Hootsuite Social Trends 2024 PDF

TRENDS 2024  The good old days of jumping on bandwagons and desperately trying to outrun trends on social media are numbered. Social marketers have come of age—and with their hard-won wisdom comes a renewed focus on performance...

TRENDS 2024  The good old days of jumping on bandwagons and desperately trying to outrun trends on social media are numbered. Social marketers have come of age—and with their hard-won wisdom comes a renewed focus on performance and less patience for folly. As platforms continue raining new tools, features, and algorithm updates on us all, social marketers are learning to take a deep breath and ignore the noise. In 2024, ROI will take center stage on social as smart organizations finally close in on their top-performing tactics. From singling out hero platforms All eyes on ROI and perfecting their content mix to boosting their team’s capabilities with AI, the marketers and brands who set the pace this year will do so with a new level of precision and efficiency. There’s no time to waste on efforts that yield no results—no matter how sentimental we might feel looking behind us. (Love you forever, blue bird.) From here on, it’s full speed ahead—and that’s why we may be looking at social media’s most pivotal year yet. Let’s go.  The AI The Platform The ROI Trend Trend Trend With generative AI on the rise, Strapped for time and In the quest for social ROI, Contents organizations toe the line resources, organizations stop brands must turn to between efficiency and stretching themselves thin entertainment to boost authenticity on social media. and double down on the the bottom line. platforms that get results. Page 5 Page 18 Page 29  AI Trend Platform Trend ROI Trend Research Methods Overview of Hootsuite’s global Social Trends 2024 Commercial Survey This report is based on a commercial survey of 4,281 marketers and a consumer survey of 4,281 respondents 4,508 consumers, conducted in August 2023. 118 countries We conducted primary interviews with social 16 industries marketing practitioners, leaders, observers, and partners. 28% directors and above Methodology And we ran a news analysis of 15,557 articles 62% managers and practitioners from major social media reporting organiza- Overview of Hootsuite’s global tions, as well as a content analysis of 1 million Social Media 2024 Consumer Survey anonymized social posts from accounts connected to Hootsuite. 4,508 respondents Our primary data has been supplemented by 3 countries secondary research from Pew Research Center, Statista, Deloitte, Forbes, Insider Intelligence, 65% Gen Z and millennials Forrester, LinkedIn, GlobalWebIndex, The CMO 26% Gen X and baby boomers Survey, and others. Note: Commercial survey respondents were from 118 countries, with the most common being the US (n = 2,709), Canada (n = 377), the UK (n = 267), India (n = 114), and Australia (n = 67).  AI forces TR T ER EN N D 1D brands to 1 redefine authenticity With generative AI on the rise, brands 1D 1 D toe the line between efficiency and N N E E R R authenticity on social media. T T  AI Trend Platform Trend ROI Trend Social marketers warmly welcome a new teammate Generative AI created a seismic shift when it broke into the mainstream in 2022 and sparked a whole range of emotions typically reserved for fellow humans. Interest was so high that from 2022 to 2023, topics on learning about AI increased by 550%, according to an analysis we conducted of over 15,500 news articles and blogs. And social marketers have jumped on the bandwagon. 6  AI Trend Platform Trend ROI Trend Since social media managers are typically a team of one and often strapped for time, it’s no surprise the top motivation to use AI is to reduce staff workload, with 61% of our survey respondents selecting this option. 61% of organizations Organizations also report that they’re planning to double their use of AI across various activities—even tripling or quadrupling say the #1 reason they use AI for it in some cases. In the coming year, we can expect to see the biggest increase in AI use for revising text, editing images, and providing customer service. social media So is generative AI a source of hope for busy professionals is to reduce like you? The numbers seem to say so. But in the noble quest to reduce your workload, are you at risk of alienating staff workload your audience? Source: Hootsuite Social Trends 2024 Survey 7  AI Trend Platform Trend ROI Trend AI use will skyrocket in 2024 In the last 12/next 12 months, how has/will your organization use(d) AI to assist with social media activities? +28% +29% % change % +44% This year 86% 85% 82% +103% Last year 75% 67% 66% +195% 59% +260% +136% 57% 54% 52% +318% 37% 46% 22% 20% 15% 11% Edit and Produce ad Develop Completely Produce Edit Generate Use a chatbot refine text text from new ideas revise and customer images images to respond to scratch rewrite text support text messages Sample: 4,278 respondents from scratch Source: Hootsuite Social Trends 2024 Survey 8  AI Trend Platform Trend ROI Trend 62% Audiences greet AI with hesitation There’s good news, and there’s bad news. First, the bad news. (Better to rip off the Band-Aid, right?) AI-generated social posts get a lot of buzz, but the question of trust still casts a big shadow. of consumers say No one’s a stranger to fake news anymore. And the idea of a machine they are less likely stringing words or mashing images together to be shared online makes to engage with and some people uneasy, especially when trying to gauge what’s real and what’s not on social. trust content if they These sentiments line up with a 2022 study by the Pew Research know it was created Center on the increased use of AI in daily life. The study found that 45% of US adults are equally concerned and excited about this, while by an AI application 37% are more concerned than excited, and only 18% are more excited Source: Hootsuite Social Trends 2024 Consumer Survey than concerned. 