By Hyunsoo Rim

The tech giant’s tight grip on the search-ad market is slipping as competitors like Amazon and AI tools lure users and advertisers away.

While Google’s latest woes seem to centre on the DOJ’s antitrust efforts, the search-engine giant may soon face another — perhaps even greater — threat to its moat: losing its dominance in search ads.

In 2023, GoogleGOOGL $197.46 (0.30%) earned over $175 billion (or 57% of Alphabet’s total sales) solely from search advertising, where revenues are generated by people clicking on the sponsored ads displayed alongside search results. However, Google is gradually losing ground in the $300 billion-strong global market for search ads, as both users and advertisers shift to competitors like Amazon and AI tools, The Wall Street Journal reports.

According to data from eMarketer, Google’s share of the search-advertising market is forecast to drop below 50% next year for the first time since tracking began in 2008, with revenue growing at a modest 7.6% year over year. Meanwhile, Amazon’s search-ad revenue surged by 17.6% over the same period.

Indeed, users are increasingly turning to platforms like AmazonAMZN $222.71 (-2.15%) or TikTok for their shopping searches and general queries, according to WSJ. The seemingly inevitable rise of AI is also playing a role: a survey from New Street Research found that nearly 60% of US consumers used a chatbot to help them decide on a purchase in the past 30 days.

This shift means fewer users are clicking on Google’s ads, driving precious ad dollars away from the tech giant and toward its rivals. Advertisers’ spending on search engines like Google grew a modest 3% year over year in Q3… while spending on retail media like Amazon was up 28%, and social-media platforms like MetaMETA $610.88 (-3.07%) were up 5%, per marketing agency Skai’s latest report.

By Hyunsoo Rim

Sourced from Sherwood

Sourced from Forbes

Marketing strategies rooted in fleeting digital trends can become obsolete faster than companies can adapt their long-term brand narratives. Rapid evolutions in consumer attention spans, technological platforms and social media algorithms mean that today’s cutting-edge marketing approaches could be considered passé within months, potentially wasting significant creative and financial resources.

Smart marketers prioritize building authentic, adaptable brand identities that transcend momentary trends. Here, members of Forbes Agency Council share some current trends that marketers should think twice about before investing in. As their insights below illustrate, although such approaches might grab attention in the short term, brands that prioritize core values, genuine customer relationships and flexible communication strategies over the latest trends can pivot more quickly while maintaining consistent messaging.

1. Performance Marketing As A Solo Tactic

We’ve seen marketing tactics be touted as taking over at first; yet TV never displaced radio, and direct mail didn’t supplant all else. Performance marketing as a solo, focused activity has shown many limitations: brand deterioration, lack of transparency and a poor alignment with a client’s creative needs. It’s destined to remain viable only as part of a balanced approach, along with many other marketing tactics. – Ellis Verdi, DeVito/Verdi

2. Overreliance On Artificial Intelligence

If only artificial intelligence had a heart. While generative AI boosts efficiency, it lacks the ability to create sentient connections, a crucial element in driving consumer affinity and loyalty. Research shows emotionally connected customers are 52% more valuable, driving higher long-term growth and brand advocacy. Brands must balance AI’s speed with genuine emotional engagement to create lasting impact and empathetic connections. – Thomas Zawacki, Data Axle

3. Third-Party Data Tracking

Highly targeted advertising based on tracking people online is under threat from both legislation and the need for the largest online companies to protect their brands. Marketers need to accept that the availability of third-party tracking data is going to decrease dramatically and find other ways to target an audience—for example, by advertising around relevant content. – Mike Maynard, Napier Partnership Limited

4. Branded NFTs

One recent marketing trend unlikely to stand the test of time is branded nonfungible tokens. While blockchain and digital collectibles still have potential, people quickly lost interest in paying for digital images with limited utility and without long-term value. Also, when royalties on sales were removed, the revenue for brands disappeared, which led to marketing budget cuts for NFT promotions. – David Ispiryan, Effeect

5. Canned AI Voiceovers

The overuse of canned AI voices is already being played out. I’m a huge proponent of AI tech, but not of using the same AI voiceover tech heard in every other Short and Reel. Brands will need to get more strategic to capture attention. I don’t expect the current use of voiceover AI to sustain another six months in any effective way. If you sound like everyone else, you are instantly forgettable. – Bernard May, National Positions

