A Thankful Look Back: 2025 Trends That Make Us Better Marketers

A Thankful Look Back: 2025 Trends That Make Us Better Marketers 

Every year brings a new wave of predictions, but 2025 was defined by smarter, more intentional marketing that made stronger connections to audiences. Campaigns were stronger and more thoughtful, and shifted tactics across the board. 

As we wrap up this year, here’s a look at the trends we are grateful for; the ones that raised the bar for brands and made all of us better at what we do. 

Quality over quantity 

There was a time where content was pushed out by the day, or even the hour. Posting for the sake of posting was the standard, even if the content was lower level and not as engaging. It was the routine, and still is on some platforms. Audiences have made it clear throughout 2025 that the days of posting for the sake of posting are over. According to a study on HubSpot, brands that reduced posting and focused on high value content saw… 

• A 27% increase in engagement when shifting from content volume to the value of content.
• 62% more saves and shares after reducing weekly posts and increasing depth. 
• There is a longer post lifespan and healthier audience sentiment overall.
• Brands that put thought behind what will grab their audience’s attention earned more of it. 

This shift has weight. The production treadmill is easy to step onto, but this allows brands to free themselves from getting tired. 

Attributions got smarter, budgets stronger 

Tools such as Google Analytics, Meta Ads Attribution, and Marketing Mix Modeling platforms grew in their sophistication and processes, meaning that brands could finally see the paths audiences followed to drive outcomes, vs lying on the last click. This showed us marketers that there was purpose being the spend, and decision-making was based on results, not educated guesses. Meta for Business and Nielson noted the following regarding 2025 ROI performance: 

• There was a 21% improvement in ROAS on brands that used advanced attribution in 2025. 
• Up to 55% reduction in wasted spend when budgets were adjusted based on insight. 
• Attribution models offered clear visibility into role-playing across channels. 

AI is meant to support creativity instead of threatening it 

If 2024 was the year everyone was scared of AI, 2025 is the year that marketers made peace with it and learned how to use it for good. While there are still very fine lines between using too much AI (and for the wrong reason) and using it just the right amount, there has been more structure and learnings around using it for the heavy lifting. Adobe showcased that eight to twelve hours a week are saved per week using AI for research, organization, and structuring making campaign timelines 30-40% faster across all workflows. This does not necessarily apply to creative or strategy. AI can guide and offer competitive insights, but the drive is still very much in human hands. 

Communities are leading marketing 

Consumers continued to move away from traditional brand messaging and were drawn to real people, and real experiences. Real is the keyword. While influencers also have blown up exponentially, audiences want to feel like there is a reliability to the content, and person, they are choosing to watch. TikTok and Instagram analytics showcase that community-first content delivered 2-4x stronger engagement, further showing that brands who lean into micro-moments and creator partnerships gained more meaningful reach. The 2025 Instagram trends report noted the following differentiators: 

• Instagram had a 28% higher share rate for posts that reflect community stories. 
• On Meta as a whole, community-driven messaging saw a 37% lift in ad recall. 

Cultural knowledge is still an expectation 

There is no recognition for simply “trying” to be tapped into culture in 2025, it’s a requirement. Accurate audience/consumer recognition, language/DMA appropriate content, and cultural understanding are not non-negotiables and have become the differentiators between campaigns that worked, and ones that missed the mark. 

Social listening provides an advantage 

The brands/companies who listened to their audiences took first place. Why? They caught on to needs, they adjusted messaging in real time, and were tapped into the reality of what people were looking for. Sprout Social shared data insights from audience listening tools and found that…

• Social listening produced 42% more accurate insights than self-reported data. 
• Brands who responded quickly to community responses saw higher conversion rates AND sentiment, and easily avoided missing the mark. 

We’re grateful 

These shifts we saw in 2025 showcased a maturity in the market. Pushing the industry in the direction of connection, clarity, and building a community of people who genuinely care about the content that is reaching audiences.