9  AI Trend Platform Trend ROI Trend In other words, audiences are not necessarily Concerns over AI are embracing AI and AI-generated content as much high among consumers as social marketers are flocking to use it. Thinking about social media content generated by AI, rate your agreement with the following statements The good news? Not everyone distrusts AI equally. Agree Neither agree nor disagree Disagree Different age groups are forming different relationships with AI-generated content. Knowing exactly who your audience is on social will help you develop an AI strategy that’s in line with their 66% 22% 12% values and preferences. It’s hard to tell what information is real or fake 67% 20% 13% It’s hard to tell what images are real or fake/created using AI Sample: 4,499 respondents Source: Hootsuite Social Trends 2024 Consumer Survey 10  AI Trend Platform Trend ROI Trend AI for the ages Thinking about social media content generated by AI, rate your agreement with the following statements Generation Z Millennials Generation X Baby boomers Generation Z Millennials Generation X Baby boomers Take Gen Z, for example. They’re more likely to If I know something 20% If I know something claim they know what’s real and what’s created is created byby is created anan AIAI 22% application, I am less application, I am less 28% by AI than other generations. They’re also more likely to engage with it likely to engage with it 33% likely to trust and engage with AI content. On the other hand, baby boomers are the opposite 21% If I Ifknow something I know something is on all accounts: less confident in their ability to is written byby written ananAIAI 22% tell if something is created by AI, and less likely application, application, I amI am less less 27% likely to trust it likely to trust it 33% to trust and engage with it if it is. So if you have a younger community on social, 17% It’s hard to tell It’s hard what to tell what 19% you may have an easier time experimenting images areare images real oror real fake/created fake/created using using AIAI 22% with AI. But if your audience is older, it’s best 21% to tread carefully for now. 14% It’s It’s hard toto hard tell tell what information 15% what information is real or fake 20% is real or fake 19% Response = = Response Strongly Agree Strongly agree Sample: 4,420 respondents (filtered to those who strongly agree) Source: Hootsuite Social Trends 2024 Consumer Survey 11  AI Trend Platform Trend ROI Trend Authenticity 🤝 AI It’s inevitable: AI will become ubiquitous In 2024, the most successful brands will on social. And it’s completely fair for social redefine “authenticity.” It’s not about who marketers to use a tool that makes their life (or what) creates your content anymore; easier. Scaling back on its use now would be it’s about the brand experience your content like reverting from computers to typewriters. creates for the customer. To thrive in this new environment, marketers Does it feel right? Does it reinforce the brand? and brands need to move beyond defining Does it work? Get those right and you can “real” and “authentic” based on whether dismiss questions about whether a bot made something was created exclusively by a human. it with a shrug. Like it or not we’re all cyborgs now, at least at work. Whether we’re using AI as a brainstorm- ing partner, letting it finish our sentences for us, pretending it doesn’t exist, or (more likely) a mix of the above, this genie is out of the bottle. 12  AI Trend Platform Trend ROI Trend Croda discovers the art and science of AI Driven by its purpose to use “Smart science to “If we’re not using AI, other companies will,” improve lives,™” Croda combines its knowledge, says Sidi. “This is going to be the next big passion, and entrepreneurial spirit to create, thing—and we have to evolve with this The trend make, and sell specialty ingredients that are transformative technology to stay competitive in action relied on by industries and consumers around in the evolving business landscape.” the world. Its social media audience is mostly Sidi set out to champion AI within the company. scientists and chemists—a community that It’s now used not only for social media and values innovation and is open to exploring marketing, but also for sales, product emerging technologies like AI. development, and more. So when ChatGPT became widely available With marketers who are primarily chemists and in 2022, Ashley Sidi, digital marketing lead no internal design team, creating professional- at Croda, immediately saw an opportunity. looking social images has been a challenge for Croda. This is one aspect of the job Sidi plans to delegate to AI. 13  AI Trend Platform Trend ROI Trend “Basic design elements, like making sure that To make sure Croda is set up for success, Sidi text isn’t running off to the corner, resizing collaborated with IT and other teams within the images, color consistency: It sounds like little organization to put AI policies in place. Now the things, but it really does make your brand look company has clear guidelines for securely using professional,” she says. “I think AI is going to AI across different departments. help quite a bit in the design space.” The marketing team