Beware of Digital Marketing Trends: Prioritize Strategy Over Hype

Chasing trends can make you an innovation leader, but it can also put you out of business. While this might sound dramatic, misalignment can lead to wasted resources and lost brand focus. There was a time when TV was supposed to end radio and social media was supposed to end TV, but the last time I checked they were all just fine. The early trends saw a world where marketers would fully abandon any one of those media platforms until they realized that consumers were still extremely active on them. If they’re good for your consumer then they’re good for your brand.

Digital Marketing Institute’s Digital Marketing Trends for 2025 included a stat that: “51% of voice shoppers use it to research products, with 22% buying directly using voice. And 17% use it for reordering items” which is an impactful statement until you ask, are those your consumers?

Are your consumers part of the 51% researching products online or the 49% that aren’t? Are your consumers the 22% buying directly on voice or the 78% purchasing from a retailer? Those are some consequential questions that need to be asked because it could and should completely change your strategy. If in fact 51% of your consumers are researching products like yours on voice then that should become a priority. However, if they’re not, and they’re part of the 78% that purchase products like yours at a retailer, then you should prioritize how you can inform them of where your products are. Maybe you should prioritize a product locator tool on your website instead.

Before considering any of the 2025 marketing trends or any other for that matter, consider if and how they benefit your consumers. Use specific methods to evaluate them, such as conducting surveys to gather direct feedback, running user testing to observe consumer behavior, or analyzing customer data to identify needs and preferences. Whether you’re considering AI, Personalization, Brand Partnerships, Events, or any others, remember that everyone is different and you need to do what’s best for the consumers of your brand. So how do you choose?

You need to ask, do consumers like mine:

• …use things like this?
• …come to my brand to learn more about this?
• …expect to see content like this or in this way?

Obviously your questions will have some variations, but the important thing to take away is that you need to consider them. Determine what your consumers are missing or what can immediately improve how they experience your brand. You’ll also find that some trends will inform your roadmap and be more useful a year down the road, but this frees you up to determine the order of importance and how you’ll get there. This is a focus on discovery, not yes’s and no’s. Just make sure you’re putting your consumers first and not chasing every trend. Start by understanding their needs through surveys or feedback, focus on the tools and platforms they actually use, and prioritize creating seamless experiences that enhance their journey with your brand.