Social media has always been a fast-moving channel, with no guarantees that what works today will still work tomorrow. But what are the biggest opportunities in social media right now – AI? Personalization? Something else?

To help answer that question (and lots more), we gathered a panel of social media marketing experts, hosted by Nick Verlaney – Director of Social Media at Merkle US – and featuring insights from…

Let’s get into it…

Focusing On What’s Right for Your Brand

For social media marketers, the big challenge has never been about identifying opportunities – there are tons of new things you could be doing. Instead, it’s about focusing on the right opportunities for your brand and audience. But how do you decide where to focus your energy?

In the words of Jon-Stephen: “The most important thing a social media manager can read is the room.” Or, to put it another way, make sure you’re taking the time to ensure that every piece of content you plan to promote is still relevant and appropriate.

Andrea agrees. She notes that the team at Kendra Scott has a mantra: “Our customer is our boss.” That means they always stop to think about what the brand’s audience wants to see from them on social. “We often ask ourselves, ‘would they share this with a friend?’, and we use that as a guiding light in changing times.”

Meanwhile, Tulani explains that National Geographic’s focus is always on storytelling – but that they’re also committed to keep evolving. “That’s one thing that makes social different from other marketing tools; these changes happen, but there’s always ways for us to roll with the punches.”

Key Social Media Marketing Challenges

Not only are there a lot of opportunities out there, but there are also a ton of challenges – some operational, some ecosystem-related. So what’s the biggest challenge our panelists are aiming to tackle in 2025?

For Tulani, it’s all about figuring out how National Geographic fits into the “attention economy,” in which we’re all being constantly bombarded by brands and content. “The challenge that we’re all facing is how do we keep that attention? And how do we do the right thing when we have it?”

Jon-Stephen works in the entertainment industry, which is grappling with a trend that he describes as the “rise of the lurker”. In a nutshell, more social media users are turning to private spaces – like Discord servers and closed Facebook Groups – to discuss their favorite content, which makes it hard for marketers to gather the social listening data they need to inform future campaigns.

However, Jon-Stephen insists this also presents an opportunity: engaging with fans in places where they’re still active, such as comments sections. “It gives us the chance to show that we’re paying attention and find new avenues to communicate and engage fandoms.”

As a social media marketer at an e-commerce brand, Andrea says her biggest challenge is around the adoption of social commerce.

Specifically, she wants to better understand what sorts of products US consumers are happy buying through social platforms. “It’s going to be interesting to see whether customers become more comfortable checking out for certain retail items – such as jewelry – on social, or if that’s something that’s going to be left for in-person or online shopping transactions.”

The Evolution of Content Creation

It seems every year brings a new priority for content creation. So what does 2025 have in store?

Andrea says her team is exploring more hyper-local content covering Kendra Scott’s network of stores across 140+ locations.

They’re always striving to create content that feels super relevant to those local audiences, often by working with influencers and other creators in those locations. “We’re bringing local stories and events to a national scale,” she explains.

Beyond this, Andrea says Kendra Scott is exploring the ideal balance between long- and short-form video content. They’ve traditionally excelled at short-form, but with the growing prevalence of YouTube, they’re looking into whether they need longer video content going forward.

Tulani at National Geographic is also conscious of effectively combining shorter and longer video.

From a long-form perspective, she notes that Nat Geo has begun its second season of creating original full shows for YouTube – such as Superskilled with Eva zu Beck:

But, at the same time, they’re creating short-form content designed to cleanse our for you pages. Or, as Tulani describes it: “We’re doing moments of Zen to slow your scroll.”

 

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Ultimately, it’s all about listening to the brand’s audience. “We’re paying attention to the climate and what people are saying they want more of.”

Choosing the Right Goals and KPIs

If you want to seize new social media opportunities, you need to make sure you’re targeting the right goals and objectives.

Once upon a time, those goals might have been focused on increasing your follower count. But National Geographic already has a huge follower base (279+ million on Instagram, 24+ million on YouTube, almost 50 million on Facebook). With follower growth slowing across all the big platforms, where do they turn next?

Sentiment is becoming an increasingly important metric, Tulani explains. “How do we make sure our followers are talking about us, that they feel loyal, that they want to come back, that they want to know what’s going on?”

Away from the established platforms, Nat Geo is also growing communities in smaller spaces. For instance, they’ve amassed over seven million followers on WhatsApp and 15.5+ million on Threads.

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Sure, Threads and WhatsApp might not be the most important social channels right now. But things might change down the line.

“We’ve seen that things start really slow and then blow up because of something else,” says Tulani. “So I think there’s always a way to keep irons in the fire while also making sure to focus on engagement and brand loyalty as you continue to put new things out.”

Engagement is also the main focus for Andrea at Kendra Scott. While experimentation on social media is important, Andrea says her team is always looking for content formats that generate a ton of engagement – so they can do more of the same thing. “It’s like: ‘this certain post did well. Okay. How can we reshoot content that looks like this? Or how can we take this format of video or this contest, re-imagine it, and see if it continues to work?’”

Looking at things from an agency perspective, Jon-Stephen says the most important thing about goals and KPIs is to manage client expectations.

With the rise of lurkers and “dark social”, brands might not be seeing the follower growth they’re used to. So it’s essential for agency marketers to be transparent. “It’s about being open and honest with your clients, letting them know what to expect, and letting them know what the numbers mean – good or bad.”

Continued Growth of Creator Marketing and Social

Creators are a huge deal, and they aren’t going anywhere in 2025. So how should you be working with them?

For Tulani, working with creators helps National Geographic reach new audiences who aren’t super familiar with the brand. For instance, that might involve inspiring older Millennials to get their children a subscription to the Nat Geo Kids magazine or encouraging them to watch original content like A Real Bug’s Life as a family.

“We’re giving people different perspectives, which is how you really grab people,” Tulani explains. “Because you don’t know exactly which creator will really inspire a new viewer or fan or follower.”

Ethical Considerations Around AI in Social Media

Per McKinsey, almost four in five organizations use artificial intelligence technology in at least one business function, with “marketing and sales” named as comfortably the top use case for AI.

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However, there are clear concerns around AI adoption, from environmental damage to damaging creative industries. So how should marketers be using it ethically?

For Jon-Stephen, the quick answer is: “If it doesn’t feel right, don’t do it.”

He argues that brands and agencies need to figure out what lines they will and won’t cross when it comes to AI adoption. Do you keep it in the background for stuff like project management? Or use generative AI to place it front and center in your campaigns?

Whatever’s right for you and your organization, Jon-Stephen stresses that transparency is key. “We need to be disclosing when we are using AI as much as possible and being very, very careful in that area.”

Nick, our session host, adds that marketers should work with leadership to develop an internal policy around AI. “There’s a bunch of great uses for AI tools, and there are some not so great uses, and I think having a set structure is a great way to kind of start that process – then evolve it as the tools evolve.”

Mental Health and Social Media

Sadly, social media professionals are used to dealing with insults and abuse online. So what are our panelists telling their teams when it comes to looking after their mental health?

Andrea says it’s all about getting away from your screen. “Nothing beats some fresh air and, obviously, a trip. But if you can’t go explore the world, just getting outside and disconnecting from your phone has been a huge solve for my team.”

Meanwhile, Tulani stresses the importance of keeping things in perspective. “We are in the PR business and not in the ER business. That is my guiding principle and something that I let my team know all the time.”

Jon-Stephen notes that negative comments aren’t the only problem social media pros have to deal with. It’s also the fact that you’re stuck in a terrifying news cycle – and that the news might directly impact people on your team. “We have to remember that and take breaks and step away.”

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Featured image by Pixabay.

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