2025 will be the year to…

We see it every year, don’t we? The social media trends that will take you from a nobody to somebody in a few easy (not so much) steps. What these people don’t tell you is that trends are fleeting, and easily changeable based on the decisions of the most influential people online.?

One minute you’re talking about novelty socks and the next you’ve invested countless hours into memes about Donald Trump's hairline, all in the spirit of driving attention. Meanwhile, in the real world, your target buyer hasn’t got a clue what you do and politely suggests you’d be better off littering the pages of TikTok and Instagram reels.

Trends without application are useless

Of course, trends are not exclusive to poorly made foot warmers and a buffoon's carefully placed syrup. They can also be a very clear indicator of where the smart business should invest a considerable amount of time and effort as part of a larger content strategy.?

But there are trends you can exploit for the benefit of your business, and ones that leave you looking like an attention-seeking chopper whose only goal is to put smiles on faces, rather than pounds in banks.?

And smiles don’t put food on the table.?

Whoever you listen to and whatever trending topic you get your chops around, without application and a carefully considered strategy, you will never be able to maximise the opportunity in front of you. A single post, even a viral one will never bring your goals to fruition over a sustained period.?

A consistent effort, even when it feels like nothing’s happening is required.

Trends that are always trending

If you are the kind of person who doesn’t need to work, it’s conceivable that you might be able to spend all day online figuring out how the gimpfluencers are exploiting people’s doom scroll addiction for their own gain.

I very much doubt anyone reading this fits the above category.?

This means that instead of focusing on the flavour topic of the week, you should put every effort into'?Distributing' your message in a way that puts you in front of your target buyer with authority and influence.?

Short-form video

There is a reason LinkedIn is shifting its focus towards video content, following in the footsteps of every other platform (except X) and giving us a very different feel for 2025. Despite the ‘B2B’ label that has attached itself to LinkedIn over the years, it is a ‘people first’ platform that connects humans with other humans.

Businesses don’t connect with other businesses without the human element.

Funny that.?

Short-form video is a trend without limitation, gaining momentum every year and being embraced by more and more businesses, across multiple platforms. When it comes to building trust in the people standing on the frontline of your business, it cannot be matched.?

In my opinion of course.?

In a world where genuine human connection has become less and less frequent, short-form video content provides your audience with an insight into the person behind the business. It is the equivalent of standing on stage in front of thousands of potential clients and delivering a talk.?

All without leaving the comfort of your own home.?

Repurposing great content

Despite a new automation tool popping up every day with a Y in it, business owners are busier than ever trying to keep up with the demand forced upon them by their competitors. The need to go harder and faster in an attempt to capture the attention of your spoilt-for-choice buyer has never been greater.?

To keep up, you have to maximise the exposure of everything you do, allowing you to work like a dog once, and then reap the benefits over and over again. For example:

I have 200 individual posts documented on a Google slide doc. This is around 6 months' worth based on the volume of content I release and took many hours to write and perfect. Almost all of this content is ‘evergreen’ and can be used again and again, without limitation.?

For the first 6 months of 2025, instead of using up precious time that I would much rather use growing the awareness of Wear Unconventionall (more info on that soon), I can repurpose content that not a single person will remember from 6 months ago and guarantee the same if not better engagement than the first time around.

Here’s another example:

Long-form content such as articles and newsletters still has a very prominent place in the world of digital consumption, especially among people who are not buried up to their balls in the dopamine hit of social media gratification.?

The biggest barrier to this form of content is often time, so what if a single piece of content such as this newsletter, had multiple uses, capturing 3 different audiences?

The ROTI (return on time invested) is now looking a lot more healthy.?

LinkedIn newsletter. Email subscriber newsletter. Website blog entry.?

Different audiences, all at different times in their digital journey and all with different levels of intent.?

Enjoying real conversation

If you used LinkedIn for a while, you might have seen a shift in the last few years. Content creators that once dominated the Facebook and Instagram space have flooded the platform in search of free organic reach that the others no longer supply.?

Accompanying this wave of young pretenders, is the vagrant whiff of expectation, leading people to believe that content is life and that all other forms of business development are no longer required. One by one, those who have bought into this belief have been left scratching their heads, wondering why everyone else makes it look so easy.

It’s a scam. There is no easy route. Content is never enough to scale.

It may not be the subject on the tip of your tongue when someone mentions ‘trends’, but sending someone you’ve engaged with a private message is a great way of taking the conversation away from the chaos of the feed and into a more focused, 1:1 setting.?

Use your newsletter subscription to offer real value in your messaging and show your buyer that you are working on their timeframes. Monthly check-ins without a sales pitch in sight are a brilliant way of adding touchpoints, allowing your buyer to feel a personal connection without the often overwhelming feeling that they are sharing you with thousands of others.

Conclusion?

If you have a huge marketing team and thousands of pounds to test a whole host of ideas, focusing on trending topics that the gurus will inevitably tell you are the next big thing for 2025 is an option. For those of you on smaller budgets than Amazon and a team that consists of you and Susan from HR every second Tuesday…

A more time-efficient play is required that uses trends in a very different way.?

In 2025, my advice to you is to focus on your core messaging and the way you effectively distribute it for maximum coverage and impact.?

Stay Unconventionall.