2024 Social Media In’s and Out’s

2023 saw a rise to some unexpected trends within the world of social media! Here are some things that we are expecting to see rise and fall in 2024. 

Why it’s important to be up to date with trends

Incorporating trends into your content strategy is a key factor to consider when working towards success on social media. Being aware of current trends that are relevant to your brand is crucial if you are looking to capture your audience's attention, boost brand visibility, encourage engagement, and keep up with the ever-changing algorithms. 

Product placement in influencer marketing 

Contrary to some belief, influencer marketing is still thriving and is still effective for your brand if you evolve with these changes. One thing influencers and brands need to adapt this year is organic product placement and ‘RAW’ content. More and more people are starting to value authenticity and prefer to consume honest, relatable content. Your audience will disengage if you are posting content that is clearly just an advertisement with no substance, especially if it seems disingenuous or like you are promoting something you never use. The goal of product placement is to generate curiosity amongst the audience, inspiring the consumer to want to learn more about a product on their own accord.

TikTok is here to stay

We don’t think anyone will be surprised to hear that TikTok’s not going anywhere anytime soon. In 2024 we can expect to see TikTok’s algorithm prioritising longer-form content that is over one minute. This is following the app rolling out a new 30-minute feature, suggesting it is starting to value quality over quantity. Could we be looking at the new YouTube? Why not try incorporating a mix of short and long-form content onto your TikTok for discoverability as well as building a strong brand identity and connection with your audience? 

Carousel is king this year as photo carousels on TikTok are performing better than ever. We expect to see these continue to be prioritised within the algorithm. 

TikTok Shop will continue to grow in 2024 as we see the likes of Zara and other big high-street brands join the platform. 

Instagram for relationship-building

We expect short-form content through reels to continue to rule Instagram in 2024. Instagram will remain the most important platform for brands this year when it comes to building a relationship with your audience. Storytelling for business will continue to flourish so it’s really important you are utilising this space to connect with your audience on a personable level and let them get to know you. 

High-quality content will be favoured but not if it’s overly curated. Simple shareables that feel off the cuff and relatable is what you need to be creating in 2024. Short looping reels that contain value in the text or caption are continuing to perform really well so this is a great trend to hop on for getting yourself a higher watch time. 

The collab feature on Instagram is something we expect to see take off this year as it’s mutually beneficial in reaching two audiences at once!  

Instagram released threads in 2023 which was a bit controversial and received a mixed bag of opinions so it’s tough to predict what is going to happen with it in 2024. However, it is likely Instagram will continue pushing it further on users now that it has been released in more countries. 

Facebook is not dead

Facebook is still a great platform for brands once you have an understanding of it. We know the majority of Facebook users are there to be social in groups or in their personal lives so personal content will continue to do well here. Share some of the behind-the-scenes relatable and personable content of your business. Following social media’s general push towards authenticity.

Hyper-sharable and attention-grabbing content will perform well on Facebook such as quotes or relatable memes for example. However, reels will still be effective for growth and reaching new eyes. The entire platform seems to be moving towards entertainment this year and less towards news-angled content. 

SEO over hashtags 

All of these platforms will be focusing on keywords this year which means making your content SEO searchable in your captions. These are words that your audience is likely searching for and using. This will help the platforms to categorise your videos making it easier to reach your ideal audience. So it might be worth doing a bit of research on what your audience could be searching for in 2024!