Remember when social media marketing felt simpler? You’d post a photo, write a caption, maybe throw in a hashtag or two, and call it a day. Those days are long gone.
I’ve been watching what’s happening in the trenches of social media marketing this December, and honestly, it’s wild how much has shifted even in the past few months. The brands crushing it right now aren’t necessarily the ones with the biggest budgets—they’re the ones paying attention to what’s actually resonating with real people.
Let me break down what’s working, what’s flopping, and what you need to know before the year ends.
The Holiday Content Game Has Changed
Here’s the thing about holiday marketing in 2025: everyone’s doing it, but most are doing it wrong. The brands standing out aren’t just slapping Santa hats on their products and calling it festive.
Take what’s happening on Instagram Reels right now. Smart marketers are riding the wave of Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” (yes, still), but they’re getting creative with it. Instead of basic product shots, they’re creating wishlist-style unboxing videos that feel more like gift guides your friend would send you than traditional ads.
And TikTok? There’s this “flow state” trend using “Sweet Little Surprises” that’s catching fire. People are showing those rare moments when work actually feels good—when you’re in the zone, when everything clicks. It’s authentic, it’s relatable, and it’s the opposite of hustle culture nonsense. Brands tapping into this are building genuine connections instead of just pushing products.
Then there’s the throwback angle. Fleetwood Mac’s “Silver Springs” is soundtrack to end-of-year business win recaps. Something about that song paired with real success stories hits differently than the usual highlight reels. It’s nostalgic but not cheesy.
Platforms You’ve Never Heard Of Are Suddenly Everywhere
While everyone’s obsessing over whether Twitter (sorry, X) is dying and if Threads will ever matter, some platforms are quietly exploding.
ReelShort is having a moment. We’re talking 135,000 people searching for it monthly, with growth up over 9,000%. It’s basically TikTok meets Netflix—short-form serialized dramas that people binge on their phones. If you’re a marketer, this is storytelling gold. Instead of trying to cram your message into a 15-second clip, you can build actual narratives.
Clapper is another one. Half a million monthly searches, growth up 122%. It’s positioning itself as the anti-TikTok—no ads, older audience, and creators actually get paid through live streams. If your target market is tired of being sold to every three seconds, this might be your playground.
And gamers are flocking to Backloggd like crazy (up 2,225%). It’s basically Letterboxd for video games. Niche? Absolutely. But if you’re marketing gaming gear, streaming equipment, or anything in that ecosystem, ignoring this would be a mistake.
The AI Elephant in the Room
Let’s talk about AI, because we have to. Ninety-seven percent of marketing leaders say AI skills are now essential. That’s not coming—it’s here.
But here’s what nobody’s saying loudly enough: AI is best at handling the boring stuff, not replacing human creativity. The brands using AI well are letting it handle content ideation, basic automation, and data analysis. The brands using it badly are pumping out soulless, obviously AI-generated garbage that people scroll past in half a second.
The sweet spot? Use AI to speed up your process, but keep humans in charge of the actual storytelling. Your audience can smell an AI-written caption from a mile away, and trust me, they hate it.
Small Influencers Are Beating the Big Names
This one surprised me until I thought about it for five seconds, and then it made perfect sense.
Micro-influencers—people with 1,000 to 100,000 followers—are growing 33% year over year. Meanwhile, the mega-influencers are seeing engagement drop. Why? Because people are exhausted by obvious sponsorships and polished perfection.
When someone with 5,000 followers recommends your product, it feels like a friend telling you about something they genuinely like. When someone with 5 million followers does it, it feels like a commercial. That authenticity gap is real, and it’s worth real money.
Search Is Moving (and You Need to Move With It)
Gen Z isn’t googling anymore. They’re TikToking. They’re Instagramming. When they want to know how to do something or whether a product is worth buying, they’re searching on social platforms first.
This isn’t just a trend—it’s a fundamental shift in how people find information. If your content strategy doesn’t account for social search, you’re invisible to an entire generation of potential customers.
That means your captions need to be searchable. Your video descriptions matter. The keywords people are actually using on these platforms (not just on Google) need to be part of your vocabulary.
What This All Means for You
Look, I get it. Keeping up with all this feels overwhelming. The platforms change, the trends shift, the rules get rewritten every few months.
But here’s the pattern I’m seeing across everything that’s working right now: authenticity beats production value, genuine relationships beat follower counts, and people want to feel something when they engage with your content—not just be sold something.
The brands winning in December 2025 aren’t necessarily the ones with the fanciest videos or the biggest budgets. They’re the ones showing up consistently, speaking like actual humans, and building real connections with people who care about what they’re doing.
The tools and platforms will keep evolving. That part’s inevitable. But the fundamentals—tell good stories, be authentic, care about your audience—those don’t change.
So as we head into 2026, maybe the question isn’t “What’s the next big platform?” or “What’s the latest algorithm hack?” Maybe it’s “How do we build something people actually give a damn about?”
Because at the end of the day, that’s the only trend that never goes out of style.
