5 New Marketing Trends To Watch in 2025 [Backed by Data & a Dash of Expert Wisdom]

I don’t learn about you, however the truth that we’re 1 / 4 into this century is blowing this marketer’s thoughts — particularly since new advertising and marketing tendencies emerge with each flip of the calendar web page.

Within the final quarter century, we’ve seen the variety of MarTech options develop from lots of to tens of 1000’s.

Cellular turned its personal channel, ushering in an period of fixed content consumption, and generative AI began unlocking efficiencies we had by no means imagined.

And that’s only a handful of the highlights.

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The evolution continues, so let’s not waste time. Listed here are 5 new advertising and marketing tendencies we have to maintain our eyes on in 2025, in keeping with the 2025 State of Marketing Report (and the way consultants counsel you strategy them).

High Advertising and marketing Developments to Watch in 2025

1. Focusing On Youthful Prospects

Millennials and Gen Z are not simply summer time interns, folks.

The oldest of the gens are of their early 40s and are the decision-makers, each professionally and personally.

The State of Advertising and marketing discovered that over the previous twelve months, entrepreneurs (each B2C and B2B) have narrowed their focus to Gen Z and Millennial prospects whereas pulling again on their makes an attempt to succeed in Boomers and Gen X.

Head of Content material at 6Minded, Joanna Borkowska, has seen and skilled this first-hand, sharing, “We have seen it ourselves, collaborating extra incessantly with managers and founders born within the 90s, who now affect buying and technique selections.”

What does that imply for entrepreneurs?

“Entrepreneurs should revamp their techniques and prioritize personalization, networking, and genuine interactions,” advises Borkowska.

“Whereas raised within the digital age, this technology craves real connections and belief constructed on shared experiences and targets. They search companions who care and may actually perceive them and develop and be taught collectively.”

For manufacturers of every kind, this implies delivering personalised, focused content material and insights based mostly in your viewers’s particular person behaviors. It means catering your model expertise to the client’s particular wants, exhibiting you perceive them.

Assume sending emails with sources associated to their previous purchases (i.e. “Easy methods to get probably the most out of your [insert product purchased]”) or exhibiting them articles much like these they learn prior to now in your web site.

You may as well faucet AI to assist with personalization, like CEO at BridgeRev Ashley Quintana.

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“HubSpot’s AI instruments like Breeze and Copilot have been invaluable. Breeze streamlines brainstorming and drafting, making it simple to create partaking, audience-specific content material, whereas Copilot helps us optimize workflows by integrating AI immediately into our each day duties.”

“These instruments permit us to ship high-quality content material sooner with out sacrificing the strategic and human parts our purchasers depend on.”

Try:

2. Main with Model

A much bigger deal with private and genuine client interactions additionally lends itself to a different development we’re seeing — brand-forward advertising and marketing.

We’re speaking advertising and marketing targeted on building brand awareness; methods that basically lean into the values, tradition, and total story of a business, relatively than simply its services or products.

Model was additionally a spotlight in 2024, however our analysis discovered many entrepreneurs plan to take a position much more this 12 months, particularly in creating value-focused content material.

However why precisely?

Quintana defined, “The shift in direction of value-driven content material displays a broader demand for authenticity and belief in advertising and marketing. In 2025, customers aren’t simply selecting services or products — they’re aligning themselves with manufacturers that resonate with their beliefs and replicate their values.”

In such socially charged instances, individuals are purchasing their values. They wish to know that their hard-earned cash is in the end going to efforts, causes, and ideas that they assist on a deeper stage.

Worth-focused content material is one option to make yours clear to patrons to allow them to be part of you or keep away from.

What does that imply for entrepreneurs?

“For companies trying to lead with their model, my recommendation is easy: know your ‘why’ and weave it into every bit of content material you create,“ continued Quintana. “Make sure that your actions align with the values you promote.”

One model that does this nicely is Ben & Jerry’s. The ice cream firm has made activism a staple of its model since its founding in 1978.

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It highlights its values on its web site and makes it a degree to focus on its socially acutely aware enterprise practices and the causes it cares about.

It’s additionally no stranger to advocating on social media about points going through the world or incorporating them into their product names and advertising and marketing.

Once you purchase from Ben & Jerry’s, you recognize precisely what your {dollars} are going to on a larger stage — and lots of customers truly select them due to that.

Professional tip: Use “Human Intelligence” to create your model content material.

Let’s be actual: As extra entrepreneurs incorporate AI into their writing processes, we’re seeing a rise in generic, low-quality content.

Persevering with to create human-led content material that isn’t merely copied and pasted from a chatbot is one option to stand out as a model and guarantee your values come via.

Even for those who generate content with AI, be certain that somebody in your workforce takes the time to infuse your model’s distinctive persona and tone of voice. Additionally, intention so as to add parts that replicate your model’s particular values and tradition, like authentic examples and first-hand experiences.

I imply, give it some thought. Nobody is aware of your tradition and exudes your values higher than these at your organization. They’ve experiences, information, and emotions AI by no means might. This can be a massive differentiator.

Need extra tips about how one can humanize your AI content material? I’ve got you covered here.

3. Visuals because the Expectation

Quick-form video, photographs, and live-streaming video have been among the many mostly used content material codecs in 2024. Going into 2025, entrepreneurs are investing extra in all three than in different mediums.

This is sensible. In 2024, all three codecs have been reported as having a number of the highest ROIs.