also has an approvals In addition to creating consistency and improv- process in place so every bit of AI content is ing the quality of social media images, Croda’s fact-checked and greenlit before it’s posted marketing team also uses AI for brainstorming on social—a priority among their fact-loving, content ideas and drafting social media captions. data-driven community. Think of it as having a personal virtual assistant. If you use it in this manner, it will be effective. However, it’s important to sprinkle in the real stuff. Maintaining a healthy balance between technology and authenticity is key. Ashley Sidi Digital Marketing Lead, Croda 14  AI Trend Platform Trend ROI Trend 1 Know your audience and how they feel about AI It’s timeless advice for a reason: Know your audience. A deep understanding of who your audience is on social will be essential for using AI in the right ways this year. Don’t stop at basic demographics. Who are they? What do they Recommendations like? How do they feel about what they see on social media? Other data points you can learn about your audience include: Location Interests Stage of life Language Challenges Buying habits These can help you gather insights on whether other factors such as culture, geography, or interests have influence on their perception of AI. As a bonus, you’ll also be able to fine-tune the rest of your content to their likes and needs. PRO Master your target market on TIP social media with our in-depth guide 15  AI Trend Platform Trend ROI Trend 2 Decide which tasks to keep on your plate to help build relationships Delegate tasks with this cheat sheet AI makes a great assistant—but you still have to run the show. It’s up to you to delegate which aspects of the job AI can support, and which aspects need a more delicate hand (and nuanced brain, tbh). After all, your audience’s trust is on the line. As AI gets more sophisticated, it may become tempting to pass Use the bots Keep it human off AI work as yours. But remember: Social relationships are built on trust. Leading audiences to believe that the content they’re Brainstorming ideas Creating a content strategy for social interacting with is human when it’s not is a quick way to break Organizing your that trust. Not to mention, it could create serious damage for a thoughts Editing and refining brand if it’s ever brought to light. captions Giving content suggestions Ensuring images and (And if any of you thought to yourselves just now, “But they’ll posts are up to brand never know,” you just made Owly really, really sad.) Writing first drafts standards for captions PRO Play around with social media AI Interacting in the TIP Suggesting images that’s seriously easy to use comments section Instantly generate captions and get post ideas— fast—for every network with OwlyWriter AI 16  AI Trend Platform Trend ROI Trend 3 Create AI policies and best practices for social media Step-by-step guide to creating an AI policy Step 1: Loop in the wider organization Nothing’s worse than an employee going rogue and Get IT’s input to identify security issues posting their AI-generated “masterpiece” on the company Instagram account. Or a befuddled customer raging in your Ask for Legal’s advice on the use of images on various platforms DMs because your tone-deaf chatbot “handled” the issue. Determine whether you’re allowed to feed proprietary data into the But if you have rules and regulations in place to guide program or use AI’s help with confidential information your organization’s use of AI, these potential nightmares Step 2: Define AI’s scope in your work can be avoided. Will you limit its role to idea generation and brainstorming for now? Making sure your team and organization are aligned will Will you use it for writing and generating images? help you use AI safely and effectively. Will you use it to interact with customers? Step 3: Create an AI style guide for social Include notes for tone of voice and photography or illustration styles Add tips for effective prompts Share with all internal and external content creators so your social content is consistent across all channels 17  Strategic TR T brands ER EN N D D 2 2 commit to their champion platforms 2 2 D D Strapped for time and resources, N N E E R R organizations stop stretching themselves T T thin and double down on the social platforms that get results.  AI Trend Platform Trend ROI Trend The multi-platform Orgs fear the ROI impact predicament of being on so many platforms Which of the following issues do you think contribute to your organization’s concern about return on investment for social media activities? Be where your audience is, they said. But when your audience is everywhere, that’s a tall order— Time or budget investment to maintain a presence on 52% and the average social media user logs into about seven multiple social platforms platforms each month. Seven. Uncertainty about the accuracy of campaign success metrics 35% For brands, maintaining a presence on just one social Uncertainty about network is hard enough, let alone many. And maintaining the attribution of campaign success 34% is the baseline. Doing it well is a whole other story. Unsatisfactory connection between social metrics and business metrics 33% In fact, this is such a challenge for organizations, it’s 31% Uncertainty about the emerged as the top ROI concern for social media—even social media strategy trumping issues that have to do with measuring success (some of social’s most talked-about struggles). Rising costs 25% High costs 19% 18% Unsatisfactory short-term impact for campaigns 14% Unsatisfactory