Normally I would publish this list in January, but I want to break that pattern for year 3. In this blog, we will explore digital marketing trends to look out for in 2025. Let’s get into it!
1. AI-Driven Personalization
Hyper-Personalized Experiences: AI and machine learning will refine personalized content, product recommendations, and marketing messages, creating highly tailored experiences for each consumer. Predictive analytics will anticipate needs before customers even realize them. This has obviously been a long time coming, but it only keeps getting better.
Dynamic Content Creation: AI tools will automatically generate ad copy, social media posts, and even blog content, ensuring they match audience preferences and engagement patterns. This is an exciting trend we see with WPP leading the charge, and it will most certainly trickle down. Imagine your social media managers not having to curate content every day, because an AI platform continues to learn from your selections after you’ve given it simple inputs of industry and audience profiling. Oh, and it can select stock imagery and videos for you, too.
2. Voice Search and Conversational AI
Voice Search Optimization: With the rise of voice assistants like Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant, voice search optimization has been accelerating. Marketers will need to rethink keywords and content strategies to cater to conversational search queries. In 2025, I expect long-tail keywords to become more of the standard, as we look to capture these more specific searches.
AI Chatbots: More advanced chatbots will provide instant, human-like customer service, enabling brands to handle inquiries 24/7, increase engagement, and enhance user satisfaction. The main improvement here is speed. Historically, chat bots have been slow. Look for those slow programs to drag businesses down, as the quick and adaptable models steal more market share.
3. Augmented Reality (AR) & Virtual Reality (VR)
Immersive Shopping Experiences: AR will become a common tool for e-commerce, allowing consumers to virtually “try on” products or visualize items in their own space before purchasing. For example, fashion retailers will let customers try clothes or accessories virtually. We’ve seen this a little bit, but as we know, successful tactics are quickly copied.
Enhanced Brand Experiences: VR will be used for branded experiences and storytelling, allowing customers to step into virtual worlds and interact with products in a more engaging way. This one will be railroaded, as we’ve seen tech CEOs directly push their products with elected leaders.
4. Short-Form Video Dominance
Snackable Content: Platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts will continue to dominate. Short, engaging videos will remain the primary format for consumer attention, with marketers focusing on bite-sized, easily digestible content. Even longer videos that daisy chain short-form content together will become more popular with younger audiences… which could certainly cause some legal issues. And no, I don’t expect TikTok content to just “disappear.” If the app does get banned, it’ll be beneficial to the content of US-based platforms. We don’t have time to get into a detailed discussion now, but perhaps that will be a later blog.
Live Streaming Integration: Live shopping experiences will rise in popularity, with influencers and brands using live streams to sell products in real-time, creating a more interactive shopping experience. Influencers that are quick will become preferred by brands, but only if they aren’t seen as spammy and inauthentic.
5. Interactive & Immersive Content
Shoppable Content: Social media platforms and websites will increasingly offer interactive, shoppable content. Brands will be able to create seamless purchase paths directly from images, videos, and live streams. Meta is finally catching on with their algorithms… They’re far from the top of the list, but they are a volume social channel.
Interactive Polls, Quizzes, & Games: Engaging tools like quizzes, polls, and interactive games will continue to thrive, providing brands with new ways to connect with audiences while collecting data and insights. I’ve mentioned this in previous years, and what did we see? Even LinkedIn added games, and I’ve chatted with many people that are quite obsessed with them.
6. Ethical Marketing and Sustainability Focus
Authenticity and Transparency: Consumers will demand more authenticity from brands. They’ll expect transparency regarding sourcing, environmental impact, and business practices. Companies that align with sustainability and social causes will see increased loyalty and trust. The winners will go far above and beyond. Today, consumers see CSR as the lesser of two evils, because they’re still paying a corporation. Someone will have massive success in 2025 simply by giving the people what they want.
