Woohoo! It’s that time of year again when I share the top digital marketing trends to watch for 2025.

From shifts in content creation strategy to AI advancements, there’s a lot to keep up with, so let’s get into it!

And if you find this post helpful, I would appreciate any shares since one of my goals for 2025 is more organic reach.

Trend #1: Building a Digital Ecosystem

In 2025, creating a cohesive “world” for your audience will be more important than ever. 

A digital ecosystem is a full brand experience, curated by you, that makes your audience feel heard, understood, and connected to your offerings.

Why a Digital Ecosystem Matters

This involves more than simply publishing high-visibility content on your website or social media. To build a strong brand experience, ask yourself:

  • Why are you in business?
  • Who are you serving?
  • What problems are you solving for them?
  • How are you solving these problems?
  • Which monetization methods tie everything together?
  • Where are you creating content, and how do these platforms support your goals?

Because to build a brand, you need to understand way more than just how to drive traffic. You need to deeply understand who you’re serving and how you help them.

If you’re unsure about the answers to these questions, check out my blog post on how to find your niche.

Choosing the Right Content Channels

Once you know who you’re helping and how, you can choose the content creation channels that fit your business best. Generally, you want to create four types of content across your channels:

  1. Discovery Content: Algorithm-driven content on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, YouTube, LinkedIn, etc.
  2. Search Content: SEO-optimized blog posts or YouTube videos to answer niche-specific questions.
  3. Connection Content: Trust-building formats like podcasts, newsletters, and/or communities.
  4. Conversion Content: Sales content and social proof, ideally sent via email.

These categories aren’t rigid—content often serves multiple purposes. For example:

  • Social posts can rank in Google.
  • Blogs and YouTube videos can appear in algorithm-based Google Discover.
  • Newsletters can be published on your website.
  • Sales can be made outside of just email, etc.

You don’t need to be everywhere at once. Focus on one platform for each type of content, ideally starting with a format that you enjoy creating (so you will stick to it) and where your audience hangs out (so you reach the right people).

Creating a Cohesive Content Strategy

Here’s one example of how different content pieces can work together to build your ecosystem:

  • Start with long-form written content (e.g., blog posts).
  • Expand it into a YouTube video and embed it in your blog.
  • Strip the audio for a podcast episode.
  • Email it to your list and repurpose micro-concepts for social media.
  • Promote lead magnets in your content to grow your email list.
  • Set up automated newsletters and sales funnels to nurture your audience and pitch offers.

By repurposing content across platforms, you create a consistent brand presence that fosters connection and trust while insulating your business from sudden platform changes.

(PS – If you want to learn how to do all this, check out my Search Savvy Membership for step-by-step tutorials.)

Leveraging Branded Searches

A critical piece of your ecosystem is branded searches—when people Google your name or brand name, specifically. These searches:

  • Signal to Google that people value your content.
  • Boost your credibility and rankings in search results.

To grow branded searches, establish a presence on multiple platforms and intentionally create content that connects with your audience, not just content around keywords.

If you’re not sure how many people currently search for your brand on Google, you can use tools like Semrush or KeySearch to find out.

Strengthening Your Brand

Other ways to increase branded searches and strengthen your ecosystem include:

  • Digital PR
  • Collaborating with influencers
  • Appearing on podcasts
  • Writing for publications in your niche
  • Publishing books or research

The goal is to increase your branded searches to show search engines that people are intentionally looking for you and you’re not just creating fluff content to rank and make money from search.

Remember, you don’t need to be everywhere. A strong presence on one social media platform, one evergreen content platform, and one connection channel (plus email) is enough to make an impact.


Trend #2: Big Shifts in Content Creation Strategy

In 2025, more creators will be rethinking their content creation strategies to diversify and keep up with ever-changing algorithms.

If you’ve been publishing on a single channel (like just blogging), now is the time to expand your approach. 

There’s no one-size-fits-all strategy—what works for a new solopreneur may differ dramatically from someone with years of experience.

Here are the biggest changes I’ve seen happening with bloggers in particular:

1. Traffic Diversification

Most bloggers started branching out beyond just SEO in 2024 and this trend will only grow in 2025. 

The channels you focus on will likely vary, depending on your monetization goals:

  • Ad Revenue Focus: Platforms like Facebook and Pinterest are top choices for reaching broad audiences with highly shareable content.
  • Authority Building and Product Sales: YouTube and email are becoming priorities for nurturing deeper relationships and driving conversions.