longer-term Sample: 4,281 respondents impact for campaigns Source: Hootsuite Social Trends 2024 Survey 19  AI Trend Platform Trend ROI Trend Most social marketers could talk your ear off are enough to make social marketers’ heads 58% about why it takes so much time and energy spin. No wonder 66% of them say they have too to be active—and thrive—on several social much to do, according to our 2023 Social Media media networks. Management Career Survey. One of the biggest factors: How important it’s Social marketers are responsible for developing become to tailor social content to each network. strategies, creating content, tracking analytics, (Cross-posting just doesn’t cut it anymore, sadly.) executing ads, responding to comments, Different channels have different audiences, scheduling posts, and sooooooo much more— of marketers say lingo, trends, and hashtags, not to mention word counts and image specs. Brand posts that and that’s before considering that each of those tasks have to get done for multiple channels. the pace at which mimic the content and formats of individual It’s also before taking into account the constant networks release new user and platforms make for a better user experience— platform changes that social pros are expected to and less annoyed customers. stay on top of. Today, networks release new user Users also have different reasons for being on and advertising features so often that more than advertising features each platform—Facebook for connecting with half (58%) of marketers say it’s difficult to keep up. makes it hard to friends and family, TikTok for being entertained, Instagram for exploring interests, and Twitter/X The good news? Social marketers aren’t the only ones who feel the pressures of having to keep up for getting news and event updates, for example. deal with multiple platforms. Company leaders Source: Hootsuite Social Trends 2024 Survey The differences between platforms—and the are finally starting to clue in, recognizing the amount of work it takes to cater to them all— impact this is having on their business. 20  AI Trend Platform Trend ROI Trend Brands are most confident in Platform priorities are shifting LinkedIn, Instagram, and WhatsApp How confident are you that each of the following social platforms Historically, when organizations felt iffy about how a delivers a positive return on investment for your organization? Confident Not Confident platform was contributing to their social and business Confident Confident Not NotConfident Confident goals, they didn’t do much about it. LinkedIn LinkedIn 70% 70% 30% 30% LinkedIn 70% 30% Instagram Instagram 68% 68% 32% 32% Social marketers would overextend themselves trying to do Instagram 68% 32% WhatsApp WhatsApp 66% 66% 34% 34% everything, everywhere, all at once, and drain time, money, and resources while they were at it. This was all too common, WhatsApp Facebook Facebook 62% 62% 66%38% 38% 34% and yet, nothing would ever change. (Red flag alert!) Even BeReal BeReal 60% 60% 40% 40% Facebook 62% 38% though this resulted in lousy content, poor social media YouTube YouTube 52% 52% 48% 48% performance, and burnt out staff, it was still considered less BeReal TikTok TikTok 50% 50% 60% 50% 50% 40% of a risk than scaling back on platform efforts. So they Snapchat Snapchat 45% 45% 55% 55% YouTube 52% 48% (foolishly) stuck it out. Reddit Reddit 43% 43% 57% 57% TikTok Pinterest Pinterest 36% 36% 50% 64% 64% 50% But now, organizations are starting to stray from this way of 30% 30% 70% 70% thinking. Instead, they’re acknowledging the problems and Twitter/X Twitter/X Snapchat 45% 55% Source: Hootsuite Social Trends 2024 Survey taking steps to turn things around. Our data reveals that Threads Threads 16% 16% 84% 84% Reddit 43% 57% they’re getting serious about understanding which platforms work for them and which ones don’t—and ROI confidence 36% 64% Sample: 3,891 respondents Pinterest helps them decide. Twitter/X 30% 70% Threads 16% 84% 21  AI Trend Platform Trend ROI Trend The platforms that drive the most ROI confidence Conversely, the majority of brands are on these numbers don’t dovetail neatly with overall aren’t necessarily the most widely used, and vice Twitter/X, but only 30% think it drives value— ROI confidence for these platforms. What we do versa. Take WhatsApp, for example. Only 14% of which is a 23% decrease from last year and might know is that whatever their reasons, organiza- organizations have a presence on the instant explain the platform’s 7% drop in brand use. tions are more willing than ever to say buh-bye messaging app, but almost two-thirds of them to platforms and strategies that aren’t meeting So we have some speculations about Twitter/X, feel strongly that it benefits their business. So their definition of ROI. They’re finally prioritizing but why are brands shifting their strategies away there aren’t too many who use it, but those who their own platform-by-platform ROI scores and from Pinterest (down 11%) and WhatsApp (down do, feel they get a lot out of it. making business decisions accordingly. an eye-popping 18%)? They didn’t tell us—and Most orgs have a presence on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn Which social media platforms does your organization currently use? 91% 86% 80% 66% 62% 29% 19% 16% 14% 5% 4% 1% Sample: 4,281 respondents Source: Hootsuite Social Trends 2024 Survey 22  AI Trend Platform Trend ROI Trend No value, no point: Brands leave some of the social platform giants Change in platform use for businesses from 2022 to 2023 Zeroing in on the platforms that work +16% It’s easy to