Long-time social media consultant Arik Hanson shares his 10 social media trends for 2024--and what they mean for you and your work.

1. 10 Social Media Trends
for 2024

4. 1 – Audit & Strategy
2 – Content Strategy & Production
3 – Social Media Training & Coaching
4 – Fractional Social Media Leadership

6. I am not a futurist…
…but Amy Webb is and
you should follow her

7. I don’t make
predictions…
…but I like
Adam Kmiec’s
every year

8. And I don’t really
know what’s
coming next…
…but Greg Swan
talks about this
all the time

9. However…

10. I have worked in social media marketing every
day for 15+ years
I have completed more than 30 social media
audits over the last 4-5 years
I read a ton about social media marketing every
week/month

11. Today
More pragmatic than future-forward
Stats, surveys and case studies
Thought starters/advice on action steps

12. #1 – Channel hyper-focus
becomes a big priority

21. Questions to ask yourself?
#1 - Do you have dead weight? Are there channels
that are not actively contributing toward your goals?
#2 - What would happen if you sun-setted certain
channels? What’s worst-case scenario?
#3 – Do you know which channels your customers are
prioritizing?

22. #2 – Tug of war between
authenticity and AI rages on

23. On one hand…

28. On the other hand…

29. On the cusp
of A LOT of
content

32. “…when people had no
information about the source of
the marketing or campaign copy,
they preferred the results
generated by AI. Generative AI is
showing that it can be as good as
or better than humans at these
kinds of persuasive tasks.”
https://mitsloan.mit.edu/ideas-made-to-matter/study-
gauges-how-people-perceive-ai-created-content

33. So…
• Keep experimenting with AI—especially with brainstorming and
ideation.
• Authenticity will be more important than ever in 2024—building trust
is still a top priority for most brands. Especially in an election year!
• Most likely, your content mix will include a bit of both in the New
Year.

34. #3 – Brands finally start
investing more in “dark
social”

35. We’ve heard
this before

36. But it’s
getting
more real

39. Could 95% of our traffic be
coming from “dark social”?

40. 3 of top 7 social
networks in world
are really “dark
social”

47. Evaluate your current state:
• How is organic social performing for you?
• How much traffic is social really driving to your web sites?
Consider:
• Using trackable links (if you’re not already!)
• Starting your own private social community (Facebook,
Slack, Discord)
• Making exclusive social-only offers via messaging

48. #4 – LinkedIn becomes even
more personal

49. Not like this…

50. More
like
this

51. Why is this happening?

52. First…
• Fewer people posting to Facebook.
• Fewer people actively using Twitter/X.
• More people turning to LinkedIn as their go-to
platform to post about a lot of different things.

53. Second…
The number of LinkedIn posts grew
41% from 2021 to 2023.

54. Finally…
• Remote work is lowering inhibitions.
• Post-pandemic = people becoming more authentic
and transparent online.
• A little trend-setting? More people seeing success
with being more authentic on Linkedin.

58. Should LinkedIn be more personal?
• Work seems like it’s getting more impersonal.
• Work seems to be getting more transactional.
• We don’t ”see” each other as much as we used to.

59. Opinions seem divided

60. But I know a
lot of people
feel like
Kristina…

62. What does that mean for us?
Coaching our leaders:
• Lean into original photos of themselves—big time
• Give followers a look into your personality
• But be purposeful about privacy settings
Personally, for us as users:
• People want to work with people they like/admire
• We need to “see” each other more!

63. #5 – From engagement,
traffic -> awareness,
discovery

64. Traditional metrics are fading…

66. 1% of all traffic

67. “Six months later, we can see that the
effects of leaving Twitter have been
negligible. A memo circulated to NPR staff
says traffic has dropped by only a single
percentage point as a result of leaving
Twitter, now officially renamed X, though
traffic from the platform was small already
and accounted for just under two percent of
traffic before the posting stopped.”

68. Why awareness?

69. Why discovery?

70. Why discovery?

71. Why discovery?

72. Action steps
• Revisit your Google Analytics – how much traffic IS social driving to
your site?
• Revisit engagements – how many comments/shares are you really
seeing? Are the comments meaningful?
• Are you leaning into video in 2024? If yes, maybe awareness metrics
bump up a bit?
• Have you thought about a discovery goal? Maybe 2024 is the year!

