Marketing Trends 2025
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[00:00:00] As we look ahead to 2025, there are several key marketing trends that are emerging that will significantly impact our businesses, how we connect with our audiences and how efficient we operate as well. So in this session of Contact Catalyst, I want to share with you. 10 important trends to consider, along with some insights on how you can plan for them now.
I'm Deb Szabo. Welcome to Content Catalyst. Hey, before we jump into this episode, this episode does include a little bit of, uh, AI conversation. And if you do want to actually get on top of your AI in a non intimidating way, I've put together a free video training so you can set up your custom AI assistance.
Uh, the details are in the show notes. All right, let's get into the episode. So as we look ahead for 2025, let's look at what's happened over the last year. One of the biggest things is being chat GPT. It's only been just over a [00:01:00] year since it's been launched. I think it was October, 2023. So it's been 14 months since we've had exit access to open AI.
Now, With, um, this has definitely changed how we do marketing. It has created so many shortcuts in our business, but one of the things that I do also consider is the frustration of the novice, all of us included, um, of, and I say the novice, because this is brand new technology and unless you've been working in Silicon Valley for the last, however long, um, you know, this is something that we've had to adopt into our workflow.
So we had to learn how to prompt and because. One of the things with AI intelligence, it's only ever as good as what we program it to be. Now it's definitely got so much better. Like the first version of chat GPT to where we are now has come a long way. And they're just about to release a new update again.
Um, however, the thing about it is, is that our AI. [00:02:00] Approach to writing prompts and asking for things. And I think about when I first started using it, I was using a lot for writing copy for like wine labels and blogs and, um, you know, collateral. And it sometimes gave us really good answers, but then what happened, it started to just sound like everything else, unlock the potential, transform your, you know, what I'm talking about.
Right. So what we had to do was get better and better at developing our prompts. Now. One of the things with AI is that it will continually to evolve and get better. So if we look at the last year, think about how have you used AI in your business? How have you used and you're probably thinking just chat GPT, but it's been so much more than that.
Like if I think about video and editing, you know, we've been able to incorporate so many AI elements into editing programs. That saves us so much time in editing now. Um, so it is definitely changing everything in the [00:03:00] marketing landscapes. And now realizing that of what the year was, what do we need to consider for 2025?
Well, the number one thing that I want to share with you is an AI first approach in our business. We need to be looking at all of our systems. And we need to be looking at our team and we need to be looking at how we can, uh, automate and, um, streamline and, um, customize what we're doing in our repetitive time.
So, um, the biggest thing that AI will give us, especially up your AI assistance is the ability to, um, Create those repetitive tasks very, very quickly. And I'll give you an example. I'm here creating this video podcast with you right now. The time that it takes me to then record it, edit it, upload it to YouTube and podcast, create social media tiles and then push it out to social media, as [00:04:00] well as my long form platforms and write blogs with it and everything else.
is, is just in hours now where it used to take days. So this is where we need to be thinking about how can you incorporate it into your marketing strategies to be able to shortcut times. Like I have AI assistants now for my launch campaign planner for my, um, video podcast producer, um, for my, uh, analytics for my ad manager.
Like there are so many things that I use it day to day now in marketing. So think about that. Start experimenting with AI tools, look at it for content creation and data analysis. Data analysis is going to be gold for your business because we can get so much more intelligent information, which enables us to personalize at scale.
So. Uh, if you are not using AI, invest into some training for you and your team now, uh, to look at how you can leverage AI [00:05:00] applications in marketing. Okay, so number two is voice marketing. So voice marketing is going to be a really big thing. So, With our phones, so we've gone through the Google age, the Google age, and you know, it became a saying, just Google it.
Well, now we're not going to Google it. Now we pick up our phone and we talk into the app and we go, Hey, can you give me a winery and a restaurant to go to while I'm in the valley this weekend? And it will give you that information, recommendations. Now, the thing is, is that we as marketers need to be, uh, tailoring, uh, how these AI search engines.
of finding that data. So I've done a deep dive into this recently because, um, voice activated, uh, uh, searching will be a massive, massive thing. So I want you to really consider, uh, how you do that. I created contact catalyst blueprint. So you could really dial in that information for your business, about your customer and audience and keywords and things like that.
And I was talking to someone the other day about this and they said, yeah, I know, I [00:06:00] know all of my audience and things. And I'm like, you might know it, but you don't know But you haven't trained the AI to know it. And that's why I create a blueprint was because everything in the blueprint is tailored. So you can grab those AI prompts that I've given you and program the, your AI, you know, um, model so you can get found.
When people are using voice activated devices. So have a think about beginning to optimize your content for voice search and explore creating like voice activated ads as well. Um, so these will be things that will come out and I'll do a whole episode just on this topic because it is a massive thing.
And, um, I, as I mentioned, I've recently did a video training in there and I actually share what programs say perplexity Um, users to pull information from, and a lot of it will be from user generated content as well. So I'll talk about that in a second. Um, the next thing is virtual reality experiences. [00:07:00] So VR, um, you might've, you know, seen the goggle sets and things like that.
