There’s only a few more weeks left of the year (Hallelujah!) and as we move toward 2025 you might be in marketing planning mode or maybe you’re zoning out and navigating these next couple weeks on cruise control either way save this email because I’m going to talk about 2025 and what I’m anticipating could be the social media “trends”.
Everything I’ve read lately from the industry “experts” and even when I asked my AI friend what the social media marketing trends are for 2025 is all geared towards Gen Z. They’ve skipped over Gen X and Millennials, and let’s face it, we’re the ones steering this social ship, or at least we can be.
This month, I really opened up my SBDC advising calendar, and with all of the businesses I’ve met, this sentiment has come through in one way or another: “I want to be real on social media.” And friend, the scroller wants you to be real as well.
My relationship with social media has been evolving for at least the last 18 months. I’ve been getting clients on board with a less curated look, leaving things messy in some photos, not overexposing and blowing out the green colors in photos, and offering the scroller something somewhat REAL because IRL things are messy and complicated.
Real life doesn’t care if the kitchen island is clean or the clothes are folded and put away perfectly. It rarely ends like a Hallmark Christmas movie with red snowflake sweaters and a Main Street with twinkling lights.
Real life is thick with challenges and extraordinary.
Real life is holding loss and love at the same time.
And what I’ve noticed is that these photos—these “messy” photos—get scroll stopped more and engaged with more. Why? People are sick of scrolling and, with each thumb flip, feeling like a failure because their life doesn’t look like a movie set.
So, in case you need a reminder, stop thinking that you’re failing at life because yours doesn’t look the same as someone’s on social media. If anything, Gen Z, Millennials, and even some Gen Xers are part of a sad generation posting only happy photos.
(More on that in 2025)
Life- real life doesn’t have to be aesthetically pleasing or expensive to be fulfilling or beautiful.
The social media “norm” isn’t actually normal.
And that’s what I want you to walk away with as a 2025 social media “trend” the defluencing movement. The movement of where we are ourselves online. The movement where success is defined as checking in and meeting our communities where they are at. The movement where we focus on talking and connecting to who is already there rather than constantly seeking new people. The movement where when we meet you in real life, we get the same person who is showing up on your social. The movement where we stop overproduction and stop taking all of this social media stuff SOOOOO damn seriously.
The movement where we aren’t constantly selling and instead connecting and allowing the sales to come.
If anything, social in 2025 is going to be ALL ads by this time next year, and the only way to set yourself apart is to be yourself. Because the universe sent you here because the collective needs you to be who you are.
And who you are won’t be for everyone, and that’s OK- your people will find you.
They already have; they are called your “followers,” aka your community. They are waiting for you to talk to them instead of seeking new members because the number isn’t big enough.
Because someone on social media has your perception so messed up that a low number is not good enough- whether your community is 20 or 20,000- those people want to hear from you.
Keep showing up.