Marketing Trends to Watch in 2025
At the start of every new year, we make personal resolutions for the months ahead. Why not do the same for our businesses?
To help guide your 2025 marketing resolutions, we asked the heads of each of our departments what trends they’re watching. From micro-content to niche branding, keep these hot-ticket items in mind for 2025.
DIGITAL
The personalized marketing revolution
Marketers are using AI and machine learning to deliver highly personalized marketing experiences. Amid all the advertising noise, this data-driven approach customizes content and experiences to boost customer engagement, enhance satisfaction, drive higher conversion rates, and foster trust and loyalty. However, businesses need to ensure they’re protecting this sensitive customer information by complying with data privacy regulations, and obtaining user consent where required.
Why it matters: Data-driven insights enhance customer experiences, boosting engagement, conversion rates, and loyalty.
Micro-content, video, and more
As audience attention spans get shorter, marketers need to bait the hook with quick bursts of eye-catching content. From teaser clips to snappy CTAs, micro-content is on the rise. These concise bits of content are designed to deliver information quickly and efficiently. Less is more, especially in today's world. Micro-content social media posts, short video clips, infographics, testimonials, and images with clear headlines and subheadings go a long way. Use micro-content in your marketing strategy to engage users, especially on websites and social media platforms.
Why it matters: Micro-content quickly captures audience attention, driving traffic to your website and providing an organic SEO boost.
SOCIAL MEDIA
What’s next for influencer marketing?
As short-form video content platforms continue to grow, influencer marketing will remain a key component in modern digital strategies. When it comes to the overall planning process, cutting-edge software and AI are positioned to play a big role, but the key to success is identifying authentic brand ambassadors and creating relationships that sustain interest beyond a single campaign. If your brand is looking for an increase in engagement, micro-influencers could be the key.
Why it matters: Influencer marketing is about more than tapping into a trend of the day – it’s about long-term relationships and results based on your brand goals.
Supercharge your social media with SEO
Are you optimizing your social media channels and content to help boost your online presence? When it comes to searching for products and businesses, studies show that users are skipping traditional search engines in favor of social media platforms. Whether you’re tapping into trending topics or adding optimal keywords to a profile description and captions, SEO for social media is now a necessity for any marketing campaign.
Why it matters: Incorporating SEO into your social media strategy is a key tactic to help boost your overall reach and visibility. Now is the time to be an early adopter!
PUBLIC RELATIONS
The use of AI
AI can be a useful tool in PR with one major caveat: AI shouldn’t be used to create press releases, pitches, or media-facing materials. Journalists are expert writers and don’t respond well to material they suspect isn’t original. They also expect any AI written materials to be identified as such, which results in a loss of trust if you try to pass it off as your own.
Why it matters: Media relationships are built on transparency, quality, and accuracy. Put in the time to research and create press materials that resonate with your audiences and earn respect from journalists.
Reframe “crisis communications”
In the ever-increasing shift to 24/7 traditional news and social media amplification, it’s time to expand your definition of “crisis” so it serves the broadest range. Whether your company is anticipating a leadership change, impacted by legislation, or introducing a new service line, rethink “crisis” as a time to positively and proactively engage with internal and external stakeholders through public relations.
Why it matters: Any important evolutionary moment your company experiences presents an unprecedented opportunity to connect with stakeholders, employees, the public, and the media in ways that are impossible during "regular" times.
MEDIA
Increase in addressable audiences on Connected TV
More consumers are adopting the ad-supported tiers of streaming services to reduce costs across platforms. Since CTV ad content cannot be skipped, this is a valuable messaging opportunity for marketers. Programmatic-connected TV advertising helps marketers maximize reach across this highly fragmented medium, and we are seeing CTV ad spends growing in 2025.
Why it matters: As more consumers opt for cheaper, ad-supported content, marketers can optimize reach and frequency with targeted CTV ads.
A rise in default expansion settings
Ad platforms are adding more default settings for audience and creative expansions. As marketers, we must be wary of these settings to preserve our clients’ brand standards and audience messaging strategy. For example, Meta’s “Advantage+” settings will add music or change the color profile of your creative if left unchecked. While you can remove these settings within your initial digital builds, updates to your ad set mid-campaign can result in Meta re-applying these creative adjustment settings. Additionally, Google Adwords will automatically generate ads for your campaign if this campaign setting is not turned off, and the resulting asset can potentially conflict with a client’s brand. A luxury travel destination, for example, does not benefit from an auto-generated ad that highlights “Bargain Stays.” Every ad platform from LinkedIn’s Audience Network to X’s Optimized Targeting is adopting the audience expansion settings, serving ads even if they may not match the selected targeting inputs.
Why it matters: While a good marketing strategy will include engagement-based audience segments, strategic marketers need safeguards to protect desired targeting inputs, especially when audience segmentation involves customized messaging.
CREATIVE
Niche branding
Today’s audiences expect highly targeted content relevant to their interests, and businesses can differentiate themselves by offering products and experiences tailored to meet (and exceed) those expectations. The most successful niche branding utilizes strategic research and data to understand and reach the target demographic. This phase allows brands to pinpoint what resonates most with audiences by identifying their interests, habits, and preferences, informing a marketing strategy that addresses underlying needs and wants.
Why it matters: By developing strong emotional bonds with audiences, niche branding leads to long-term brand loyalty and greater profitability, reaching the most relevant, motivated segment.
Augmented reality advertising
Today’s customers are bombarded with ads everywhere they turn, every moment of the day. With so many messages competing for attention, savvy marketers are turning to augmented reality to literally stand out from the crowd. From 3D billboards in Tokyo to Zehnder’s own augmented reality murals, immersive ads bring viewers into an experience. By superimposing digital assets on top of real-world images through the use of QR codes or optical illusion animation, augmented reality directly engages customers and creates compelling, memorable moments.
Why it matters: Interactive advertising immerses customers in the visual world of a brand in a new way, stimulating higher recall and awareness. Simultaneously, impressive AR ads generate organic, viral social media buzz among customers, boosting ROI.
Want a strategy that aligns with the latest trends? At Zehnder, we have our finger on the pulse and decades of experience to back it up. Contact our team today and level up your 2025 marketing plan.
