2025 Paid Social Predictions
2025 will be a big year for paid social across all channels. In this blog, we’ll cover automated creative, TikTok shop, influencers & UGC as well as vertical video and Conversions API and CRM integrations. If you keep these tools and topics front of mind from Q1 you should be onto a successful year with paid social.
1. Continued rise and expansion of automated creative
Automated creative will continue to rise as brands seek new ways to produce cost-effective creative that scales and keeps up with the speed of change. Rising creative costs and product changes mean amends to ads need to be instant. This can be resolved with the implementation of automated creative.
Automated creative is a solution that utilises the product feed and a template. Creative is automatically updated when the product feed is. This means if a product increases in price, sells out, or has a product change, it will be automatically updated in the ad copy and creative (e.g. image/video). This will become fundamental for 2025 and I expect to see demand for this solution increase.
2.TikTok will continue to gain market share through additional services like TikTok Shop.
The social commerce market in the UK is projected to more than double rising from £7.4 billion to reach £16 billion by 2028. E-commerce brands will need to be leaving money on the table if they do not embrace this new market. Previously, brands have had concerns over products being lower priced and TikTok Shop being used for drop shipping. We have seen this year, premium brands like Sage (@sagestudios_uk) which produce kitchen appliances that range from £150-£2,400 have seen successful sales on TikTok shop even utilising the live features of the platform. I predict social commerce to increase and more premium brands to try the channel next year.
3. Influencers and UGC
2024 has been a big year for influencer campaigns with 49% of consumers depend on influencer recommendations, according to Digital Marketing Institute. Furthermore, 69% of consumers trust what influencers say and recommend. I predict next year will be even bigger for platforms like TikTok and Instagram with the rise of vertical video (discussed later in this blog). Influencer campaigns have multiple benefits including awareness, reaching a new audience, and influencing purchasing behaviour as many people trust the influencers they follow and engage with.
Another, more cost-effective solution to test will be UGC, which is utilising a creator to create content for you, for your channels. 60% of consumers believe UGC is the most authentic marketing content. Shoppers are nearly 2.5 times more likely to say UGC is more authentic than brand-created content. They’re typically local and can work on-site with you to capture the content you need for a fraction of the price and usually on a handheld device like an iPhone. This “low-fi” content aligns with the content on the channel and therefore receives higher engagement rates, more reach, and subsequent conversions. This content performs extremely well on Instagram and TikTok. We suggest our clients and industry peers invest in influencer and/or UGC campaigns for the new year every quarter.
4.Reels & vertical video will continue to be favoured by algorithms.
Vertical videos including Reels and TikTok’s are becoming increasingly preferred by users as this is how they hold and use their phones. This has impacted the content that is produced by curators and brands alike. In addition, we’ve started to see the reel placement outperform other formats on Meta with some of our highest conversion rates this year. I would suggest this is being preferred by algorithms. We expect this to continue into 2025 across all channels, we’ve even seen the adoption on LinkedIn this year.
5. Conversions API & CRM integrations on Meta for lead generation
Conversions API has been a hot topic for the past 4 years. Technology took some time to iron out with the early years requiring developers to implement. This is now becoming easier to implement with built-in integrations being launched this year and next. We believe next year will be the year CAPI becomes a must and this integration with your CRM an essential for improved targeting, conversion rates, and sales. By implementing CAPI, you can expect to see an increase in recognised conversions and therefore a lower CPG. Previously, these conversions would have been untracked due to the I0S 14 update which made it easier for consumers to opt out of being tracked. The CRM integration will help advertisers gain more high-value leads as the algorithm will be able to optimise for sales rather than users who will complete a form.
At S&T, we offer automated creative solutions for paid social as well as the other media digital channels e.g. programmatic as well as TikTok Shop, influencer & UGC campaigns, and CAPI / CRM integrations, so get in touch.
References
https://newsroom.tiktok.com/en-gb/retail-economics-report
https://www.meltwater.com/en/blog/influencer-marketing-statistics
