Top 10 Trends Shaping Digital Marketing in 2025

AI-powered content creation and automation will escalate.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning have already transformed digital marketing, and in 2025, AI will be more deeply ingrained in it. Watch for AI’s continued dominance in hyper-personalization, predictive analytics, content creation, and chatbots and virtual assistants.

Mobile-friendly content is still a must.

A total of 5.52 billion people worldwide were using the internet at the start of October 2024, equivalent to 67.5 percent of the world’s total population. In addition, over 60 percent of website traffic comes from mobile devices, while 92.3 percent of internet users access the internet using a mobile phone. With those facts in mind and the onslaught of AI, ensuring your website is mobile-friendly, remains fresh, and provides a seamless experience across all platforms will be even more imperative than in the past.

Social media content is essential.

Globally, social media users are growing at a rate of 5.2 percent per year, with the average user visiting or using 6.8 different social media platforms every month. GWI reports that the average global user spends 2 hours and 19 minutes on social media each day. Leveraging social media to share a property’s key features will encourage engagement and provide guests with a sense of familiarity with its surroundings and unique brand offerings.

Unique and impactful storytelling will increase.

Conveying a story and what makes your hotel unique through well-written web and ad content will help highlight your property while connecting with your audiences. Today’s digital marketing will embrace short-form and live streaming for real-time engagement. Leveraging short-form platforms like Instagram Reels, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts will boost reach, and hoteliers who include direct booking links will see a more significant impact on KPIs.

Expectations for a seamless, personalized booking journey will continue to rise.

Consumers expect personalized experiences across all digital channels. Website and mobile functionality will take a front seat in driving engagement in 2025. Personalization will advance beyond basic customization and enable brands to deliver hyper-personalized content and recommendations.

Making it easy for guests to book directly by providing an intuitive, user-centric booking interface, with visible “Book” call-to-actions and a sleek design will help increase direct bookings.

Reviews still rule the day.

Enticing satisfied guests to leave positive reviews on platforms like Tripadvisor, Google, and Yelp builds trust and credibility. According to a study conducted by BrightLocal, up to 98 percent of consumers read reviews before making a purchase. Moreover, customers tend to trust companies with a higher volume of reviews, with an average consumer reading around 10 reviews before forming an opinion of trust.

Data will inform the growth of personalized content and incentive-based direct bookings.

Tailoring marketing messages and offerings based on guest preferences and past interactions to create a more personalized experience will remain at the top of marketing teams’ minds. Leveraging CRM data integrated with a digital marketing platform will be essential to elevate advertising efforts and optimize campaigns.

Google PMax for travel goals campaignscwill help hoteliers boost visibility and optimize digital marketing efforts.

Smart digital marketers know that capitalizing on Google’s machine learning and artificial intelligence to increase visibility and reach a qualified audience on all Google platforms will result in better conversion rates. This type of campaign allows teams to rapidly gain media coverage and increase visibility on all Google platforms.

Leveraging hyper-localized marketing will continue to help drive bookings.

Staying informed about local events, festivals, and attractions and leveraging them in digital marketing efforts will boost engagement, particularly when planning for group business. Local activities help boost social media and video marketing content and give online shoppers insights into regional activities.

Consumers will continue to demand less repetitive creative content.

To avoid advertising fatigue and ensure year-round engagement, balance creative content. 66 percent of consumers want fewer marketing messages, while 27 percent feel bombarded by marketing messages. What makes them want to open a brand’s marketing messages? 62 percent say “relevancy” is the number one factor in opening an email, while 67 percent of respondents noted that personalization is important. Find the right balance between reach and frequency to maximize advertising effectiveness.