6. Excessive Gamification

I believe the trend of excessive gamification in marketing won’t last. While things like awarding loyalty points for doing simple tasks or social media challenges can spark interest, they often feel gimmicky. As brands aim for authenticity, the focus will likely shift toward meaningful interactions that build trust and loyalty rather than just playing games for rewards. – Ajay Prasad, GMR Web Team

7. The Creator Economy And Influencers

A lot of today’s content creators are not making money, and a bubble is forming where everyone is trying to reach a stage where it’s profitable. This is leading to a lot of shallow and formulaic content, and the creator’s role is more that of a reformatter. Creativity is being lost and influence is fading as people crave realness. – Dean Seddon, Maverrik

8. Prioritizing Real-Time Measurability Over Effectiveness

The trend of prioritizing real-time measurability over strategy effectiveness is fading. Marketers have been driven to the middle. Brand distinction and loyalty have deteriorated. The digital revolution elevated tactics focused on tracking, not holistic efficacy. We’re now seeing a shift back to creativity and unique strategies that build customer lifetime value, rather than short-term wins just to justify budgets to a CFO. – Shanna Apitz, Hunt Adkins

9. Dependence On Short-Form Videos

A digital marketing trend that may not stand the test of time is the overreliance on short-form videos like TikToks and Instagram Reels. While engaging, these videos risk overwhelming users and often lack the depth needed to convey complex information. Their success also heavily depends on changing algorithms, making them less reliable for long-term strategies. – Bahram Moshrefnoory, Rizer Technology Solutions

10. Vanity Metrics

Vanity metrics dazzle but deceive. While high follower counts and viral posts create buzz, they often fail to drive revenue or customer loyalty. Savvy executives focus on actionable metrics like customer lifetime value and conversion rates. In today’s data-driven landscape, distinguishing between hype and genuine performance is crucial for sustainable growth. – Amy Packard Berry, Sparkpr

11. AI-Generated ‘UGC’

One trend that won’t last is AI-generated “user-generated content.” Many companies now use AI to mimic real people in ads and content. While it may seem innovative at first, there will be an eventual pushback against this as people increasingly start to realize they’re being sold something by a completely fake person. Consumers value authenticity and relatability, so eventually, content from influencers—real people—will replace AI UGC. – Austin Irabor, NETFLY

12. Using Micro-Influencers For Product Promotion

One current marketing trend that may not endure is the heavy reliance on micro-influencers for product promotion. There are three reasons for this: 1. market oversaturation, 2. increasing regulatory scrutiny of sponsored content disclosures, and 3. “influencer fatigue” among younger generations. Instead, we’ll see a shift toward community-driven marketing, where brands foster engagement through quality storytelling. – Megan Cunningham, Magnet Media, Inc.

13. Making Unsubstantiated Claims With Empty Buzzwords

The trend of relying on empty buzzwords—like “revolutionary” or “game changing”—without backing them up with substantive benefits is wearing thin. Overhype risks creating a disconnect between the brand and its audience, resulting in a backlash that undermines long-term customer loyalty and brand reputation. – Goran Paun, ArtVersion

14. Chasing Virality By Jumping On Trends

Building a brand on social media by just doing whatever is trending is on the decline. I see consumers shifting to advocacy of brands that are authentically themselves, despite the brands not jumping on every trend for virality’s sake. I also see more influencers creating less trending content that isn’t on brand for them to instil more and deeper trust in their audience. – Tony Pec, Y Not You Media

15. Relying Primarily On Earned Media For PR

Relying on earned media as a primary public relations tactic won’t last. While earned media is highly valuable, PR extends beyond earned media coverage to encompass strategic communication, thought leadership and content marketing. Brands that leverage PR for broader strategies, including reputation management, speaking engagements and awards, will see more sustainable, long-term success. – Jason Mudd, Axia Public Relations

16. Default Opt-In For Data Collection And Sharing

Default opt-in for data collection and sharing is unlikely to endure as a marketing trend. Growing privacy concerns, regulations like the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation, and increasing consumer awareness are driving a shift toward more user control. As consumers demand greater control over their personal information, the future lies in privacy-first approaches with clear opt-in processes and robust data-protection measures. – Alex Yastrebenetsky, InfoTrust

Feature Image Credit: Getty

Sourced from Forbes

By Jonathan Hunt

Media companies will love their websites a lot less

The conversation around websites and how to make money from them is louder than it should be. Consider the facts:

• AI Overviews are here to stay: Google AI Overviews has, in some cases, impacted up to 40% of publishers’ search traffic over the last year, with others purporting the effects as “negligible.” That’s with only an average 7 to 9% keyword trigger rate, a number which most expect to increase in 2025. Until August of this year, AIOs only impacted U.S. searches. Then they expanded to six new countries. In October, they rolled out to 100 more.
• AI search is growing, but it’s still early days: Referrals from AI search engines like Perplexity and ChatGPT are exploding, but on an absolute basis, they’re still a fraction of a fraction of most publishers’ overall traffic mix.
• Social platforms’ walls are only getting taller: Social platforms like Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn have long deprioritized strategies that let audiences leave their ecosystems, and that’s likely not going to change anytime soon.
• Budgets are tighter than ever: Ad budgets continue to consolidate and shift to big performance channels and ad networks, while programmatic CPMs and fill rates remain anaemic, leaving mid- and small-scale publishers to fight over scraps.
• Audiences are prioritizing only essential paid subscriptions: We’re entering the pruning stage of our media diets. We can’t keep up with, or always afford, another paid subscription. We cancel or let lapse what isn’t essential to our existence.

Websites like The New York Times are not going away, nor is the essential editorial they publish. Businesses will always always need a home base — a place that’s theirs, where they have absolute editorial, experiential, and monetary control. But we’re no longer in the halcyon days of bottomless social and search traffic. And websites aren’t where audiences or advertisers are increasingly investing their time or budgets. The patterns in traffic and ad dollars say as much.

In 2025, publishers will learn to love their websites less and ruthlessly prioritize different strategies to maximize audience and monetization potential — strategies that don’t require significant creative or editorial compromises, and provide strong long-term economic upside beyond the date they’re published.

What are some of those strategies?

Video: It’s back. Again. Yes, the video that the industry has been “pivoting” to for the last 15 years. At one point, it was too cost-prohibitive to produce at scale. Social and SVOD companies invested hundreds of millions of dollars into it, and that money dried up. We entered into a dark period of hands-in-pans and text-on-screen videos, which resulted in a lot of thrash for editorial teams and their capital investments.

There’s an understandable stigma when it comes to the media’s relationship with video. But the risk of becoming jaded to the current video opportunity could be fatal. In the hype cycle, we’re now somewhere between the slope of enlightenment and the plateau of productivity. That’s a good place to be. What’s different now?

• Video is the currency of nearly every platform that nearly every connected human on earth is already using: YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, Douyin, etc.
• The barrier and economics for producing good long- and short-form video are lower than they’ve ever been.
• Advertisers are now fully bought into the brand and transactional value of video — and are willing to pay premiums for it.
• Video is extremely versatile. It’s highly discoverable, with Google and YouTube being two of the biggest search engines in the world, and it can be reengineered and redistributed a dozen different ways: for shorts, for different platforms, transcribed and repackaged into text or audio. The flywheel keeps spinning.

For HubSpot’s media network, video has become our single fastest-growing content strategy over the last few years and will continue to be one of our largest sources of investment going into 2025. In 2024 alone, we’ve grown views of our long-form content by 47% and increased the return of our video investment through lead generation by 78%. We’re talking 150,000-plus new leads in 2024 from video, and growing.

How? An investment in upleveling what you see on screen, increasing long- and short-form output, improving our insights-to-production motion, localizing to more non-English markets, using AI to automate rote aspects of our monetization and post-production processes, partnering with other YouTube creators and domain experts, launching new channels that address underserved markets, believing that videos from B2B companies don’t have to be boring.

If you’ve seen what we publish on The Hustle or My First Million, you know what I’m talking about. And we’re a B2B media operation. Going into the new year, all traffic and revenue trends considered, video will continue to become a must-have rather than a nice-to-have for publishers of all shapes and sizes.

Creator partnerships: Your editorial and audience extensions. In the old world, there were capital-J journalism and journalists, and then there was the island of misfit YouTubers and influencers and social media managers and other less prestigious categories of content makers. In the new world, influence is shifting to those once-misfits.

In the new world, your distribution is just as, if not more, important as your byline. In 2025, media operators will look to outside, independent creators as extensions of their editorial teams, and as a boon for diversifying audience and revenue.

