Change can be challenging but it’s something digital marketers and business owners need to put up with.
One of the biggest changes we see in 2025 is the further development of AI… For good or for bad! But, there are plenty more digital marketing trends to keep an eye on, too.
In this blog post, we’re going to talk through digital marketing trends 2025 and how small business owners can turn these into actionable digital marketing tips.
Social media marketing
First up, we’re talking about social media marketing trends. But, before we do that let’s look at how much time people are spending on social platforms.
| Platform | 18-24 | 25-34 | 35-44 | 45-54 | 55-64 | 65+ |
| TikTok | 76 | 50 | 47 | 45 | 37 | 29 |
| 53 | 37 | 28 | 27 | 26 | 20 | |
| 22 | 26 | 30 | 36 | 45 | 34 | |
| Snapchat | 35 | 27 | 22 | 22 | 20 | 19 |
| Total | 186 | 140 | 127 | 130 | 128 | 102 |
Source: Emarketer Forecast, Feb 2024. Based on US adults who access social media platforms from any device.
Key pull-outs
- Most users spend more time on TikTok than any other platform
- Gen Z adults who use socials will spend almost 41% of their social time on TikTok
- Facebook is still the most popular platform for users aged 55+
X’s decline
Whilst X wasn’t included in this study, it’s still one of the digital channels we’d like to talk about. One thing we saw in 2024 was a drop-off in user growth.
X’s daily active user growth has dropped from about 30% annually in 2020 to less than 2% in 2024 (PC Mag). With that decrease comes an increase in two similar social media platforms, Threads and BlueSky.
Threads is a text-based social media app from Meta. Users can join public conversations, use polls and pose questions. Threads now has almost 300 million active users, so it’s growing quickly.
BlueSky is a similar platform, created by X’s previous founder, Jack Dorsey. It’s attracting users who want ad-free experiences and content control, something which is missing from X. BlueSky is growing slower, with only 24 million users, but it’s still something to keep an eye on.
Users fleeing from X have reported misinformation, toxic discourse and lack of content control as reasons for going (Guardian). Some users also report not feeling safe on the platform.
So, as a business owner, you need to decide where your brand fits best. Think about which platforms align with your values, so you can be present in the right spaces.
Content experimentation
Another social media trend we’re very excited about is content experimentation.
Social teams and brand owners are ditching consistency and cookie-cutter social media posts, favouring entertainment and experimentation instead.
Just look Currys viral Black Friday marketing stunt as a perfect example.
The video content used Gen Z lingo like “Brat summer” and “No cap”, gaining more than 1.9m views on socials and reviews like “the best marketing ever”. It was brilliant for brand awareness and online presence, and, it got a new target audience talking about Currys.
Social media is a place for users to push their creativity and experiment with their look, style and voice, so it only makes sense that brands get in on that fun too.
In 2025, we predict (and hope) that more brands will step out of their creative comfort zone. We want to see brands surprising audiences with marketing campaigns that are out of the ordinary.
Shoppable socials
Social media and e-commerce are becoming blurrier and blurrier. Platforms like Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest are integrating in-app shopping features that enable customers to purchase directly from their social feeds.
Business owners looking to make the most of this feature should focus on:
- Shoppable content: Go heavily product-focused and show people all the reasons they should buy your stock.
- Influencer marketing: Use influencers to demonstrate and style your products, bringing them to life and encouraging viewers to purchase there and then.
Search engine optimization
Search Engine Optimization is slowly but surely is now evolving into Search Everywhere Optimization with a primary focus on visibility across all digital touchpoints. Aligning this with CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization), businesses can attract traffic and convert it effectively, turning clicks into customers.
EEAT
Ok, this one’s not a trend because it’s something all search engine optimization marketers should be prioritising… E-E-A-T.
Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness.
Establishing these is essential for SEO success as we move into 2025.
To stand out in the crowded search engine result pages, brands, content creators and copywriters must use their own experiences to create unique content for web pages.
