It’s now over 20 years since LinkedIn launched, and during that time, the world of social media continues to evolve. For marketing and communications professionals this means continually being aware of the transformative changes impacting businesses and professionals.
If you want to stay competitive in 2025, you need to use new trends and tools. What should you know to connect with your audience?
LinkedIn’s role in the 2025 social landscape
LinkedIn is more than a professional networking site. It is now a place for building communities, sharing ideas, and engaging with content. Here’s how the platform is evolving:
Group Engagement: LinkedIn Groups are becoming vibrant spaces for niche discussions and networking. Participating in or managing these groups positions brands as industry leaders while fostering community connections
Short-Form Video Dominance: Video content, including LinkedIn Stories and Live sessions, is increasingly central to engaging audiences. These tools help brands share authentic, impactful messages in an easily digestible format.
Employee Advocacy: LinkedIn’s emphasis on personal branding means employees acting as brand ambassadors can amplify reach and authenticity. Companies benefit from encouraging their teams to share professional milestones and insights.
Focus on thought leadership: Sharing long-form content, insights, and industry expertise is more important than ever. LinkedIn’s algorithm rewards authentic, informative posts, making thought leadership a key strategy for brand visibility
Storytelling: Who doesn’t like a good story? Storytelling is a powerful way to connect with LinkedIn’s professional audience. By sharing your brand’s journey—including challenges, triumphs, and behind-the-scenes moments—you create relatable, engaging content. Use videos or a series of posts to show client testimonials or your team’s culture. This makes your story real and memorable.
Founder content is a growing trend on LinkedIn. Executives and founders are sharing personal insights, industry knowledge, and company news more often. This approach humanizes brands, builds trust, and strengthens connections with audiences. In 2025, leaders must post authentic and thought-provoking content on LinkedIn. This will help improve their company’s image and influence.
Broader social trends to watch
While LinkedIn drives professional interactions, other platforms also set significant trends for 2025:
- Social Commerce: This may not matter to many of our clients. However, it is interesting to see how platforms like Instagram and TikTok are adding shopping features. These changes let users find and buy products easily.
- UGC – User-Generated Content: Authentic, community-driven content continues to outperform traditional advertising in building trust and engagement.
AI: The game-changer for Social Media Marketing
The world of AI is still evolving, but it’s doing so at a rapid rate. Some people worry about the effects of AI, especially on jobs.
However, as these tools develop, we think that by 2025, AI will not just be a tool for marketers. It will become a key partner for them. AI was once seen as a tool for content generation. Now, it plays a key role in improving strategies, optimizing workflows, and inspiring creativity.
- Strategic refinement: AI analyses vast amounts of data, offering actionable insights into audience behaviour, best posting times, and content preferences. For example, AI tools on platforms like Hootsuite help marketers fine-tune campaigns for maximum engagement.
- Streamlined organization: Messy brainstorming sessions become clear, actionable plans. AI helps create structured content and presentations.
- Improved creativity: AI helps with idea generation and trend analysis. It acts as a brainstorming partner for marketers. This support allows them to create innovative campaigns that fit their audience.
Like many things valuable input creates more valuable outputs. As you use AI in your work, it’s important to try different prompts. Explore tools that are specific to your platform. Share your AI knowledge with your team. By embracing AI thoughtfully, marketers can transform their processes without losing the human touch… and this is the key.
Preparing your strategy
To thrive in 2025, brands should:
- Explore AI tools: Experiment with features across platforms to identify tools that align with your goals.
- Master AI prompting: Hone the art of guiding AI for better content, analytics, and engagement ideas.
- Foster employee advocacy: Encourage team members to become LinkedIn influencers and community leaders.
- Prioritize thought leadership: Position your brand as an industry expert through valuable and authentic insights.
- Experiment with video: Prioritize short-form video and livestreaming to meet audience preferences.
By using LinkedIn’s new features with AI insights and social trends, marketers can create stronger, more genuine connections. This helps them stay ahead in a fast-changing digital world.
Don’t just take our word for it, check out Evergreen Social and Hootsuite for more info on this topic!