The most successful creators today are the ones who do three things exceptionally well: They’re experts in their specific crafts (sketch comedy, enterprise sales, Excel speedrunning), they’re creating content in very shareable and interactive formats, and they’re publishing to personal environments (your subscription feed, your inbox) where content and ad engagement, and CPMs, are highest.

The most successful publishers will be the ones building complementary creator programs of external and internal domain experts who wield trust and reach, co-producing original video and audio IP with them and, in some cases, building new media brands together.

Today, HubSpot’s media network collaborates with over 100 creators — mostly across YouTube and newsletters — in categories like marketing, sales, AI, and entrepreneurship. In some scenarios, we’re the sponsor. In others, like My First Million or The Next Wave, we’re co-developing strategic relationships that produce original series and new brands. And some, like The Hustle or Mindstream, we acquire.

Why will this approach be opportunistic for media companies going forward?

• It’s low risk: working with creators is a variable model where partnerships can be as deep or as shallow as you want. Long term, short term. YouTube, LinkedIn. Co-pro, live read. You mix and match to find the right solution for your editorial strategy.
• It’s instant distribution — and in some cases credibility and relevance — to audiences you may not currently reach, in highly contextual and trusted environments, on the largest platforms in the world.

For both of these reasons, it’s a great way to test and learn with emerging talent that you may want to ultimately go deeper with, and to find a model that works best for your own goals.

For HubSpot, here’s what drives our strategic decision-making when working with creators:

• Does the partnership bring us closer to a high-intent audience in a category we care most about?
• Does the creator know anything about our business? Audience trust and believability is critical.
• Do the economics work? For us, lead generation and brand awareness are two key metrics. Not only are we seeing the raw views, on average we’re seeing 60% cost savings on effective lead acquisition when working with creators vs. traditional direct response advertising like Meta, etc.

Like video in 2025, creator partnerships will be an essential strategy for how media companies further hedge against an overreliance on their websites for audience and revenue generation.

What else should we expect more of? Email, for one. At a time when first-party data, direct marketing channels, hyper-engaged audiences, and sponsorship premiums are everything media operators want more of, reprioritizing newsletter strategies — owned and partnered — doesn’t sound so boring or overplayed. While oversaturation and deliverability are two valid concerns, as long as you’re not another news digest and you deliver unique value or solve for an unmet need, then the odds are in your favour.

Websites won’t go away in 2025. They’ll still be a vital channel for essential journalism and revenue generation.

But in 2025, they won’t be the primary focus. Expect a resurgence in video production and creator strategies: two trends that will ensure a sustainable future for B2C and B2B media companies alike.

By Jonathan Hunt

Jonathan Hunt is vice president of media at HubSpot and head of The Hustle.

Sourced from Neiman Lab.

BY ROBIN LANDA

Discover how to leverage the first quarter of the year to establish a strong foundation for social media success. Learn to define your audience, uncover consumer insights, and craft data-driven campaigns that resonate and deliver results.

With the average person spending nearly two and a half hours daily on social media, businesses have a prime opportunity to connect with their audience. The first 90 days of the year provide a crucial window to establish a strong foundation for social media advertising success. This process requires a strategic focus on understanding your audience, setting actionable goals, and crafting a targeted approach. Here’s how to begin.

1. Understand your target audience.

Jeff Bezos famously said, “The most important single thing is to focus obsessively on the customer.” This philosophy applies to businesses of any size. Prioritizing your customers’ needs is the cornerstone of effective marketing.

Start by analysing both demographics (who your audience is) and psychographics (why they act as they do):

BY ROBIN LANDA

Sourced from Inc.

By Lora Kelley

Some brands are returning to the print catalogue in order to sell things on their terms.

J.Crew has 2.7 million followers on Instagram, and more than 300,000 on X. But earlier this fall, it announced that it was trying to reach prospective customers the old-fashioned way: by reviving its print catalog. In 2024, everyone shops online. But in recent years, some retailers have returned to the catalog as a way to attempt to grab a bit more of shoppers’ coveted attention. People can and do scroll past the endless stream of marketing emails and digital ads on their phone. But completely ignoring a catalogue that appears on your stoop or in your mailbox is tougher. Simply put, you have to pick it up, even if you are planning to throw it in the recycling bin—and brands hope that you might flip through some glossy photos along the way.

Catalogues heyday came before the financial crisis—but they never fully went away, and billions have been sent to American consumers every year since. The catalogues of 2024, in part a nostalgia play for those who grew up with the trend, are generally sent to targeted lists of customers who have either shopped with a brand in the past or are deemed plausible future buyers. Some retailers are maintaining what they’ve always done: Neiman Marcus, for example, continues to send a catalogue, even as some of its peers have stopped. Both traditional and digital-first companies use catalogues: Amazon has issued a toy catalogue since 2018. Brands have started playing with the format too, taking the concept beyond a straightforward list of products: Patagonia puts out a catalogue that it calls a “bona fide journal,” featuring “stories and photographs” from contributors. Many of these catalogues don’t even include information about pricing; shoppers have to go to the website for that.

Amanda Mull, writing in The Atlantic in early 2020, foretold a new golden era of catalogs—brands at the time were becoming “more desperate to find ways to sell their stuff without tithing to the tech behemoths.” Since then, the pandemic has only turbocharged consumers’ feelings of overwhelm with online shopping. Immediate purchase is not necessarily the goal; these catalogues are aiming to build a relationship that might lead to future orders, Jonathan Zhang, a marketing professor at Colorado State University, told me. The return on investment for companies is pretty good, Zhang has found, especially because more sophisticated targeting and measurement means that brands aren’t spending time appealing to people who would never be interested (this also means that less paper is wasted than in the free-for-all mailer days, he noted).

With catalogues, brands are supplementing, not replacing, e-commerce: Zhang’s experiments with an e-commerce retailer found that over a period of six months starting in late 2020, people who received both catalogues and marketing emails from a retailer made 24 percent more purchases than those who received only the emails. A spokesperson for J.Crew told me that following the catalogue relaunch, the brand saw a nearly 20 percent rise in reactivated customers, adding that this fall, 11 percent more consumers had a positive impression of the J.Crew brand compared with last year. E-commerce is the undeniable centre of shopping in 2024, so brands are finding creative ways to use in-person methods to build on its success—including, as I’ve written, reimagining the brick-and-mortar store.

A well-designed catalogue may appeal to some of the same sensory instincts that enchant die-hard in-person shoppers. Catalogues work especially well for certain types of products: Zhang said that “hedonic” categories of goods—luxury clothing, perfumes, vacation packages, chocolate—are some of the best fits for stories and photos in a print format. (I smile when I think of Elaine taking this type of luxury marketing to parody levels in her stint running a catalogue on Seinfeld.) Zhang himself has been wooed by such a campaign: Around February of this year, he received a mailer from a cruise company (one he had never interacted with in the past). He spent a few minutes flipping through. In August, when he started thinking about planning a winter vacation for his family, he remembered the catalogue and visited the company’s website. “That few minutes was long enough for me to kind of encode this information in my memory,” he said. He decided to book a trip.

The catalogue has moved forward in fits and starts: 30 years ago, they were the central way to market a product directly to consumers. Then the pendulum swung hard toward online ads. Now we may start to see more of a balance between the two. Some of us would rather turn away from advertising altogether. But if brands are going to find us anyway, print catalogues could add a little more texture to the experience of commerce.

Feature Image Credit: master1305 / Getty

By Lora Kelley

Sourced from The Atlantic

This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here.

By Noor Al-Siba

Ads inside ChatGPT may be on the horizon.

They’re not copping to much yet, but recent hiring activity and wishy-washy statements make it seem an awful lot like OpenAI is planning to introduce ads into its suite of products like ChatGPT.

As the Financial Times reports, the company is hiring ad talent away from its big tech rivals like Google and Meta. And ad-oriented job listings at the company that the FT spotted on LinkedIn offer a similar sense.

So far, even the free versions of OpenAI’s products have remained ad-free. Of course, the company is currently swimming in money — in the two years since its flagship chatbot dropped, OpenAI’s valuation skyrocketed to $157 billion — but amid reports of shrinking traffic and the extremely expensive nature of AI infrastructure, it may well be starting to feel the squeeze.

If it did start to put ads into ChatGPT, the formerly nonprofit OpenAI would be crossing a Rubicon of sleaziness; the obvious integration would be to jump on users asking things like “best air fryer” and then pointing them toward companies paying OpenAI for publicity, undermining the entire premise of an intelligent and objective AI-powered assistant.

DraperGPT

In an interview with the FT, chief financial officer Sarah Friar candidly said the company had been weighing an ads model, though she declined to say when or where such ads would be released besides saying the company would be “thoughtful about when and where we implement them.”

