In 2024, paid social ads continued to dominate online advertising, with Meta platforms like Facebook and Instagram helping drive unprecedented engagement and sales for businesses of all types – and short-form video platforms like TikTok not far behind. As we close out the first month of 2025 (can you believe January’s already almost over?) the significance of social media advertising in the digital landscape shows no signs of waning.
Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and others remain crucial for brands aiming to connect with diverse audiences, especially given the wealth of data and personal information that they collect, enabling precise audience targeting.
However, the social media zeitgeist is anything but static. Changes in consumer behavior, technological advancements, and platform updates are all but guaranteed, and marketers should rethink their approach to social media advertising yearly. Staying ahead of these shifts is critical for brands that want to maximize their return on investment (ROI).
From video-first (or video-only) formats to the rise of shoppable experiences, understanding the direction in which paid social ads are evolving will be key to futureproofing your advertising strategies.
In this blog post, we’ll look at some of the emerging trends, platform-specific updates, and strategic insights that will define social media marketing trends in 2025. We’ll look at the best platforms for social media ads in 2025, and we’ll examine how platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok are changing, how brands can capitalize on these changes, and more.
Paid Social Ad Formats are Changing (and Increasingly Video-Driven)
The way ads are both delivered and consumed on social media has undergone a significant transformation. While static image ads are likely to be around in some form, video ads are increasingly popular and increasingly effective.
Instagram and Facebook Pivot to Video
Facebook and Instagram have shifted their focus from static image ads to more dynamic, video-first formats such as Reels, Stories, and Carousel Ads. These formats are more engaging, immersive, and do a better job of capturing the attention of someone scrolling through their social feed.
- Reels Ads: Instagram’s Reels is becoming an increasingly integral part of users’ feeds, which means that Reels Ads have increasingly become a cornerstone of Instagram advertising strategy. Reels Ads offer short, engaging video content that seamlessly integrates into users’ feeds.
- Stories Ads: Both primary Meta platforms have doubled down on Stories, capitalizing on the popularity of this ephemeral, narrative-driven content to deliver time-sensitive promotions and more effectively tell stories.
- Carousel Ads: While not new, Facebook Carousel Ads have evolved to incorporate video.
Looking ahead, we expect Facebook and Instagram to further innovate with formats like augmented reality (AR) ads and virtual reality (VR) experiences. These technologies have the potential to elevate ecommerce advertising, in particular, by allowing users to virtually "try on" products or explore virtual storefronts.
TikTok Capitalizes on Its Native Video Format
TikTok’s meteoric rise has redefined how many brands are thinking about social media advertising, especially with the near-stranglehold it has on younger audiences’ attention spans. The platform’s emphasis on authenticity and creativity has made it a fertile ground to go viral in, but its social media advertising capacity hadn’t quite caught up until relatively recently. Now, fortunately, it has a robust suite of ad options, including in-feed ads, branded effects, and sponsored challenges.
- In-Feed Ads: Like Instagram Reels, TikTok’s native in-feed ads blend with the organic content users are seeing as they scroll, ensuring less disruption in the user experience (and therefore minimizing friction).
- Branded Effects: Interactive branded effects, such as filters and stickers, allow users to co-create content with brands by just behaving as they normally would on the platform, driving a casual sense of engagement that sticks with users long after they’re done in ways that non-interactive ads can’t mimic.
- Sponsored Challenges: TikTok’s hashtag challenges encourage user-generated content, fostering a sense of community while amplifying brand visibility.
As we get deeper into 2025, TikTok could enhance its interactive capabilities with features like content personalization – potentially driven by AI – and deeper integrations for TikTok ads for ecommerce brands.
Predictions: How Paid Social Ad Formats May Change in 2025 and Beyond
As technology improves, formats and features become more readily available that weren’t previously feasible – which platforms can then use to create more engaging advertising experiences.
One key theme we expect to see in 2025 and beyond is an attempt to remove as much friction as possible from the buying experience. By “friction,” we mean anything that stands between a curious buyer whose experience has been piqued and making a purchase.
