According to Statista, the average user now spends 143 minutes per day on social media platforms. That’s a sharp increase from 90 minutes per day in 2012.
So it probably comes as no surprise that social media marketing remains one of the best ways to attract, engage and retain your customers online.
But as with all digital marketing channels, social media continues to evolve as new platforms and trends emerge, meaning it’s vital not to stand still where your strategy is concerned.
Businesses that stay ahead of the curve are less likely to get left behind and ultimately enjoy a higher ROI from their social media marketing.
Here is what to expect from emerging social media platforms in 2025 and beyond. Plus how your business can get a slice of the pie when it comes to all things clicks and conversions.
Emerging Platforms in 2024
As of 2024, there are 5.17 billion users of social media, with the average user accessing 6.7 different platforms per month. That’s according to a report by Sprout Social.
If that doesn’t sound promising enough, new social media platforms continue to come to the forefront every year which demonstrates strong investment in the sector as a whole.
Examples of some recently emerging social media platforms include:
AirChat – Unknown number of users
Mastodon – 10 million users
Lemon8 – 4.2 million
Substack – 20 million users
Threads – 160 million users
What’s great about these platforms is that there is something for every interest and demographic. With this comes untapped potential to reach your audience in more ways than ever before.
For example, Lemon8 is a lifestyle app that has a lot of crossovers on Instagram and Pinterest. However, as a newer platform, it offers users a refreshed experience. Compared with similar platforms, Lemon8 boasts a newer user base which is more likely to lead to higher engagement rates from followers.
Threads has a similar user demographic to Twitter and also provides a user experience that is closer to the original format of the platform. Brands on Threads also enjoy fewer problems when it comes to spam, as the platform actively takes measures to reduce it.
In many cases, the new social media platforms for 2025 have similar workings to existing platforms. Yet, they look to solve certain issues as a competitor company. These advantages can then be best explored by the social media marketers who create intelligent strategies for their clients in response.
Benefits of Early Adoption
Where the demographic of the platform aligns with your audience, it makes sense to become an early adopter of these newer social media platforms. That’s because it allows your brand to establish a presence and build engagement before your competition arrives.
As a social media marketing agency, our team also finds it hugely beneficial to get to know the nuances of the platform early.
An example of an early adopter success story recently happened on Threads. At first, the Visit Orlando team created an account merely to secure their username. However, Meta launched Threads ahead of schedule. The team jumped on the opportunity to grow the account through a social strategy based on user engagement. The account quickly gained almost 80,000 followers in just a matter of months.
In contrast, it has taken Visit Orlando since 2009 to gain 149,000 followers on X (formally Twitter) and since 2011 to gain 435,000 followers on Instagram.
With the right social media strategy, any brand has the potential to replicate this success by keeping its ear to the ground and also being proactive where the opportunity strikes.
Strategies for Leveraging New Platforms
Even if a new social media platform feels familiar it’s still important to have a tailored strategy unique to not only how the platform works in terms of content creation and scheduling, but also based on the user demographics.
When creating a strategy for a new social media platform, the starting point is always getting to know the features of the platform. From there, it’s easier to identify how meaningful engagement and interactions can be generated based on the types of messaging and tools available.
However, something that always remains true regardless of the social media platform is the need to cater to the wants and needs of the audience. Instead of just posting content as a one-sided conversion, the best interactions are also those which seek to involve your followers.
Alongside tapping into trending topics, social media strategies should consider what will engage, build and retain followers. The type of content that will make users stop and share forming a memorable impression of the brand long after the user scrolls past the post.
Finally, similar to writing content for the web, social media marketing strategies should also factor in a CTA so that the user is led to the next applicable action. This could be visiting the product page or contacting the business about a service. The purpose is to maximise the outcome for the brand with a view to encouraging more sales.
Measuring Success
Success on existing and new social media platforms alike relies on regular monitoring of analytics.
Stalwart social media platforms such as Facebook offer some of the broadest ranges of analytics data. This data can then be exported, analysed and presented to stakeholders.
Monitoring the success of Facebook marketing is especially important for paid strategies through Facebook Ads, though organic insights should also be tracked.
In general, some key performance indicators (KPIs) to look out for on any social media platform include:
- Brand sentiment
- Clicks
- Comments
- Cost per conversion
- Follower count
- Likes
- Mentions
- Reach
- Reactions
- Shares
- Top performing posts
- Video views
When it comes to emerging social media platforms in 2025 and beyond, there may also be different KPIs to get to grips with. As a social media marketing agency, this is something we’ll be keenly looking out for.
Conclusion
As we look ahead to the rest of the year and into 2025, social media marketing isn’t going anywhere, but it is changing as new platforms come to the forefront.
As a business, the most important thing to remember is to focus on which platforms offer the most relevance based on your audience demographics and overall goals. This could involve focusing your efforts on existing social media platforms, or getting ahead and trying something new.
For tailored advice on the best social media platforms and strategies for your business, get in touch with the Distribute Digital team today.
