Looking ahead, 2025 will be a year of “hype” normalization. While several new technology trends have taken off over the last two years — generative AI, social commerce and retail media, to name a few — what lies ahead for business leaders is the need to right-size excitement around these areas versus actual impact.
In the Gartner Hype Cycle, when a new technology emerges, there is often a wave of excitement about its potential that Gartner labels the “Peak of Inflated Expectations.” After users cut through the hype and realize the limitations of the new technology, that peak is followed by a “Trough of Disillusionment.” Finally, these technologies reach a “Plateau of Productivity” where users identify applications for the technologies that provide value and a meaningful return on investment.
Many of these trends are rapidly moving to the Plateau of Productivity, with users finding meaningful applications for each. However, rationalizing these trends and recognizing that no one trend is the be-all and end-all is crucial. A combination of these and other strategies will help marketers do their best job building brands and driving growth through the hype cycle.
Here are four trends I believe are key to using this emerging technology to create long-term success in 2025:
Intelligence-driven decision making
Powered by augmented data and intelligence, 2025 will be the year of smart decision-making. Bloomberg Intelligence estimated the generative AI market at $40 billion in 2022, growing to $1.3 trillion by 2032. AI advancements will remove the complexities of organizing data, understanding performance and gathering insights so leaders can focus on applying the smart recommendations generated as a guide to better decision-making. This is, at its heart, the value proposition of AI. In addition, generative AI will enable faster and more efficient data analysis, giving decision-makers more time to dig into strategic initiatives based on these findings.
Timelessness of storytelling
Storytelling will regain some of its glory from the past in 2025. As communication channels explode, lines between the real and the virtual blur, influencers get overused and brands seek attention aggressively, underscoring the importance of powerful storytelling. Stories that are in the right context, connected with the culture and authentic to the brand will become powerful in cutting through the marketing clutter.
Increased focus on impact
Complexity within marketing channels and technologies has 10X’ed over the last few years. Combined with a focus on profitable growth, this means there is even more emphasis on marketing ROI. Attribution models have struggled to factor in increasingly complex customer journeys in the past. AI and machine learning are addressing issues such as data silos where customer data is dispersed across multiple technology platforms, often in different data formats. New solutions are providing both improved analysis of past campaigns and enhanced predictive insights. Understanding marketing impact versus activity with an emphasis on outcome metrics will remain central to marketing in 2025.
Video in marketing everywhere
The growth of video in marketing over the last decade will extend from short-form video on social media to streaming TV and digital out-of-home advertising. The power of telling stories and engaging with consumers on these two channels is immense. It captures the power of video with the attention that you cannot find on social media. As a result, its importance will receive greater recognition in 2025.
When implementing any trend, a balancing act must take place to ensure the strategy seizes the moment while still supporting long-term business success. Today’s emerging technologies have the potential to supercharge growth when applied effectively, even beyond the “hype cycle.” However, business leaders will need to continuously monitor these advancements, how others deploy them, consumer acceptance and contribution to return on ad spend and ROI as they develop plans for their organizations.
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