73. #6 – Nothing fills the Twitter
void

74. Mastodon isn’t
Number of registered
users worldwide as
of March 2023 – 10
million

75. Bluesky probably isn’t
Number of
Bluesky
downloads from
Feb. 2023 to
Sept. 2023, by
platform – 2.3M
users

76. Threads is the closest
Most recent
numbers put
Threads users at
right around 160M
Note: Twitter has
around 350M
users

77. What happens to real-time
monitoring/news?

78. More people
getting
news from
TikTok
anyway

80. What should I be doing?
• Evaluate your current Twitter account—is it still
effective? By what metrics?
• Reserve brand handles on Twitter competitor channels
(especially Threads)—you never know what 2024 might
bring and you want to be ready to move.
• Consider amping up listening efforts on other channels
(ahem—TikTok!).

81. #7 – Entertain then Educate
(or just Entertain)

82. Current strategies to educate
aren’t working

83. Sharing links certainly isn’t

84. Neither are
branded
graphics

85. Using The Bachelor
as a wrapper
• “Wachelor” series uses Wazoo (the WSU
mascot) as the "Bachelor"
• Goal: Educate students on the best
places to study on campus.
• Campy nature of the videos reels
students in.
• Quickly pivot to information designed to
educate (factoids about the library you
may not know)

86. Or entertain just
to entertain

87. What should you do?
• Kill those links (probably)—at least in organic social
content.
• Use branded graphics sparingly.
• Find creative ways to grab attention…and have a little
more fun with your brand.

88. #8 - Long-form content is
anything but dead

89. More than 20 million monthly listeners
117,000+ subs on YouTube alone

90. Last 10 videos averaged 130,000,000 views (more than Super
Bowl!)

92. Brands should think more
like creators

93. Hone your visual identity

94. Hyper-interesting storytelling

95. Last 5 Patagonia
Films episodes
averaged 240,600
views per video and
89 comments (and
LONG, thoughtful
comments, too!)

96. Laser focus on community

97. #9 – It’s all about the
comments (again)

98. But maybe not how you
think…

99. Comments are the creative brief

101. Comments are social content

103. And yes, comments are the community

106. Things to think about
• Re-commit to acknowledging and responding to the comments.
• Actually READ the comments. All of them.
• What can you do with these comments? Create additional
content? Reach out to thank a customer privately? Ask frequent
commenters to be involved with social focus groups?

107. #10 – YouTube shorts:
Repurpose but don’t expect
too much…yet

108. More than 2.3 billion people regularly visit YouTube every month (huge built-in audience)
YouTube Shorts has reached 50 billion daily views (up from 30 billion in 2022—growth!)
$100 million funding on YouTube Shorts for content creators (growing channel for creators
will only get bigger)
Shorts are growing…quickly

109. And there is interest…

110. However…

111. Lowest: 232 impressions
Highest: 934 impressions

112. Lowest: 1,482 impressions
Highest: 5,700,000 impressions

113. Lowest: 285 impressions
Highest: 540 impressions

114. Lowest: 899 impressions
Highest: 15,000 impressions

115. Lowest: 1,000 impressions
Highest: 5,200 impressions

116. Lowest: 79,200 impressions
Highest: 1,800,000 impressions

117. This is where the action’s at

118. What should I do?
• Repurpose and experiment
• Tie Shorts to existing YouTube content
• If you’re working with Creators, consider adding
Shorts to your ”ask” list

119. 10 Social Media Trends for 2024
1 – Channel hyper-focus becomes a big priority
2 – Tug of war between authenticity and AI rages on
3 – Brands finally start investing more in “dark social”
4 – LinkedIn becomes even more personal
5 – From engagement/traffic -> Awareness/discovery
6 – Nothing fills the Twitter void
7 – Entertain then Educate
8 – Long-form content is anything but dead
9 – It’s all about the comments (again)
10 – YouTube shorts: Repurpose but don’t expect much (yet)

120. Work with me?
* arik@arikhanson.com
Follow me:
* linkedin/in/arikhanson