Global Social Media Trends New research and insights on social media strategyfrom 1,000+ marketers around the world Table of contents The growingFOREWORD influence of digital it shapes their perspective and impacts decision making. Social fluency drives business resultsFOREWORD Let’s be honest—we’re all living in our own personal episode of“Decision Paralysis: The Series.” And my fellow Libras? We’rebasically the show’s executive producers. Think about it. Buyinga tomato used to be a simple transaction. Now it’s a full-onexistential crisis:. Is it organic? Was it ethically harvested bysomeone making a living wage? Is the company behind it secretlyfunding villains? Does the carbon footprint of this specificSo how do brands break through in this endless, chaotic scroll?At HubSpot, we’re seeing that the trust algorithm in 2025 requiressome serious choreography. The vibes have to be immaculate,but also authentic. Polished, but make it feel effortless. We’veseen our engagement metrics explode for content that hits thesweet spot between entertaining, relatable, and meme-worthyfor our Gen Z and Millennial audiences. Meanwhile, our YouTube But the real assignment isn’t just showing up. It’sabout sliding into the feed like you actually belongthere—becoming a trusted friend in your customers’decision-making journey, not just another corporateentity with main character syndrome.In 2025, the brands that win aren’t just gettinglikes—they’re getting mental bookmarks. When you become the trusted shortcut that helps a customernavigate the chaos of infinite choice, you build neuralpathways straight to your brand. And in the attention coping mechanism: we’ve outsourced our decision-making toour social feeds. That random TikTok of someone loving a Stanleycup? Congratulations, you now own three. That Instagram storyof your college roommate’s cousin’s wedding planner’s perfectavocado toast? You just bookmarked four brunch spots. EveryThe brands that will win the algorithm in 2025 are the ones thatare both meeting their audiences in their natural habitats likeTikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and yes, LinkedIn (I said what I said—don’t sleep on LinkedIn), and pushing themselves to pop into emerging platforms like Discord with the energy of someone who Brand discoveryINTRODUCTION officially startson social on social, and now, they’re shopping while they scroll. INTRODUCTION As search and checkout shift to social,brand values are even more important Over the past few years, we’ve seen growing popularity in consumers searching, seeking support,and purchasing directly on social media. Social search is beginning to even overtake browser-basedsearch. As people follow brands or content creators whose values align with theirs, the buyer’s journey 69%of marketers agree social than on brand websites or third-partymarketplaces in 2025. valuable from a revenue perspective, and these communities are great sources for product feedback,amplifying brand reach, and creating stickiness with users. And, most brands are targeting Millennialand Gen Z audiences, since these generations are now decision makers in the workplace. They’ve 85%of marketers agreethat building an active online communityis crucial to a successful social media strategy To support social media teams in better connecting with audiences in 2025,we surveyed 1,000+ global marketers and talked to leaders in the space. Read onto get the latest insights, trends, and inspiration for your social strategy. Based on our latest consumer research, here’s what people are looking for from brandsin 2025: •Consumers discover and purchase products on social media, and rely on influenceropinions to make decisions. •25% of general consumers, and over 40% of Millennials and Gen Zers have purchasedproducts directly on social media in the past three months. As audiences shift from traditionalpublishers to individual experts on socialplatforms like LinkedIn and TikTok,successful marketers have to developchannel-specific content strategies that •Consumers are using social media as a search engine. •Consumers want to trust the brands they shop with, and have data privacy concerns. •CEOs or owners of companies influence purchasing decisions and overall consumer sentiment. strong brand values that align with their own. interested in self-service. what they buy to match the description or photos.•Consumers value quality over quantity as their budgets have become tighter. •Shoppers want to watch videos, and they generally prefer authenticity over highlypolished or produced content. Scale social media with anAI-powered expert assistant HubSpot’s Breeze Social Media Agent is a smart AI agent that helps you automate socialmedia management and grow your reach among your target audiences online. Automatically develop amulti-channel content strategy Breeze suggests personalized posts tailored to your audience, andit finds the best days and timesto schedule posts. All you have to