We’re over halfway through 2025, a good time for marketers to look back on the big trends of the year thus far to help guide their planning during the crucial holiday period. With the social media and digital marketing landscape ever changing, staying up to date on how the latest development relate to user engagement can provide some much-needed direction during the key sales period.
And we are in a time of significant change. The implementation of AI systems, which now also includes social platform algorithms, along with a reduction in posting behavior, means that the way in which you post needs to change, because how people come across your content is not the same as it used to be.
Now, people are more likely to get a Google AI summary of a topic, reducing link clicks, while more sharing activity now occurs in DMs, diluting the value of social sharing data.
So what should you be focused on for the remainder of the year and moving into 2026?
Here are five key trends of note:
1. The AI shift
Really, this is the singular trend of the moment, incorporating a range of different elements, including AI-generated content, AI engagement, companions, bots, SEO impacts and more.
AI tools are changing the way that we interact with digital platforms in many ways. And while a lot of those changes may be subtle, and maybe aren’t transforming your regular interactive processes just yet, you are probably utilizing AI tools more than you think.
On a cumulative scale, these tools are having a big impact on broader behaviors and data points.
So first off, in looking at SEO impacts, the data shows that ChatGPT’s share of the search market has increased by 720% over the past year. That still only equates to a tiny fraction of Google’s overall search market share (less than 1%), but the number is rising. When you also factor in Google’s AI search summaries, and the impact they’re having on web traffic, it’s clear that things are changing in the discovery space, which will invariably impact your SEO strategy.
So how do you better align with AI search results? It’s still a work in progress, though there are some tips that SEO experts have gathered based on AI search analysis.
Another consideration is AI tools for advertisers, and the vast array of generative options you have for ad creation, reformatting, revising, copy editing, targeting, bidding, etc.
Every platform now has some variation of AI tools for your ads, and tests have shown that ads generated and targeted via AI are driving better results in many cases.
It’s worth experimenting with such, and seeing how they might be able to help with your campaigns, though you should also remain wary of overuse, especially in the creative elements, with some bands getting hit with backlash for reverting to cheaper AI tools and putting human artists out of work.
And then there’s the next stage: AI characters and bots that can replicate and even replace humans to some degree. Meta has hinted at a plan to introduce AI bot profiles on Facebook to stimulate more human engagement, while X has released AI companions for interaction and even relationships.
They’re not the only ones. TikTok enables you to generate AI avatars to sell products on livestreams, Snapchat has its own “My AI” chatbot and every platform now has some form of assistive AI tools that you can chat with.
Many of these AI bots already exist, and when you also add in the various AI tools to help revise posts and copy, it’s very likely that you’ve already interacted with AI bots, to some degree, and that you’re going to be doing more of it in future.
Is that still “social”? Can we still call social media “social” if an increasing amount of the interactions in these apps are with non-human entities?
I would argue that this is not “social” in terms of how we would traditionally define it, in human-to-human connection, but maybe we need to revise what that term means, in order to also include “clankers” (an emerging slang term for AI bots) into the mix.
It’s worth also noting here the rising challenges that platforms are facing in dealing with AI content, and the influx of AI-generated rubbish that’s gradually engulfing some apps.
That also could pose an existential risk to social media as a whole, as more and more content feels less and less authentic.
2. The TikTok U.S. saga
The TikTok U.S. sell-off saga is still dragging on, some 16 months after former President Joe Biden signed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act into law, which was supposed to either force TikTok into U.S. ownership or out of the nation.
But President Trump says he has “a warm spot” in is heart for TikTok, because he became “a big star” in the app during his 2024 election campaign. And because of this, Trump has now signed three executive orders that instruct U.S. officials not to enforce the act, in order to give his team more time to negotiate a sell-off deal with TikTok’s Chinese ownership.
So are we any closer to a deal? Well, maybe.
Some reports have suggested that Trump has a deal in place to facilitate the sale of the app, but the Chinese government is reportedly unwilling to consider any such arrangement amid broader U.S.-China trade negotiation. There are also questions around whether TikTok can include its algorithm in any such deal, and if it can’t, whether that might derail the app either way.
The implications here are huge, because if TikTok is banned from the U.S., that will impact many, many digital marketing strategies and approaches, and will significantly hurt opportunities for creators. It would also leave a void to fill, and both Instagram and YouTube are seemingly positioning themselves to take-up TikTok’s place as a key music sharing and engagement app.
Beyond that, a U.S. TikTok ban would also likely reduce its value in the broader market, because without U.S. influencers posting there, that’s a whole heap fewer popular creators focusing on the app.
What comes next is anybody’s guess, but the current deadline for TikTok to arrange a U.S. sell off is Sept. 17.