These platforms demand different types of content than Google SEO, shifting the focus to:

  • Enticing titles and visuals that generate clicks and engagement.
  • Trendy, seasonal content tailored to timely interests.
  • Personal, connection-driven stories to foster trust and loyalty.

Diversifying your traffic sources helps protect your business from relying too heavily on one platform, reducing vulnerability to platform and algorithm changes.

2. Format Diversification

Creators are also exploring new content formats, especially video:

  • Short-form videos dominate platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and even Google’s search results, offering quick, engaging content that captures attention.
  • Long-form videos excel in niches like education or business, allowing creators to delve into complex topics while maintaining visibility in search.

Short-form video now makes up 30% of the video results in Google, a tenfold increase from 2020. 

While long-form content remains valuable, short-form video is rapidly gaining traction as a preferred content type.

3. Informational Content Is Out

With Google’s AI overviews answering many user questions directly, traditional informational content drives less traffic to websites. 

To stay relevant, focus on:

  • Original research or data that can’t be replicated elsewhere.
  • Professional opinions that showcase your expertise and unique perspective.
  • First-person experiences that connect on a human level and add authenticity.
  • Authoritative content that includes more practical details than AI can.

These types of content differentiate you in a crowded market and provide value that AI cannot easily replicate.

4. Creating for People, Not Platforms

This shift in strategy puts your audience back in focus. 

Instead of always optimizing for algorithms:

  • Start with your audience’s needs and burning questions to inspire your content.
  • Use SEO and social strategies to amplify content that already resonates.
  • Focus on solving real problems for your ideal audience, even if the search volume seems low.

This approach builds trust and fosters a loyal community rather than chasing fleeting algorithm trends.

5. Mastering Customer Journeys and Conversions

As businesses pivot from ad revenue to product-focused models, creators must learn new skills like:

  • Attracting the right audience with targeted, high-value content.
  • Building trust through authentic communication and relationship-building.
  • Selling authentically by addressing real needs without being pushy.
  • Optimizing conversion rates by testing, analyzing, and refining strategies over time.

Developing these skills requires patience and a willingness to learn, but they are essential for long-term business success.

By embracing new platforms, formats, and audience-driven content, you’ll stay ahead of the curve while building a stronger connection with your audience.

Experiment, adapt, and have fun as you explore new ways to grow your business!


Trend #3: Keeping an Eye on Your Mindset

One of the biggest challenges for digital entrepreneurs will be maintaining a positive and adaptable mindset amidst all this rapid change. 

With AI advancing at breakneck speed and platforms shifting constantly, success depends on staying:

  • Curious: Instead of fearing change, explore how it can work in your favor.
  • Agile: Be ready to pivot your strategies as the landscape evolves.
  • Adaptable: Embrace uncertainty and learn to thrive in new environments.

Change is nothing new in online business. For example:

  • 2011/2012 – Google’s Panda/Penguin updates target common SEO practices
  • 2012 – Facebook throttles organic reach for Pages
  • 2013 – Google launches the “Promotions” Gmail tab
  • 2016 – Instagram switches from a chronological to an algorithmic feed
  • 2017 – The video platform Vine shuts down
  • 2018 – Google’s Medic update hammers YMYL content
  • 2020 – Instagram starts prioritizing video instead of photo
  • 2020 – The pandemic shuts down the world
  • 2023 – Twitter shuts off free access to its API
  • 2023/2024 – Google’s Helpful Content Updates crush many niche sites
  • 2025 – TikTok ban threatened in the US.

This history shows that industry shifts are constant, but they’re also opportunities to innovate and adapt.

Staying Grounded During Transitions

It’s natural to feel frustrated when success feels out of reach or when previous efforts no longer yield results. 

Allow yourself time to process these emotions, but don’t let them stop you from moving forward. 

To stay grounded:

  • Acknowledge the difficulty: Revenue and traffic dips during transitions are normal.
  • Focus on long-term goals: Remember that bigger success often comes after a period of rebuilding.
  • Seek community: Lean on peers who understand what you’re going through for support and ideas.

(If this is you, my Search Savvy membership includes a private (and super active )FB group with 1k+ members who ALL get it. Come join us!)

