- Jocelyn Pires
Introduction
In 2025, it’s not just about going viral, but about being genuine. Despite this, being real and engaging with your audience can lead to virality. With feeds becoming crowded and users starting to develop social media fatigue, brands should prioritize creating authentic connections through engagement and purposeful storytelling. Understanding your customers and ‘meeting them where they are’ has never been so important.
Influencer Marketing: Driving Trust and Authentic Engagement
Influencers and creators have become viral extensions of modern brand strategy. They offer more than just visibility; they bring credibility, community, and a relatable and recognized voice to your brand’s message.
Why Influencer Partnerships Work
Today’s audiences look to creators for both entertainment and trusted recommendations. When executed correctly, influencer collaborations can enhance brand loyalty, boost engagement, and alleviate the internal content burden on marketing teams.
Brands that partner with Smith Design utilizing influencer strategy – Bona, House of Scones, Hoboken Farms
Building a Smart Influencer Strategy
Topicals: A Leader in Influencing
The skincare brand Topicals excels at influencer marketing by encouraging user-generated content, engaging with creators authentically, and spotlighting their community. Their approach feels organic and rewarding, which has earned them real trust.
Values Through Partnerships
More brands are demonstrating their values through the partners they choose, rather than relying on corporate messaging. The right influencer can reflect what your brand stands for, in a way that’s believable and impactful. Consumers do not want companies to comment on socioeconomic or political issues, but they do want to ensure that the influencers they are using have done so.
If brands use influencer marketing effectively, it can be a tool that enhances trust with their audiences and helps them build better communities.
AI: It’s Not All Bad
AI remains a controversial topic, and there are mixed feelings about its role in content creation. While 83% of consumers worry that AI will oversaturate social feeds and 80% fear it will contribute to misinformation, consumers are not anti-AI. They want it to be used strategically.
Instead of relying on AI to generate posts, consumers want brands to use AI for:
In other words, AI as a tool and not a creative crutch.
Content Formats That Win: Photos vs. Videos, Short vs. Long, Reading vs. Watching
Across nearly every major platform, video remains the dominant content format, particularly short-form video. TikTok continues to lead the way, but Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts have solidified short-form video as the most engaging and attention-grabbing form of content in today’s fast-scrolling culture.
However, short-form video isn’t the only format gaining traction. There’s a notable rise in engagement on text-based platforms like Threads, LinkedIn, Reddit, Substack, and Discord. These platforms are thriving not because of visuals, but because they foster community, dialogue, and deeper conversations, which are elements that audiences increasingly value.
Instagram: Carousels Take the Lead
When it comes to Instagram, single-image posts are on the decline. According to Sprout Social, there has been a 7% drop in engagement since 2023. Instead, Reels and carousels are now driving the most interaction.
Carousels are evolving into a creative and strategic tool for storytelling. Instagram now allows up to 20 images or videos in a carousel, offering a unique opportunity for brands to share layered, in-depth content. Instagram’s algorithm will even re-serve carousel posts if they weren’t engaged with on the first view, often showcasing a different image to re-capture attention. When paired with music, carousels may even appear in the Reels tab, significantly expanding their reach.
Our collaboration with Green Giant and their effective use of carousels on Instagram.
Creative Tools Fueling the Carousel Craze
With tools like SCRL becoming more popular, marketers are designing scroll-stopping carousels with sleek transitions and cohesive visual storytelling. These tools enable brands to experiment with long-form visual content in a way that keeps users swiping and engaged.
While short-form video continues to dominate social platforms, users are also seeking deeper, more meaningful content – whether that is through text-based platforms or immersive formats like carousels. Brands that diversify their content mix and tailor formats to each platform will stay ahead of the curve.
Platform-Specific Insights Recap
TikTok
YouTube
Conclusion
As an agency that takes pride in our social media management and content creation capabilities, we know how important it is to actively stay up to date with relevant trends and platform shifts. From creating authentic connections through engagement to navigating emerging formats, we stay ahead of the curve to ensure that the content we create for clients is timely, relevant, and in sync with what users are currently engaging with. If you’re looking to enhance your brand’s social media presence, let’s chat!
Stay tuned for part 3 of our social media trends blog series!
References
• https://www.carbonateinsights.com/p/gen-z-is-doomscrolling-on-doordash?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
• https://sproutsocial.com/insights/gen-x-social-media/ ?utm_campaign=mkb&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_source=morning_brew
• https://www.marketingbrew.com/stories/2025/06/12/nutter-butter-online-marketing-strategy?mbcid=40397290.251988&mblid=8a4b0da87f9e&mid=20a9c9086368ab32de83757c4ed4a0fc&utm_campaign=mkb&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_source=morning_brew
• https://sproutsocial.com/insights/data/content-benchmarks/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
• https://awisee.com/blog/gen-x-trends/
• https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbescommunicationscouncil/2025/02/03/the-biggest-social-media-trends-shaping-2025/
• https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2025-sub-section-state-of-social
At Smith Design, our culture is rooted in caring. We make a conscious and collective effort to translate our values into actions that benefit our staff, our clients, our community and our environment.
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