Trends We’re Leaving Behind in 2025

Trends We’re Leaving Behind in 2025

As we head toward the end of the year, we’ve got some thoughts we need to get off our chest. Some trends are fun and can keep us abreast of popular culture and industry happenings. Other trends? We need y’all to be free of, please! Without further ado.

The Viral Obsession

Going viral is not a strategy. This is a variable outcome influenced by a number of external factors in addition to the creative output required to remain on an ever-evolving “cutting-edge.” While going viral can certainly help, sometimes it can hurt. It can bring a barrage of viewers, followers, and commenters that aren’t in your target market. This can water down engagement if you’re not repeatedly going viral after. Depending on the size and capacity of your business, it can overload operations or cause you to shift sooner than expected in ways you haven’t had time to think about. The best strategy on socials is consistency and authenticity. Show up for your target audience in ways that connect, educate, and entertain, and you’ll see the steady growth that sustains businesses rather than riding the emotional rollercoaster of viral content. If you happen to go viral, great! Have a plan in place, if you can, for how you’ll approach that. If you don’t ever go viral, you can still win and make excellent money from social media. 

Instagram as Your Whole Marketing Plan

In 99% of cases, focusing all your efforts on a single channel isn’t your best move. Especially when it’s a channel where you don’t own your content or your connection to your audience. If you skip efforts on all other social media platforms, neglect to have a website or email list, and Instagram goes down or your account gets hacked or deleted, what happens next? You need to be able to directly access your customers and audience without worrying about fighting the algorithm or producing excessive amounts of content to stay in the views. 

Mean Girl Marketing

If “a rising tide lifts all ships,” then what does it do when mean girl marketing has people punching down? Being nasty to people online as a marketing strategy is out. It’s been out, and we hope it never comes back. We’re gonna hold your hand when we say this. There are ways to educate, differentiate, and even call out industry concerns without going after people. It doesn’t make you look like the expert; it makes you look like someone who struggles to regulate. An expert simply rises above those who aren’t operating on their level, offers sound education, and provides a great service. More of that in 2026, please!

Now, you might not be doing any of these anymore, especially if we’ve rubbed off on you! But we hope you’ll send this to a business bestie that needs to hear it. If you’re ready to leave these methods behind and set up a strategy that will take you through 2026 on a high note, we’re ready to help. Contact us for support and to discuss your service options.