At Little Leaf Agency, our team of PR comms and marketing experts is always ahead of the game in terms of predicting what’s on the horizon for our industry. The landscape of this industry has faced its ups and downs over the last few years as a result of the ever-changing environment of global post-covid changes, from lockdown era to cost of living prices skyrocketing, but what has our team predicted will be the biggest ‘ins’ and ‘outs’ of 2025?

PR communications predictions for 2025

Substack in IN!

We are seeing more and more journalists, writers, and even content creators taking to Substack to share their thoughts and recommendations freely in articles on this platform. Being aware of the digital places where journalists hang out is vital to building great relationships and is the lifeblood of good PR, so we are excited to see Substacks pop up from our favourite writers! 

Connectively (formerly HARO) is OUT!

Despite efforts to bring HARO into the modern day with sleeker features and a polished user interface, Connectively ultimately failed due to subscription fees and complications. As a result, it will shut down on December 9th 2024. For professionals, this is a reminder that the tools we use are only as effective as the strategies we build around them. As new platforms rise, the key will be leveraging their strengths while maintaining the core principles of relationship-building in PR. No matter the platform, this is always the core of our approach here at Little Leaf Agency.

Influencer marketing predictions for 2025

Gifted influencer marketing is OUT!

Gone are the days of expecting influencers to post for nothing. A few years ago, a brand could run a pretty successful ‘gifted’ influencer campaign, exchanging products for promotion, and whilst some micro-influencers may be happy to do this, we are seeing a big shift towards content creators demanding a fee or at least an affiliate deal to generate a percentage of sales. Running a comprehensive influencer campaign should have a multi-faceted approach, and the best results are achieved by a brand paying a creator for meaningful content, which takes time! This is why it’s so important to have a budget for influencer efforts as part of your social media strategy.

Long-form content is IN!

(More so than ever.)

We have seen this trend increasing over the last few years with Instagram elongating the video length time and ranking Reels in their own feed, but as YouTube continues to hold its positioning as the second most popular social media channel in the world, we are seeing more content creators take to that platform once they have built a steady following on platforms like Instagram. As we have all grown alongside social media, many of us are going ‘advertising blind.,  This is a term coined for the phenomenon where younger generations are getting wise to being sold to and get instantly turned off by a blatant advert. Embedding product promotions in meaningful and engaging content, such as Youtube or longer Instagram Reels, is the key to reaching motivated buyers and getting more in return for your investment in content creators.

Social media predictions for 2025

Nostalgic content creation is IN!

Y2k fashion is trending right now, and we are seeing the ‘throwback aesthetic’ everywhere. Creating content that appeals to this particular emotion but is tailored to your niche is a great way to keep the brand relevant. These playful aesthetics tap into millennial or older Gen Z culture, inspiring a sense of familiarity while introducing a retro vibe for younger generations to experiment with. We’re seeing this in the wave of flip phones, rhinestones, and a nostalgic renaissance of past eras. This trend feels both fresh and familiar, and many brands are utilizing this theme to great effect, particularly on their Instagram channels. Find out more about why now is a great time to market your brand on social media here.

Fighting AI is OUT!

While AI is still largely debated, in a recent interview, Zuckerberg said that he expects Facebook and IG content to be “increasingly AI-generated.” As marketers, we need to stay ahead of trends and this means becoming fluent in any tools that arise is critical for us to learn – in fact, it’s one of the biggest advancements of our technological age. We are already seeing AI enhance things like search functions on social media, and with Facebook investing heavily in this area right now, it’s only natural to predict that it will become a more integral part of social media’s functionality. This will have an effect on search engine optimization of posts on social media (which should already be taken into account in a thorough marketing strategy) but now should be addressed with even more urgency as AI evolves

Canva recently integrated AI so that artificially generated images are now becoming more accessible to create for your average user. In response, Instagram has created an option to label your images as AI-generated, leading us to believe that more restrictions may also come into play in coming years, which focus on making consumers aware that what they are viewing may be bot-generated. 

Sexual wellness product predictions

Penis toys are IN!

We are seeing a significant rise in the popularity of penis sex toys across the board with our client roster, with many seeing that their best-selling demographic is Millennial men. Sextoys.co.uk is already changing the game with their experimental and playful approach to sex toy designs, with The One Suction Stroker consistently selling well, and Bed Nerdz Vibrating Cockring ranking in Cosmo’s ‘Best sex toys’ listicle this week. Discussions around male sexual health has for too long focused on performance or dysfunction (e.g., erectile dysfunction) rather than holistic pleasure, leaving male sex toys in an unspoken, taboo space. However now it seems as though the world is waking up to the benefits of producing uniquedesigns when it comes to penis toys that focus on wellness and exploration. In a world where Katy Perry partnered with Womanizer for the release of her new track, could we see male-identifying celebrities rise up to champion penis pleasure in a similar way? We think 2025 is going to be the year that it really takes off! 

Need some help from the experts when it comes to predicting the unpredictable? Get in touch and a member of our team will be happy to discuss your PR and marketing solutions to help you achieve your brand’s goals.