Eco-Conscious Consumerism: Marketers will need to integrate sustainability into their messaging and adopt eco-friendly practices, such as reducing carbon footprints in digital marketing activities or promoting sustainable products. This will be a huge emphasis as we see environmental practices rolled back and an increase in public health concerns as a result.
7. Privacy-First Marketing
Data Privacy & Security: We’ve seen growing concerns about consumer privacy, some of which has been reflected in legislation (e.g., GDPR, CCPA). I would not be surprised to see rollbacks here at a federal level. We’ve already seen Google quietly continue the third-party cookie indefinitely.
Zero-Party Data: Brands will gather more zero-party data (data provided directly by users) through preference centers, surveys, and quizzes, allowing for more accurate targeting without compromising privacy. Consumers won’t even realize what they’re giving up, in many cases, which will also lead to security issues.
8. Influencer Marketing Evolution
Micro & Nano-Influencers: Brands will continue to collaborate with influencers, but smaller, niche influencers with highly engaged audiences will become more valuable. The focus will shift from follower count to engagement and trust. This will also benefit the business due to lower transaction costs with these influencers. In many cases, they’ll promote you for a trade of some free product.
Long-Term Partnerships: Rather than one-off collaborations, brands will seek long-term relationships with influencers who align with their values and message for more authentic and sustained brand advocacy. While you’ve got more touchpoints with the target audience, your audience also doesn’t change much. Keep in mind the downside: this is a promoter you’re tied to, even if they royally screw up.
9. Blockchain for Transparency and Trust
Authenticity & Supply Chain Transparency: Blockchain technology will be used to provide a transparent and immutable record of products, proving their authenticity and ethical sourcing. We’re really seeing this one start to catch on as of late, in a comeback not dissimilar to the QR code. For many, this is exciting. For others, it’s confusing.
Decentralized Advertising: Blockchain could disrupt the digital advertising landscape by reducing ad fraud and improving ad tracking, giving advertisers more control and visibility into where their ad spend is going. Hey Google, maybe this could replace the third-party cookie?
10. 5G-Enhanced Mobile Marketing
Faster Load Times & Richer Content: With the global roll-out of 5G, mobile marketing will become more immersive. Enhanced speed and connectivity will enable brands to deliver high-quality videos, AR, VR experiences, and more interactive content without lag. Don’t look now, but 6G is already in progress.
Location-Based Marketing: Hyper-targeted location-based ads will become more effective, allowing for real-time, geo-specific offers and promotions. Think about how this impacts ads on Google Maps, for example.
11. Social Commerce Growth
Integrated Shopping on Social Media: The trend of shopping directly through platforms like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Pinterest will continue to grow, making social commerce a major revenue stream for businesses. If something does happen to TikTok, what then? Well, I predict that it’s a market loss rather than a gain for competing entities.
User-Generated Content & Reviews: Consumers will increasingly rely on reviews, ratings, and user-generated content (UGC) to make purchasing decisions, pushing brands to facilitate UGC campaigns and showcase customer feedback. Yes, this includes reviews outside of Google, Yelp, and Amazon.
12. Automated Marketing Workflows
AI-Powered Marketing Automation: As AI becomes more sophisticated, marketing automation tools will become smarter, allowing for seamless automation of customer journey touchpoints—from email campaigns to social media posts and beyond.
Predictive Marketing: Predictive tools will anticipate customer behavior, allowing marketers to automatically adjust campaigns in real-time for maximum effectiveness. This is probably the only case where when I say “marketers,” I also mean “algorithms.” That is, if you trust them to fully take over.
Looking back at this list, as a culmination of my research and predictions, the new year is really going to feel like the Wild West in the digital landscape. Innovators will benefit and those that don’t invest in their digital strategy and infrastructure will fail. As the digital landscape evolves, staying ahead of these trends will be essential for brands looking to connect with their audience in new and meaningful ways in 2025. If you’re looking for help getting started, let’s chat – it’s never any obligation to you!