Social Media Trends

Social media is becoming more and more prominent and important, whether it is for advertising, communication, or entertainment. Surely, you are also active on social media and have your favorite social media platforms. Do you like to share pictures on Instagram? Do you primarily chat with friends on the Facebook Messenger? Maybe you also send funny videos via TikTok, the possibilities are endless.

It's all the more exciting then, to take a look at what happened online this year. In this article, we give you an overview of the definition of social media trends and reveal 13 trends for 2024. Which platform has established itself? Which trend surprised? And what will still haunt us in the new year without an end in sight? At the end of the article, we present you a few recommendations for social media tools, with which you can get the most out of your favorite channels. Our guest author Veronique Bartsch has prepared a top 3 for you. In addition, you will learn the most important things about Hootsuite, Later and Facelift.

What do you mean by social media trends?

Social media trends refer to features and platforms in the field of social media that have been used comparatively frequently. These could be filters, campaigns, or individual platforms like TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, which have gained particular importance in one year. The different types of content such as videos, postings, etc. can also be part of this. Just as in fashion, trends cover everything from head to toe, including accessories and materials, so do social media trends cover all types of platforms, features, and communication paths that social media has to offer. OMR Reviews has picked out 13 trends for you.

13 Social Media Trends for 2024

Companies and individuals use social media as intensively as never before. Whether marketing, communication with friends and customers, or general pastime for inspiration or amusement - social media is more present than ever. Anything that occupies people also finds its place in social media sooner or later.

The Corona pandemic has certainly contributed to the boom of social media, but at the same time new formats such as TikTok or Instagram Reels have been washed onto the European market. Already well-known and successful platforms found themselves forced to respond to new successful tools, that's why for example Instagram introduced Reels - a response to the exploding TikTok hype. Everyone wants to take advantage of the boom, everyone wants to provide users with an optimal customer experience.

Vertical, short content

People are lazy. This is not news. But this laziness is also reflected in the consumption of their content: People don't bother and find it cumbersome to have to turn the phone or even manually activate full-screen mode for a piece of content. Therefore, vertical content is becoming more relevant. This trend goes hand in hand with the transience of content. Vertical content is especially stories - these are consumed super often and are fleeting. Instagram Stories for example remain only for 24 hours, which often leads to users trying to not miss any exclusive news through permanent updates.

That is precisely the point that makes vertical content such as stories most sought after: The quick transience gives the content a touch of exclusivity. If you don't watch the video or posting right now, it may be too late tomorrow and you have missed something. Users certainly want to miss nothing, be it current news, updates on current events, the latest gossip or even discount codes for favorite companies.

Another advantage of these contents is the time limit. Just as people don't want to constantly switch between image modalities, they also don't want to have to consume extremely long news. Short, concise content that gets to the point is always sought after. Especially TikToks or Stories come with a time restriction. Within a time span of 20 seconds to 3 minutes, the content must be presented.

Video is trumps

A presentation style that goes hand in hand with the first trend: Video. Actually images or images with text were always number one in consumed content, but now videos are clicked a lot more. Animated content makes it easier to transmit emotions and messages. But what is also important here, as almost everywhere on the internet: authenticity! Especially when using videos for marketing, authenticity is the be-all and end-all.

Videos also enable companies to come into contact on a more personal level. Video messages are able to present content in a few seconds or minutes that would otherwise require several pages of text. The boom of video content is also clearly shown in the increased use of platforms and features like TikTok, Instagram Reels, or IGTV.

Listening

The feedback from users is worth its weight in gold. Social media makes it easier than ever to get this feedback - if companies and brands listen. A company that does not respond to the needs of users is uninteresting to most. It can also be helpful to actively solicit feedback or ask for actions. Users generally do not share and like content that is irrelevant to them, so evaluating these actions can help sort content by popularity and relevance.

Personality

Equally important, like listening, is personal communication with users, as well as the authenticity of the company. Advertising and postings should be close to the everyday life of the target group, address their problems, and deal with the topics currently important to the target group. Unapproachable brands with stiff slogans and commercials that advertise straight past the target group will not get a chance on social media.

It has also become indispensable in the last one and a half years to have personal online customer communication. In these current times of the pandemic, online shopping became very important and accordingly customers also want to be properly advised and supplied online. It is obvious that impersonal chatbots won't always help. Personal customer service is - online as well as offline - simply one of the most important elements for high customer satisfaction.

Baby Boomers

The days when only young people were mainly active on social media are over. Since Corona at the latest, more and more older generations are finding access to the individual platforms. The so-called Baby Boomers or only Boomers comment, shop, repost and thus cover completely different target groups and product ranges than the younger generations. Baby Boomers are mainly understood to be the high-birth cohorts from 1955 to 1964, i.e. the parents generation of all those who were predominantly online. This opens up a whole new market for companies.

User-Generated-Content

User-generated content saw an unrestrained upswing in 2023 and is still relevant in 2024. Brands do not create these themselves, but rather get their users to do so. The task of the brands and companies is then to support these content. Especially in this online-laden time, users long for influencers, companies and real people who are approachable, authentic and similar to oneself.

