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Social media is the town square where trends are born, but that doesn’t necessarily mean brands should haphazardly chase viral trends as a branding strategy, according to new research from social media management and analytics company Sprout Social.
Sprout’s report, which surveyed consumers, social practitioners and marketing leaders to uncover what consumers want from brands on social media, discovered that while social remains the preferred forum where people keep up to date with trends and cultural issues, they’re split on whether it works when brands participate in trends to maintain relevance.
While 93 percent think it’s important for brands to strive to keep up with online culture, a third (33 percent) of respondents said they think it’s “embarrassing” when brands chase viral trends, and more than a quarter (27 percent) said they think it works as a branding strategy only when it’s done between 24 and 48 hours after the trend hits.
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Instead, a majority of respondents (63 percent) think brands should promote the quality of their products and rely on original content (46 percent) to stand out on digital platforms. Authenticity, reliability and entertainment were named as the most important brand content traits, according to the survey.
Social media is clearly where brands focus on their presence. According to the report, 90 percent of survey respondents cited social media as their top resource for keeping up with trends and cultural issues, beating out family and friends (66 percent) and TV and streaming (60 percent) as well as other digital channels (54 percent), podcasts (35 percent) and print media (23 percent).
81 percent of survey respondents admitted that social media often compels them to make impulse purchases.
When it comes to what social channels consumers are using, 90 percent reported having a profile on Facebook, 82 percent said they have a presence on Instagram, 76 percent are on YouTube, 58 percent use TikTok, 50 percent use X (formerly Twitter) and 46 percent use Snapchat. Facebook remains the top platform for purchases overall (39 percent), followed by TikTok (36 percent) and Instagram (29 percent). However, among Gen Z and Millennial consumers, TikTok tops the list among platforms that lead to a purchase (54 percent and 47 percent, respectively).
More than half of respondents (56 percent) said they plan to maintain their current social media usage this year, nearly a third (30 percent) said they’ll increase their social media consumption in 2025.
Finally, 93 percent of consumers surveyed said they think brands should do more to combat misinformation than what they’re doing today.
Sprout’s “2025 Index Report” surveyed more than 4,000 consumers who follow at least five brands on social media as well as more than 1,200 social media practitioners and marketing leaders from a cross section of businesses. The survey was conducted by global market research firm Glimpse. Data was collected in September.
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