We all know that social media strikes quick. And albeit, entrepreneurs don’t have time to devour the identical watered down, not-so-takes in regards to the state of the business. That’s why we’re launching this new collection, @MeNextTime, the place we’ll invite Crew Sprout and a few of our favourite social consultants to share how they actually really feel in regards to the newest traits. Our first order of enterprise? Digging into the place manufacturers ought to present up lately.
Nothing is assured—it’s a lesson we relearn on a regular basis within the social media business.
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 shifting to personal, closed or in any other case area of interest platforms, in accordance 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 alerts 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 massive swings on new platforms.
Betting on rising platforms
What works right now received’t be the ticket to relevance tomorrow. If a social marketer advised you their model’s technique was constructed round Vine, you’d in all probability assume you teleported again to 2013 (#DoItForTheVine).
In right now’s social media panorama, it’s a must to hold a continuing pulse on the place your viewers is displaying up. Solely investing in legacy or established platforms will make it laborious to interrupt by way of on new networks. Being an early adopter offers your model an edge over your opponents and business friends.
Don’t get me incorrect: I’m not advocating for nixing all common platforms. Your clients are desperate to work together along with your model in quite a lot of areas.
However the identical report discovered that when customers had been requested the place they needed manufacturers to cease displaying up, their reply was considerably shocking: nowhere. Each community presents 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 sophisticated. 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 not too long ago requested manufacturers experimenting on Bluesky how they plan to gasoline their content material pipeline. Nearly 60% say their present technique is reposting content material from different platforms, in accordance 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 spend money on web new content material creation. Even repackaging takes time—whether or not you’re repurposing a video right into a long-form textual content put up, or translating a static picture right into a filter.
Testing the waters on new platforms will in all probability require reducing again elsewhere to accommodate your bandwidth. That’s okay. You simply have to 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 best 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 are going to use this new platform to develop our group by X%.” Needless to say metrics like viewers engagement and development are most definitely to resonate with advertising and marketing leaders, per the Index.
If you happen to meet resistance, ask leaders to think about how a lot development remains to be doable on 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. It’s also possible to recommend leaning on user-generated and influencer content material on established channels to get forward of efficiency headwinds.
Keep in mind that nothing spurs leaders on like realizing they’re being outpaced by different manufacturers. Level them within the course of different corporations 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 the complete 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 truly 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, higher consciousness of their mission and no unfavourable impression on gross sales—insights that helped persuade their leaders their strategy labored.
L.L.Bean’s success is an instance of a wider pattern 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 number of sense. Platforms come and go, however a robust group can stand up to (and even prosper in) an period of community diversification.
If you happen to’re uncertain which various platforms it’s best to spend money on, 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 discuss their martech stacks and provide unfiltered suggestions about our product. Not displaying 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 reach these different areas. They only want the buy-in to make it occur.
Whereas nobody can predict which platforms will stand the check of time, one factor is for certain—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 towards platform volatility. The hot button is to remain adaptable, hearken to your group and embrace change as a chance somewhat than a risk.
In search of extra on what social groups ought to prioritize in 2025? Learn the most recent version of The Sprout Social Index™.
