it’s time to foresee social media trends for 2024. This way, you’ll be able to plan ahead your social media strategy and maybe relax a bit towards the end of the year.
Let’s find out together what are the most important social media trends in 2024.
1. What is a social media trend
A social media trend is a change occurring in popular topics and also in the behaviour of social media users.
Staying on top of social media trends means staying ahead of the curve, always being aware of the latest topics and behaviours that go viral.
Viral is a state that every marketing manager dreams of attaining. It’s like viral is the Nirvana-level of social media.
Learning what’s determining and changing the social media audience behavioural patterns is important to build an efficient social media strategy that works its magic.
2. Why do you need to implement social media trends in your strategy
The main reasons why you should be aware of social media trends and implement them in your strategy is to capture your audience’s attention, generate more buzz around your content and boost interactions.
Every brand that builds a social media present wants to keep up with the emerging social media trends.
The higher the number of users that are exposed to a trend, the more popular it grows.
Following and implementing social media trends in your marketing strategy can bring benefits like:
-boosting brand visibility
-developing a loyal community around your brand
-increasing engagement
3. Latest social media trends for 2024
Thinking about what trends 2024 might bring and preparing and planning for them is a very important matter if you want to make the coming year a special year with regard to your presence on social media sites.
Here are a few of the predictions for social media trends for 2024 that you can rely on when adjusting your social media strategy.
3.1. TikTok will grow even more popular
We already sensed this. TikTok is here to stay. Some may even bet on BeReal, but I’m not so sure.
TikTok has grown in popularity in 2023 and it will continue to grow, as more and more users lock their eyes to their screens for even more hours.
You’d be so lucky if your videos appear in the “discover” section. Virality would be your best mate.
A lot of marketing managers dream about virality, especially because it appears to have no pattern when you try to accomplish it.
The current number of TikTok users is 1.677 billion. This may slowly transform into billions.
3.2. Reels will continue to rule on Instagram
Since short-form video content rulz, on Instagram Reels will continue to be the most engaging type of content. However, its success does not overcome the one of TikTok videos.
Instagram will remain one of the top social media platforms used by brands, increasing in popularity.
This social platform has over 2.35 billion monthly active users while the number of daily active users is estimated at 500 million.
About 62% of Instagram active users use the app to research for products and brands. The app’s algorithm favours Reels, heavily prioritising this type of content.
The important thing about making Reels is using viral audios to increase the video’s chances for virality. That’s the main secret.
3.3. LinkedIn will no longer be just about jobs and professional content
LinkedIn has gradually grown out of its black suits and it’s now a rebellious Millennial.
This platform is no longer only about posting jobs, finding jobs, or complaining about jobs. Users started posting rawer content inspired from their experiences.
And that’s the quality content everyone was looking for. Everyone on LinkedIn is now showing their true colours about juggling with tasks, taking mental health time and finding it difficult to get inspired.
This social media platform is growing into a more personal one, with posts where you can find advice about, well, almost anything.
The take on more personal posts on LinkedIn started during the pandemic and it will keep on going. However, it’s not yet clear whether the algorithm favours this type of posts than the professional ones.
How personal can you be when writing a post in such a way that you also keep your distance and remain professional?
That’s still a topic to be debated.
That’s why, user-generated content created by Gen Z will surely be more popular in 2024.
Instagram and TikTok users who are ready to share their opinion after trying out a service or a product are brands’ favourite people.
Via their user-generated content, brands get to grow their follower count, community, brand awareness and engagement rate.
3.4. SEO on social media will be even more powerful than hashtags
Search Engine Optimization is like the Holy Grail when you want Google to love your content. the research shows that 40% of young adults (18 – 24 year-olds) are using social media like a search engine.
This led to the growing importance of social media SEO.
SEO will continue to play a big part in the virality recipe of posts compared to hashtags.
The next post you’ll see in your “For you” tab will not be there because of hashtags, but because of the right keywords.
A research from Hootsuite showed that the social media posts which relied heavily on great SEO manage to have a higher engagement rate (30% increase).
This social media trend will continue to make a difference in 2024 and map out those brands who really put their sweat into their copy.
Social SEO practices will set the distinction between brands that put in extra effort when it comes to their posts on social.
That’s why your social media strategy for next year should also feature “keyword research”.
3.5. Video captions are paramount
In today’s social media, posting videos without captions is like trying to eat without a fork: not that comfortable.
The number of social media users who watch videos without sound is bound to increase in 2024. Hence, a persisting social media trend would be to add captions to ALL your videos, no matter the platform.
being able to get the same infos from the captions just like you get from listening to it, it is definitely a great opportunity to increase engagement, interactions and follower count.
Moreover, captions will increase your content’s chance to be discovered since people may use the keywords from your captions when searching.
That’s why you have to make sure you use the appropriate keywords for your video post.
Another benefit is that video captions also allow and facilitate those who suffer from hearing impairments.
This will encourage them to buy as well, increasing sales and revenue for your brand. Also you should try to invest in shoppable ads on Instagram and Facebook to get them going.
On TikTok you should also consider the hashtag #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt to encourage more users to purchase your products.
Final thoughts
Keeping up with all the emerging social media trends can be easy if you use the right tools. Using social listening and social media analytics tools can ease your work, helping you discover emerging trends.
Make sure you plan your social media strategy ahead, but be flexible when it comes to rethinking or introducing the latest trends into your calendar.
Your audience will be ready to engage more and turn into a loyal community.
