Predictions for 2025 started fast and furious before the calendar flipped to November.
But, as you’ve learned, marketing predictors are really bad at them.
In 2023, virtual and augmented reality was supposed to take off. And 2024 was to be filled with agile marketers scrambling to do innovative things to drive growth. This was to be the year that AI would find its way because marketers’ optimism would drive rapid and exciting adoption of the technology.
Brand safety was to be another story of 2024. Yet, as research from Forrester finds, more than half (53%) of U.S. B2C marketing executives recently said they’re becoming less “prudish” about brand safety.
Yes, predictions are fun, engaging, and what people (including us at CMI) do. So, keep all of this in the proper perspective.
With that said, we turn the microphone over to CMI’s chief strategy advisor, Robert Rose, to learn what he sees for 2025. Read on or watch the video:
Create for moments, not momentum
What will be the focus in 2025?
Will it be SEO and content? Predictions from Forrester say SEO budgets will triple in 2025 as AI integration reaches a critical path moment for search.
And how about AI? Well, research firm Kantar predicts that 2025 marketers will care a lot about auditing and managing their data and its quality so they and, in turn, their customers have more trust in the content produced by generative AI.
There’s a lot to unpack for 2025, especially with the U.S. election now complete. So, let’s grab the CMI Magic 8 Ball to see what’s going to happen (or not happen) next year.
Brace yourself: Using the U.S. national election as the lens, I confidently see a wild and curvy path for marketers on the content road.
Pressure will be renewed when it comes to how brands talk about cultural and social issues. Regardless of where your brand sits in the culture wars, your No. 1 job will be to create belief and trust with your audience, and it will require stepping outside your normal content box.
Taking a stand as a brand while adapting to the shifting landscape is here to stay. Young people want to see brands that share their ideals, and businesses are really beginning to understand that.
In so many ways, marketers will look to create trusted moments instead of long-form narratives. That may sound esoteric, but it’s not. Marketers will create moments of surprise, delight, and value rather than taking the time to build momentum through a long-form story.
Gain from shifting trust
If it’s even possible, trust will likely sink lower. Expect the 2025 Edelman’s Trust Barometer to show a decrease across mainstream media and government. Nonprofit organizations and for-profit businesses may be the only two institutions in 2025 that move in a positive direction for trust.
What does that mean? It means podcasts over broadcast and cable TV. It means content for social media instead of long-form downloadable PDFs. It means paid media goes more digital, and marketers care less about brand safety on social media platforms as the platforms themselves become less trusted than the brands that are there.
From a social media perspective, this shift is good for platforms like TikTok. If your brand hesitated to invest in that platform because it might go away, you can probably safely place that bet now.
Operate in a nonregulated AI world
On the tech front, AI will continue to get boosted, and any regulations on the technology will lag. Don’t expect any short-term clarity on things like copyright infringement or formal rules on where and how AI content can be used.
What about M&A in the marketing and content space? It should be interesting. Expect a flurry of new AI-oriented marketing tools to enter the space.
Additionally, more and more “marketing agent” tools will emerge that promise to automate everything from your customer emails and drip campaigns to media buying. However, most of these pronouncements will be vaporware fueled by a frothy venture market that will use the astronomic rise of cryptocurrency as a fund. And I wouldn’t rule out a return of NFTs and other blockchain marketing solutions as the startup world and money return to things on the back burner.
Know this prediction is guaranteed
In short, as you wait to see if any of these dynamics play out, one thing is certain: Now more than ever, marketing leaders must navigate A LOT. So, hold tight.
The one prediction I really want to be true is that brands increase their investment in their teams — their time, training, and wisdom — and build the institutional value of their marketing teams and the people in them. AI and automation never swing for the fences with imaginary creative.
I can guarantee this one prediction will be true in 2025: You must be wiser, more creative, and more empathetic than you’ve ever been. As Peter Drucker famously said, “The only way to predict your future is to create it.” It’s up to you to make 2025 what you want it to be.
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Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute