Thank you to Hootsuite — a social media management platform that brings scheduling, content creation, analytics, and social listening under one roof for providing editorial support and guidance on this article.
“What a privilege it is to have followers that are eager to engage with our brand’s content and use our products in their homes and lives.”
We’re kicking off this blog with a reference to the viral “What a Privilege” trend. And we’re doing it to prove a point: That CPG brands should think of social media as an opportunity — one to build relationships, delight and provide value to their audiences, and drive real business impact every single day — instead of just another item on their to-do list.
Social media is not going anywhere, and it can help grow your business when used strategically and consistently.
As social continues to evolve, it’s important to keep up with the trends and features that are constantly popping up.
Hootsuite’s Social Media Trends 2025 report is a great resource that can help you do just that. We encourage you to download the full report as it’s loaded with fresh data, expert tips, and proven strategies to help you achieve social success in 2025 and beyond. But in the meantime, here are our top five takeaways from the report and how they can be applied to CPG brands.
For reference, Hootsuite’s Social Media Trends report is based on a commercial survey of 3,864 marketers conducted in August 2024, as well as interviews with social marketing practitioners and leaders.
Social media should be entertaining. Want to inform customers on social about a new product drop or an awesome Cyber Monday sale? Get their attention first. These days, your content MUST be creative and entertaining to stop their scroll. Hootsuite predicts that “more organizations will step outside their creative comfort zone and test content that pushes beyond their brand guidelines to capture and delight audiences.” For example, Dunkin’ Donuts introduced the Spider Donut on X, TikTok, and Instagram to make a splash before Halloween. The campaign was so fun, creative, and clever that it received rave reviews from people (and celebrities!) all over the world. Future Social’s Jack Appleby wrote all about it: “I love it so much, and I just can’t get over how they turned one lil' product pic into a week’s worth of consecutive social posts, all beloved by dunkinites. It’s a mini campaign that wins based purely on the idea—not because of big spend, or fancy editing, or crazy creative skillsets. You don’t even need a photo editing tool to make these assets.” Goes to show that creativity can go a long, long way, even without fancy tools or big budgets. It’s the ideas that count — and capture attention.
Brands have officially entered the chat. According to Hootsuite, 41% of organizations have been testing out proactive engagements ( commenting directly on other people’s posts), claiming it helps brands gain visibility among their audience and foster community. This marketing and social selling strategy is an additional way to cultivate retailer, investor, influencer, and strategic partner relationships.
Start listening (if you’re not already). Hootsuite explains that social listening is the key to understanding and proving ROI. “The information that social listening provides is valuable in two ways — it helps social teams deliver meaningful brand, customer, and competitor insights to the rest of their organization, and it equips them to track hard numbers that prove return on their investment.” If CPG social marketers want to be seen as the true performance marketers they are — and get the credibility and budgets they deserve — social listening is the skill that will help them get there.
Stop chasing viral moments. Just because every brand is participating in the latest viral trend doesn’t mean yours has to. In fact, ‘going viral’ may not even benefit your brand at all. Ask the following questions to decide whether or not to hop on the trend bandwagon:
Hootsuite predicts that in 2025, “brands will strive for smaller-scale virality — the kind that only catches fire among their own audience — to achieve goals more effectively. This means we’ll see fewer organizations blindly piggybacking on mainstream social trends, but more organizations tracking them for actionable insights.” And social listening is the key to making that happen.
You’ve got a friend in AI. Use of AI for content creation increased dramatically over the last year. And for busy CPG marketers, AI can be a major asset, especially with the growing need for more and more social content. According to new Hubspot research mentioned in Hootsuite’s report, 83% of marketers say generative AI helps them create significantly more content than they could without it. Brands use AI to draft social media copy, create graphics, brainstorm content ideas, respond to customer service inquiries, and more. And it’ll only become more critical to use AI as we head into 2025. Without it, organizations won’t be able to keep up with the fast pace of social.
Bottom line: For CPG brands, leveraging social media is no longer optional — it’s an essential channel for growth and sustainability. Social media allows brands to connect with their audience, gather insights, enhance brand loyalty, and ultimately drive sales. Want to learn more about specific social media platforms? Check out this blog.
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