Welcome to the latest edition of Social Commotion, Motion's roundup of social media news. Check out our top updates from February 2025.
Tips on how to Maximize Instagram Content Recommendations
Instagram continues to push Reels as a key tool for creators and brands aiming to engage audiences in a more dynamic and impactful way. To help marketers better leverage the platform, Instagram has shared a set of new recommendations designed to boost the reach and effectiveness of Reels.
These strategies focus on creating more engaging, authentic, and shareable videos that can tap into Instagram’s algorithm, increasing discoverability and fostering deeper connections with audiences. Whether you’re aiming to maximize brand awareness or increase interaction, these tips provide actionable insights for improving your content performance.
Social Media Today shares the following tips:
- Post regularly: As people often watch reels from accounts that they don’t follow, every reel that you post has the potential to reach a massive, new audience.
- Create content that can stand on its own: If your goal is to reach new people, your reels should make sense to those who may not know you.
- Amplify your content with audio: Incorporating audio into reels can bring them to life and grab attention with new audiences.
- Continue experimenting: Not everything that you post will be a hit, but you can learn each time. Your knowledge will compound over time as you continue to stretch your creativity and see what connects with people.
- Embrace unpredictability: Recommendations make it more difficult to predict the reach of every post, but it’s the best way to give all creators a fair shot.
Super Bowl Brand Activations: Digital and Creator-Led Strategies Take Center
This year’s Super Bowl activations reaffirmed the critical role digital channels played in engaging with audiences, proving that getting eyeballs on the “smaller screens” is just as vital as the impact of “big screen” television commercials. There was a significant rise in creator-led activations, demonstrating the power of influencer marketing in reaching and resonating with target audiences.
With the resurgence of live, in-person brand activations specifically designed to engage creators as a noteworthy trend. Brands leveraged these events to organically generate branded content, foster authentic storytelling, and promote sharing on social. Even creator houses and dedicated events in New Orleans were set up and served as content engines, producing a high volume of short-form, engaging content.
And in an ever-evolving digital landscape, brands are increasingly mindful of platform dependencies. The potential for platform disruptions (like TikTok) is prompting brands to take a more diversified approach to social media strategy, ensuring its content can reach across multiple channels. This proactive approach ensures campaigns remain resilient and impactful, regardless of where users shift across platforms.
As brands continue to navigate the evolving media landscape, these trends offer valuable insights into how we can help create impactful and resonant campaigns. And that focus on authentic, creator-driven content, strategic platform diversification, and real-time social engagement to maximize impact.
New Social Media Benchmarks Report: Is Your Performance on Track for 2025?
As brands analyze their social media performance and set goals for 2025, it’s essential to understand the average engagement across platforms and how your brand compares against those in the same competitive set. With algorithm shifts, potential platform bans, and increasing competition from brands and creators, organic post performance is more unpredictable than ever.
To help you navigate the evolving social landscape, Socialinsider analyzed 125 million social media posts to determine what “good” performance looks like in 2025. Here are the key takeaways:
- TikTok is King. When it comes to engagement rate, likes, and comments, TikTok leads by a wide margin. The platform boasts an average engagement rate of 2.5%, far ahead of Instagram at 0.5%, down 28% YoY. Facebook and X tie for last at just 0.15%.
- TikTok is the only platform growing average likes. While most platforms saw a decline, TikTok increased its average likes per post by 30% year over year. Instagram again follows at a distance, with Facebook and X trailing behind.
- TikTok and Instagram bring the conversation. TikTok also leads in comments, averaging 66 comments per post. Instagram, however, saw a 33% YoY increase and now surpasses Facebook in this category (24 vs. 17 comments per post).
Despite its dominance, don’t put all your eggs in TikTok’s basket. Remember, TikTok’s future in the U.S. remains uncertain, with the potential ban looming. Diversifying your strategy is key.
View the full Socialinsider report here.
Stay up to date on the latest in social media with Social Commotion, The Motion Agency’s monthly roundup of social media updates, or contact us today to help your brand navigate the ever-changing landscape of social media.