fall into a pattern of following social In 2024, strategic organizations will push media industry norms. But industry norms don’t back against unjustified expectations to do +5% consider the unique goals, growth strategies, everything on every platform. They’ll unlock KPIs, and customers of your organization. their top-performing channels based on ROI, +1% That’s why it’s so important to take a step and focus their attention on those—and only back, challenge your own assumptions about those. If they’re really confident (and brave), +0% the platforms you’re on, and think about they might even abandon one or two what’s best for your business. altogether. +0% The key is being able to defy distractions that This will give social marketers more time with the -1% prevent you from making smart decisions about platforms that make the cut—time to understand your channels. Keeping up with what your their audiences, experiment with content to see -7% competitors are doing and experimenting with what resonates, stay on top of trends and shiny new features or entirely new platforms is algorithms, and get up to speed with all the -11% an essential part of a social marketer’s job, but features. Because mastering a few key platforms not at the expense of driving real business value is surely better than being so-so at many. -18% from social. Samples: 3,891 respondents (2024), 9,422 respondents (2023) Sources: Hootsuite Social Trends 2024 Survey, Hootsuite Social Trends 2023 Survey 23  AI Trend Platform Trend ROI Trend iShares by BlackRock embraces millennial and Gen Z platforms If you’re trying to reach a brand new audience, It also gave them insights into what types of you can start by chucking your business-as- content would resonate. Knowing that everyday usual efforts out the window. “financial speak” would sound like gibberish to The trend Keen to capture a new generation of potential (and totally bore) this young audience, they landed on clear, jargon-free messaging with in action investors, exchange-traded fund (ETF) company bold headline-driven visuals. iShares by BlackRock did just that—and made research their first priority (as it should be). And it worked. By leaning into the platforms that were relevant to their audience—and To kick off the development of their new social strategically dodging the ones that weren’t, and content strategies, they took a deep dive like Facebook—iShares by BlackRock met their into the demographics, interests, behaviors, objectives of awareness (acquainting this new and financial literacy of millennial and Gen Z audience with their brand and product) and investors. And that analysis helped identify the education (shedding light on the benefits of best platforms to reach them—Instagram, ETFs). Their content was so engaging and Twitter/X, LinkedIn, Reddit, and TikTok. impactful they even received a congratulatory note from LinkedIn. #Goals! 24  AI Trend Platform Trend ROI Trend The Harvard Graduate School of Education untangles Threads When it comes to enticing users to join a new But that didn’t scare Wesby away. Looking network, Meta cracked the code with Threads. at HGSE’s Threads metrics, she noticed that although engagement wasn’t rising, it was The app’s integration with Instagram made creat- still there. And new followers were still trickling ing an account absolutely seamless. It’s why Maya in. “For those reasons, we’re still active on the Wesby, social media manager at the Harvard platform today,” she says. Graduate School of Education (HGSE), knew the platform was a good fit for her organization. What’s changed is the strategy. She posts content to Threads less frequently than she Threads was “Instagram has been a strong channel for us, so [Threads] was a natural way to reach a community used to—maybe once or twice a week—allowing a natural we already had,” Wesby says. “And they were all her to devote more time to the school’s more popular channels. And she continues to monitor way to reach a community jumping on board.” the platform to keep tabs on the HGSE commu- At first, HGSE was relatively active on the nity and other educational institutions, so if an platform and getting lots of engagement. opportunity pops up, she’ll be ready to join the we already had. But once the initial excitement of the app wore conversation. off, Wesby noticed a hard dip in interactions— Maya which isn’t surprising when you consider the That’s a pro move, and it proves that you don’t Wesby always have to make rash decisions when your 70% drop in Threads’ daily active users just Social Media Manager social media outcomes change. You just have Harvard Graduate School of Education weeks after its launch. to pivot when and where it makes sense. 25  AI Trend Platform Trend ROI Trend 1 Run a social media audit for platform intel What’s happening across all your social An audit should also help single out the platforms? A social media audit will tell platforms that may be doing more harm you. It’ll uncover your most engaging than good (in other words, eating up a lot posts, your highest-performing content of your time but not giving you results that Recommendations formats, and other patterns that’ll help make it worthwhile). If you find any major you decide how to approach your social flops, it may be time to scale back on strategy moving forward. those channels or even shut down those accounts. But these decisions shouldn’t be Crushing it on Facebook, Instagram, made lightly—be sure to share your find- LinkedIn, and TikTok? Consider these your ings with key players in your organization hero platforms, and pour all your efforts so you can make the call together. into them. That means spending the majority of your time (and budget) on Get a step-by-step walk-through of those platforms—researching, experiment- the easiest audit process with our ing with content, doing social listening, Social Media Audit Guide and engaging with your audience. 