AR/VR ads will likely be a major goal of social media networks like TikTok and the Meta platforms. Having to try on clothes to see how you look in them or visit storefronts for things like car shopping is a source of friction; imagine instead trying on a pair of sunglasses via AR on Instagram or exploring a new car model in a virtual showroom on Facebook
Improved shoppable ads. Shoppable ads will continue to grow in popularity, and platforms will try to streamline the path to purchase to reduce or eliminate friction. For instance, TikTok could let users click “buy now” buttons embedded directly within videos.
AI will likely play a bigger role as well. Imagine having AI tools that can help you to create hyper-personalized video ads, tailored to individual user preferences and behaviors, across all major platforms.
Tools for Targeting and Audience Insights will Become More Advanced – But Privacy Laws May Limit Data
Precision targeting has always been one of the most effective features of paid social ads, and platforms – whether B2C platforms like the Meta suite or B2B ones like LinkedIn – are continually evolving their capabilities to further deliver effective, relevant ads to their users. Here’s how targeting is transforming across major platforms and what’s driving these changes.
Advanced Machine Learning Harnesses Data More Effectively
Platforms like Facebook and Instagram are leveraging advanced machine learning to refine their targeting features. By analyzing vast amounts of user data, these platforms are improving ad relevance and ensuring that brands can connect with their ideal audiences more efficiently.
Using predictive targeting, Facebook can predict user behavior with greater accuracy, letting advertisers serve ads that better align with a user’s individual interests and purchase intent. Lookalike Audiences were already a great feature for anyone advertising on Facebook, but machine learning-powered enhanced lookalike audience tools will let advertisers reach new customers who resemble their existing ones. This will help brands grow their audience more effectively.
TikTok Remains the Master of the Interest-Driven Algorithm
TikTok’s uniquely potent algorithm is a game-changer in the world of social media, which makes it a game-changer for social media advertising, too. The platform’s ability to reliably deliver highly personalized content according to a user’s interests – reading, video games, fitness, politics, TV shows, and more – has made it a leader in interest-based targeting.
TikTok’s algorithm draws behavioral insights from user interactions, such as likes, shares, and watch time, to identify interests and deliver highly relevant content – including video ads.
Advertisers can also leverage hashtag targeting, placing ads on trending hashtags to better help them connect with niche communities, ensuring their content reaches engaged and relevant audiences.
How Social Media Platforms Might Navigate Privacy Regulations
With privacy regulations tightening in nations around the globe, Facebook and Instagram are also exploring innovative ways to maintain targeting effectiveness without relying on third-party cookies. Expect greater emphasis on first-party data and consent-driven strategies in 2025.
Similarly, TikTok may navigate its own legal concerns by improving its first-party data collection practices with partners like Oracle, ensuring compliance while maintaining its targeting edge.
In general, the shift away from third-party cookies may force advertisers to rethink their targeting strategies. In 2025, brands will rely more on:
- Contextual targeting: Serving ads based on the content users are engaging with, rather than personal data.
- First-party data: Building robust customer databases through direct interactions, such as email sign-ups and app engagements.
- Consent-driven marketing: Ensuring that users opt into data collection and targeting practices, fostering trust and transparency.
These adaptations will allow brands to navigate privacy challenges while continuing to deliver effective social media ad targeting strategies for 2025.
TikTok’s Continued Growth
TikTok’s dominance, especially with younger users, makes it an essential platform for brands looking to connect with its prime demographics. Its unique approach to advertising has redefined how marketers think about paid social ads.
Why TikTok Matters
TikTok’s appeal lies in its authenticity and ability to foster creativity – so much of the content is completely user-driven, driving entertaining, engaging videos from users just like your target audience. The platform’s younger user base values content that feels genuine, making traditional advertising methods less effective. This shift has positioned TikTok as a critical player in social media marketing trends in 2025.
With Gen Z and Millennials forming the majority of its user base, TikTok offers unparalleled access to key younger demographics, like Gen Z, Gen Alpha, and younger Millennials.