A former mover and shaker for the likes of Nextdoor and Salesforce, Friar went on to point out that she and OpenAI chief product officer Kevin Weil — who previously helmed ad-supported projects at Instagram and Twitter — have a ton of ad experience.

“The good news with Kevin Weil at the wheel with product is that he came from Instagram,” she told the outlet. “He knows how this works.”

Following the interview, however, Friar backtracked with an unconvincing reversal.

“Our current business is experiencing rapid growth and we see significant opportunities within our existing business model,” she told the FT. “While we’re open to exploring other revenue streams in the future, we have no active plans to pursue advertising.”

As of now, of course, there’s no confirmation of anything except internal talks about introducing ads into OpenAI products.

Reading between the lines, however, it seems like the firm doing a bit more than brainstorming — and that after-interview reversal makes the whole thing seem all the more likely to happen.

By Noor Al-Siba

Sourced from THE_BYTE

By Lester Mapp

American small businesses could struggle as Meta’s latest update changes the advertising landscape. Here’s how to pivot your efforts to thrive instead.

On January 31, 2025, Meta will deliver another blow to advertisers. 😩

Talk about a happy new year. 🥂

Meta has already started eliminating the ability to set new detailed targeting exclusions as of July 15, 2024. However, beginning Jan. 31, existing campaigns using these exclusions will stop delivering altogether.

Imagine running ads with no way to exclude audiences that will not buy.

This change feels like yet another chapter in Meta’s ongoing playbook of: “Give me your credit card info, and trust me, bro.” 🤑

In this article, I’ll explain why this is happening and, more importantly, what you can do to stay ahead. But before we get into it, here’s a bit about me and why this will be worth the read.

Quick Intro

If you’re new here, my name’s Lester, but call me Les. 👋

I’m a founder with a successful exit and currently the executive chairman of a group of e-commerce brands. I’m an award-winning performance marketer at my core, and spotting trends is what I do best.

Over the years, my team and I have spent tens of millions of dollars on the Meta marketing platform. It’s safe to say I know a thing or two about how it works.

How we got here

Before we jump into what you should do, we need to understand how we got here.

If we’re being philosophical about Meta’s latest targeting announcement, this traces back to Sept. 16, 2020, the day Apple announced the infamous App Tracking Transparency. But as marketers call it, the “iOS 14 update.” 😖

The iOS 14 update, with its App Tracking Transparency feature, significantly impacted Meta advertising by limiting the ability to track user behaviour across apps and websites, which reduced ad targeting effectiveness and increased customer acquisition costs due to a lack of granular data for personalization and optimization.

Since that day, targeting the right audiences for your product or service has been challenging and inconsistent.

iOS 14 was a major shake-up. It brought in new features that changed everything. And Meta’s response?

The classic “trust us” agenda. 👉👈

Since then, Meta has seen impressive revenue growth that has pleased shareholders. But marketers? Not so much when it comes to ad performance. I would tell you what they’re saying, but Aly (my editor) said I’m not allowed to swear. 🤐

Over the years, advertising platforms like Google and Meta have increasingly leaned into AI, turning marketing into more of a black box. I’m not a fan. 😒

I think I speak for most marketers when I say: “I trust you, but only when I’m in control.”

What this means for advertisers like you

As this update takes full effect, advertisers will lose the ability to exclude audiences who don’t fit their criteria. This change adds another layer of difficulty to an already challenging advertising landscape.

Here’s why. Imagine I sell red wine. My campaigns target people interested in red wine, but I also target related interests like steakhouses, steaks, events, magazines, and influencers that red wine lovers follow. 🍷

But here’s the thing: I only sell red wine. Based on customer behaviour, if someone likes white wine, they won’t like my red wine. So, I don’t want that segment to even see the ads because they won’t purchase.

Ideally, I’d exclude white wine drinkers altogether, ensuring my marketing dollars target those more likely to convert. 😩

See why this matters? This change can make marketing less effective, resulting in higher customer acquisition costs for small businesses.

What you can do 

This situation is less than ideal as small businesses continue to feel the pinch from the economy, high interest rates, etc.

Feature Image Credit: CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images

By Lester Mapp

Sourced from ZD NET

By Deepak Bansal

Digital marketing is a rapidly evolving field, and as we move toward 2025, several emerging trends are set to reshape how brands connect with their audiences.

