20+ Experts Share Insights: 2024 Strategies For Social Media – AI, User-Generated Content & More [Guide]

Which platforms should you prioritize for social media in 2024?

Wondering if user-generated content is still viable?

Are AI generators safe to use for social media content creation?

What are the upcoming trends for social media and how should you plan your social media strategy around them?

2023 has proven to be a wild year for social media stability, with Twitter becoming X, Meta launching Threads, dozens of new social media platforms splitting your marketable audience, a massive pool of influencers taking over content, and so much more.

Luckily, we’ve called on 20+ experts to help us find a sense of calm and provide invaluable insight into how to craft the best social media strategy for business growth in 2023.

In this article, we’ll help you:

• Jump on the top social media trends.
• Learn how to properly leverage user-generated content.
• Determine when to use AI-generated captions for social media.
• Get a social media strategy blueprint.
• And much more.

Below are a handful of our most growth-packed excerpts from our full Social Media Trends Report “2024 | The Vision of a New Social Era”.

Insight 1: Leverage More User-Generated Content (UGC) Than High-Production Content

Think of high-production content as social media’s stock photography syndrome.

When something looks too polished, it must be fabricated. Generation Z (Gen Z, born between 1997 and 2012) is tired of perfection and flawlessness.

This mentality sometimes leads to reduced trust in the brand. Your goal is to increase trust.

“Brands will see the value in sharing UGC as a cost-effective way to get content that also seems more authentic than high-production content. Customers trust fellow customers more than the brand itself. Likewise, content creators will find a great opportunity to create and share UGC for brands.”

– Lucas O´Keefe, Content Creator & Social Media Strategist

What This Means

According to the Semrush Social Media 2024 Trends report, consumers will engage more with User-Generated Content (UGC) than polished, professional content.

The authenticity and trustworthiness of UGC resonate more with them.

Simply put: Social media users will listen to the voices of everyday individuals. Rather than wanting brands to describe their offerings, consumers will prefer hearing about it from peers and fellow customers.

How To Leverage User Generated Content For Social Media

There are two ways to accomplish the aesthetic of UGC.

1. Boost authenticity by publishing more unrefined, “behind the scenes” video content.
2. Create relatable content sourced from your customer’s real experiences.

Insight 2: The Winning Social Media Formula Is UGC + Content Quality + AI = Successful Content Creator

Brands and content creators who don’t embrace change will fall behind.

According to the report’s full expert tips, marketing in 2024 will be dominated by super-powered social media managers who not only embody human connection, authenticity, and a pulse on high quality but are also equipped with the quick-thinking power of AI.

“AI tools have emerged to support social media managers. Tools that can give operational support: ChatGPT for coming up with campaign concepts, AI writing tools for simple post-copy generation, and text-to-image generation. Big brands and social media teams at the top of their game are relying heavily on these tools.”

– James Keen, Global Social Media Strategist at Semrush

What This Means

Organizations will employ full-time professionals who specialize in creating internal business-to-business (B2B) content and/or have excellent storytelling skills.

Community engagement and human connection will reign.

These developments will roll out faster with the help of generative AI.

Simply put: Your competitors will gain an advantage if your marketing doesn’t embrace a winning social media formula.

How To Transform Your Social Media Strategy With This Winning Formula For Success

In order to elevate your social media strategy with the perfect mix of user-generated content, improved content quality, and generative AI, you should:

1. Uncover small tasks that SMMs can delegate to AI.
2. Choose creators who look, talk, and live like your ideal customers.
3. Let content creators create their content with freedom.
4. Establish lasting relationships with different creators.
5. Invest in social media listening tools.
6. Localize and share UGC content.

Pro Tip: Create or find a full 2024 social media strategy checklist to help you keep track of your new plan.

Insight 3: AI Delegation – Pick The Right Social Media Tasks To Give To Generative AI

Knowing how to safely give tasks to AI is the key to reducing your social media manager’s timespend and freeing up their day to execute these expert social media insights.

“With AI, content creation will be accomplished with impressive speed and efficiency. Its benefits are genuinely inspiring.”