TikTok users are also highly active, spending hours scrolling through content and participating in trends, providing ample opportunities for brands to connect with an audience primed for high engagement.
Unlike Facebook and Instagram, TikTok emphasizes user-generated content and storytelling. Brands must adapt their strategies to fit this style. However, unless there is a determined effort to prioritize a sense of authenticity, your ads may ring hollow with the TikTok userbase.
One way to do this is by collaborating with creators or other influencers, helping you better produce native-feeling content.
The Role of Influencers
Influencer marketing on TikTok has become a cornerstone of the platform’s advertising ecosystem. By partnering with popular creators, brands can tap into established audiences and build trust through authentic endorsements.
- Smaller creators (“micro-influencers”) often have highly engaged audiences, making them valuable partners for niche campaigns.
- TikTok influencers excel when given creative freedom, allowing them to produce content that aligns with their personal style and resonates with their followers. In other words – if you work with TikTok influencers, let them do their thing rather than being too heavy-handed with control!
In 2025, TikTok’s focus on creativity and authenticity will continue to set it apart, ensuring its place as a leader in social media advertising. Brands that embrace these principles will be well-positioned to succeed on the platform.
Ecommerce Integration Will Intensify
Ecommerce and social media platforms are becoming increasingly intertwined, with platforms introducing tools that streamline the shopping experience – and there we go, talking about removing friction again!
Instagram and Facebook are increasingly becoming essentially ecommerce hubs in their own rights by integrating shoppable ads as well as native shopping features. Some of the ways that we can expect the Meta platforms to continue evolving in 2025 are:
- Shoppable posts that let brands tag products directly in their Instagram posts, letting users shop without leaving the app.
- Instagram and Facebook Shops, which will be storefronts directly built on the social platforms, for a fully integrated shopping experience.
- Streamlined checkout processes, with more – and more advanced – in-app checkout features, reducing friction and boosting conversion rates.
Similarly, TikTok Shop could let TikTok position itself as its own ecommerce advertising powerhouse. Brands can use TikTok Shop to showcase and sell their products directly within the app, capitalizing on TikTok’s highly engaged userbase – anything that stops them from scrolling TikTok better be worth their time!
In-App Purchasing In 2025 and Beyond
We think that platforms will increasingly use AI to suggest products tailored to individuals more precisely based on their behavior and preferences. We expect Meta to further remove barriers remaining between Facebook and Instagram shopping, creating a more unified shopping ecosystem.
As mentioned above, AR (augmented reality) features can allow users to “try on” products virtually, bridging the gap between online and offline shopping.
Taken holistically, these advancements will continue to blur lines between content consumption and commerce, creating new opportunities for brands to drive interest and sales using paid social ads.
Brands Must Learn to Navigate Algorithm Changes
This isn’t just a hurdle for social media advertising brands – search engines like Google and Bing regularly update their algorithms, so any SEO marketer knows this challenge well. However, if your brand has any social media presence or advertises on social media regularly, you need to recognize that there’s never time to sit on your laurels.
Algorithms are constantly evolving. This impacts how posts and ads are prioritized and delivered.
In 2025, you can expect this to remain the same – which means that you can expect things to change.
On TikTok, the algorithm is already so central to the site’s mystique and its avid userbase. The algorithm will continue to emphasize content relevance and interaction, ensuring that ads are served to the most highly engaged audiences. Similarly, on Meta platforms Facebook and Instagram, you can expect algorithms to prioritize engagement signals – comments, shares, saves, and the like, rather than passive metrics like impressions.
What does this mean?
In 2025, Brands Should Design Ads for Engagement First
Ads should be designed to spark interactions more than anything else. Not only is this inherently more memorable and helps your brand stick in the memories of prospective buyers, high engagement on ads will help your brand be prioritized more in social media advertising algorithms.
You should focus on creating ads that align with trending topics – if you can swing the turnaround – to stay in favor of platform algorithms.
Remember, if you aren’t sure which social media ads will get engagement and traction, you should always be A/B testing to make sure your social media advertising efforts are effective!
