2025 is upon us, and a new year brings new trends and new challenges. If you‘re a brand looking to leverage social media video this year, you may not know what to expect but don’t worry.
I, your resident content creator and social media expert, have the expertise you need to prepare for social media video marketing in 2025. I also have stats from HubSpot’s handy-dandy Social Media Trends Report, which includes data from 1,000+ social media marketers.
In other words, you‘ve come to the right blog. Let’s get started by answering a burning question.
Is social media video marketing effective in 2025?
The short answer? Absolutely. Our data shows the top three social media platforms for driving site traffic, social media engagement, and audience growth are all video platforms —specifically, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.
Instagram shines the brightest, with our survey showing the majority of marketers say it’s the best for driving site traffic (28%), social media engagement (25%), and audience growth (23%).
YouTube ranks second in boosting site traffic and third in social media engagement and audience growth. Meanwhile, TikTok ranks third in site traffic but second in both social media engagement and audience growth.
With this data in mind, according to our survey, it’s no surprise that TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube are the top social media platforms for short-form videos and will see more investments from marketers than the other platforms in 2025.
4 Top Social Media Video Trends to Watch in 2025
I meticulously combed through our Social Media Trends report for the latest trends, and here’s what I found.
1. Brands will prioritize partnering with smaller influencers to create social media videos.
Here’s my hot take: Influencer marketing will always be among the top strategies for marketers.
They’re the new generation of celebrities but are more relatable and accessible than their predecessors. As such, they have a close relationship with their audience, making them perfect for promoting your brand to new audiences.
Don’t believe me? Our survey shows that 77% of marketers say influencer marketing delivers better ROI than other channels. Moreover, 85% say influencer marketing has been effective this past year.
So, it makes sense that nearly half (46%) of marketers plan to increase their investment in influencer marketing in 2025, while 47% will keep with their current spending. Only 6% plan to reduce their investment at all.
But, while influencers are the new celebrities, it won‘t be celebrity influencers receiving the most investment from marketers. In 2025, it will be the smaller influencer’s time to shine.
The majority of marketers in our survey (67%) work with micro-influencers, and 32% of marketers say working with small creators with 1,000 to 100,000 followers will be a better investment than working with large influencers in 2025.
Why? Micro-influencers have niche audiences, making fostering personal connections with their followers easy. In turn, their followers are much more active and engaged than those of a macro- or celebrity influencer. And engagement is crucial for influencer marketers.
Our survey shows that 53% of marketers rank engagement as the top determining factor in choosing an influencer or creator to partner with.
2. Building community on social media will be crucial.
Nearly a third of marketers in our survey predict that building a social media community will become more important in the coming year. Moreover, 85% of marketers say that building an active community is important to an overall social media strategy.
So, what’s with all this focus on community marketing? Turns out there are three huge benefits to fostering community with your brand.
First, 30% of marketers report that community building on social media increases brand sentiment and loyalty. Second, 28% say it attracts more followers and subscribers. Finally, 24% say it incentivizes user-generated content.
And if you’re not sure about investing in community marketing, keep in mind your competitors likely will.
According to our survey, 64% of marketers plan on having a dedicated community manager, and 93% of marketers will either maintain or increase their investment in community marketing in 2025.
In a long story short, expect to see brands leveraging video challenges, user-generated content, and any type of video marketing involving audience participation and community building.
Duolingo is an excellent example of using video to build a thriving digital community. Marketers behind the language-learning app achieve this by participating in viral trends while incorporating user-generated-content and inside jokes among its users.
3. Brands will find and test new/emerging social media platforms.
When TikTok surged in popularity in 2020, many brands were scrambling to find their audience on the app despite it having already been around for two years. Some brands found their footing rather quickly, while others still struggled to stand out among billions of users.
In 2025, brands want to avoid that same struggle. In fact, 30% of respondents to our survey say finding and testing new or emerging social media platforms will impact their brand this year.
This focus on new platforms has a lot to do with marketers wanting to stay prepared in case they have to suddenly pivot their strategies.
Think about it: TikTok went dark in the U.S. for just 12 hours, and marketers saw a pandemic turn the world upside down. And don’t get me started on concerns of recession.
Like my mother always says: It‘s better to stay ready so you don’t have to get ready. Therefore, be on the lookout for new or emerging social media video platforms and don’t be afraid to play around with them.
4. Brand content and tone will be tailored to fit each platform.
I’m a content creator with many creator and influencer friends, and we often discuss how each platform has its own vibe.
For example, an influencer may post a gorgeous Instagram Reel of them wearing a matching athleisure set and assembling all their cute Stanley Cup accessories before heading to a hot yoga session.
Not a single hair is out of place, and there isn’t a bead of sweat on it.
That same influencer will post a much less polished video of themselves on TikTok sweating and struggling their way through an intense workout routine, emphasizing the difficult and relatable journey of working toward their fitness goals.
We’re not the only ones who notice this difference. According to our survey, 28% of marketers say tailoring the tone of their content to fit the unique voice of each social media platform will be more important.
For example, the hair care brand Cecred has a different approach to both Instagram and TikTok. It’s Instagram mostly consists of high-quality, stylized photos and videos, whereas TikTok leans more toward funny, simple, unpolished content.
This reminds me.
Regardless of the social media platform you leverage, remember the Big 3 content formats:
- Funny
- Relatable
- Authentic
Our survey shows that 52% of marketers leverage funny content as part of their social media strategy, 50% label relatable content, and 42% leverage authentic or behind-the-scenes content.
I suggest playing around with these content formats on different platforms and seeing how they perform.
The Top Social Media Video Challenges Marketers Face
Of course, social media video marketing isn‘t without its challenges.
Social media trends are more volatile than Florida weather (I can say that because I’m a Florida native), and the customer journey becomes more complex as consumers flock to new channels such as live streams or social searches to find products.
As trends rapidly change, assessing what consumers find engaging and what‘s considered “cool” or current can be difficult. And as the customer journey changes, tracking ROI isn’t as clear-cut as it used to be.
As a result, the top three social media challenges marketers anticipate in 2025 are keeping up with new trends, measuring ROI, and creating engaging content.
As a marketer, you can navigate these changes by investing in a community manager who is tasked with building a community with your audience and keeping a pulse on the kinds of discussions consumers are having about your industry and brand.
This will keep you on top of trends and more prepared to create engaging, timely social media videos.
As for ROI, experiment with newer channels like social media live-shopping or social e-commerce. Track where and how consumers discover your videos and look for ways to simplify their buyers’ journey.
For example, beauty brands on TikTok often include links to their TikTok within their TikTok videos, so people who stumble upon their products while scrolling can buy without having to leave the app.
Get on Trend This Year
2025 is going to be an interesting year for social media videos, but as long as you keep the above information in mind, you’ll be prepared for what the year throws your way. Good luck!
