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Executive Summary & Key Findings:
The 2025 Social Media Marketing Industry Report surveyed over 1,400 marketers to uncover trends and insights into how businesses leverage social media for growth. The findings highlight significant shifts in platform usage, content preferences, and technology adoption. Continue reading for the 2025 Social Media Trends for SMBs.
Key Findings:
- Platform Importance Shifting:
- Facebook continues a downward trend in importance, especially among B2B marketers.
- LinkedIn rose significantly, overtaking Instagram to become the second-most important platform overall and first among B2B marketers.
- Dominance of Video Content:
- Video content is now considered the most important content type by 46% of marketers, significantly ahead of written (28%) and visual content (23%).
- YouTube emerges as the platform with the highest planned increase in activity, especially for video marketing.
- Rapid Generative AI Adoption:
- 69% of marketers now use generative AI tools regularly (daily or weekly).
- However, many marketers (56%) have limited experience (less than one year) with generative AI, indicating a critical area for growth and education.
- Organic Growth Plans:
- LinkedIn (61%) and Instagram (55%) have the strongest potential for organic growth.
- Conversely, Twitter/X and Threads face significant declines, with many marketers planning to decrease their usage or avoid these platforms altogether.
- TikTok’s Mixed Signals:
- TikTok continues to deliver high exposure benefits (78%), yet adoption is relatively low (27%), with a growing segment (51%) showing no intention to use it.
Recommended Actions for Small to Medium Businesses (SMBs):
1. Prioritize LinkedIn and Instagram
- For B2B businesses, immediately strengthen your LinkedIn strategy. Share thought leadership, business insights, and professional networking content.
- For B2C businesses, capitalize heavily on Instagram for brand exposure, product showcasing, and building loyal communities.
2. Accelerate Video Content Production
- Invest in creating short-form, engaging videos optimized primarily for YouTube and Instagram.
- Leverage storytelling and educational formats to establish brand authority and customer connection.
3. Evaluate Facebook’s Role
- Assess the role of Facebook in your marketing strategy, particularly if your business targets consumers. Focus primarily on Facebook Ads for targeted outreach rather than relying solely on organic reach.
4. Explore Generative AI Tools Immediately
- Integrate generative AI (e.g., ChatGPT, Midjourney, Adobe Firefly) into your content creation workflows to improve efficiency, creativity, and scalability.
- Prioritize training your marketing teams to effectively use these tools, particularly for content creation, ideation, and expanding existing content concepts.
5. Assess TikTok Strategically
- If your target audience includes younger demographics, consider cautiously exploring TikTok for rapid exposure growth, despite broad hesitancy from others.
Planning Guide for SMBs (2nd Half of 2025 into 2026):
July – September 2025: Strategic Foundation
- Conduct an audit of current social media channels, prioritizing LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube.
- Develop or refresh your video content strategy focusing on short-form, authentic storytelling.
- Begin immediate trials of generative AI for content creation to familiarize your teams.
October – December 2025: Execution and Optimization
- Fully launch refreshed strategies on LinkedIn and Instagram. Establish clear KPIs for reach, engagement, and lead generation.
- Scale up video content distribution, with regular analytics review to optimize format, length, and style based on audience engagement metrics.
- Continue skill development around generative AI, expanding its usage across multiple content creation activities.
January – March 2026: Expansion and Refinement
- Conduct quarterly reviews of platform performance and adjust resource allocation accordingly.
- Test innovative social ad formats on Instagram and LinkedIn for targeted audience segments.
- Consider cautious, experimental entries into platforms such as TikTok, only if your target demographics align clearly.
April – June 2026: Review and Forward Planning
- Conduct an annual deep-dive analysis of your social strategy performance.
- Expand successful AI-driven content strategies and incorporate new generative AI tools as they emerge.
- Begin planning for platform trends emerging in late 2026 based on updated industry data.
Wrapping up our review of 2025 Social Media Trends for SMBs:
Small to medium businesses should shift their immediate attention to maximizing LinkedIn’s growing prominence, optimizing Instagram for visual engagement, aggressively increasing video marketing, and quickly adopting generative AI tools. Regularly reviewing performance and adapting rapidly to evolving platform dynamics will be crucial for sustained growth in late 2025 and beyond.
Read the full report by Social Media Examiner HERE.
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