Paid Social Ads Will Be a Key Part of Multi-Channel Marketing
The multi-channel marketing ecosystem is vast and complex, but paid social ads still play a vital role within it. However, to get the most out of it, businesses should make sure that their social strategies are properly aligned with their other channels, like SEO or content marketing.
Tips for Integrating Social Ads With Your Other Channels
- SEO. Paid social ads can amplify your organic efforts by driving traffic to high-value blog posts, boosting visibility and engagement.
- Email marketing. Use social ads and gated landing pages to grow your email list through lead generation campaigns. Then, use email marketing tactics to nurture these prospects.
- Content marketing. Promote long-form content, like whitepapers or case studies, through target social campaigns meant to drive consideration and engagement.
Social Ads and the Customer Journey
The entire purpose of a multi-channel marketing campaign is to help prospective customers move through the stages of the buyer’s journey, from initial awareness all the way to making a purchase. Think about the purpose of your social ads at each stage of the journey for maximum effectiveness.
In the Awareness stage, use eye-catching videos or collaborate with influencers to introduce your brand to new audiences. Once buyers have moved to the Consideration stage, employ retargeting ads that highlight key product features or high-scoring reviews to people who have already visited your site. And finally, for those on the cusp of Conversion, use shoppable ads and in-app checkout to reduce friction – there it is again! – and drive seamless purchases.
Seamless Integration
“Friction” is something we’ve talked about quite a bit in this blog, but it’s not something that only applies to shoppers – reducing friction on the marketing side of things is important, too!
Expect platforms like TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram to start offering better synergy between paid social media and other channels, driven by things like:
- Unified dashboards
- Dynamic attribution models and better analytics
- Cross-channel campaigns, all from one source.
Some Creative Best Practices in Paid Social Media Advertising for 2025 and Beyond
Look – we don’t have a crystal ball. At the end of the day, these are simply our best guesses for what will happen in 2025, and it’s possible that something will happen that nobody expected. A new app, a new international regulation like Europe’s GDPR.
Still, we’ve been around the block a couple of times, and using our years of experience as digital marketers, we think that best practices for social media advertising in 2025 will look something like these:
- Focus on polished, professional visuals for Facebook Stories and Instagram Reels. Attention spans have dropped; you only have so long to grab someone’s notice.
- Use interactive elements like polls, quizzes, or AR filters to boost engagement.
- Embrace authenticity. Partner with influencers to create campaigns that are reliable to viewers. Better yet…
- Encourage user-generated content (UGC). Show the world how real people enjoy using your products. Nothing is more authentic than that!
When you’re experimenting with new formats, always ensure that content remains aligned with your brand identity. Consistent visuals, tone, and messaging build recognition among your audience.
How to Create a Viral Social Media Ad for Ecommerce
Every marketer dreams of going viral; very few truly make it happen. There’s no “secret sauce” to going viral 100% of the time – if there were, we’d all be doing it! Still, to enhance your odds of going viral, consider incorporating some or all of these tips:
- Focus on emotional resonance and shareability (haha, isn’t this so relatable?!) Viral ads often tap into relatable experiences, are funny, or both.
- You can use storytelling to highlight how your product solves a common pain point. Or, leverage striking user-generated content to amplify the reach of the campaign.
Conclusion
Paid social ads will remain a cornerstone of digital marketing, in 2025 and beyond. Whatever else happens, this won’t change.
However, key trends like the dominance of short-form video-first formats, shoppable ads and increasing ecommerce integration, and a userbase hungry for authenticity as much as they are cool products to buy, are likely to continue rising in importance.
If you want to succeed in the coming year, you should embrace emerging technologies, like AR/VR, consider how you’ll adapt to new data privacy regulations, and focus on creating cohesive customer experiences.Social media advertising can be lucrative, but it requires continuous learning and adaptation. At SevenAtoms, we specialize in helping brands through the wilds of paid social media. Whether you’re looking to explore new opportunities or optimize your current social campaigns, we’ve got the expertise that will help you thrive. Contact us today.