Some of the ways you can do this are through:
- Customer reviews/customer feedback
- First-hand research
- Personal experiences
- Unique insights
Looking through page view patterns, sales call feedback and customer queries is a great way for you to find gaps in your marketing. Then, those gaps can be filled with unique, valuable content that meets your audience’s needs.
Long-tail content
Anyone who’s spent time conducting keyword research will know how exciting it is to find that low-competition, high-worth, long-tail keyword. It’s one of the most effective ways to get good ranking in search results, and that’s not changing any time soon.
Short keywords like ‘Plumber’ and ‘Yoga teacher’ are incredibly hard to rank for and unclear when it comes to user intent. They’re also usually dominated by third-party sites.
Instead, you should be looking for conversational keywords that address pain points.
Instead of ‘Plumber‘, how about ‘How to unblock a toilet naturally?‘. Instead of ‘Yoga teacher‘ what about ‘Yoga poses for lower back pain‘?
These long-tail keywords are hyper-specific, meaning you can use your experience and expertise to guide unique content creation that directly answers your prospective customers’ questions.
Artificial intelligence in marketing
Artificial intelligence and generative AI are empowering marketing teams.
Using AI digital marketing tools, teams can deliver new levels of personalization at breakneck speeds. Like it or lump it, if you don’t find a way to use AI in 2025, you’re going to fall behind.
If you’re a start-up or small-to-medium-sized business owner, here are some brilliant AI tools and new technologies for you to familiarize yourself with.
AI social content calendar
Anyone who knows anything about digital marketing will understand that having a digital strategy is essential.
When it comes to socials, a part of that strategy is your content calendar.
AI Social Content Calendar can help you with that. It’s an AI co-pilot that generates exciting posts, perfect captions and relevant hashtags, at the click of a button. It also offers insights and feedback, so your socials can go from strength to strength.
Tidio
Tidio is an AI customer service bot. It can solve as many as 70% of customer queries, without the need for human interaction.
Using natural language processing, it offers personalized and relevant answers to customer interactions. It can be integrated with over 120 different platforms too, including Shopify, WordPress and Squarespace. Benefits include:
- In-built ticketing system that turns queries into cases
- Analytic reporting to measure interaction success
- Uses a drag-and-drop builder and ready-made response templates
Email marketing
Whether you’re just getting started with email or it’s a proven part of your digital marketing strategy, here are some digital marketing trends 2025 for email marketing teams.
Audience segmentation
Audience segmentation is one of the fundamentals of digital marketing, and it applies to email too.
Segmenting audiences is nothing new. But, email marketing software providers are stepping up when it comes to segmenting capabilities, making it easier for you to break down your audiences.
Around 20% of companies report sending unique emails to specific email lists. And we think that number will keep growing. Especially once you appreciate the fact that email segmentation can lead to 6x higher transaction rates (Experian).
“Personalized promotional mailings have 29% higher unique open rates and 41% higher unique click rates than non-personalized mailings” (Experian).
Mobile optimization
More people open emails on mobile devices than desktops now. So, if you’re not thinking mobile-first, you’re not putting your potential customers first.
To make sure you optimize emails for mobile, think about:
- Short and sweet: Mobile users don’t want War and Peace. So, get your point across in as few words as possible.
- White space: Let your sentences breathe, as large chunks of text can be hard to digest.
- Testing: Test, test, and test again. Try the email on as many mobile devices as you can, to make sure you’re getting the results you want.
Final thoughts: Digital marketing trends 2025
2025 is going to be an exciting year for small business owners and digital marketing teams.
New features and platforms, like AI tools and in-app shopping, are pushing digital marketing efforts into new spaces.
Changes in SEO are keeping content creators on their toes.
And, the persistent move to mobile-first marketing is shaping the way brands and business owners think about everything from email marketing to website design.
If you’re looking for digital marketing tips for small business, we hope this article has helped you!