– Urvee Tondwalkar, Content Strategist at Urvee Designs & Instagram Coach

What This Means

By combining their strengths with AI, marketers can enhance their productivity, creativity, and overall marketing effectiveness.

Simply put: There are social media tasks that AI literally cannot do.

Generative AI cannot physically create the human touch required for social media campaigns that truly resonate with your potential customers. AI needs humans, and humans can benefit from AI’s speed.

How Do I Improve My Workflow With AI?

“AI tools can be gamechangers for marketers. They can expedite the brainstorming process with data-driven suggestions, optimize content for specific channels, and help automate content repurposing across various platforms.”

– Lindsey Gamble, Associate Director of Influencer Innovation, Mavrck

You can utilize AI tools to:

• Automate routine tasks such as scheduling posts and monitoring social media metrics.
• Generate copy for your social media content more quickly and efficiently.
• Analyze user behavior and preferences to deliver personalized content to your audience and record their activity.

Even though AI can enhance your social media strategy, make sure to regularly review and adapt your social media strategy based on the insights generated by AI, combined with the expertise and intuition of your human marketing team.

Insight 4: TikTok & LinkedIn Will Be The Top-Performing Social Media Platforms Of 2024

Thanks to their high engagement capacity and evolving abilities, TikTok and LinkedIn should become your priority platforms.

“TikTok is still developing exciting new features and tools for creators, advertisers, and regular users. It will likely focus on ecommerce, generative AI, and search in 2024. It also remains the king of short video engagement.”

– Matt Navarra, Social Media Consultant & Industry Analyst

What This Means

TikTok isn’t disappearing from the U.S.

LinkedIn’s user base has grown to millions of professionals from diverse sectors, making it an invaluable resource for establishing and nurturing B2B relationships.

Other social media platforms like X and Threads are making big changes, too, so as always, keep your audience in mind when selecting the best platforms for next year’s strategy.

How To Use TikTok, LinkedIn, Meta’s Facebook & Threads, & X (Formerly Twitter) In 2024

This year’s trends in social media and their platform efficacy implore you to:

1. Establish new relationships with TikTok’s content creators.
2. Activate your LinkedIn profile.
3. Start conversations: Get your strategy ready for Threads.
4. Explore Instagram’s latest tools.
5. Be cautious about X investments.

Insight 5: Shift Your Social Media KPI Focus Toward Engagement + Shares To Monitor Authenticity

Engagement is currently a global trend in social media content.

True social media engagement, such as comments and conversations on shares, can’t be bought. This is a great marker for social media success.

For all you multi-hat-wearing marketers, think of it as link building and authority. The more shares and engagement on those shares you have, the better the content must be – according to updated algorithm logic.

“Qualitative metrics – more focused on people who book meetings based on content rather than just clicks or views.”

–Mandy McEwen, CEO and Founder at Mod Girl Marketing

What This Means

By 2024, algorithms will become increasingly intelligent, prioritizing content that stimulates conversation, ignites reactions, and promotes community interaction.

As a result, social media experts will place a high emphasis on shares as a crucial performance indicator.

How To Focus On Engagement & Shares Within Your Social Media Content

This links back to authenticity – a common trend within our 2024 social media expert predictions.

Be sure to focus your social media management on creating content that inspires discussions and promotes comments and these five key types of social media engagement.

Insight 6: Reshape Your Social Media Strategy – Become A Visionary

So far, we’ve seen five great insights that can be incorporated into your next strategy.

But, what does that strategy look like? You can get the full strategy checklist in our ebook, but here is our high-level outline:

1. Use authenticity.
2. Prioritize UGC.
3. Activate content shares.
4. Push active listening.
5. Use Generative AI.
6. Hire or establish long-term partnerships.
7. Use AB Testing.
8. Keep investing in video.

Get the full checklist.

Insights 7 – 20: Want To Explore All Expert Social Media Tips For 2024?

To get the full details of each insight above, as well as 13 additional expert tips, download the full guide below.

The insights provided by our Visionaries, a diverse team of top voices in Social Media that have made this report possible, are everything you need to create a social media marketing strategy that dominates your competition and expands your social media presence.