Top 10 Social Media Trends in 2024 to Grow Your Audience & Engagement

According to Forbes India, 77% of small businesses use social media to connect with their customers, 44% for building brand awareness, and a significant number of small businesses—41%—also depend on social media as a revenue driver.

These stats paint a clear picture of how many businesses are constantly learning and embracing the potential of social media.

If there's one thing we can say about social media marketing is that is always changing. As trends may come and go, 2023 was less about following the rules and more about paving the way for experimentation.

And to find which social media trends are poised to take off in 2024, you don’t need to be a fortune teller to guess, all you need is data.

Simply by combining performance and consumer preference data, you can have a vivid picture of the year ahead.

We’re not talking about which TikTok sounds will blow up in upcoming months. But what we’re talking about is what are the driving force behind social media that will keep your online presence up so you can stand out from the crowd.

Below you’ll see the top 10 current social media trends driving the future of social, based on input from industry experts and the data behind the social space.

Trend 1: Video is King

The popularity of video, particularly short-form video, is bound to end up on a social media trends list every year. Many of us already know that short-form video is one of the best ways to connect with your audience and reach new followers.

As Forbes states, short-form videos—typically less than a minute in length—capture the attention of 66% of consumers. This means short-form videos are the most engaging type of in-feed content content.

But here’s a twist; long-form video has seen a resurgence worth noting. TikTok has been recently pushing longer videos—starting with one-minute videos, then 10, and most recently, it started testing 30-minute uploads.

And with the platform saying that users spend over half of their time on TikTok watching videos that are a minute or longer, these long-form tests have a reason behind them.

It’s worth mentioning that you still need a short-form video as part of your day-to-day social media strategy. But think about how you can bring long-form storytelling into your content that will resonate with your audience.

Trend 2: Playful Content is the New “Brand Personality”

Businesses are now leaving behind that edgy brand voice strategy to a new brand trend which is experimenting with this social media trend: playful content.

Brands are consistently looking into creative ways to tap into meme culture and the voice of the Internet in a way that fits their voice. And we’ve seen more brands experimenting and playing with their voice and visual content to do so.

For instance take LinkedIn’s Threads, which have a human voice and cover topics that range from relatable and hilarious, to inspirational and endearing.

A LinkedIn thread post says "coming back from PTO be like:" contains several blurry images of Slack and a coffee.

Another cool example is Zomato, we all know they’re consistently playing with content that makes us all laugh.

Their recent social media interactions promoting ghar ka khaana went viral and the brand’s anti-marketing strategy hit all the right buttons.

As a business, you need to create content that riffs on Internet culture, memes, and trends while still staying true to its brand colors, tone, and image. Think about how your brand can get playful on social media platforms.

Trend 3: Shoppable Social… Social Commerce Continues its Rise

We all have seen the #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt trend or bought something after witnessing it on TikTok or another social platform ourselves.

But this is more than just a fleeting trend,  social commerce is a continuing trend to watch and consider for your social media strategy.

And social platforms like TikTok are pushing for it. TikTok Shop officially launched in the US in late 2023 and they’re already looking for ways to make that in-app shopping even easier.

A Social Media Director Jef McDonald considers this one as one of the top social media trends in 2024 to need to watch. He says live streaming and interactive shopping experiences are only expected to expand, so this trend is likely here to stay.

So if your team hasn’t experimented with selling on social, now is a great time to test this out. There’s an eager, ready-to-buy audience on social for you.

Give them another way to buy—look into whether opening up shop on platforms like TikTok, Facebook or Instagram is right for your brand.

Trend 4: SEO is Important for Your Social Channels too

Many of us search not only on Google but also on social media platforms, for example, instead of researching a few places to travel on Google, try searching location hashtags on Instagram.

This demonstrates that you shouldn’t underestimate the power of social media platforms as search engines and one should know that SEO is important for your social media too.

According to Business Insider, In 2022, nearly 40% of Gen Z preferred TikTok over Google for searching for information.

This makes optimizing your content for discoverability and engagement both in feed and via search more important than ever before.

Similarly, as you optimize an article on your page on your site for SEO, take an optimized approach to your social content.

Optimize your profile and posts for maximum discoverability by using the right keywords in your caption, the right hashtags, and relevant keywords within your alt text, too.

Trend 5: Behind-the-Scenes Content and Redefined Transparency

Both brevity and authenticity are winning the day on social media, Forbes states.

Today the social media audience's desire for authentic content lends itself to the need for brands to be more transparent about their business practices on social.

As a brand, you need to look for social media trends and opportunities to offer more transparency about your business, products, and practices.

To create authentic content for social, you can simply start by creating behind-the-scenes content about your workplace, products being made, the people behind your products, and your sustainability values.

