Advertising and marketing is evolving at report speeds.
Synthetic intelligence is reshaping how we create, optimize, and personalize campaigns. Cookies are disappearing. And neighborhood is turning into extra useful than ever.
That can assist you keep forward, we surveyed two dozen advertising leaders from prime manufacturers about what’s working now and what’s coming subsequent.
We’ve mixed these insights with insights from our personal advertising methods at Semrush to create this information.
Listed below are the highest advertising developments to look at in 2025—and the right way to capitalize on them.
1. AI-Powered Advertising and marketing Continues to Surge
Each single marketer we surveyed stated they’re both already utilizing AI or automation of their advertising or have plans to.
HubSpot’s 2025 State of Advertising and marketing report helps this, with 92% of ballot respondents saying AI has impacted their position already.
The excellent news?
Solely 47% of entrepreneurs perceive the right way to use AI successfully. Which implies that if you happen to be taught to make use of AI in your advertising now, you’ll be forward of the curve.
Right here is the right way to get began with AI-driven advertising:
- Create content material sooner. Instruments like ChatGPT and Jasper assist groups brainstorm, draft, and edit weblog posts, e mail copy, and social content material at report speeds.
- Optimize advert concentrating on. AI in Google Adverts and different platforms adjusts bidding and concentrating on methods based mostly on conduct information.
- Improve buyer help. Chatbots like ManyChat reply FAQs and qualify leads, liberating up gross sales reps to deal with higher-value conversations.
- Personalize outreach. Instruments like ActiveCampaign’s Predictive Sending tailor e mail campaigns and touchdown pages based mostly on person conduct, business, and lifecycle stage.
Bear in mind, AI can nonetheless hallucinate (make issues up).
And the standard of output for easy prompts probably received’t be as much as your requirements.
To counter this, use AI for first drafts and have a human editor fact-check and refine the content material for tone and voice.
Able to get began?
Strive Semrush’s Content material Toolkit to generate full Web optimization-friendly articles utilizing AI.
Once more, you’ll want to have a human overview and edit the article. It is a start line to make the method sooner.
2. Web optimization Makes Approach for GEO (Generative Engine Optimization)
To remain seen in AI-powered search, manufacturers are shifting from conventional Web optimization to generative engine optimization (GEO) by structuring content material for AI readability, prioritizing person intent, and showcasing belief and experience.
Right here’s why:
BrightEdge stories that Google’s natural search clicks dropped by 30% prior to now yr—largely as a result of some customers now get instantaneous solutions from AI instruments like Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode and Microsoft Copilot.
Zero-click outcomes imply your content material must be structured, trusted, and readable by AI if you wish to be featured.
To optimize for AI-powered search:
- Construction your content material for scanning. Use clear headings, brief solutions, and Q&A codecs.
- Write nicely. Concise phrasing, bulleted lists, and well-attributed claims enhance the prospect of showing in AI-generated summaries.
- Implement schema markup. Use FAQ, HowTo, and different markup to make content material straightforward for AI to parse.
- Showcase E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness). Embrace unique insights, shopper examples, or firsthand ends in your content material.
- Prioritize intent. Give attention to intent and matter protection over exact-match key phrases.
Observe your outcomes utilizing Semrush’s Place Monitoring device to watch how your content material seems in generative search.
Additional studying: 10 Methods to Use AI for Web optimization
3. Cookies Are Being Changed By Privateness-First Advertising and marketing
Third-party cookies—which entrepreneurs have relied on to trace person conduct, personalize experiences, and ship focused advertisements—are being phased out.
Safari and Firefox now block cookies by default, and Chrome might not be far behind.
That’s not all:
In response to Cisco, 86% of U.S. adults help privateness laws—which makes third-party monitoring a possible belief concern with nearly all of the U.S. inhabitants.
This implies entrepreneurs might want to begin amassing first-party information and shift from behavioral concentrating on to contextual promoting.
Right here’s the right way to put together for a cookieless future:
- Accumulate your personal information. Provide worth to your guests in trade for e mail signups and survey responses. As an illustration, cellular video games typically give in-game forex in trade for survey responses.
- Observe web site analytics. Use Google Analytics to watch viewers conduct in your web site, together with web page views, click-through charges, and person journeys.
- Use contextual promoting. Give attention to inserting advertisements based mostly on the content material of the web page, not person conduct. For instance, place advertisements for mountaineering boots on weblog posts about mountaineering trails somewhat than concentrating on customers based mostly on their searching historical past.
- Audit your martech stack. Establish instruments that depend on third-party cookies and discover alternate options that prioritize person privateness.
