Let’s turn our attention from general consumer behavior to what’s going on on social media in 2025. Most of you reading are probably already in or considering entering the virtual commerce space, and understanding social media trends is key for success in this realm.
This article was originally published in our 2025/2026 Manual to Video Commerce Success. Did you get your copy yet? Download it here!
1. UGC and EGC front and center
UGC (User Generated Content) and EGC (Employee Generated Content) is already seeing a huge uptick in popularity. The explanation is simple: we trust our peers!
This type of content seems more authentic than the polished influencer campaigns and research shows that UGC is outperforming regular brand content as well as influencer content significantly.
Social platforms are seeing this trend too, helping to amplify through features such as adding more possibilities for collaborations and content sharing - the new collab-feature on Instagram carousels is an example.
2. Generational marketing
Gen Z, Millennials, Baby Boomers, Gen Alpha - you’ve probably heard all the nicknames for people born in certain years.
The more unserious side of the internet finds a lot of comedy in lovingly making fun of the generational differences, subtle as they may be. Millennial pink and skinny jeans, anyone?
Expect to see this trend continue. As a business, you can participate by tailoring your content more specifically to a generation rather than traditional target groups based on interests alone. Diversify those ads! Reserve the clean design for millennials and go all in with organic shapes and strong colors for Gen Z, for example.
3. Experimental content
The talent of many content creators is truly astounding, with editing skills and videography continually setting new standards. Expect to see a more experimental approach to content this year, in order to stand out more.
Hook-layering, sound effects and visual cues will be all the rage in addition to mixing up content types. Instead of the short form content we have seen dominate the past few years, we will start to see formats of different durations pop up, with a possible return of the long-form content.
4. Community focus
Just like in the consumer behavior predictions, we stand firmly in the belief that social platforms and creators will focus more on building their communities in 2025.
Not only does it foster more loyalty, it is also a smart growth strategy. Expect more influencers to launch paid communities on platforms like Patreon or Discord. Social media apps will continue to improve their community features like broadcast channels and community tabs.
5. Platform fragmentation
With a few players essentially owning most of the social platforms, a predictable wave of pushback from users will probably start picking up in 2025.
People will orient towards the platforms that most align with their interests and values, and we will probably see a proliferation of smaller networks in response to the concentration of power in the hands of a select few tech companies.
6. Virtual commerce goes mainstream
Live shopping, digital clienteling and shoppable video has been on the rise for years, successfully implemented by first movers in the retail space.
As of 2025, consumer adoption is at an all-time high, reaching a critical mass where the tools will now become mainstream as something most companies will implement in one way or another across customer touch points.
We will see a shift from virtual commerce being a “nice to have” to a “need to have” and social media platforms will continue to develop their shop-functionalities, opening the door for creators and brands alike to create native, high-converting content.
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