The Future of Social Media Marketing in 2025: What Trends Brands Should Watch - 1893 Brand Studio

The Future of Social Media Marketing in 2025: What Trends Brands Should Watch

By Annie Ascher

Illustration by Catharine Yoder

In today’s crowded digital landscape, capturing consumer attention is more difficult than ever. Social media users are scrolling faster, engaging less, and expecting more from the content they consume. For brands, this means that simply being present on social media platforms is no longer enough. To stand out, marketers need to prioritize quality over quantity - crafting creative, relevant, and personalized experiences that not only capture attention, but hold it.

1. Consumer attention on social media is harder to grasp than ever, and brands need to focus on creating engaging and relevant content.

Kantar’s 2025 Marketing Trend Report shows that in 2024, 31% of people claim that ads on social media grab their attention, which is down from 2023’s 43% (Ray et al., 2024). To reap the benefits of social media marketing to the fullest, brands need to shift their focus to creating social media content that captures and keeps people's attention. The Kantar report also identified humor as the most receptive ad driver for Gen X, Boomers, and Gen Y - with music also playing a crucial role in their engagement levels.

2. Workplaces must invest in increasing AI proficiency to stay on top of trends and culture and adapt faster to the ever-changing social media landscape.

In AdAge’s How Data-Led Creativity Will Drive Agency Success in 2030, author Al Mackie states that the brands successfully marketing in 2030 “will be the ones with the courage to combine technology, data, and creativity with both precision and empathy to create experiences that feel human, relevant, and unforgettable” (Mackie, 2025). Leaders must integrate AI capabilities into their workflows. Kantar reports that about 36% of marketers are confident that their teams possess adequate skills within the AI space (Ray et al., 2024). In Deloitte Digital’s 2025 Marketing Trends report, experts explain that generative AI can be a tool used to make work more efficient and personalized on a large scale (Pinfold et al., 2024). Brands need to swiftly adapt and leverage AI capabilities to make work both efficient and creative.

3. Personalization for consumer journeys doesn’t end with initial conversion.

Brands must also leverage data and AI capabilities to create personalized marketing that builds lasting relationships with consumers. With today’s technology, brands are able to finely tailor a consumer journey all the way to conversion (Pinfold et al., 2024), but the steps they take along the way are crucial in creating brand loyalty (Ray et al., 2024). By doing this over social media, marketers are able to better—and more frequently—identify and engage with their consumers.

4. People don’t trust brands, they trust people. Leveraging social media creators is a way for marketers to reach niche audience segments.

According to Goldman Sachs, “the creator economy is a $250 billion industry that could reach $480 billion by 2027” (Ray et al., 2024). Influencer content has proved crucial in social media marketing, and it isn’t going away anytime soon. People trust creators, and they trust the brands those creators endorse. Collaborations with creators help brands build lasting relationships with their consumers. Combined with digital e-commerce features, creators can be an asset for brands in creating a lasting, personal shopping journey for consumers.

5. Integrated marketing campaigns across channels create seamless consumer journeys.

Coupled with the power of influencer marketing and its prevalence on social media - and a strong, personalized consumer-brand journey - streamlining media capabilities across all channels is a key factor in maximizing media returns and effectiveness (Pinfold et al., 2024). Having consistent marketing across social media and other channels helps create a more unified brand voice, allowing brands to build familiarity and, eventually, trust with consumers. Marketers might also consider integrating social media and e-commerce capabilities to simplify purchasing journeys for consumers and increase conversion rates (Pinfold et al., 2024).

Attention is scarce, but trust and relevance win. Brands that harness AI for personalization, tap into creator-led influencer strategy, and deliver consistent, human-centered experiences across channels won’t just keep up - they’ll stand out. In an environment where attention is scarce, meaningful engagement and true creativity will always be the true measure of success.