- Leverage privacy-compliant instruments. Discover options like Google’s Subjects API, which ship related advertisements with out compromising privateness.
The long run could also be cookieless, and the very best entrepreneurs will adapt by amassing their very own information.
4. Brief-Kind Video Continues to Dominate
Brief-form video content material like TikToks, Reels, and YouTube Shorts drive a few of the highest engagement and return on funding (ROI) throughout advertising channels.
In response to HubSpot, 21% of entrepreneurs stated that short-form video is their #1 content material format for ROI, adopted by photos at 19% and live-streamed movies at 16%.
Right here’s the right way to use short-form video advertising:
- Select the precise platform. Use LinkedIn or YouTube Shorts for skilled content material. TikTok or Instagram are higher in case your viewers is early-stage founders, creatives, or Gen Z patrons.
- Repurpose present content material. Slice lengthy webinars or interviews into 30-60 second clips.
- Maintain it actual. Genuine, unscripted content material builds belief and performs higher.
Let’s have a look at just a few examples.
Nice podcasters clip essentially the most attention-grabbing bits of their podcast and switch these into shorts, like this one by The Alpha Thoughts podcast, which bought over 2.7 million views:
Brief-form content material is a development you received’t need to skip in 2025.
They’re a simple technique to prolong and repurpose your present content material to achieve extra attain and hook new guests into your funnel with minimal effort.
5. Entrepreneurs Are Turning to Micro-Influencers
Some entrepreneurs are shifting towards micro-influencers for greater engagement, authenticity, and ROI—favoring long-term, area of interest creator partnerships over celeb endorsements.
In response to Influencer Advertising and marketing Hub, 53.8 % of manufacturers interact nano‑influencers and 21.6 % use micro‑influencers.
Our personal survey backs this up, discovering {that a} quarter of the entrepreneurs we polled are investing closely in micro-influencers and creator partnerships this yr.
Right here’s what to know if you wish to hop on this development:
- Construct long-term relationships. Ongoing partnerships really feel extra genuine than one-off promotions.
- Discover numerous platforms. For B2B, have a look at LinkedIn influencers, YouTube channels, newsletters, or area of interest Slack/Discord communities.
- Use inside advocates. Your group could have already got some nano-influencers (1k-10k followers). Encourage them to share your content material and converse publicly about your model.
- Keep compliant. Guarantee influencers disclose sponsorships per FTC tips.
One wonderful instance of using micro-influencers is HubSpot’s partnership with Tina Huang in her video information to the basics of AI brokers:
Not solely did this video carry out extraordinarily nicely with over 1.2 million views, however HubSpot took it a step additional.
They labored along with Tina to create this AI immediate information to show that video engagement into e mail subscribers:
And that’s not all.
Tina speaks nicely of HubSpot all through the video, and her appreciation of them sounds honest. There’s clearly relationship between them.
Additionally, HubSpot didn’t simply pay her for a easy point out.
They invested within the relationship by constructing out a whole lead funnel selling Tina’s title and movies alongside the HubSpot information.
Additional studying: The way to Discover Influencers for Your Model
6. Entrepreneurs Are Capitalizing on Consumer-Generated Content material (UGC)
Entrepreneurs are leaning into user-generated content material (UGC) as a result of it builds belief, drives purchases, and outperforms brand-created content material
A research by EnTribe discovered that 84% of customers usually tend to belief a model’s advertising marketing campaign if it options user-generated content material.
This belief interprets into motion—77% of buyers usually tend to purchase a product they discovered by UGC.
Remember that UGC can take many types: product opinions, buyer testimonials, pictures or movies the place your model is tagged, neighborhood discussions, and even unprompted social mentions.
Right here’s the right way to capitalize on all this free content material:
- Encourage UGC. Run campaigns, use branded hashtags, or ask joyful clients to share their story or depart a overview in trade for an opportunity to win a prize or be highlighted in your social media web page.
- Repurpose UGC. Curate UGC throughout your web site, social media, and gross sales decks. Simply you’ll want to at all times credit score the creator.
- Reasonable for high quality. Not all UGC is on-brand. Set clear tips and spotlight what nice content material seems to be like.
- Use overview platforms. B2B software program manufacturers can showcase opinions from G2, Capterra, or TrustRadius instantly on touchdown pages and even in nurture emails.
Already getting talked about by clients?
Use Semrush’s Model Monitoring device to trace these mentions, discover UGC price resharing, and be a part of the dialog whereas it’s nonetheless recent.
7. Entrepreneurs Are Utilizing AI to Personalize at Scale
AI allows hyper-personalized content material at scale. Personalization at the moment goes past “Hello [First Name]” and consists of delivering the precise message based mostly on actual person conduct.
