone their own voice for audio comments. Instagram is also experimenting with AI-supported chats in which users can have interactive conversations.
Virtual influencers: the future of social media marketing
Virtual influencers and their role in marketing
Thanks to platforms such as virtualhumans.org and arcads.ai, virtual influencers are becoming increasingly popular and offer new opportunities for social media ads and advertising campaigns. Companies can have their own texts read aloud by AI-controlled avatars and use them in a targeted manner. TikTok Symphony also uses virtual influencers for ads and enables companies to integrate virtual personalities into their brand communication.
conclusion: social media forecasts for 2025 summarised
- Meta remains dominant, and Threads will also establish itself as an important platform.
- Video content remains the leader, but images, especially as carousels with music, are also gaining relevance
- Social broadcasting is increasingly becoming a central marketing channel.
- Artificial intelligence and virtual influencers are becoming firmly anchored in social networks.
- Paid functions on platforms such as Meta and LinkedIn are gaining in importance, which influences advertising opportunities.
Companies that monitor these trends and implement them at an early stage will have a clear competitive advantage in 2025. Those who stay up to date and integrate the most important social media trends into their strategy will continue to be successful in the digital world.
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