26  AI Trend Platform Trend ROI Trend 2 Put your platforms in an ROI showdown You’ve probably calculated the ROI of your informed decisions about your platforms, these social media activities before. (If not, you really, numbers don’t mean much until you weigh really should.) It’s important to know how you’re them against each other. doing on social overall. For example, say you’re active on five different But to figure out if each of your platforms is platforms, and you find that you have a positive worth the effort you’re putting in, you need to ROI (anything above zero) for all of them. That’s do this exercise for—you guessed it—every great—if you’re looking at your channels platform. And yes, that means more math, but individually. But if you place your ROI scores we’ve got you: Bypass spreadsheets and side-by-side, and one platform has a much manual calculations with our ROI calculator. lower ROI than the rest (even though it’s still positive), that can be telling. The channel that’s Once you’ve determined your ROI for each of lagging behind may not warrant as much of an your platforms, you’ll have a clear picture of investment because there’s greater potential which channels were profitable, and which for growth with the other four. ones weren’t. But when you’re trying to make 27  AI Trend Platform Trend ROI Trend 3 Master the art of (proper) cross-posting We know what you’re thinking. Didn’t we say The top rule for cross-posting is to align your Discover how to plan a cross-platform campaign that cross-posting just doesn’t cut it anymore? content with the norms, best practices, and in this strategy guide. (Hint: All these great tips formats of each platform. All your posts can be can be applied to non-campaign cross-platform Well, let’s be clear: When we encourage social based on the same idea, promote the same posting too.) marketers not to cross-post, we’re referring to campaign, or have a similar look and feel. But the copy-and-paste method (reusing the same to boost your chances of strong engagement, post on every platform without making any each platform should dictate your goals, changes). Sure, it’s a fast and easy way to feed formats, visual and copy specs, and the way the insatiable content beast—but it also leaves you speak to and interact with your audience. a lot of potential on the table. Moral of the story: If you’ve pinpointed your That said, there are ways to do cross-posting champion platforms with the intention of right. And when you have content or campaigns improving your social media outcomes, the that can resonate across all your channels, you work can’t stop there. Now, your content absolutely should capitalize on that. must do the heavy lifting, and tailoring it to each platform is the first step to doing your new social strategy justice. 28 TR T ER EN N Entertainment D D 3 3 fuels the social ROI engine In the quest for social ROI, brands 3 3 must turn to entertainment to D D N N boost the bottom line. E E R R T T  AI Trend Platform Trend ROI Trend The crowd has spoken: Audiences give too much They want to be entertained self-promotion a thumbs down Thinking about the organizations/brands you follow on social media, Before you quit reading, we get it. Entertainment can be which of the following has a negative impact on how you view them? an intimidating word, especially if you work in a “serious” organization (let alone a regulated industry). Can you even Too focused on self-promotion 34% connect entertainment to something quantifiable, like ROI? Low-quality content 32% But here’s the thing: Consumers are saying it loud and clear. After staying in touch with family and friends, the top reason Poor engagement with public they use social media is to be entertained and to mentally comments or direct messages 27% unwind, according to our Social Trends 2024 Survey. Slow responses to public comments or direct messages 26% And you know what else they said? That they don’t like it when brands are too focused on self-promotion. In fact, 34% None of the above 26% say it’s a major turn-off in how they perceive brands on social. Difficult to find on social platforms 16% The brand is looking Infrequent posts 14% goooooood. Absence from social platforms 14% Sample: 4,508 respondents Source: Hootsuite Social Trends 2024 Consumer Survey 30  AI Trend Platform Trend ROI Trend The problem is, brands seem to have other ideas. While almost half of organizations are yammer- It’s no surprise, then, that 68% of social marketers ing about themselves, 69% say engagement is report being concerned about the ROI of their It turns out, 48% of marketers publish product the top metric they use to demonstrate ROI. social activities. When brands measure success or brand updates or news multiple times a in ways that don’t add up, ROI will be hard to week, according to our survey. That’s a huge How can you demonstrate ROI through come by. disconnect between what brands are posting engagement metrics when you’re giving the and what people really want to see. audience exactly what they don’t want to engage with? And it gets worse. Social ROI remains a big concern for marketers How concerned are you personally about the return on investment for social media activities? 