Okay. Better. I've got the goggles out now. Um, but what you're going to see is this is going to be a really, um, exploding Uh, um, uh, experience that is going to take over. So you're going to see a lot more of virtual reality experiences. So have a think about, now, have a think about start conceptualizing.
How would it it enhance your brand? How can you create experiences using VR and, um, take people into that reality? Yeah. A little bit more that'll come out of that. And you're probably thinking, Oh, I'm just not, I'm just not, that's too much for my brain right now. I get it. But I want you to just have awareness that this is something that is going to be, um, evolving.
Okay. So UGC user generated content dominance, this is going to be massive. Um, again, it has [00:08:00] been growing, but it will continue to grow, especially as I mentioned with engine optimization. So, um, this is For example, tourism industry. If you are a winery in the Hunter Valley and you are wanting people to come to your winery, people are literally picking up their phone and they're speaking into it and they're going, uh, can you make me a three day, three day itinerary to, um, to the Hunter Valley.
I want to stay somewhere central. I want to go out for dinner to a nice fancy restaurant. And then I want three wineries that have got some nice, unique boutique wines. Okay. So, and I'm going to say perplexity here. Perplexity AI is think of it like a cross between chat GPT and Google. It has superior, um, uh, search engine capabilities, uh, and it uses about five different AI models as well, such as ChatGPT and Claude and things.
So that is why it's a big favorite of mine. [00:09:00] Okay, so I can speak into the phone and I can ask it to give me an itinerary. Perplexity will pull this data from, not from Google, it's going to be looking at things like Troupe Advisor. It's looking for those reviews. It's going to go to things like Yelp. Now you're thinking, what's Yelp?
Well, Yelp was, um, it is really big in America, but it's what it, um, uh, I used to use it when I was staying down in Sydney a lot for restaurants and, and again, user generated content, people would rate the restaurant. So, you know, would I go there? What should I order? And rated. The star rating. So same with like TripAdvisor.
So if you work in any kind of hospitality or tourism program, uh, platforms like, you know, Reddit and TripAdvisor, there's a whole list of them. And I list that in my video training that you need to start. Leveraging now, if you're not already, so have a think about how can you encourage and incentivize user generated content and high quality content as well.
So [00:10:00] when I say that, it's like, yes, it's one thing to have a written, ah, you know, I went here and it's blah, blah, blah. But if you can get images and videos and, um. and get them to post it. It is really, really powerful. My friend, she's got a, um, a cosmetic business. I've been working with her. And one of the things that, um, you know, we worked with her brand is that she was focusing on retail.
Now it's an, uh, most of it's all e commerce now, but we leveraged UGC content to catapult her and as a launch, um, for her business. And this is where that became the catalyst for the impact of her business growth now was through user generated content, um, and video testimonials. So we did a whole campaign on that.
So think about how can you create, uh, campaigns around turning your customers into brand ambassadors. Okay. Number five, social media channels. Um, how will they evolve? Uh, well, again, they will continue to, [00:11:00] um, uh, evolve with as far as integrating e commerce as well as entertainment news. So have a think about your holistic approach for social media strategy.
How are you repurposing content and how are you being, um, specific to that? Like, how are you customizing the information for that specific platform? For example, at the moment, for me, I am doubling down on YouTube content because those, um, AI search engines are pulling long form content. And their, uh, first place is literally YouTube.
So because. It has the opportunity for the AI search engines to scrape a lot more data to provide the answers to your questions. So that is why for me, YouTube is a massive strategy for 2025. Okay. So number six, personalization. This will be a really big thing when it comes to When we are leveraging AI, and you can see that this, even though we're talking about [00:12:00] marketing trends for 2025, it's all about AI.
Literally, this is all about content marketing and, uh, and AI because that is where we are going. Okay. So next one, as I mentioned, um, personalization, what does that mean? Well, it means that as marketers, we can get so much more information than we've ever been able to get about our business, about trends and about our competitors.
So when we are looking at. Auditing all that data. We want to have systems in place to analyze it and then utilize it. So have a think about what tools can you leverage to do that? Um, I have, again, perplexity AI is, is superior because the, the search engines, uh, well, the AI models that it uses for, um, for data analysis.
And if you can, you know, put your customer information in there, if you can put your analytics, your, um, your, you. in there, it'll be able to give you so much more information to be able to personalize [00:13:00] your strategies with, um, targeting your audience for the future. So personalization will be a massive thing.
Personalization is more about getting to know your customer. And again, profiling that customer. If I go back to the blueprint, you might know that your audience is women, uh, 40 to 50, but have you really profiled that person? Because when you do, it's like putting virtual reality goggles on of looking at things through their eyes and what are they experiencing.
So that is how we can then deliver better experiences for our customers. Okay. Number seven. Uh, this comes back down to search engines, that diversification in search engine, uh, optimization. So this will be a massive thing of, as far as how we search. And we want to make sure that because they're all AI driven, you're going to see a massive.
At the moment, you've got people like Mark Zuckerberg, who has invested so much money [00:14:00] into Lama. And if you watch his latest video, he's all in on, um, on being dominant in AI. So things like chat GPT, they're about, they've had to wind down, um, chat GP three, cause it had a mind of its own. They were about to launch four, five.