Mindset Shifts for 2025

To navigate changes, keep these principles in mind:

  • Pivoting is normal: There is nothing wrong with making changes.
  • It’s okay to fail: Mistakes almost always lead to valuable insights.
  • Your worth is NOT tied to your business: Focus on other areas of your life that bring joy as well.

I’m not really a “mindset” person (for some reason that part has always come really naturally to me), but I keep seeing these feelings come up in my community and just had to address it!

Stay Focused on the Bigger Picture

As you pivot, be careful not to fall into the trap of focusing on short term gains over long-term vision.

For example, many bloggers who lost significant ad revenue last year have resorted to things like:

  • Increasing ad density to maximum levels (a very poor user experience)
  • Shoving pop-ups everywhere to grow their email list (also a bad user experience)
  • Accepting sponsorships that don’t align with their brand/values (a swift killer of trust).

Please DON’T do these things. If you need money now, consider offering services or freelancing instead while you build your passive income streams back up. (Need more inspo? Here are 27 ways to make extra money as a dietitian.)

Remember, you have a unique perspective to bring to your audience and they want to hear and learn from you, regardless of any business pivots you need to make to stay afloat. You’ve got this!


Trend #4: The Growth of the Fediverse / Decentralized Social Media

What is the Fediverse?

The fediverse is a decentralized social media ecosystem that could reshape how creators connect with audiences.

Unlike traditional platforms like Facebook or Instagram, where content and audiences are siloed, the fediverse operates on shared protocols like ActivityPub.

This allows users to share content on one platform and have people on any other fediverse-connected platform be able to see it, interact with it, and follow you, all without leaving the platform of their choice.

Why Does It Matter?

Traditional platforms control your audience and content. With a single decision, they can limit your reach or remove your account. The fediverse solves this by allowing creators to:

  • Own their audience through platform-agnostic connections.
  • Reduce reliance on any single platform’s algorithms.

How It Works

Platforms like Threads, Mastodon, and WordPress (via plugins) use ActivityPub to connect users across the fediverse. For example:

  • A post on Threads can appear on Mastodon, where users can engage without leaving their platform.
  • Creators can switch servers (or start their own) while retaining their audience.

What About Bluesky?

Bluesky, a decentralized alternative to X (formerly Twitter), uses a different protocol called ATProto. It’s promising but still developing.

While the major social media platforms may never adopt decentralization, since it would limit their control, Meta’s integration of Threads into the fediverse is something to watch!

The Future

The fediverse isn’t mainstream yet, but it represents a shift toward creator autonomy. By embracing this ecosystem, creators can:

  • Build audiences across platforms simultaneously.
  • Maintain control over their content and connections.
  • Diversify their presence, reducing algorithm dependence.

Decentralized social media offers an exciting glimpse into the future of online connection. Staying informed about the fediverse could give you a competitive edge as this ecosystem grows.


Trend #5: Continued AI Advancements and Regulations

The final trend shaping 2025 is the rapid evolution of AI and its accompanying regulatory challenges. From new tools to ongoing legal battles, AI will continue to have huge impacts on the digital landscape.

Here are some of the trends I’m particularly interested in for 2025:

AI Agents: Automating Routine Tasks

AI agents are autonomous AI bots that will perform routine tasks for you.

So rather than AI just giving you the information to do something, it will actually DO it for you!

Here are some use-case examples for AI agents I’ve seen mentioned across the web:

  • Compile Contact Information – Authority Hacker gave an example of where you could give your AI agent a list of companies that you want the contact information for, then the AI agent would look up the websites one by one, find the contact information, and add it to a spreadsheet for you.
  • Monitor Sewage Output – Marie Haynes gave an example of an AI agent that could monitor the sewage output of your home for the presence of various diseases, then automatically order tests and/or treatments for you. 
  • Diagnose Car Issues – Another example from Marie was AI integrated into your car, so that if it starts making a weird noise, the AI automatically diagnoses the issue and books an appointment for you.
  • Process Returns  – An example Google gave at their Google I/O conference was using an AI agent to automatically process online returns for you.

These are just a few examples, but in the short term, any task that uses simple and repeatable steps is probably at risk of being taken over by AI agents in the near-ish future.

In fact, ChatGPT is already beta-testing automated “tasks” for Pro users that allow you to schedule some recurring tasks to be done automatically for you.