8% 24% 28% 27% 13% Not at all Somewhat Concerned Very Extremely concerned concerned concerned concerned Sample: 4,281 respondents Source: Hootsuite Social Trends 2024 Survey 31  AI Trend Platform Trend ROI Trend 2% Survey-based brand awareness 51% 2% Pipeline Impressions/ Brands cling Views 3% Share of voice 69% to engagement to Engagement 3% Sentiment demonstrate ROI Time spent 4% on site/app Which metrics does your organization most commonly use to demonstrate the return on investment of its social activities? 49% 14% (Select up to three.) Followers Sales/Revenue 21% Leads 43% Clicks/Traffic Sample: 4,268 respondents Source: Hootsuite Social Trends 2024 Survey 32  AI Trend Platform Trend ROI Trend Let entertainment lead the way to ROI 56% Which takes us back to entertainment. What does that actually mean? Let’s get back to basics and bust open the dictionary. In 2024, brands that publish entertaining “Entertainment” simply boils down to content on social will succeed in winning “providing enjoyment”—and that can mean eyeballs, engagement, and (eventually) a lot of different things. market share away from brands that keep on publishing the same old stuff. Humor is enjoyable for sure. But so is finding inspiration, getting excited, feeling moved, or of consumers think This isn’t a strategy you can pivot to overnight— especially if you’ve been measuring ROI through learning something new. Surely you can think that brands should be more relatable of something enjoyable you could provide to metrics that aren’t aligned with your initiatives. your audience. (If you’re stumped, these post But if that strategy isn’t working as well as it used to, it’s time for you to get back to the true ideas are a great spot to begin.) on social media strength of social media: building brand You don’t need to overthink it: 56% of consumers Source: Hootsuite Social Trends 2024 Consumer Survey awareness, affinity, and long-term relationships think that brands should be more relatable on with your audience through engaging, social, according to our Social Trends 2024 entertaining social content. Consumer Survey. 33  AI Trend Platform Trend ROI Trend So in the words of everyone’s favorite cliché, Give what they want, take what you need just be yourself—but your person-self, not your all-important-super-serious-brand-self. After Brands can’t keep talking about themselves, This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t sell or promote all, social media is not a place where you talk then hope to keep their audiences engaged. on social at all either. It’s just about realigning at someone. It’s an interactive space where That’s a surefire way to flop. They should instead your priorities and reevaluating your content so the exchange of value is a two-way street. be thinking about what their followers want. you can better serve your audience. We also know how tempting it is to fast-track Like entertainment—in all the shapes and Social media can be a massive profit engine for ROI through sales. After all, Statista forecasts forms it takes. your business. But for that to work, it has to be social commerce to keep growing 30% year- built on relationships, not transactions. And In return, you won’t just win your audience’s over-year. They even estimate sales via social relationships are built by sharing something attention and interest; you’ll also win their channels to reach US$2.9 trillion by 2026. meaningful together. affinity, trust, and eventually, their desire to But focusing solely on dollar figures risks convert and become loyal customers. turning social media into a short-term demand-generation machine. Instead, maximize social media as a space to create deeper connections, meaningful interactions, and customer relationships. It’s more of a slow burn, but it can end up driving more ROI long-term. 34  AI Trend Platform Trend ROI Trend Lemonade paints Instagram pink Insurtech disruptor Lemonade knows what’s to engage by suggesting what items they up. They’re an insurance company, which— should dip next. And instead of simply sharing on social media—often translates to boring. educational content, they used the opportunity to show more transparency about their business So they asked themselves, “Why would anyone operations and their Giveback program. The trend want to follow an insurance company on Instagram?” Sure, they could give tips and The pink paint was such a hit among their in action advice to their largely young customers, but followers that Lemonade expanded the idea before they could do that, they’d first have to to include artists during the pandemic. It has build their following. also now become a recurring theme for their Instagram visuals. Their answer may have been out of left field, but it certainly solved the challenge. Hopping onto a trend on social may not always work for finance companies, but when you get it The company tapped into the #OddlySatisfying right, its impact can shape your entire presence trend and came up with the idea to dip objects on social media. in their signature pink color. They got followers 35  AI Trend Platform Trend ROI Trend Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation’s winning engagement recipe When you picture a wildlife conservation society For the agency’s social media specialist, Sarah on social media, “fun” and “entertaining” are Southerland, this means creating content that probably the last words that come to mind. serves their primary audience without alienating But while the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife the rest of the community they’ve built. Goodwill on Conservation has