The 2024 Social Trends Report

HubSpot has partnered with mention to survey over 1,500 social media marketers on their use of social media and the strategies they've found successful. Needless to say, AI is playing a key role in the social media plans of astute SMMs. Marketers who say their social media strategy was effective in 2023 are 185% more likely to use generative AI tools to make social media content.

• 71% of social media marketers use AI tools.
• 71% of marketers using generative AI to create content said it performed better than content made without AI.
• 87% of social media marketers say using AI tools will be crucial to a successful social media strategy in 2024.
• 64% of marketers are concerned that creating content with generative AI can harm their brand’s reputation.

Pete Caputa, CEO of Databox, reports that his team has started using ChatGPT to write LinkedIn posts. But the effectiveness of the outputs are only as good as the prompts you use. "Writing isn’t easy for everyone, of course. Plus, English is a second language for many of our team members. So, we built a process to help. Generative AI is only as goodas your prompts, so we developed a few for our needs."

Other report take-aways

This comprehensive report goes far beyond how AI is used. From e-commerce to community building, this report dives into how social media marketers are winning in 2024 with social.

• 86% of social media marketers say building an active online community is crucial to a successful social media strategy in 2024.
• 52% use social media to sell products directly within social media apps.
• 25% of users bought a product directly within social media apps in the past three months.
• 70% of SMM's say they have an employee responsible for managing social commerce.

Social > search for consumers

A quarter of consumers are turning to social media platforms as their go-to for brand discovery, favoring it over traditional search engines. Furthermore, 22% of consumers report that they're more inclined to use social media for their searches compared to search engines.

• 87% of social media marketers say social search is important to their overall social media marketing strategy.
• 17% of consumers use AI chatbots to search for answers online.
• 21% of consumers prefer to use social media to find answers to what they’re looking for.

Social trends webinar

HubSpot convened a panel with five of the leading voices in social media and digital marketing to explore the emerging trends set to dominate 2024. Dive into their insights and predictions in this compelling roundtable discussion.

• Chi Thukral, HubSpot Social Media Manager and a Forbes 30 under 30
• Chris Savage, CEO and co-founder of digital video platform Wistia
• Ross Simmonds, founder of Foundation Marketing, specializing in B2B content marketing
• Scott D. Clary, Founder of The Social Club and host of the Success Story Podcast
•  Jon Youshaei, YouTuber and former YouTube and Instagram employee