The upcoming years promise significant innovation, driven by technological advancements, changes in consumer behaviour and a deepening focus on personalization and data. As digital marketers, staying ahead of these trends is essential to create impactful strategies that drive engagement and results.

Here are six key trends to watch in 2025 and beyond.

1. Artificial Intelligence And Machine Learning In Marketing

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) have already transformed digital marketing, and I predict their role will become even more prominent, further optimizing everything from customer segmentation to content creation.

Chatbots and virtual assistants continue to evolve, soon providing more human-like interactions. As AI tools become more intuitive and accessible, businesses can automate routine tasks like lead nurturing and email marketing, freeing up human teams for more strategic work.

To prepare, marketing teams should develop skills in AI-driven content tools like Jasper and ChatGPT, particularly when it comes to customer segmentation and content personalization. I believe it will become important to have some familiarity with AI-driven customer service tools, such as chatbots equipped with sentiment analysis and natural language processing (NLP) features.

Overall, keep an eye on AI advancements in personalized user interactions that can interpret and respond to customer sentiment. This shift will allow brands to offer a more customized customer experience, making AI an essential asset in customer relations.

2. Voice Search And Voice Commerce

With the proliferation of smart speakers like Amazon’s Alexa, Google Home and Apple’s Siri, voice search has become a mainstream method for information gathering. A recent report by NPR and Edison Research shows that at least 35% of U.S. households now own a smart speaker, accelerating the shift toward voice commerce.

It’s important to note how voice search optimization differs from traditional SEO as users ask questions conversationally. Instead of typing “best coffee shops in Seattle,” a voice search might be “What are the best coffee shops near me?” Brands should focus on long-tail keywords and natural language to capture this growing audience.

3. The Rise Of Augmented Reality (AR) And Virtual Reality (VR)

While AR and VR were once primarily associated with gaming, I see them now transforming industries like retail, allowing for immersive shopping experiences.

Major brands like IKEA and Sephora have already implemented AR. IKEA’s AR app allows users to view furniture in their own space, while Sephora’s AR technology lets users experiment with virtual makeup try-ons. These applications are reshaping customer expectations and proving AR’s utility across retail sectors.

For brands looking to embrace AR and VR, consider investing in an AR experience platform that aligns with your industry. For example, fashion and beauty brands could explore virtual try-ons, while real estate companies might benefit from virtual property tours. Early adoption can enhance customer engagement and differentiate brands in competitive markets.

4. The Continued Dominance Of Video Content

Video content remains a powerful force in digital marketing, with platforms like YouTube, TikTok and Instagram Reels focusing on short-form, interactive formats.

As consumer preferences shift toward snackable, engaging content, brands can use video to deliver information quickly and creatively. Here are my tips for creating engaging video content that speaks to developing trends:

• Embrace short-form and live streaming. Use live streaming for real-time engagement, which is ideal for launches or Q&As. On top of this, short-form platforms like TikTok and YouTube Shorts can boost reach. I find that tools like InShot and Canva can help simplify quality video creation.

• Adapt to new platform offerings to encourage interaction. With new features on YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels and TikTok, brands can leverage interactive tools (e.g., polls, live Q&As) to engage viewers. Regularly analyse metrics to refine content strategies based on what resonates most in each niche.

5. Personalization At Scale

Consumers expect personalized experiences across all digital channels. By 2025, I foresee personalization advancing beyond basic customization and enabling brands to deliver hyper-personalized content and recommendations.

To prepare for this increasing focus into hyper-personalization, I first recommend you invest in dynamic content platforms. Brands can consider platforms like HubSpot or Marketo that offer advanced personalization features. Look for ways to create dynamic content adjustments that reflect user data, ensuring messages are relevant to each visitor.

AI-driven personalization can also allow your brand to design user journeys that proactively meet customer needs. Develop campaigns that consider various stages of the buyer journey, from interest to decision-making, for highly relevant interactions.

6. Social Commerce and Shoppable Content

The line between social media and e-commerce is blurring, with platforms like Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest integrating in-app shopping features. This development allows consumers to purchase products directly from their social media feeds, creating a seamless browsing-to-purchase experience.

To optimize for social commerce:

• Create engaging, shoppable content. Focus on visually appealing and interactive content that encourages sharing. Use shoppable posts on Instagram and Facebook to streamline the buying process and improve conversion rates.

