The digital marketing landscape is constantly changing. Here are our predictions for digital marketing trends in 2025 as well as actionable insights for your digital marketing strategy.

1. Voice Search Affects Keyword Targeting

Black Samsung Tablet Display Google Browser on Screen
Photo by AS Photography on Pexels

What exactly do we mean by “voice search?”

Every time you say “Hey Siri,” “Ok Google,” or call out Alexa’s name, you’re searching with your voice

Think about how you talk out loud versus how you type. You’re probably going to speak in a full sentence rather than in a choppy keyword. If you’re asking Alexa or Siri a question, you’ll ask something like “Alexa, how do I change a tire?” Compare this to how you might ask that same question in a search bar. That same question might be phrased as “how to change tire.”

When using voice search, people are using their natural speech. And the internet understands

It’s easier, more user-friendly, and often faster. People who don’t type well don’t have to struggle anymore and there’s no need to navigate through confusing site menus

55% of teens and 41% of adults use voice search at least once a day. That is a lot of voice searching. It’s only going to grow as more people get comfortable with asking a little speaker to order toilet paper or what the president is up to today. It’s also going to keep growing as children who are raised around voice search grow up to buy their own voice assistants and devices.

This shift could change how marketers optimize web pages. Maybe marketers target more voice-friendly keywords as well as ones that are typically typed. Take a local SEO client that sells sandwiches, for example. Just imagine how searches for “sandwich shops near me” and “where can I get lunch today?” in a voice assistant will change the local SEO landscape.

Actionable insights: Digital marketing teams should keep an eye out in 2025 for search engine algorithm changes when it comes to voice search and explore targeting more conversational, voice-friendly keywords.

2. Augmented Reality Grows in Ecommerce

A woman uses a filter on her phone, powered by artificial intelligence and augmented reality technologies, to see what she would look like with blue hair.

Let’s start at the beginning: what is augmented reality?

Do you watch football on Sunday nights? That yellow line on the field that moves around with the line of scrimmage isn’t real. It’s augmented reality! How about another example: those Snapchat filters that all the youth are using lately? You got it—also augmented reality.

Augmented reality is the ability to integrate digital data into a real-time experience

It’s not the future anymore. It’s the present thanks to some incredible advancements.

According to Statista, in “2024, there were an estimated 1.03 billion mobile augmented reality (AR) users worldwide,” with that number expected to reach 1.07 billion in 2025. That means that advertising spending on AR is going to increase, and brands are going to work quickly to integrate it into their marketing strategies.

There are many ways to use augmented reality, but the big two are for entertainment (again, think Snapchat filters) and for practical functionality (like testing a lipstick shade with a selfie filter before buying the lipstick itself). Combining the two can make for great brand engagement and potential for increased conversion rates and sales, especially for younger demographics like Gen Z who want hyper-personalized experiences.

Actionable insights: For e-commerce brands, folding AR tech into marketing strategies may help boost brand awareness and conversion rates among younger demographics, like Gen Z, that want hyper-personalized experiences. Having potential customers interact with products in augmented reality makes it easier to visualize using a product, which could lead to increased purchases and engagement rates.

3. Marketers Fold Artificial Intelligence into Paid Search

Electronics, Mobile phone, Screen image of Google search for Google Analytics.
Photo by Pexels from Pixabay

Artificial intelligence and machine learning tech are no longer restricted to science fiction. Most digital marketers are already familiar with generative AI tools like ChatGPT to help with content marketing and email marketing channels. These channels are not the only places that marketers and advertisers can utilize generative AI in their marketing efforts, however. AI can also help digital marketers stand out in their paid search campaigns.

The use of AI agents directly within an ad platform is becoming more and more common; it’s quickly establishing itself as a standard industry practice. Take Gemini, for example. This AI-powered tool helps advertisers within the Google Ads platform generate headlines, descriptions, and more for paid search campaigns.

AI-generated content for ads isn’t all that’s making waves in paid search, either. AI tools are also increasingly helping with campaign optimization efforts, not just campaign creation. Specifically, marketers are using AI to help organize and synthesize information in data-driven ways that can help them better segment their target audience and use verbiage to meet audiences exactly where they’re at in their customer journey.

Actionable insights: Utilize AI to help scale campaigns while keeping a focus on continually improving AI agents available to marketers.

4. Generative Engine Optimization Becomes Increasingly Important

Content creation and optimization for both search engines and human users has always been a balancing act for digital marketers. Add optimization for AI overviews to that juggle.

AI overviews are overviews of search queries that summarize a topic, answer questions, and provide a list of resources for further information. They now appear in roughly half of all search results in Google, meaning they’re increasingly important for companies and sites that want to maximize their reach and brand awareness. It’s a digital marketing trend that no one in the industry will be able to ignore.

Screenshot of Digital Strike appearing in AI overview for “seo websites” in Google search results on desktop. Generative engine optimization, or GEO, is one of many emerging digital marketing trends.
The best GEO practices = the best SEO practices.

The emergence of overviews has given birth to the AI-driven cousin of SEO: generative engine optimization, or GEO. It’s exactly what it sounds like: optimizing your online presence to rank well in AI overviews on search engines. While GEO is new and important for digital marketers, the truth is that GEO practices don’t actually deviate from traditional SEO tactics. In other words, high-quality content optimized for search engines and the customer experience is more likely to appear in organic search engine results pages (SERPs) and AI overviews.

Screenshot of Digital Strike appearing in AI overview for “top seo websites” in Google search results on desktop. Generative engine optimization, or GEO, is one of many emerging digital marketing trends.
Digital Strike appears in Spot #5 in Google organic search results for “seo websites” on desktop. Our success here directly translates to success in AI overviews.

Actionable insights: The best generative engine optimization strategy is a combination of data-driven technical SEO tactics, on-page optimizations, and thoughtful content strategy centered on offering a quality user experience.

5. Short-Form and Community-Driven Social Platforms Dominate

Couple Using Instagram in Car
Photo by Viralyft on Pexels

Short-form video content continues to be one of the most engaging content formats on social media platforms like Meta and Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, and TikTok (for now, depending on the future of data privacy laws). The popularity of bite-sized videos is driven by their ability to quickly capture attention and offer authentic, digestible user-generated content that resonates with audiences.

Because of this desire to connect with authentic content, community-driven platforms are gaining momentum. Groups and niche platforms like Discord and Reddit along with private Facebook Groups allow users and content creators to foster deeper connections online. Marketers are tapping into these spaces to engage with loyal audiences, create exclusive content, and strengthen brand presence within smaller, more focused communities.

Actionable insights: Large and small businesses alike can make use of short-form video content and community-driven content in their social media marketing plans. Prioritizing bite-sized content, user-generated content, and fostering an online community among potential customers and others in your industry are actionable steps for forward-thinking social media managers.

A lot could happen in the next year and we’re doing our best to expect the unexpected. Thinking about starting a digital marketing campaign for your business? Contact us for a free consultation

What are some digital marketing trends that you think we’ll see in 2025?

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