It's, it's all coming. And this, uh, technology is just getting more and more sophisticated. Don't be scared by it, embrace it. And, and yes, it can be overwhelming and yes, it does go rogue and yes, it does. You know, somebody spout. Oversee data. Um, I think the moment we pick up our smartphones, you know, that's it.
It's all gone now. So what can you do to protect it for sure? But what you will see is with traditional search engines like Google, they're having to evolve really, really, really quickly. Um, I've been following Google's journey at the moment of what they're releasing, and they are working really hard to be behind the, behind the scenes to get so many things up and running to tackle [00:15:00] what is The other big tech giants.
So, um, plan and expand your SEO strategies is my recommendations because, uh, you need to be optimizing for these AI, um, programs. All right. Short form video and live streaming. I'm going to say that short form video will just continue to evolve. So if you're not using short form video in your social media, then you definitely need to.
I'm just running a campaign at the moment, um, with, uh, with some ads and my video short form video has. Doubled the, um, the reach and impact of a static post. So have a think about, do you have a short form video strategy and live streaming? You know, uh, I worked with a business, uh, a few years ago and we turned a business around using live streaming.
We be, we develop segments on it. So [00:16:00] definitely think about, um, especially with TikTok and Instagram and, um, LinkedIn. LinkedIn is gone. All in on short form video. So if you're not using short form video on LinkedIn, you need to be doubling down on that. Now you've got, um, YouTube that is also very focused on shorts.
So it was one minute videos. Now they're up to three minute videos. So, um, Don't underestimate the power of long form video. But I'm saying that if you're just posting carousels and posts in your content, you need to be thinking about how can you incorporate, um, short form videos regularly and create a series.
That's a really big thing as well. Being able to create a series of content. So part one, part two, part three, and I talk about that inside content catalyst, my membership. Um, that is our transformation in, um, January, February, March, uh, where we're looking at our offer, creating a signature series. And being able to funnel that, uh, um, in our business.
So number nine, nano and micro [00:17:00] influencer partnerships. This is going to be a big one. Uh, you don't need, so Gorna will be the days of, um, influencers where they had to have 2 million followers. To like get, uh, results there is, and I was watching someone the other day that actually works with UGC content, um, specifically for Gen X, uh, my generation, uh, people that like that are 45 plus.
And, um, and this will be a big thing because the. Authenticity is, um, it's just so much more genuine, uh, for people, um, and more impactful, I should say. So have a think about who have you got in your database that can be your ambassador that doesn't necessarily have a big audience, but has a powerful audience.
So I know whenever I talk about, um, tech gear, video gear or anything like that, uh, people will go off and, and, you know, use what I've recommended. Um, but it doesn't necessarily, so it has a lot of impact, [00:18:00] uh, for your business. So have a think about how you can develop, um, collaborations and again, leverage, you know, their, um, their experience of how they're using the, your product or service.
All right. So number 10, this is the final one, sustainability and inclusivity. Uh, so sustainability, uh, I know, uh, again, I was just talking to a friend of mine yesterday, who's got, um, a skincare product. So she has this beautiful skincare product. It's all recyclable, but one of the things that she's actually created is a refillable pouch so you can refill your skincare into the pouch.
The ironic thing is that even though it's better for the environment, it actually costs her the same amount of money for that refillable pouch. So hopefully we're going to get a lot more cost effective with that as well. But, um, sustainability, I know in the wine industry, it's a massive thing, um, and tourism as well.
So. The sustainability, when we're looking at, um, our business, how can you consider, um, you know, how [00:19:00] you do it. Um, inclusivity. Uh, I know that, uh, shout out to disinfluencer Simone. She's doing some incredible work with, um, with people in the disability space, um, space of getting, um, and, and corporate brands for them to be able to, you know, include those people into their marketing as well.
So this is where you need to be thinking about how can you also include that into your brand as well? So planning, this is the thing. If you haven't planned your 2025. You need to be thinking about this now. Don't wait until January. I know it's really tempting to get to the, you know, this last week of, um, you know, December before you're shut down, but I really, really encourage you to think about having plans in place for 2025 now and start mapping that out.
Um, I know that I've been, Had, uh, so many people, uh, wanting to do marketing plans with me at the moment. And even if they haven't, um, done them now in December, they've [00:20:00] booked them with me for January. So we've started mapping out their planning now, and then we'll sit down in January to actually scope it all out.
But the work starts now. Now, again, uh, if you want to get, I've got a planning calendar on my website. So if you want to start mapping that out, you can get that free download. I'll put that in the show notes. But, um, Otherwise, if you want to get up to date with AI, I've got a free video training that you can watch right now and, uh, just understand how you can leverage AI assistance in your business, how to create custom AI prompts and how to, um, leverage, um, Search voice search engine optimization as well.
So go and check that out again. I'll put those details in the show notes. That's all for me today. Hope you have a great, uh, Christmas and holiday period, and I'll see you in the next episode. I'm Deb Szabo.