3. YouTube vs traditional TV
This has been coming for some time.
Over the past few months, YouTube has emerged as the leading streaming provider in the U.S., and it’s gradually closing the gap with traditional TV.
For many, YouTube is now what TV was for generations past, with many of the most popular celebrities now stemming from YouTube clips, as opposed to TV programs. MrBeast is just one of the many influencers who now dominate people’s entertainment inputs. As YouTube becomes more accessible on more devices, it’s quickly becoming the main focus platform for a growing number of people.
Which makes sense. YouTube has been a constant presence in the lives of young adults, and many of their favorite creators are viewed as friends whom they’ve grown up alongside. That relationship is similar to what people had with the TV stars of the past, and we’re now seeing how building that connection over time leads to increased viewership and traction, not just with the specific creators, but with the platform itself.
Given this, it makes sense for marketers to be considering their opportunities in YouTube promotions, which can now offer TV-like capacity and value, with much better targeting tools.
YouTube is a wide expanse of niche communities, and many of them are the leading groups in that topic. As such, you should be exploring your YouTube potential and considering if your audience is among those glued to the app.
4. Bowing to Trump
The reelection of U.S. President Donald Trump forced many big businesses to reassess their stances on Trump’s policies and approach, both in respect to dealing with the Trump administration going forward, and in regard to potentially misreading public sentiment and alignment with Trump’s policies.
And social platforms are no different. X was already largely aligned with Trump’s stances, due to Elon Musk’s close ties with Trump (on the campaign trail in particular), but Meta seemingly flipped its approach on its head in order to better align with Trump’s approach, and ideally, gain favor with the administration.
Indeed, following Trump’s election, Meta introduced Community Notes, mirroring the same approach to moderation and fact-checking as X, which is seemingly Trump’s preferred option (note: TikTok has also shifted to a Community Notes model in the U.S.), while Meta has also appointed several prominent Republicans to key roles in its communications and assurance teams.
The switch was abrupt, but it does make sense, considering that Meta has some major projects that it’s working on that will require government approval (and assistance in some cases). Meta is also hoping to use Trump’s strong support of American business in its battle against EU regulation, and pushing back on laws that both believe are targeted specifically at its interests.
The Trump administration is now looking to prompt EU officials to work out a better deal for Meta and other tech platforms, as part of its broader trade negotiations. For Meta, this alone could end up saving it billions in fines, while as noted, Meta will also be seeking government assistance with its AI development projects, including several major data centers in the U.S.
Basically, it’s much more fiscally responsible for Meta to side with Trump and align with the Trump team’s requests for moderation, free speech, etc.
So far, Trump has remained attached to his own Truth Social platform, so Meta hasn’t had to make any tough calls on potentially limiting Trump’s posts, as it has in the past.
But this issue could still become a conflict in future, as Trump continues to use social media as his megaphone, in seeking to rally support for his ideas.
If Trump refuses to leave the White House at the end of his term, as he’s suggested he might, will Meta then be forced to take action against the president once again?
5. Threads vs X
The last key trend of note is the battle for supremacy in real-time social media, with Meta’s Threads taking on Elon Musk’s X and catching on with a wide range of former Twitter users.
Threads, which was launched purely to capitalize on the chaos caused by Elon’s changes at Twitter (now X), is up to 400 million monthly active users, closing in on X’s 600 million.
Though X likely has fewer monthly actives than that, with Elon tending to take liberties in his reporting and cherry picking favorable data points as it suits. But X currently, reportedly, has between 500 and 600 million monthly actives. Which means that Threads, as it continues to gain momentum, is likely to be very close, if not surpassing X in active usage, before the year is out.
Because momentum gains as more people join, which then leads to more people logging in to see what they have to say, more people engaging, etc. So Threads could actually be on the brink of seeing a major surge in growth, given the audience that it’s building. And with more and more popular creators turning to the app, it definitely seems like Meta is onto a winner in this race.
X is hoping that its AI tools, like its Grok chatbot (now with video generation) and companions, will help to boost interest in the app, while it also remains a key destination for real-time updates, based on habitual behaviors and influencers who remain loyal to the platform.
But it does feel like the ride is close to turning, which could soon see Threads become the key destination for real-time news and engagement in many respects.
It’s hard to say whether X will ever become completely irrelevant, but I do think that Threads has become much more relevant, which is also a consideration for your ad approach and reaching your target audience online.
Maybe a target audience is still on X, and that still provides opportunities, but many of them are also likely now on Threads. And with ad options now available, that should be another consideration on your radar for your 2025 holiday marketing push.
These are the key trends that have emerged in the broader social media marketing sphere in 2025 thus far, which could help to guide your planning.
