PUBLISHED DEC.11, 2024 | 5 MIN READ

Emerging and Continuing Digital Marketing Trends in 2025

  
    From first-party data and AI to CTV and rising lead costs, 2025 brings major shifts in digital marketing. This article highlights the top trends shaping the year and how marketers can turn them into strategic opportunities.

  
    In 2024, we saw a lot of changes in digital marketing, tech, and strategy. Here are some of the trends that we are seeing going in the new year:

1. The Rise of First-Party Data.

After years of anticipating the death of the third-party cookie, advertisers had to anticipate a major change in how to reach their target audiences, as they planned to no longer have access to many of the targeting segments that data providers offer. As a result, first-party data became an invaluable asset, and advertisers began to understand better how to employ it. Now that advertisers have had a couple of years to think about how to use their proprietary data, organizations have imagined a world without third-party cookies and the segments that are built upon them. So with Google's reversal of its plan to deprecate third-party cookies in Chrome (the browser that 70% of web users utilize), there is a wave of relief among agencies, but those agencies who have relied heavily on 3rd party cookies and the segments built upon them to serve their clients’ programmatic needs will now need to find a reliable way to activate their clients’ first-party data programmatically.

Activation of first-party data is something we at Ring Digital have been doing since 2016, and we are excited to continue offering transparent, household-targeted, cookie-free programmatic advertising whose effectiveness can be measured objectively. We routinely deliver matchback reports and lift analyses to our clients to show the effectiveness of our digital programs.

If you like the idea of advertising to a specific list of individuals or households but don't have first-party data of your own, Ring Digital can provide you with a curated list of real people who meet your specific criteria, whether that is home ownership, children in the home, level of education, income or wealth score, type of dwelling, or credit score range, we have over 1000 data points to help you narrow your audience to exactly the people who are most likely to convert.

2. The Rise of CTV and Streaming TV Ads
With more people cutting the cord and embracing streaming platforms, connected TV (CTV) advertising continues to grow in popularity. In 2025, a net 55% of marketers globally plan to increase their investment in TV streaming ads. Streaming platforms like Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+ now offer ad-supported tiers, allowing brands to connect with highly engaged audiences in a premium environment.

Ads on big screens are becoming a must-have for your marketing mix. People are adopting viewing practices that are more ad-supported than they used to be, as those premium streaming services now offer cheaper, ad-supported tiers. Native apps like Samsung TV Plus and LG TV are growing in popularity, along with ad-supported video-on-demand (“AVOD”) services like PlutoTV, Fubo, and Tubi.

We’re also seeing some really creative new products and targeting tactics emerge, like Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) data, which is gathered from the computer chips in new TVs that recognize the content displayed on the screen (regardless of input, app, or channel). This data is available not only for targeting OTT-CTV content but for cross-device targeting as well. For example, if you sell Seinfeld® merchandise, you could use ACR to serve display ads on the mobile devices of people who have recently viewed a Seinfeld® episode on their new Internet-connected TV. There are lots of applications for this emerging tech, and we’re here for it!

More and more people are also streaming their cable subscriptions over the Internet rather than via coax or satellite, and when something is streamed on the Internet, chances are we can reach those streamers programmatically. We’ve been at the forefront of this technology for several years, and it’s being more widely deployed by cable companies, who would rather use the existing infrastructure of the Internet than send a service tech out to a house to install or connect coax and a cable box, or a satellite. Even Dish Network and DirecTV have streaming components to their subscriptions. In some cases, we can reach these cable-streaming households at the individual household level (not by cable zone or ZIP code) based on either large lists or other preloaded demographic data.

3. The Rising Cost of Leads and the Push for ROI/ROAS Optimization
The FCC’s dramatic tightening of how leads can be bought and sold has tightened the number of available leads and driven the price skyward, and this may well define 2025 for advertisers who regularly purchase leads. In sectors like home services, remodeling, and financial services, costs per lead now routinely exceed $100, which increases pressure on marketers to prove ROI/ROAS on marketing directed at these leads.

We’ve found two strategies that help ensure our clients are making the most of the leads they buy: lead lift and matchback reports. Our Lead Lift service is 100% TCPA compliant so that you can confidently follow up with your leads. We deliver animated digital ads and non-skippable pre-roll video ads to the phones, tablets, computers, and TVs of individuals who’ve shown intent to purchase, keeping them engaged until a representative can reach out personally. And throughout the campaign, we can report on the lift and success of the tactics, showing real return on ad spend.

  
    4. And of Course... AI-Based Tools

No trend list in 2025 would be complete without AI. 
Different industries have different applications for AI-based tools, and some are more helpful than others. 
What we see that’s working in AI for marketing are things like starting points for copywriting, creative ideation, help with multichannel planning, task management, and bid optimization. 
Areas we expect to see AI improve in 2025 are actual creative development (tools for resizing display ads becoming more normalized and AI video creation that stays on brand and can be tweaked iteratively), easier deployment of AI-based chatbots for e-commerce, and reliable data cleansing.

Seizing Opportunities in 2025
Adapting to these trends is key to staying ahead of your competitors. Whether it’s utilizing first-party data, embracing CTV advertising, or managing rising lead costs, the right strategy can make all the difference. We’re ready to help you navigate 2025 and beyond. Click here to schedule a call with one of our experts about how we can help you crush your 2025 goals.

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