• Partner with influencers. Collaborate with influencers or incorporate user-generated content to broaden reach. This strategy helps build credibility and connects your brand with new audiences.

Preparing For 2025 And Beyond

To stay competitive, I believe marketers need to embrace emerging technologies, prioritize personalization and adapt to shifts in consumer behavior. AI, voice search, AR and video will dominate digital marketing in 2025, while data privacy and sustainability will become essential for shaping customer relationships.

I think the brands that thrive are the ones that blend innovation with authenticity, creating meaningful, personalized experiences that resonate with consumers. By staying ahead of these trends, digital marketers can craft impactful campaigns that build lasting connections with their audiences.

Feature Image Credit: Getty

By Deepak Bansal

Follow me on LinkedIn. Check out my website.

Deepak Bansal, Director of Digital Marketing, Atihsi LLC and CEO & Founder, Clearpath Technology Pvt Ltd. Read Deepak Bansal’s full executive profile here.

Sourced from Forbes

By ROBIN LANDA

Successful brands engage audiences with authentic storytelling, shared values, and emotional resonance to create lasting relationships that go beyond transactions.

Feature Image Credit: Getty Images

By ROBIN LANDA

Sourced from Inc.

By Jenny Rooney

In this special episode of the Marketing Vanguard podcast, host Jenny Rooney speaks with media and marketing legend Gary Vaynerchuk. They explore the future of marketing, how creative content is reshaping reach, the rise of live shopping, and the need for brands to adapt to the fast-evolving social media landscape.

The Vaynerchuk family immigrated to the U.S. from Belarus in 1978, starting in a small studio apartment in Queens before settling in New Jersey. Even from a young age, Vaynerchuk had a knack for business, first with a lemonade franchise at age 7, then selling baseball cards and toys in high school.

At 14, he joined his family’s liquor business, where he saw the early internet as an “untapped land” in the late ’90s. Transforming his father’s store into one of the country’s first ecommerce sites for alcohol, Vaynerchuk rebranded it as Wine Library, growing sales from $4 million to $60 million.

In 2006, he launched WineLibraryTV, one of YouTube’s first long-form video series, which led to national TV appearances and his growing reputation as a digital marketing pioneer. After his 2008 keynote at Web 2.0, Vaynerchuk published Crush It! with HarperCollins, a bestseller that launched his career in media and as an angel investor in companies like Facebook, Twitter, and Uber.

He went on to co-found VaynerMedia with his brother AJ, building it into a leading digital agency with top clients like PepsiCo and Johnson & Johnson. Expanding his media ventures, Vaynerchuk acquired PureWow, launched several bestselling books, created The #AskGaryVee show, and grew his personal brand to over 44 million followers across social platforms. His life goal remains owning the New York Jets.

“For the first time in the history of marketing, the creative creates the reach,” he says on the podcast. “And if it creates reach, it earned it. When you understand that truth, it will flip this industry upside down, putting social creative at the starting point, not the matching luggage to a campaign we’re doing at the end.”

Key takeaways:

01:22 Why Social Media Is More Than Just an Add-On — Driven by advanced social media platforms, Vaynerchuk highlights that today’s social media platforms offer marketers a unique opportunity: organic content itself can drive massive reach and generate invaluable consumer insights without the heavy costs of traditional media campaigns. Social isn’t just an add-on; it’s a powerful, data-rich starting point. Testing creative ideas directly on platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube shorts allows brands to quickly see what resonates and adjust in real-time, saving on ad spend and connecting more authentically with audiences.

04:28 Adapt or Fade — The future of marketing is shifting fast, with smaller, agile brands, often with minimal venture capital, winning market share from industry giants. Agencies must quickly adapt to add real value as companies increasingly move tasks in-house due to frustration with outdated approaches. Now, creative success will be measured on actual performance, not just reputation or charisma.

12:02 Why Leaders Should Embrace Authenticity and Failure — Vaynerchuk underlines the importance of being open and authentic as a leader, sharing that while much of his professional life is public, his personal life remains private. He encourages others to embrace failure without fear of judgment, noting that many people overly value external opinions, often based on limited context

By Jenny Rooney

• @jenny_rooney

Jenny Rooney is Chief Brand and Community Officer, leading strategy for the overall ADWEEK brand as well as the ways in which we serve and support our audiences with high-value content, products, partnerships and experiences, notably through our community programs such as Marketing Vanguard.

Sourced from ADWEEK