We all know that social media strikes quick. And admittedly, entrepreneurs don’t have time to eat the identical watered down, not-so-takes concerning the state of the trade. That’s why we’re launching this new sequence, @MeNextTime, the place we’ll invite Workforce Sprout and a few of our favourite social specialists to share how they actually really feel concerning the newest tendencies. Our first order of enterprise? Digging into the place manufacturers ought to present up nowadays.
Nothing is assured—it’s a lesson we relearn on a regular basis within the social media trade.
Between bans, boycotts and algorithm adjustments, the social media panorama is fragmenting even additional in 2025. The race to win model fairness and relevance in new areas is on.
Which makes social entrepreneurs (understandably) uneasy. Most say their biggest worry is their viewers transferring to personal, closed or in any other case area of interest platforms, in line with The 2025 Sprout Social Index™.
The fears are justified—it isn’t simply all in our heads. Nearly 40% of entrepreneurs say their viewers is already beginning to spend extra time on rising platforms like Threads, Bluesky, Lemon8 and Mastodon, per the Q1 2025 Sprout Pulse Survey.
This seismic shift has been a long-time coming, with clear indicators alongside the way in which. So, why are so many manufacturers caught on their heels? Social entrepreneurs aren’t getting the help they should take large swings on new platforms.
Betting on rising platforms
What works right now received’t be the ticket to relevance tomorrow. If a social marketer informed you their model’s technique was constructed round Vine, you’d most likely assume you teleported again to 2013 (#DoItForTheVine).
In right now’s social media panorama, it’s a must to maintain a relentless pulse on the place your viewers is exhibiting up. Solely investing in legacy or established platforms will make it arduous to interrupt by way of on new networks. Being an early adopter offers your model an edge over your opponents and trade friends.
Don’t get me unsuitable: I’m not advocating for nixing all well-liked platforms. Your clients are desirous to work together together with your model in a wide range of areas.
However the identical report discovered that when shoppers had been requested the place they needed manufacturers to cease exhibiting up, their reply was considerably stunning: nowhere. Each community affords alternatives for locating and rising your group, as a result of social customers use each platform to satisfy totally different wants for connection and consumption.
With a brand new platform coming onto the scene seemingly each week, that makes issues difficult. It’s unrealistic for social groups to construct a presence on every rising community. Even folding one or two experimental platforms into your 2025 technique would nonetheless be sufficient to diversify your investments and hedge your bets. However your leaders will want convincing that it’s price doing.
Making the case for platform experimentation to your leaders
We just lately requested manufacturers experimenting on Bluesky how they plan to gas their content material pipeline. Nearly 60% say their present technique is reposting content material from different platforms, in line with the Q1 2025 Sprout Pulse Survey.
Whereas repurposing content material can assist fill manufacturing gaps, each platform and algorithm are totally different and efficiency varies drastically. Plus, many new networks require social groups to hone totally different expertise and put money into internet new content material creation. Even repackaging takes time—whether or not you’re repurposing a video right into a long-form textual content publish, or translating a static picture right into a filter.
Testing the waters on new platforms will most likely require slicing again elsewhere to accommodate your bandwidth. That’s okay. You simply must be clear about how a lot time you’ll need to reallocate (e.g., 20%) and the anticipated impression to your publishing cadence.
One of the simplest ways to make your case is by proposing a managed, outlined experiment with extraordinarily particular objectives in thoughts. For instance, “Over the subsequent three months, we’ll use this new platform to develop our group by X%.” Understand that metrics like viewers engagement and development are probably to resonate with advertising leaders, per the Index.
When you meet resistance, ask leaders to think about how a lot development remains to be potential to your model on networks the place you have already got a stronghold. The restrict does exist. That doesn’t imply new platforms assure viewers enlargement, however they do provide potential. You can even counsel leaning on user-generated and influencer content material on established channels to get forward of efficiency headwinds.
Do not forget that nothing spurs leaders on like figuring out they’re being outpaced by different manufacturers. Level them within the path of different firms who’ve already diversified their strategy.
Manufacturers charting a brand new path on rising networks
For the previous three years, L.L.Bean has gone “off the grid” throughout your entire month of Could in honor of psychological well being consciousness. The model utterly stops posting on all conventional social channels—giving their workforce and followers an opportunity to get exterior. Their group engagement really will increase throughout these months, due to their outdoor-focused challenges on apps like Strava and NatureDose. The model has additionally reported elevated YoY impressions, better consciousness of their mission and no adverse impression on gross sales—insights that helped persuade their leaders their strategy labored.
L.L.Bean’s success is an instance of a wider development we’ve noticed: Manufacturers accounts are popping up on community-driven networks (particularly retail manufacturers). From Louis Vuitton’s Discord server to The RealReal’s new Substack, manufacturers are creating areas for genuine group and forging stronger parasocial relationships with their audiences.
Within the face of a lot community volatility, doubling down on group administration makes a whole lot of sense. Platforms come and go, however a powerful group can stand up to (and even prosper in) an period of community diversification.
When you’re uncertain which different platforms it is best to put money into, begin the place conversations about your model are already taking place. For instance, at Sprout, we’ve been fostering group engagement on Reddit. On the platform, customers speak about their martech stacks and provide unfiltered suggestions about our product. Not exhibiting up was a chance price we couldn’t afford.
Stand out within the social media panorama for the proper causes
We get it—discovering the bandwidth to experiment on rising platforms feels overwhelming, and divesting from core networks is a danger. However sustaining the established order is an even bigger one.
Social groups have already got the group administration and viewers engagement expertise to achieve these different areas. They simply want the buy-in to make it occur.
Whereas nobody can predict which platforms will stand the take a look at of time, one factor is definite—constructing robust, engaged communities will at all times be a worthwhile funding. By experimenting with rising networks and assembly audiences the place they already are, manufacturers can future-proof their social methods in opposition to platform volatility. The bottom line is to remain adaptable, take heed to your group and embrace change as a chance slightly than a risk.
On the lookout for extra on what social groups ought to prioritize in 2025? Learn the most recent version of The Sprout Social Index™.