It’s nonetheless early, however it’ll probably quickly be the norm.
How so?
Michal Stín, Strategic Advisor for Trackdesk, informed us he believes that “Digital advertisements will change into extra native.”
The instance he gave is astonishing—Netflix introduced that, in 2026, they’ll launch AI advertisements that match the type and tone of the content material you’re watching.
Right here’s how you should utilize AI personalization (with out having the funds of Netflix):
- Use dynamic content material blocks. Present completely different CTAs, case research, or headlines based mostly on the customer’s business, position, or conduct (which you purchase by first-party information).
- Deploy account-based personalization. Customise touchdown pages or e mail flows based mostly on firm measurement, funnel stage, or firmographics.
- Let customers set their preferences. Choice facilities let your guests management content material sort, frequency, and format—which is effective free information you should utilize to tell your advertising.
- Stability privateness with relevance. Be clear about how you utilize information, and provide straightforward methods for customers to choose in or out.
We’re not in a spot the place anybody can use AI for hyper-personalization at scale—however we’re shut, and it’s price maintaining a tally of it.
8. Entrepreneurs Are Investing Closely in Constructing Communities
Entrepreneurs that construct thriving communities are incomes extra belief, deeper engagement, and long-term loyalty.
Why?
As a result of even with AI and superior concentrating on, patrons nonetheless flip to their friends for suggestions.
“Group is the final untapped community impact,” says Kevin Kirkpatrick, CMO of Sunsama.
The info backs it up:
In response to a 2024 report by Greater Logic, 76% of manufacturers with lively communities say they increase buyer retention, and 61% say they enhance model notion.
And our survey discovered that community-led advertising ranked fourth among the many most closely invested in advertising developments of 2025:
That’s not all.
Business leaders like Tony Robbins and Alex Hormozi are investing closely in neighborhood platforms like GoKollab and Skool.
They’ve gone all-in on community-led advertising as a result of they see the facility in it.
Fortunately for you, making a neighborhood is simple.
You can begin with a free Slack or WhatsApp group to attach together with your followers and get members speaking.
Or, if you would like one thing extra official, think about making a Fb, Skool, or GoKollab neighborhood of your personal.
For instance:
Salesforce created the Trailblazer Group—a forum-style part on their web site the place customers can help one another and submit product suggestions.
On a smaller scale, there are free Skool communities like Focus Founders, the place enterprise founders collect to help one another and get accountability and training.
Take this submit by Reema, for instance. She requested for assist selecting an e mail advertising software program:
Communities like these are so highly effective as a result of they serve many functions:
They could be a lead funnel, an area for lead nurturing, a technique to retain present shoppers, and a approach of gathering first-party information.
9. High quality Content material & Thought Management Nonetheless Matter
Unique, high-quality content material and thought management stay important for constructing belief, driving visitors, and standing out as a reputable authority.
In actual fact:
Entrepreneurs we surveyed ranked thought management by content material advertising as their primary most closely invested technique for 2025, stating:
“In a world flooded with AI-generated textual content, content material grounded in real expertise and private perspective would be the solely technique to rise above the noise.” – Gal Orian Harel, Co-Founding father of Blix
So what are you able to do to face out?
Listed below are just a few tricks to create high quality content material and win thought management:
- Refresh previous content material. Replace top-performing posts with new stats, examples, and experiences to spice up rankings and preserve authority—each with Google and AI-generated search.
- Run unique surveys. Use proprietary information to again your claims, identical to we did for this submit. You’ll be seen as an authority and will even get extra backlinks and shares from others citing your insights.
- Repurpose every little thing. Flip a weblog submit right into a video, podcast episode, carousel, or e mail sequence to achieve extra individuals with much less effort.
Able to get began?
Use the Matter Finder characteristic within the Content material Toolkit to search out attention-grabbing content material concepts. Simply enter a subject like “AI” and click on “Get content material concepts”.
Upon getting an attention-grabbing thought, use the Content material Toolkit to draft and polish concepts sooner.
Put These Advertising and marketing Developments into Motion
The way forward for advertising belongs to those that adapt quick, assume long-term, and leverage the precise instruments.
That can assist you get began, strive a few of Semrush’s strongest advertising instruments:
- Strive the Content material Toolkit to immediately provide you with matter concepts, Web optimization briefs, and AI-generated weblog submit drafts
- Arrange Place Monitoring to watch the way you rank in each traditional and generative search outcomes
- Use Model Monitoring to note when your model is talked about on social media and generate UGC
