Marketing trends 2025: How AI and sustainability are changing advertising
The German Smarketer Group provides a comprehensive outlook on the key developments in online marketing for 2025. The report outlines how brands can future-proof their strategies.
Trend 1: AI is becoming a marketing driver
In 2025, artificial intelligence will evolve from a field of experimentation to a mainstay of marketing strategies. Applications in campaign optimization, personalization and content generation will increase added business value. "A variety of tools can contribute to the fact that we will see interesting development potential, especially in content marketing and customer care," says David Gabriel, founder and CEO of Smarketer. Matthias Rohde, Product Lead CRO, adds: "In the context of personalization, AI offers enormous potential to make progress."
Trend 2: Marketing mix modeling defies the end of third-party cookies
Marketing mix modelling (MMM) remains a key tool for optimizing cross-channel advertising strategies despite data protection regulations and limited tracking options. "MMM helps to understand users and target marketing budgets," explains Sarah Vögeli, Senior SEA Growth Consultant at Smarketer. Automated solutions, supplemented by human expertise, maximize the effectiveness of the method.
Trend 3: Voice search and visual search on the rise
Traditional text search is increasingly being replaced by voice and image-driven approaches. Users expect brands to provide optimized content for platforms such as TikTok and Instagram and to adapt more closely to changing search habits. "Search is becoming more visual and audio-driven, which creates completely new opportunities for advertising media and content," explains David Gabriel.
Trend 4: Shopping assistants and chatbots are revolutionizing commerce media
AI-supported shopping assistants such as Amazon Rufus are transforming the way customers discover and buy products. They provide personalized advice and enable deeper insights into user behavior. "With Rufus, Amazon is becoming even more of a one-stop shop for product information and reviews," says Robert Schulze, Managing Director of Amzell, a Smarketer Group company.
Trend 5: Sustainability becomes the core of marketing
The integration of ESG (Environmental Social Governance) criteria into the brand strategy will be essential in 2025. Consumers, especially younger target groups, are increasingly paying attention to the ethical and sustainable actions of companies. "Brands that act transparently and credibly gain the trust of consumers and benefit in the long term," says Sarah Vögeli.
Education and training as a success factor
The Smarketer Group emphasizes that technological developments also require competent specialists. Companies should therefore invest more in training their marketing teams in order to not only keep up with the latest trends, but also actively shape them.
About Smarketer
Since 2011, the Smarketer Group has been supporting over 1,500 customers from various industries with performance marketing solutions. With over 350 employees, it offers comprehensive services in the areas of Google Ads, social media advertising and Amazon advertising. Its clients include brands such as Brillen.de, Walbusch and Garmin.
