I’m seeing a shift away from slick graphics and videos from companies getting rewarded with engagement and shares. Company-wide, I’m seeing that first-person videos taken on-the-job, photos of people together at a work event (imagine that!), and text that sounds like a real person’s voice are taking the wins and getting significant response.

It’s definitely a win from my perspective as a creator and a user. However, trying to convince other folks within my company that this is what’s working vs. pretty graphics/animated videos is a bit of a mountain to climb. 

In my company, we have seen a major shift to raw, first-person content outperforming clean, curated content. We tend to be pretty graphic heavy, and more and more I am seeing those graphics have a steady decline in engagement.

I like this trend as it shows that authenticity wins out, but it is hard to get into the mindset of utilizing raw content when you are used to putting together a curated feed. However - having a tool like Sprout in our back pocket that gives us the data to back up those transitions is reassuring because, at the end of the day, data doesn’t lie.

In my company, videos and employee related posts seem to be a win!

Like others have mentioned, I have been seeing significantly more engagement in photos/videos with real people and a more “amateur” format and significantly less engagement on traditional branded graphics. It’s super reassuring to see others are experiencing the same!

While this is a win for promoting authenticity and helping personify the brand, my personal challenge is making sure to collect a photo release for every single person that may be in a post. This unfortunately makes it way more difficult to capture candid moments of large groups.

Running social for a B2B company, LinkedIn is pretty much my “bread and butter,” and I’ve noticed that carousels seem to be the most engaging form of content on that platform (both as a user and as a poster - our engagement rates are typically higher for carousels rather than static images).

At the top of my Christmas list is having Sprout add a feature to post PDFs as carousels on LinkedIn!

In my company, LinkedIn has been doing really well for us, and I’ve seen a couple of recent new updates from LinkedIn so I can definitely see it growing a lot in 2025. We will definitely keep prioritizing LinkedIn to help position us as a credible brand and leader in our industry. 

Same here! The PDF carousels have been doing well for us. I’m also excited to see how their immersive video feed grows on LinkedIn and what types of videos perform the best.

Reply to this thread with a trend you’re noticing—whether it’s gaining traction or fading away.

I'm seeing resistance to an AI-first strategy with social media content creation. Authenticity in representing influencers or brand voices, conversely, is becoming more important, while implementing AI tools (more often) outside the creative space, such as in content editing, SEO management, etc.

I agree that raw content from a the first-person POV is a reflection of content that comes across as too clean or too polished. I think short-form videos in this format can really click with some audiences!

Micro-Communities and Brand Engagement

One trend I’ve noticed picking up steam is the rise of ‘micro-communities’ within social platforms. For example, private Instagram accounts, niche Facebook groups, or even hyper-focused hashtags like #BookTok on TikTok. People seem to be gravitating toward smaller, more intimate digital spaces where they can connect with others who share specific interests, rather than engaging with large, generic audiences.

Do you think this shift toward micro-communities will redefine how brands and creators approach their strategies? How can we better engage with these smaller, more focused groups?

I like that authenticity is making a comeback - such as in a raw or amateur-type content format - and feel it’s a big trend for 2025.

We are definitely seeing the same - higher engagement on authentic, meaningful content vs. branded items. We are also seeing a huge interest in employee advocacy as a way to amplify this even more, and our company like many others are investing in it and making it a big bet for 2025. 

I’ve been seeing a shift in branded content moving towards a more edgy and sassy tone. The more personality that a brand puts behind their post, the more traction it will get. One of the best examples is Dunkin’s Instagram and the rise of Spidey for their halloween campaign. Less people care about their menu now and prefer to see what fun memes they will post instead. The coffee and donuts are just a bonus ;)

“We listen and we don’t judge” on TikTok. Couples share things that bother them or secrets. 

How do you decide what trend to jump on as a brand?

Others have mentioned that we’re seeing less polished short-form video content, I think is partly due to tastes changing, but partly happening as brands put their budgets more into affiliate programs, community engagement, and outreach.

After the first few days of the “chill guy” trend, I thought it was dead, but I’ve noticed some additional brands hopping on it within the last week so it might have a longer lifecycle that I initially expected.

Has anyone else noticed that there are sometimes two cycles for a viral trend, the first for individual accounts, and the second for brands?

So interesting you both have noticed this! When you say PDF carousel, are you posting these PDFs as multi-image posts?

This is a great insight! I think that its a new era, especially for brands that are already well known. Social media is less about company awareness and more to hype up new products and stay relevant in the cultural zeitgeist.

Favorite comment I’ve read today! Sassy and edgy is a great way to describe that 

Public beefs on LinkedIn between companies, especially B2B tech/SaaS – rising/ongoing more recent tho…

To learn about the Rippling v. Deel one – https://foundersbehavingbadly.beehiiv.com/p/snake-eyes

One of the ‘trends’ I have been noticing is actually not following the common trends/sounds. I think 2025 is going to be more niche, focused on sub-communities, and originality. We have seen great engagement on original ideas from our teams and students (I am in higher education) that speak to our physical community on campus. Basically, adding high quality content, humor, or sarcasm into the things that make our specific community special and unique is what people love!

Working for a marketing team at a hospital, our movement takes a long time and can be very slow. Hence, we don’t typically jump onto video trends that often. I am curious though, has there been any trends you’ve seen in the past year or so that you’ve successfully joined with you brand?

We’ve found continuing and increasing results through partnerships with Nano-influencers. Related to our community’s desire for authenticity, working with very small and hyper-local influencers is driving excitement and museum/program visits.

Now our struggle is how to keep the influencer campaigns fresh year over year….any tips for refreshing a seasonal program campaign that relies heavily on influencers?

Not sure if this counts as a trend, but X/Twitter seems to bleeding users again and there seems to be a lot of dissatisfaction with a lot of the established platforms. Seems like a real moment for a new social platform to break through and I’m curious where people are seeing traction or placing their bets for 2025.

The recent trend for “very demure, very mindful” seemed to have taken off and then abruptly fallen off. I am seeing some companies trying to push paid ads leveraging the trend verbiage, but the TikTok world has already moved on to the next thing and it can feel stale already! Are any other users seeing their companies struggle to keep up with these quick almost weekly trends with paid ad strategies?

My favorite trend is the weekly R.E.P.O.R.T! I love how it’s engaging and makes it easy to tell a story from your week. 

It’s typically done on a slider post, which are great for engagement on Tiktok and instagram. 

R-Reading

E- Eating

P- Playing

O- Obsessing

R- Recommending

T-Treating

What’s on your weekly r.e.p.o.r.t for this week?