very important things to say on social, they’re also just a hoot. Why? Because it creates goodwill. social media “Not everyone in our audience would care As a state government conservation agency, about deer disease,” she notes. ”But we do need can go such a long way. the department has a responsibility to use their them to trust us and have goodwill toward platforms to educate. But their funny posts us—so at other times, like when we need help and on-point TikToks don’t just attract hunting to raise awareness, we can go further.” hobbyists or local conservation enthusiasts look- Sarah ing to get accurate information; they also attract With the responsibility of using their funding Southerland in the best way possible, the department all kinds of people who are there for the lols. Social Media Specialist makes sure to connect their social media Oklahoma Department initiatives to organizational goals. of Wildlife Conservation 36  AI Trend Platform Trend ROI Trend It’s not enough for a post to go viral—they The result? The department became so beloved Just by creating relevant content, the depart- also measure how it affects event attendance. by their community that when TikTok bans ment was able to build a community that has Other times, likes and shares are given less were introduced for federal agencies in the US, their back and supports them in times of importance if what they ultimately want are their community came together and asked the need—even when those followers aren’t their votes. #DuckStampContest governor to give them a pass. primary audience, like hunters. It’s proof of how far your audience can take you when you give Whatever they do on social, it’s centered on the them value first. department’s mandate of creating a safe, educated, and engaged community of wildlife enthusiasts. If you’re genuine with people, you get returns. We were allowed to use TikTok because our followers thought we were important to them and they were able to make a case for that. Sarah Southerland Social Media Specialist, Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation 37  AI Trend Platform Trend ROI Trend 1 When it comes to content, follow your audience’s lead Don’t assume you know what your on Facebook. Then, whatever sticks, followers want to see. The beauty of social do more of that. media is that you can ask them and get If you have current posts that aren’t their input directly. performing too well, look into those too. Recommendations Grab the opportunity to ask them what Compare all your underperforming posts they want. Run polls on types of content and see if they have anything in you could post. Host Q&As to hear their common. Are they all bland? Maybe they suggestions. have low-quality images. Or maybe your followers simply don’t get much from You can also run experiments where you them other than bits of old information. tweak your tone of voice, or try new content categories altogether. Maybe Once you have an idea, start tweaking add more memes to your Instagram future posts to address the issue, and stories, or add more conversational posts keep testing and iterating as you go. PRO Use social listening to hear what people are saying TIP about your brand, competitors, and industry 38  AI Trend Platform Trend ROI Trend 2 Let social be the long game 3 Make social relationships the foundation of your ROI With all this experimentation, you should give social (and yourself) Paying attention to what your customers want and actually giving it to the space and time to dial in your winning tactics. them? Well done. That’s the first step. Don’t rush into “smashing those goals” or “crushing those targets.” Social Tracking engagement across your social initiatives? Another leap in the is best for building brand equity, which takes time—and that’s okay. right direction. More importantly, don’t start getting impatient and reverting to your old, Now, measure how far those engagements go beyond social and across self-promotion-y ways. We’ve already established that no one likes a hard your larger business goals. Things like, did that viral post move the needle sell. Letting them flock to you will be much more effective in the long run. and increase your social share of voice after the Twitterverse (X-verse 🤔) gave it so much love? Are you seeing more web traffic after a customer And when you are talking about yourself (because you’re a business and advocate shared your post to her bajillion followers? Are more likes on that’s unavoidable), just make sure you’re warm, authentic, and relatable. your TikToks translating into a higher sign-up rate for your events? Position your promotion with a human experience, so it becomes more personal and meaningful. Making sure your social content connects with business goals gives your social media efforts a higher purpose. And putting your audience’s desires at the heart of those efforts keeps them rooted in customer value and authentic relationships. 39  Lead writers and researchers: Julia Escaño, Jordana Rapuch Research and content directors: Kendall Walters, Sarah Dawley Research and analysis: Critical Truth Editor: Curtis Foreman Supporting copy: Konstantin Prodanovic Lead designer: Eric Uhlich Supporting design: Gianfranco Valentini, Russ Horii, Anne Buchan Video and motion graphics: Christopher Young, Liam MacLeod, Derek Saddler Web: Ann Alonso, Sephora Khatchadourian, Sara Sinclair, Alicia Zhang, Paige Cooper SEO: Cathy Carey Acknowledgements Campaign management and planning: Dory Kashin, Billy Jones Social: Eileen Kwok, Trish Riswick Big thanks to all the wise and talented owls