But, remember to make sure that you have action or proof to back up your statements. In case the questions do arise that your brand should address, use the right tools to stay proactive.

Trend 6: Authenticity Wins

Authentic content is the number one thing consumers say they don’t see enough of from brands on social.

A company called Stackla recently surveyed consumers and marketers and found that 51% of consumers said less than half of brands create content that resonates as authentic.

We’ve seen how rapidly the creator culture has skyrocketed in popularity—and brands featuring authentic voices, from creators to employees, shine against those that don’t.

In this way, brands must recognize that this trend is not going anywhere any soon.  It’s a new era of social media marketing.

Experts who believe AI only drives this desire for more authenticity say that people will be yearning for authentic experiences on social media.

Although they admit that AI is fantastic and can help many of us get places faster, but…that personal aspect is so important and will continue to be in 2024.

Besides tapping into creators, as a brand you should create more authentic owned content, too. Think playful posts featuring fellow employees in video content who aren’t camera shy, or a “meet the team” series. Get creative!

Trend 7: Evolving Expertise

Is your social team structure based on platforms? Then you’re not alone—sources suggest that 64% of social teams are aligned to specific social platforms or networks.

But in reality, your team structure is constantly running the risk of becoming outdated. As social media trends evolve, so do the teams and skills needed to run it successfully.

And the rise of new platforms, like Threads, always brings back the same question: whose responsibility is a new platform when you’re already divided by network?

New social media job roles and titles are emerging and evolving rapidly.

Trend 8: Building Influence and Brand Partnerships

Now, it’s the content creator and influencer’s world, we’re just posting in it. In the realm of authenticity, social media creators and influencers lend an authentic, human voice and experience to the social scroll.

And their place on brand accounts will only become more important in connecting with audiences.

In a Sprout Pulse Survey of 307 US-based marketers, 8 in 10 social marketers say influencer marketing is essential to their social strategies.

The continued dominance of platforms like TikTok underscores the shift towards more authentic, unfiltered content. This trend is only likely to grow further, with users gravitating towards content that feels genuine and relatable.

Businesses will increasingly leverage creators and influencers who can create compelling stories and connect with audiences on a personal level.

With the rise of creators and influencers, the authentic voice they provide will likely remain on the list of social media trends for years to come.

So now is the time for your brand to kick off your creator and influencer marketing partnerships and program, if you haven’t already.

Trend 9: Meeting Customer Preferences with Personalized Care

In the last few years, the expectations for social media customer service have only gone up. Today, consumers no longer just want fast responses, but 70% of them expect personalized responses to their customer service needs.

In fact, 76% of consumers pay attention and appreciate when companies prioritize customer support, so companies who don’t do so inevitably fall behind.

On that note, businesses should analyze their role in social customer care and ask questions like how responsive are being, and what can do to scale their efforts.

Trend 10: AI in Action

The use of AI to streamline workflows remains one of the current social media trends that will stretch into 2024—and beyond.

As per recent reports, over 80% of marketers have already seen the positive impact of AI on their work. You may be in that group too.

And beyond scaling content creation and customer care responses, artificial intelligence will likely play an even larger role as a marketing and customer care tool.

In 2024, we can expect a deeper use of AI in personalizing user experiences.

Today, AI analyzes user data to provide highly tailored content recommendations, enhance customer service with more responsive chatbots, and drive more effective targeted advertising.

This marketing trend aligns with the increasing efficiency in content production, as AI tools become more adept at understanding and replicating human-like interactions and creativity.

The Final Thoughts

By using these 10 hottest current social media trends, as a business you can keep your strategy one step ahead. However, we can’t always know when a new platform, content format, or trending video will bubble up, as they usually surprise us.

But we can look at these larger social media marketing trends now and use them to build a stronger strategy that sets us up for success. And that builds a solid foundation that not even the advent of a new platform can shake. (Well, maybe a little.)

Well, while we shared some of the trends we noticed are on top, do share if there are any we have just missed on this list of trends.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What is the latest trend in social media?

Ans. Determining a single "latest" trend in social media can be challenging as trends often emerge simultaneously and evolve rapidly. However, based on recent reports, several key trends seem to be gaining significant traction in 2024 including the rise of long-form video, creating playful content, and keeping content authentic and transparent.

Q. What makes a social media trend?

Ans. If the content is timely and relevant it's more likely to generate engagement and become trending. Social media is all about sharing content. If something is shared widely, it's more likely to become a trend.

Q. What type of content is trending on social media?

Ans. The popularity of video, specifically short-form video is one of the best ways to connect with your audience and reach new followers. In fact, most social media users say it's the most engaging type of in-feed content.