Think meal planning, birthday reminders with gift ideas, workout schedules, daily news summaries, daily activity ideas for your toddler, and more (ChatGPT can send your requests via email or trigger browser notifications).

Although this is a super basic initial application, I’m sure it will evolve quickly.

And if you’re on the $200/mo ChatGPT Pro plan, OpenAI recently released a new feature called Operator.

Operator is a truly autonomous AI agent that can take control of your browser and perform simple tasks for you. It’s still considered to be in “research” mode and will be improved based on user feedback.

But already, it can do things like look up a recipe, add all the ingredients to your instacart, and order them to be delivered to your house at your preferred time, all automatically. (Here’s a video demo.)

Pretty amazing! (Although probably not so amazing for food bloggers who rely on ad revenue to make a living.)

No-Code App Development

Another great use of AI is the ability to create apps without knowing any code.

Bubble and Glide are two of the most well-known tools for building apps without code, but I’m sure there are many more!

With these platforms, you can use a drag-and-drop editor to visually design the app, build the functionality you want, and structure the data you’ll need to make the app run. 

While it’s still a lot of work to get your final product built, it is 1000x easier than custom coding everything yourself or hiring a developer!

Performing Research

Google has recently released a Gemini Advanced feature called “Deep Research” that will conduct research deep dives on whatever topic you want. 

It will comb the internet for you and compile a comprehensive report with linked references. You can then refine the report as needed and export it to Google Docs when you’re done. 

This is an incredibly interesting advancement, BUT, it is still somewhat limited if the only references it draws upon are the top ranked web pages. 

However, Gemini is lightyears ahead of other LLMs in terms of how much information it can process at once (1 million tokens vs just 128k for ChatGPT and 200k for Claude). 

For reference, a context window of 1 million tokens means that Gemini can process and retain information on roughly 700,000 words at once (more than the entire Lord of the Rings series combined!)

This makes Gemini uniquely great at performing this type of in-depth research.

Definitely an area to watch!

News Curation and Summarization

The last advancement in AI that I’m particularly interested in is news curation and summarization. 

Google is beta testing an AI-generated personalized daily podcast, based on the topics you search for and follow in Google Discover.

It’s called “Daily Listen” and seems like a pretty neat idea!

Each day, you get a 5-minute AI-generated podcast episode summarizing the top news you might be interested in with links to related stories to learn more.

I can see a feature like this being super helpful, especially if we’re able to create multiple 5-minute summaries on specific topics (rather than blending all of your interests together). 

If you want to opt into the Daily Listens beta, you can do so inside the Search Labs section of the Google app (on mobile only).

Regulatory Challenges

However, the rise of AI hasn’t come without controversy.

Legal battles over AI training data have pitted creators against tech giants. Companies like Getty Images, The New York Times, and Universal Music have filed lawsuits over unauthorized use of their content.

Meanwhile, others have struck lucrative licensing deals, highlighting disparities in how creators and big businesses benefit from AI advancements.

Sadly, my hunch is that big licensing deals with AI will be the future, and smaller creators will be squeezed out, leading to a consolidated media that is very much the antithesis of the internet.

I hope I’m wrong.

Labeling AI Content?

As more of us integrate AI technology into our lives, will we just accept AI-created work as equivalent to human-generated work?

Do we care to know the difference?

Does it matter to most consumers?

While some companies, like Google, have stated that they will attempt to label AI-generated images and videos on their platforms, there is absolutely no common standard, and no one is quite sure what the best move is. 

AI is evolving at breakneck speed, and regulations just can’t keep pace. It’s hard to guess where we’ll be by the end of 2025, but I’m sure we’ll look back in 12 months and realize just how far we’ve come—whether we like it or not.

So that’s it for my 5 digital marketing trends to watch in 2025. 

To recap, those trends are:

  • Trend #1: Building a digital ecosystem
  • Trend #2: Big shifts in content creation strategy
  • Trend #3: Keeping an eye on your mindset
  • Trend #4: The growth of the fediverse / decentralized social media
  • Trend #5: Continued AI advancements and regulation

If you enjoyed this post, I would love it if you could share it with a friend. 

One of my goals for 2025 is greater visibility, so I appreciate all the help I can get. Thank you!!

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Erica Julson is a registered dietitian turned digital marketing pro. She has over 14 years of experience blogging and building online businesses and has taught over 1,000 people inside her programs.