Picture this: a small local bakery uses its social media page to share behind-the-scenes videos of freshly baked pastries. Employees post their favourite recipes, and customers respond with their own baking successes. The bakery also hosts a bake-off-style contest, generating buzz as their followers root for the star baker.
This likely sounds unconventional – perhaps even bad for business. After all, why would a bakery share recipes and encourage its customers to learn how to bake? But this approach is all about building a community by delighting and engaging the audience as well as generating trust.
By going beyond simply posting and hoping people like their stuff, the bakery is actively engaging and interacting with followers. As a result, it’s likely the bakery will gain a loyal online community, boost top-of-mind awareness, and, yes, even increase sales over time.
This example highlights how personal, authentic, and technologically enhanced interactions are taking centre stage, shaping the social media landscape in 2025. So, without further ado, here are the social media strategies brands need to be using this year:
1. Employee-Generated Content (EGC)
Encouraging employees to share authentic workplace stories is a highly effective way for businesses to engage audiences. Employee-generated content enhances trust by humanising brands. According to a LinkedIn report, content shared by employees — a strategy known as employee advocacy — receives eight times more engagement than content shared through official brand channels.
For brands looking to embrace employee advocacy, practical tips include incentivising employees to share workplace highlights and creating branded hashtags. For example, employees at Google share about their daily lives on TikTok, driving awareness for the brand, showcasing corporate culture, and inspiring job seekers by providing a peek into what their life might be like if they worked there, showcasing effective social media content strategy.
2. Engaging Niche Audiences Effectively
Today, reaching and resonating with smaller, focused groups on social media is more impactful than aiming for broad appeal. Hubspot found that nearly 50% of marketers report successful micro-influencer partnerships. While these influencers have a smaller follower count, it does not make them any less impactful than those with large followings.
TikTok communities centred around specific interests like DIY crafts, plant care, or health and fitness provide the perfect opportunity for brands to connect authentically with highly engaged audiences. To resonate with a niche community of women runners, the Great Eastern Women’s Run team hopped on the ‘why are you running’ trend since it aligned perfectly with what the brand stands for. The video was well-received, with more commenters engaging with the brand than usual, demonstrating how understanding social trends is crucial for effective social media engagement.
Furthermore, by encouraging conversations and user participation, brands can build trust and a sense of belonging. Platforms like Discord, Telegram, and Facebook Groups are ideal for creating such spaces.
Take payroll company Deel, for instance. It uses Telegram to connect with its audience in Singapore, sharing news about HR and compliance for global workforces, as well as strengthening its relationship with its user base through personalised and targeted interactions.
Engaging with commenters or people who message the brand is also a great way to connect. Social media is about conversations – and brands that go the extra mile will sustain a thriving community.
3. The Growth of Social Commerce
As ecommerce has evolved, social media has made it much easier for people to not only discover new brands and products but to shop. Instagram’s shopping tags and TikTok’s live shopping events ushered in the rise of social commerce, and the introduction of Shops across social media platforms has taken this to the next level.
A study from Evergreen Social revealed that 79% of users had made purchases influenced by social commerce, and a recent Shopify report found that 68% of Southeast Asian retailers plan to increase investment in social commerce.
If you haven’t activated social media as a sales channel yet, this should be a priority. In addition to increasing revenue, in-app shops can also generate product awareness, build top-of-mind recall, and keep leads warm.
4. Bolstering Short-Form Video Strategies
With short-form videos now a staple of social media, the focus is on elevating content to stand out. Effective strategies include using trending sounds, challenges, and user-generated ideas to maximise engagement in a mobile-first world. Jumping on trends also helps with brand relevancy and likeability, helping to leverage new audiences when the algorithm pushes this out to the general public. Honestly, keeping up with social media trends in 2025 continues to fuel brand success.
For example, the Jobstreet Singapore team wasted no time hopping onto the hopecore bandwagon, turning what could have been just a regular vox pop interview into a trendy video.
5. Interactive and Augmented Reality (AR) Content
Interactive and AR-driven experiences pull users into a whole new world. Instagram’s AR filters, for example, allow people to try products — like makeup — virtually, enhancing purchase confidence and eventually turning curiosity into purchase intention. In fact, consumers are 40% more likely to engage with AR content.
Brands like KitKat have incorporated AR into their marketing with Instagram filters, allowing customers to share season’s greetings — in this case, Chinese New Year wishes — while simultaneously helping to boost brand and product awareness.
6. Balancing Personality and Brand Identity
Social media audiences often gravitate towards content that feels relatable and human – so introducing a personality to represent your brand can strengthen engagement and foster authenticity. But this approach is one that requires balance to ensure that this voice aligns seamlessly with the brand’s values and tone.
While the Duolingo owl mascot is legendary on social media these days, Semrush’s iteration of the same idea is likely more applicable to many brands. Their social media manager, Chris, is a mainstay on their TikTok account, acting as the face of the brand. Chris shares humorous, informative content about his job while personifying the brand’s approachability. This strategy makes Semrush more relatable, particularly to younger audiences, while reinforcing the company’s expertise in marketing and CRM solutions.
The personality acts as a bridge between the audience and the brand, which builds trust and increases brand recall, making it a valuable strategy in the competitive social media landscape.
7. Diving Into Generative AI
Generative AI tools are being quickly adopted by brands, especially for creating hyper-personalised or hyper-localised content for social media.
Popular AI platforms can help brands streamline content creation, assist teams in planning content calendars, generating posts, delivering email copy, and handling common customer service responses. However, brands should be mindful when using AI – it is a tool, but not a replacement for the team members who craft the end result. Recently, Coca-Cola created a Christmas ad with Gen AI, but not everyone drank it up. In fact, consumers said that it was lazy, uncreative, and even soulless – an important takeaway for brands looking to use Gen AI for creative endeavours. Generative AI greatly impacts modern social media strategy, from crafting content to appealing to the correct audiences.
At the end of the day, Gen AI tools can help brands boost productivity and work more efficiently – but it’s crucial to remember that audiences still desire the human element and appreciate a slice of originality within the products they love.
Make Your Mark in 2025
By embracing social media trends like employee-generated content, AI, and community-driven strategies, brands can increase their reach in 2025 and beyond, creating loyal followers. The pillars of sustained success in social media include building genuine relationships, leveraging technology, and continuously adapting to trends. Though this may sound comprehensive, the long-term benefits — like brand awareness, loyalty, and a solid reputation — make the investment worth it!
To elevate your brand’s strategy, hit us up at [email protected], a strategic communications agency, providing social media content creation services in Singapore, for expert guidance on achieving your social media goals.