Close button for feature banner

See Where Your Brand Stands Against Your Industry

Download Dash Hudson's Cross-Channel Industry Benchmarks

These Are the Next Big Social Media Trends

John Beaton
January 29, 2024
Last Updated On
social media trends blog header

The evolution of social media continues to be rapid, and social marketers must stay ahead of these changes to maintain a competitive edge — a tall order, as they must also keep up with the high volume of content needed to engage audiences and build communities. However, it is not an impossible task, as this year is all about social marketers working smarter by taking advantage of efficiencies. To help marketers keep up with how digital platforms are constantly reshaping, Dash Hudson releases a bi-annual recap of the biggest social media trends emerging in the market right now.

Social Media Trends 2024 

The main focus for social media marketers in 2024 is refining their strategies across each stage of the content lifecycle, using smart insights to drive better results rather than increasing budget or scope.

The rise of short-form video content continues, with more brands pivoting to video-first content strategies with incredible results by strategically reorienting themselves to be culturally relevant. Look at the Stanley Quencher, which became a household item not just through viral success but by strategically laying the groundwork for its prominence in popular culture over three years. In this business, it is easy to see success as accidental, but marketers are now starting to see that deliberate planning outperforms virality.

The focus now is on a more sophisticated, data-driven approach to product marketing, content creation and distribution. Let’s dive into the key trends setting the stage for a transformative year on social.

Create Content Specific to Customer Lifecycle 

Understanding and nurturing the customer lifecycle has never been more critical. A deep understanding of your customer base can lead to stunning innovations like Stanley revamping its traditionally male-oriented reusable water bottles for women. Likewise, a targeted approach to content — using organic, paid and user-generated content to address specific customer needs and interests at each stage of their journey — ensures that every piece of content does its part and resonates with the intended demographic, maximizing engagement, impressions and ROI.

Track Customer Journey From Organic to Paid

The content lifecycle is the journey from creator content, a primary form of discovery, to organic brand content, where communities are formed and nurtured, to paid content, where the best organic content drives greater awareness and conversions. These pillars are a crucial aspect of marketing today, as brands would be hard-pressed to capture the public’s attention without a prominent presence across all touchpoints. In 2024, you’ll see a more nuanced approach to tracking and optimizing this progression. This approach will let social teams identify how each stage seamlessly transitions to the next, with the end of the campaign ultimately producing insights that can help future campaigns precisely target customers for maximum impact. Taking a step back and objectively looking at insights to fine-tune the touchpoints of the content lifecycle will lead to better engagement and conversion rates with less budget needed.

Understand the Best Type of Content To Boost

Identifying which content to boost is an art backed by science. Dash Hudson conducted a study to get to the root of what brands should prioritize, and it all comes back to entertaining content. Content with a high Entertainment Score, Dash Hudson’s proprietary measurement of how entertained an audience was by your content, receives higher impressions and engagements when boosted, meaning that the best way to get better results for your budget is to assess content critically and choose to amplify the pieces that are most likely to generate a significant impact.

graphic showing data for social media KPIs

Entertainment Score Reigns Supreme

The Entertainment Score is more important than ever, guiding brands on content value across each stage of the content lifecycle. Dash Hudson research determined that creator content shared by brands outperforms branded content, rooted in social media users’ desire for entertainment and authenticity.

Brands are using the Entertainment Score to act more like creators. The metric informs brands on what content is a hit with audiences and what content feels too much like an ad, too dated or simply not trendy enough. Brands using the tool can quickly adapt to social media trends and the shifting preferences of their unique audience.

Leverage TikTok Shop

TikTok Shop has emerged as a surprising game-changer in social commerce. It has existed in Europe for two years, only recently coming to North America. Still, it has become a key entry point for customer acquisition, particularly in the beauty sector, where many younger shoppers search for staple brands. Brands that focus on making authentic and entertaining content are seeing significant returns. At this point, success depends on the quality of the content rather than the brand name, making it an exciting competitive space for established brands and start-ups alike.