Together with the user-generated content, the so-called remixing of content goes hand in hand. Especially platforms like TikTok and features like Reels make it possible to rework and reuse already known content over and over again. The pandemic also plays a not insignificant role here: Users could not "go outside" to produce new content, so they found ways to continue using already existing material.

The 4 Cs of COVID-19 Content

The Corona pandemic has been going on for already over a year and accordingly the content is, from time to time, affected by this topic. Whether it's infographics, humorously explained hygiene rules, or advertising for masks and similar items, this topic will stay with us for longer and still shows up regularly in our timelines after one and a half years. This content can basically be divided into these 4 Cs: Community, Contactless, Cleanliness, and Compassion.

A challenge of this trend: Some companies must first gain the trust of users in the online world, which worked flawlessly offline. What worked offline on site must first be implemented online in terms of cashless payments and advice/tips. If a company has so far not put much emphasis on an online presence, it is now time to upgrade. In addition, companies in the Corona topic are on the supporter side: According to surveys, 78% of consumers expect support from brands in their everyday life (source).

Memes

All these years we lived with emojis and GIFs, for a few months now there is a new predominant form of representation: Memes! Memes serve to represent topics, communities, trends, or current issues in a playful and fun way. 55% of 13 to 35-year-olds send memes every week (source). But what started out fun, especially with political or health topics, quickly gets a taste: Fake news and mood-making are increasingly finding their place in memes.

Therefore, companies must pay close attention to which memes they use, share or like. It's easy to make an unwanted statement, getting out of that situation again is virtually impossible. Likewise, you have the opportunity to score sympathy points with your users by taking a humorous look at yourself or placing successful advertising. Either way, memes are a big trend in 2024 for both private users and B2C.

Nostalgia Marketing

"The good old times" actually play a big role in advertising on social media in 2024. The memory of better times evokes positive feelings in the users of your pages and thus your brand is also stored positively. Especially in times of uncertainty, economic crises, and health emergencies, users need support in the form of familiar things, memories, and positive feelings. This connection allows you in turn to build an emotional bond with the users, which creates trust.

It is important to know in nostalgia marketing that it only works for a certain generation. While the pandemic events affect us all, each generation has had its own trends, desires, products, and situations that trigger corresponding feelings.

Social Gaming

Another trend that has seen a noteworthy upswing under Corona: Gaming. More and more people found their way into the secret worlds of gaming in times of lockdowns and curfews. Platforms like Twitch experienced a phenomenal start and streaming went through the roof. If people couldn't meet in person, they did so digitally - and with great joy and great success. It strengthened the community and the togetherness. The gaming scene offers a huge market and is completely unexplored for companies outside the industry.

TikTok & Co.

There is no doubt that platforms like TikTok are something that will be with us for an extended period. The possibility to connect many diverse current trends with each other on such platforms is unique. TikTok allows users to provide videos with both informative, advertising or entertaining content, to address different target groups and to continuously remix older trends. The range is virtually unlimited and companies are also exploring the depths of this universe more and more often. Influencer Marketing & Co. are flourishing and even people who are "just" looking for inspiration and entertainment will find what they are looking for. In fact, these platforms offer a base for all concerns of the users.

Social Gaming

Since the gaming scene in general as a customer pool is very unexplored, but streaming and shared online gaming continue to boom, you shouldn't miss this opportunity. It can be assumed that this trend will accompany us also in 2024, therefore the target group gamers could be interesting for some of you and it is worthwhile to place ads targeted on the gaming platforms.

Videos & Short-Content

The use of moving content with an exclusivity character will also increase in the coming months. Videos are replacing images & Co. more and more frequently and the short lifespan of the news snacks in stories is still very sought after. You can spread tons of new news within a short timeframe without having to worry that older content clashes with the new stuff and the users can't keep up.

You might also like this if you are interested in the topic of social media:

In addition to the usual trends and news from the world of social media, there are of course many other things you can do with social media. Among the following three topics, you will find beginner's tips and basic knowledge about social media at OMR:

• Snack content made easy: Basics for Instagram Stories
• With a social media editorial plan, you can structure your content clearly and do not lose track
• You are not sure which tools are right for you or would you like to have deeper insights into the tools from the following section? Have fun with the list of the best social media tools.

Short and sweet: Our top 3 social media tools

In the previous sections you have gained an insight into what is currently trending on social media. There are numerous social media tools for optimal use of your favorite platforms, here we have compiled our top 3 for you:

1. Hootsuite

Hootsuite allows you to keep planning, analytics, and monitoring under one roof. With the numerous functions you have your content in view, can optimize campaigns at any time and still do not lose sight of the competition. The tool is paid, but you have four tariffs to choose from to tailor the application to your needs.

2. Later

The tool Later gives you the possibility to plan, post, and analyze content. Besides for Instagram, Later also offers many functions for, for example, Facebook and LinkedIn. In addition, Later makes it easier to find and repost content as well as to keep an eye on the analytics. The tool has a basic outfit for free, otherwise you have three alternatives to choose from.

3. Facelift

Facelift covers pretty much all of the functions needed for successful social media management. Besides content planning and advertising, Facelift has a messenger and gives insights into insights. On the homepage of the tool you can arrange a demo, otherwise, there is no information about costs.

Do you want deeper insights into the world of social media tools? Of course, OMR Reviews have also compared social media tools and prepared a list for you.