The end of the universal trend: why startups need a new social media playbook
According to the Metricool State of AI in Social Media 2025 report, 96% of social media specialists now use AI in their daily workflows. But saved resources often come with a drawback: 45% of these same professionals say content quality could have been better. As feeds overflow with automated posts, social trends are getting more fragmented and fleeting. Viral concepts now explode within hyper-niche subcultures, peaking and vanishing in a matter of days. For startups operating within these short time frames and tight budgets, the answer isn’t to publish more – it’s to become really wisely picky. Here are five updates in a social media world that are worth adapting your strategy to.
No more universal trends
Trends no longer spread across the internet the way they did a few years ago. A format can blow up on TikTok within a specific audience, and vanish before it ever hits any other media. Data from the Sprout Social Index 2025 highlights just how narrow these viral windows are. While 93% of consumers want brands to surf the online culture, a third find it awkward when companies fail with trendy videos. What’s more, 27% of users say trend-based content only works if a brand reacts within 24 to 48 hours.
The issue isn’t staying culturally aware; it’s trying to react to everything. By the time a startup identifies a trend, gets sign-off from leadership, and edits content, the conversation has already moved on.
US outdoor retailer REI launched its #OptOutside campaign back in 2015, but the underlying principle is as relevant as ever. Instead of jumping on Black Friday sales, REI closed its doors on both Thanksgiving and the biggest shopping day of the year, offering their staff to spend the day outdoors instead. This move got over 1.4 million social mentions, won support from more than 170 organisations, and drove a 26% spike in online traffic for REI over the Black Friday weekend. It worked not because the brand tried to jump on retail’s biggest conversation, but because it sparked its own that felt relatable to so many people.
Stop trying to reach everyone and find your audience that can actually drive your revenue. Ask yourself why a trend matters to them before committing creative resources. For startups, a deeply engaged niche makes so much difference compared to passive broad reach.
Going viral isn’t enough
A viral post might at the same time bring in two million views and zero paying customers. What matters is getting the attention of people who will actually buy your product, join your platform, and trust your brand.
The Sprout Social Index 2025 found that consumers value brand authenticity and direct connection over polished product and visuals. Around half of respondents stated that original, relatable content is what makes their favorite brands stand out.
Gymshark turned their social feeds into a community hub. Brand has a Voice of Customer team that monitors conversations across Instagram and TikTok to collect customer insights. Founder Ben Francis even shared how a single conversation with a customer on social media led to a brand-new product line that went on to generate tens of millions in revenue.
Stop judging social performance on reach and impressions alone. While those metrics still matter, they need to be weighed alongside high-intent signals: saves, shares, comments, DMs, clicks, and actions that tie social activity directly to business outcomes.
Social shopping
People online are now actively using social media when planning, shopping, and looking for something special – for example, 57% of TikTok users actively use the app’s search bar, with 25% searching for a specific term within 30 seconds of opening the application. Put those numbers into the context of the UK market, where TikTok’s adult user base hit 24.8 million in early 2025.
As feed trends diversify fast, discovery is shifting toward search intent. Users don’t always wait for the right content to show up; they actively search for solutions, product reviews, and recommendations. While trend-chasing content has a lifespan of about 48 hours, search-optimised content continues to drive inbound traffic for months.
Resale marketplace Depop built their content strategy around specific style vibes (vintage, streetwear, Y2K fashion, etc). According to Ad Age and The Harris Poll, Depop’s brand equity among US Gen Z jumped by 12% between Q4 2024 and Q1 2025. While those figures focus on the US, it works the same for the UK startups: it is far more effective to find your niche and truly befriend it than trying to appeal to everyone.
Stay against generic AI content
With 96% of social media specialists using AI on a daily basis for brainstorming, drafting text and visuals, and adapting concepts across channels and regions, the real question is how to use it wisely. When every company can produce well-made visuals and copy in a few minutes, delivering something nice can look like generic noise. Authenticity, a personal touch, and even a few flaws are quite another matter.
Billion Dollar Boy’s 2025 Muse Report found that only 26% of consumers like and believe AI-generated content, compared to 60% in 2023. People don’t reject AI wholesale, but as feeds get flooded with generic posts, familiar texts, plastic pictures and unrealistic characters, the novelty has worn off.
Holidays Are Coming has always been a special heartwarming campaign for Coca Cola. Yet, in 2025 the company decided to experiment with AI a bit. They got over 70,000 video clips and an immediate wave of negative feedback because of its uncanny visual execution. What used to be intimate, turned into a plastic substitute.
For startups, the signal is clear: AI is fine, but know when to use it and when not to; know exactly how to use it so as not to lose the connection and special bond between your brand and your audience.
Human context is your real moat
Knowing your audience and staying in the same context is getting even more important as the more automated the internet becomes. Poor quality of AI-generated content is mostly associated with the lack of humour, non-contextual behaviour, problems with cultural context, generic phrases, and non-realistic tone of voice.
M&S Food showed once again how much human context matters through its Insider Programme. The brand encourages store employees to take centre stage as recurring creators in TikTok series like ‘What’s New in the Foodhall’. Sprout Social notes that such a ‘come-back’ format builds genuine familiarity – viewers tune in as much for the relatable staff members as they do for the food.
Document the insider nuances only your community gets – their specific slang, daily bugbears, local references, and niche habits. If your marketing team can’t map these out off the top of their heads, they don’t know the audience deeply enough to decide which trends are worth chasing.
Speed alone is no longer a real advantage for a startup – everyone has an AI now. The other thing is knowing how to build long-term relationships with your clients. You don’t need to jump on every conversation. Sometimes, it’s better to start your own.
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