“Quick-form video, photographs, and user-generated content material resonate as a result of they humanize manufacturers and foster a deeper reference to audiences,” stated Quintana, explaining the mediums’ recognition.

“They create alternatives for storytelling and amplify the voices of actual prospects, making advertising and marketing really feel collaborative relatively than transactional.”

Nevertheless, a lot of this might merely be because of the prominence of social media. Every generation turns to social media to remain linked with their family members, be taught, and devour content material — and most of those platforms are visible.

If that is how your patrons spend time discovering merchandise and types, you’ve bought to fulfill them there.

(Word: Due to this, entrepreneurs are additionally growing their funding in YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok at charges increased than different channels in 2025.)

As studying consideration spans plummet, video and audio take middle stage. Audiences crave quick, condensed, and genuine codecs. For entrepreneurs, it is a shift they can’t afford to disregard.

What does that imply for entrepreneurs?

Visible content material is nothing new. In truth, the primary article I ever wrote as a younger marketer was in regards to the energy of visible advertising and marketing greater than a decade in the past.

However that doesn’t imply there’s nothing new to be taught.

Dan Stillgoe, Senior Advertising and marketing Supervisor at Mix, recommends beginning with repurposing.

“The important thing to beginning is to begin with a longer-form piece, like a podcast or occasion, that may then be chopped up into shorter-form video. This lowers the barrier to getting began.”

Joanna Borkowska reminds us to put our audiences first. “Begin by researching what clicks with your audience and speaking to your workforce.”

“Your folks know your merchandise and prospects greatest. Brainstorm with them for contemporary, real-life content material concepts that resonate. Then, construct property and matters round these concepts, not the trending platforms.”

Lastly, Will Williamson, Director at JDR Group says we shouldn’t take our short-form movies too severely.

“Guarantee your movies are private relatively than company. The most effective-performing movies are going to be uncooked and genuine. Get your folks speaking as actual people!“

4. Tapping Into Area of interest Affect

With a shift to brand-led methods and youthful audiences, the emergence of influencer marketing is sensible, however any outdated influencer gained’t minimize it anymore.

In 2025, entrepreneurs are seeing extra success with small influencers (these with fewer than 100,000 followers). And I’m not shocked.

Again within the day — learn two to 5 years in the past — the deep-rooted belief and loyalty entrepreneurs vie for with influencer advertising and marketing was simpler to return by. Followers might take pleasure in and count on private interactions with the creators they liked.

Heck, I bear in mind when Jay Shetty promised to answer each remark inside 24-48 hours (and he did).

Nevertheless, as “influencers” and “creators” have develop into extra established professions and follower numbers attain the thousands and thousands, the sense of connection customers flocked to isn’t as frequent — not less than not with “mega” influencers like Jay.

Fortunately, the audiences of nano, micro, and macro influencers are nonetheless small and mighty, delivering the credibility, neighborhood, engagement, and cost-effectiveness that entrepreneurs crave.

What does that imply for entrepreneurs?

In 2025, entrepreneurs have to get extra area of interest with their influencer advertising and marketing.

Don’t simply go after folks with giant audiences, however these whose viewers would truly purchase your model and product. Additionally, search for influencers with credibility and perception into what you do and provide.

“People who find themselves consultants in one thing are inherently extra reliable than a generic Google AI Overview or fundamental interpretation by ChatGPT,” explains Paul Mortimer, Head of Advertising and marketing at Avidly.

Like, for those who’re a skincare model, it might be cool to have YouTube chef “Binging with Babish” discuss your merchandise, however he doesn’t actually have experience in your trade. (Not less than so far as we all know.)

Try our article. “How to Identify & Work With the Best Brand Influencers for Your Business” for extra steering on how one can discover the precise area of interest influencers to attain your targets.

5. Utilizing AI to maintain up with content material wants

In 2024, all folks might discuss was using AI to write content, however its capabilities are far larger than simply textual content, and truthfully, the opposite use instances are a lot stronger.

For instance, AI can repurpose content material into new codecs sooner than ever — together with visible ones. Blogs will be became video scripts and textual content into photographs, gifs, or video clips.

After all, this shift is not with out its challenges. Our survey discovered almost half of all entrepreneurs are not sure of their skill to make use of AI successfully and measure the ROI of utilizing AI to help their advertising and marketing efforts.

What does that imply for entrepreneurs?

With AI changing into part of on a regular basis life, Ryan Gunn, Director of Demand Gen & Advertising and marketing Ops at Aptitude 8 warns that corporations will count on extra from smaller groups, particularly in relation to diversifying mediums or personalizing content material for a particular viewers.

However its effectiveness hinges on clear, well-structured information.

“As companies ramp up segmentation and personalization, syncing correct information throughout methods would be the key to unlocking AI’s full potential,” Gunn continued. “The higher your information, the smarter your AI-powered advertising and marketing turns into, and the better it’s to hit your targets.”

That stated, be certain that to keep your data clean. Instruments like HubSpot’s Breeze Co-Pilot make this simple by connecting your CRM information throughout all what you are promoting efforts, however there’s loads you are able to do manually as nicely.

• Take away duplicate data.
• Appropriate structural errors.
• Handle lacking information.
• Usually replace and sync information.
• Standardize information entry.

All of those precautions will make your information simpler for AI to grasp and make the most of, whether or not producing new content material or providing strategic insights.

How else are entrepreneurs utilizing AI day-to-day? Check out the trends and insights from a survey of over 1,000 marketers.