Social Media Then and Now

Social media has been around since the early 2000s and has become a cultural cornerstone for users and a marketing powerhouse for businesses. From influencers to professional services firms, social media platforms are a vital tool for engagement, fostering trust, and generating leads. 

Over our 10 years as a professional services marketing agency, we've seen one constant: a strategic and consistent social media presence is critical to success. Given the rapid rise in tech use and AI, as well as the constant shifts in platforms and culture, building a strong social presence has become foundational for professional services businesses to achieve their key objectives, including talent recruitment, developing brand trust, growing their referral network and lead generation. 

Your audience is 'chronically online'  

From connection to content consumption and dwindling attention spans 

In the early 2000s, social media was built on the idea of seeking connections with friends, family, and acquaintances, where platforms were used to stay up-to-date with each other's lives. Fast forward to 2025, and connection has morphed into constant content consumption. With an average person spending around 7.5 hours per day on a screen, they are exposed to 4,000 to 10,000 ads per day. Although your audience is more reachable than ever before, businesses now compete in an attention economy, where cutting through content noise is becoming increasingly difficult. 

Tech use has risen by an hour from 6.5 hours a decade ago across mobile phones, TVs, laptops, tablets, and gaming consoles. However, it's not just tech usage that has soared; so has the number of reels, memes, and blogs competing for attention. It's no wonder then that this near-constant consumption of content has come at the expense of people's attention spans. So how can professional services businesses stand out on social media, and what are the benefits of doing so? 

Getting personal 

One way to combat content fatigue and dwindling attention spans is to offer more authentic and valuable content. These days, people are paying less attention to overly curated content, bringing social platforms back to their original purpose: social connection. This doesn't mean that businesses can't use platforms to promote their services, but it does mean that content should be more tailored and personal. This means showcasing the friendly faces behind your business, crafting content that truly connects, highlighting client stories, and aiming to build a community with a long-term, loyal following, which in turn boosts overall brand trust and reach. A huge 90% of customers said authenticity is crucial when choosing brands, and 84% of Gen Z respondents trust brands when they see more customer representation in feeds. 

Getting personal through video 

On the topic of getting personal, video has become a popular choice in recent years- not just for B2C businesses, but also increasingly for B2B businesses, where the team is the ‘product’. In fact, 82% of customers say they share video content from businesses, making it an essential and often overlooked basis for a winning social media strategy. 

Clients and referrers now want to see the human side of professional services businesses, especially in industries built on personal relationships, technical expertise, experience and trust such as law, accounting, property and financial planning. Back in 2019, Alison asked professional services firms 'Are you bringing your marketing to life?' in her blog about the surge in video on social media. The rise of affordable technology already allowed anyone to create cost-effective videos, and today, with the shift to more authentic content, even raw-cut footage can work in your favour. Alison's top five content ideas continue to benefit business reach today. 

Additionally, Rachel highlighted a Heinz Marketing study that found 68% of organisations in 2021 had planned to increase their marketing video investment. Fast forward to 2025, and Wyzowl's data reveals that 85% of video marketers plan to either maintain or increase investment in video, while only 15% plan to reduce spending. 

This year, we have previously explored how videos work with Google’s E-E-A-T principles to ensure engagement and conversion rates remain high from the social media content your business produces. Video has even been said to be "an evolution in how advisers connect with their clients." So, it's no wonder that by 2025, 89% of businesses include video in their marketing strategies, with Reels capturing 35% of screen time on Instagram. 

Establishing a niche early on

Understanding the problems your potential clients are facing in greater detail than more generalist firms establishes trust early on, and social media is a great way of showcasing your specialist expertise.  

In a more recent article, Alison builds on the advantages of being a niche business, listing enhanced credibility, reduced competition, and increased opportunities for lead generation, as well as referrals and collaboration with similar businesses, as some of the key benefits of niching down. 

Creating a strong online presence for your niche 

Developing a niche is only half the story; you also have to showcase it. In her differentiation in professional services blog, Rachel emphasised the importance of developing a strong online presence, including a mobile-friendly website and a robust social media presence across multiple platforms, which enables businesses to connect with potential clients. 

In 2025, this has never been so important. Alison wrote in her blog for SEO that having a digital 'shop window' is not just a 'nice to have,' but essential to being found by potential clients in 2025. And with a huge uptake in multiple tech gadgets, such as laptops, phones, iPads, and even AI-powered devices like Amazon's Alexa and ChatGPT, we're currently in the era of Search Everywhere Optimisation and Answer Engine Optimisation. In this new era of search, search engines like Google are increasingly ranking social media posts that match a specific query, providing a perfect opportunity to optimise content and increase the chances of being seen. With increasing cross-channel integration, this year, 83% of leaders rated their team's content strategy as expert-level, with strategies rooted in insights, aligned to business objectives, and used to inform content on channels beyond social. 