UGC to Bolster Engagement 

User-Generated Content (UGC) continues to be a powerful tool for engagement, aligning with newer trends in social media. It increases creator content engagement and builds a sense of community around a brand by including audiences in content.

tiktok creator using kosas concealer match filter showing which concealer shade suits skintone best
Image credit: @fallonguyen

Scale Content Selection With AI 

AI is here, and it’s complicated. But what does it mean for you as a social marketer? One powerful use case will be predictive analytics — in other words, determining the best content to post to save time and see better results. Dash Hudson’s Vision AI looks at your brand’s past organic performance, develops a discerning eye for what types of content your audience is primarily interested in, and then gives you a prediction of how well a post will do before you even post it. It even works for UGC, so you know which post will hit out of the park with your audience if you get the rights to share (which you can also do in the Dash Hudson platform).

dash hudson vision ai performance prediction screenshot

Social Media Marketing Challenges

A new set of challenges has emerged recently, from smaller social teams to limited budgets to the speed-of-light advancement of AI. We’re here to explain how brands can shake up their strategies to see better results with fewer hands and less budget.

Understanding Performance Between Creator, Organic and Paid

Content pillars are not new social media marketing trends, but how brands use them now could not be more different. These pillars are intricately linked, with performance in one area providing great insight into what brands should be prioritizing in the other areas. Not only that, but the best-performing brand content on social usually encompasses all three pillars, as creators provide an authentic bridge between product and consumer, and audiences tend to scroll past paid media that looks too much like an ad — but content from their favorite creator? That will stop their scroll.

woman with braids holds cheek and shows mejuri puffy silver enamel ring
Image credit: @mejuri

Mejuri is a brand that seamlessly integrates creator UGC into their feeds, along with paid ads that highlight dynamic product shots or creators, depending on the platform that suits that content best. 

Incorporate AI into Workflows

Many brands are skeptical of AI’s usefulness for social media, but it is already in a place where it can save social media managers an incredible amount of time. AI tools can provide insights into customer behavior, draw correlations between two things that you may not have considered, optimize content based on past performance calculations and act as an unbiased adjudicator for when you’re stuck on a tough decision and it’s taking up your time.

Generating Leads

Social media platforms are getting serious about e-commerce again, particularly with TikTok’s success in breaking through and driving sales. Many brands tested social commerce last decade and saw it fizzle out, leading to apprehension in picking it back up, but the consumer set on social media today could not be more different. Audiences are sharing which products they use in short-form video, and viewers are taking notes, leading to buzz around brands that are much more authentic than influencer promotion.

Trending Social Media Platforms 

TikTok, Instagram and YouTube remain the frontrunners in driving social media trends and culture, with each platform having a distinct role. Their unique strengths and tactics for building communities make them indispensable tools for social media managers.

TikTok 

TikTok has matured into a diverse platform catering to innumerable niches and subcultures. Gone are the days when brands saw TikTok as a dance app for teens — now, many brands in all industries view TikTok as a critical component of their social strategies.

Instagram

Instagram plays a pivotal role in driving brand awareness, particularly with features including Stories, Reels and Carousels, which act as creative canvases for brands to represent themselves differently. Recently, the channel has become more video-focused, and brands are seeing higher engagement as a result. 

YouTube

YouTube is the original video platform, an immovable mountain in its category. It has remained a key player and is still seeing significant growth despite its age. The channel has changed a lot, particularly with YouTube Shorts and its new focus on short-form, lo-fi video, and brands should consider giving their YouTube strategies a second look in this new landscape.

Identify Industry Trends With Dash Hudson

Creator, organic and paid are staples in a social media marketer’s repertoire, but rapid shifts in the industry mean that the way these pillars interact has changed. New opportunities have emerged for marketers who can pull each lever strategically, and brands that are getting it right are seeing monumentally higher engagement rates, impressions and e-commerce sales.

Dash Hudson’s latest Social Media Trends Report highlights how brands succeed at the content lifecycle with use cases and provides social media trends to help you take your strategy to the next level.

FAQs

How to keep up with social media trends?

Keeping up with social media trends requires adaptability and constant vigilance. Subscribe to trend reports, like Dash Hudson’s biannual Social Media Trends Report, to be the first to know of new developments, and regularly review your social media strategies to ensure you’re up-to-date with what’s happening.

How long do social media trends last?

Some social media trends last for years, while others may last a few days. The key is to monitor trends closely and pivot your strategy as needed, whether it’s a short-term content play or a longer-term content overhaul.

How do social media trends affect our society? 

Social media trends profoundly impact our society, influencing everything from customer buying behavior to cultural norms. They can shape public opinion, drive social change and establish new forms of communication.


Related Articles

The Only Social Platform Marketers Need To Succeed and Scale