Your 2024 Social Media Farmers’ Almanac

The ever-evolving machine that is “Social Media” continues to steamroll into 2024. An estimated 4.9 billion people used social media across the globe in 2023, and that number is expected to jump to approximately 5.85 billion users by 2027. Let’s take a look at some trends we can expect in the new year.

Platform Expectations

The average social media user logs on to seven different platforms each month, but where should we focus our professional efforts? Let’s take a look at the business usage statistics for 2023 with these platform giants.

• TikTok saw the largest growth of businesses’ content in 2023. It is currently the fastest-growing platform in the United States, especially with younger audiences.
• LinkedIn will continue to be the professional-focused platform, but it is trending toward more personal and less-curated content.
• Instagram is heavily saturated with strong brand presence, but it still saw slight growth in business usage in 2023.
• YouTube did not see much business use growth in 2023, but it retains the No. 2 spot worldwide for most social media users at 2.491 billion users.
• Snapchat also did not see much business growth in 2023, but it continues to be in the top 3 for the most-used platforms by Gen Z.
• Facebook remains king of global social media at 3.03 billion monthly users, but it did see a small decrease in brand platform usage.
• X (Formerly Twitter) saw the largest decrease in business usage of the platforms on this list at 7% less brand activity.

Real Connection Demanded

Social media audiences are continuing to demand authenticity and real connection from brands and businesses. Content should be aimed at treating your target group as people, rather than simply a consumer.

The Stanley brand recently replaced a vehicle from a customer who posted a TikTok about her car catching fire—incredibly, even after the fire, her Stanley cup in her car remained unharmed and with ice still in it.

Commitment to Sustainability

Research also continually proves that consumers are preferring companies that actively work to reduce their environmental impact. Content highlighting sustainability efforts is consumed favorably. Allbirds, and their swarm of celebrity users, regularly highlight environmental conscientiousness with their sustainable processes and materials.

This is also seen in a rising trend called “deinfluencing” that is emerging on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. As the desire to push back against overconsumption and unnecessary waste increases, popular social media personalities are using their leverage not just to promote brands, but to help their audience think more critically and sustainably about their purchases.

AI Usage Growth

Lindsey Rowe Parker wrote a great blog about artificial intelligence (AI) driven marketing. In 2024, we will continue to see AI being utilized more in the social media space. Large companies like Whole Foods leverage AI to tailor social media messaging to consumers and create more personalized interactions.

Short Form Video Content Most Engaging

For social media content, 66% of consumers report that short-form videos are most engaging. We see this in the growth of TikTok and Instagram Reels. Be aware that there is an increase in social media users who watch videos without sound, so video captions are paramount. In addition, video captions improve search engine optimization (SEO) rankings by allowing the script in your video to be searchable, and also aid those who are hearing impaired.

Social media moves quickly, but hopefully this forecast can help you plan for 2024!