Choosing your platforms wisely 

Not all platforms are equal in terms of return on investment. Performance varies significantly depending on the type of business (B2C or B2B) and its specific business goals. The general advice is 'go where your audience is,' but this requires businesses to know where their audience is and how to navigate those platforms. In his 2018 blog, Chris discussed how one size rarely fits all when it comes to selecting a platform and thinking strategically about your goals before you begin. His advice has never been more relevant than in today's landscape. With more platforms springing up than ever before, it's important to be strategic about where you invest your time and money. 

LinkedIn is the best place for professional services to showcase their niche expertise and thought leadership. With more than 1.2 billion members and 67 million registered companies, its surge in users and regular algorithm updates allows for generous reach, enabling businesses to gain credibility, attract new clients, and expand their referral networks. It's no wonder that 70% of B2B businesses reported that LinkedIn drives the most business impact out of all social media platforms. Businesses that leverage the platform's growing influence will be able to build a substantial following before it becomes overly saturated and harder to cut through the other content. 

Platform adoption

A mass abandonment of X 

Social media operates within and often exacerbates a socio-political landscape and its associated issues. This has led to the mass adoption and abandonment of some platforms throughout the years, most notably X, formerly known as Twitter. According to the Very Online survey results, 59% of social media professionals plan to move their brands away from a platform this year. Of those moving their brands away, 65% specifically named X. 

Brands that chose to move away from X cited brand safety, ROI, and performance concerns as the most common reasons, with "Elon" being the main reason. 

Platform growth for Instagram and LinkedIn 

According to the same survey results, 92% of social media marketers consider Instagram a priority platform, and 52% consider LinkedIn their main platform. 

The rise of TikTok 

Instagram and LinkedIn aren’t the only platforms experiencing rapid uptake amongst B2B and professional services businesses. TikTok has become a staple in connecting businesses with a wider audience, boasting over a billion active users. More businesses than ever are using effective content strategies to promote their services. In 2023 TikTok revealed that over 1.5 million UK firms used the platform for promotion, a figure that has no doubt grown since. 

The case for social media scheduling

Rachel has previously highlighted the benefits of social media scheduling to ensure businesses maintain a consistent flow of content that cuts through the noise. At that time, scheduling was once again being called into question amongst shifting algorithms. And as far as algorithms go, nothing has changed there. 

However, if scheduling helps you maintain a steady content presence on your chosen platforms, your business can stand out and reach more potential customers. Consistent scheduling, together with quick, real-time adjustments, ensures that your content and business offerings remain relevant and appealing. Additionally, automating these workflows enables businesses to save a significant amount of time each week on content planning and execution, allowing them to focus more on strategy and customer engagement. 

The case for social media scheduling

In our first dedicated social media post, Chris covered why professional services firms shouldn't underestimate social media in the recruitment process. He pointed out that just as employers are tempted to do a sense check of their candidates online, so are candidates who do that for potential employers. A strong social media presence not only shows a firm's culture and values but also attracts top talent by creating a positive, trustworthy image. After all, a social media presence can be a window into a firm's culture and values, in turn helping to retain and attract the best talent – vital to the success of any professional services business, as highlighted in this blog, by Rachel covering the impact of 'social hiring'. 

Cal Partners can help

From connection-focused feeds to content-hungry, authenticity-driven platforms, social media has evolved dramatically. As a niche industry agency, we have emphasised the importance of a well-established presence for professional services businesses for a decade. The core of our message remains the same: consistency, strategy, authenticity, and values. Applied effectively across the right platforms, social media can provide key benefits: building brand recognition, establishing trust, and fostering loyalty. Beyond being a top-of-funnel metric, a strong social presence now measurably influences recruitment by attracting top talent, supports marketing by expanding reach and credibility, and deepens client engagement and quality referrals through sustained interactions. 

Our team of experienced, CIM Chartered marketers all come from professional services backgrounds, including law, accountancy, and expert witness consulting. Collectively, we have over 60 years of combined experience and have been advising clients on social media management strategies for a decade. 

Contact us today for a no obligation discussion to explore how we can develop a strategic social media strategy to help your business stand out and connect with your clients, referrers and best in class talent.