Content Marketing Trends 2025 (According to Our Experts)
From AI and authenticity to formats and personalisation, our expert panel of industry specialists delivers the latest content marketing trends for 2025.
A panel of industry-leading experts. Four key questions. And all the insights you need to make 2025 the defining year for your content marketing endeavours.
These are our content marketing trends for 2025. Read on to ensure you stay in the know about what to expect in our sector while keeping one step ahead with your strategy.
The Panel:
Before we begin, let’s introduce our star-studded cast of contributors who have helped make this article a rich, dynamic and insightful piece of content:
Charna Walfall – Brand Marketing Manager at Sticky
Stephen Taylor – Director at Pace
Amy Wheaton – Senior Director at VERB Interactive
Vicki Sherman – Digital Production Lead at Dialogue Agency
Ben Graham – Editorial Director at Group SJR
Paul Fulberg – Executive Client Partner at Group SJR
Lucy Coles – Executive Content Director at Group SJR
Selena Cameron – Global CEO at Group SJR
As esteemed CMA members, we appreciate your time, expertise, and contribution to our community, with the hope that 2025 can be just as fruitful as 2024.
Now, without further ado. Onto our 2025 content marketing trends.
(1) What’s the most fascinating thing about the content marketing industry at the moment?
Like all epic pieces of content, we’re beginning this 2025 content marketing trends article with a bang!
Or, as Editorial Director at Group SJR, Ben Graham, puts it – “Time for the real thought leaders to step up!”
Here he is getting us underway. Take it away, Ben:
“Enshittification has fucked traffic. Brands and marketers have a choice: churn out as much AI SEO goop and uncanny imagery as the server racks can take before melting or make things that feel truly special.”
“That doesn’t mean being the loudest as subtly, beautifully shot, human-focused video ads have shown. In B2B land, that means more powerful conversations will be crucial.”
Backing up his fellow Group SJR colleague, Paul Fulberg shares his fascination with how we can create valuable content that challenges the audience.
“As we all learn to get the best out of AI, it will become an ingredient to content creation rather than the starting point. More targeted use will deliver greater value and uniqueness as brands come to terms with the reality of their abilities and build the foundations for a blended model.”
As the current zeitgeist and buzzword in 2024, it’s no surprise we’re seeing the AI obsession continue into 2025.
Charna Walfall from Sticky took the time to point out its influence with personalisation marketing techniques as her current content marketing fascination,
“The emergence of AI has given content marketers the ability to tailor, adapt, and deliver dynamic content to varying audiences- at scale. This is super exciting, providing a plethora of data and insights to fuel future strategies.”
From the personal to the community, here is what’s currently fascinating Vicki Sherman, Digital Production Lead at Dialogue.
“There’s been a notable shift towards building brand communities, not just in the way strategies get executed, but also that brand communities have become more of a focus in what people are talking about online.”
“Consumers want to feel valued as part of a group and are drawn to brands that create a sense of belonging, offer meaningful interactions, and align with their values.”
Finally, from across the Atlantic in Nova Scotia, Canada, what does Senior Director at Verb Interactive Amy Wheaton think is the most fascinating thing about the content marketing industry right now?
“Many of our clients have adopted a "less is more" approach when it comes to copy (website content), focusing on eye-catching imagery, engaging video, and visuals overall.
“When it comes to blogs and email, longer-form content is having an uptick in terms of engagement. […] AI, of course, is another element to watch.”
Fascinations over. Now is the time for action, leading us nicely to our second 2025 content marketing trends question:
(2) Which key area(s) do you think more brands should focus on in their content marketing strategies in 2025?
And what better message to proactively take on the new year than brands keeping it real and finding their niche? Director at Pace, Stephen Taylor, points out articulately for us:
“Whether marketers are bringing in data no one else has, creating unique content experiences, or sharing human-focused stories specific to their market landscape, the differentiation factor will go a long way in 2025.”
“Brands that can deliver powerfully on narrower topics, queries, interests, etc. will handily outperform the ones trying to boil the ocean, especially as generative AI starts to play a bigger role in how people discover content in the first place.”
A point reiterated by Ben Graham:
“Creepy, spammy programmatic ads that follow us around the web aren’t going to meltdown any time soon, but consumers and buyers will place greater value on brands that commit to more thoughtful, authentic content.”
“Video will still be a huge part of that, but view-baiting TikTok/Reels will never have the impact of real storytelling with humans at its core.”
From authenticity to audiences, Amy Wheaton shares why we can’t overlook our prime consumers.
“We hear so much about Gen Z and what younger audiences want, it feels like our Boomer/Gen X audiences get overlooked a lot of the time. Generally, these are the audiences with the most disposable income.”
“Our teams have been making an effort to connect with these audiences using the notion of social media as a town square, focusing on trustworthiness and reliability in our messaging, and showcasing as much diversity as possible in our visuals.”
Bringing it back to basic marketing principles, Paul Fulberg states.
“Focus on the product – brands have invested heavily in talking about societal and cultural issues but have not reaped much in the way of rewards. Will brands play it safe in 2025 and focus on their products and simplified messaging?”
While regarding formats, Vicki Sherman declares her emphasis on email marketing.
“It offers the chance to personalise content to the interests of the recipients, including exclusive content that may not be accessible elsewhere. It's valuable for onboarding new community members and helps retain existing ones. It also helps drive cross-platform engagement as a bridge to other community touch points such as content hubs or social media groups.”
Lastly, stemming from their innovative Curious Consumer Cohorts™, Charna Walfall from Sticky sheds more light on the theme of personalisation.
“Audiences not only want you to provide a solution, but they want to know that you understand and really ‘get’ them. If you expect consumers or potential clients to buy from you, you better get to know them beyond the surface level.”
“Moving past dated demographics and over-reliance on generational stereotypes. Where someone lives, or even their age bracket, is no longer an indicator of purchasing habits. Audiences are so fragmented that traditional segmentation has become less and less effective. Curious Consumer Cohorts™ is the new era of audience targeting. Focusing on how to pique someone’s curiosity based on attitudinal and behavioural signals.”
All food for thought, but as Vicki highlighted with her focus on email marketing, what other content formats can we expect to hoist the content marketing trends for 2025?
(3) What content formats or types do you believe will dominate in 2025, and why?
Kicking off our third question of the day, let’s stick to the theme of email marketing with Amy Wheaton.
“Email continues to be one of the most impactful marketing channels for building and nurturing 1:1 customer/client relationships. I think we'll continue to see a lot of the Substack model along with online communities. Followers and fans want to feel involved and part of something beyond social feeds.”
Just as email continues to stake its claim in marketing, it’s impossible to ignore the most sought-after format while introducing another member of the Group SJR team, Executive Content Director Lucy Coles.
“Influencer-led vertical video has long dominated TikTok and IG Reels. As LinkedIn pushes this format on its own platform, 2025 could see a big shift in how brands need to approach thought leadership. B2B content will become more dynamic, engaging, snappy, authentic, with useable insight - and video-first.”
The short-form video craze has long dominated our content marketing agendas, with 85% of marketers prioritising the format as the most effective part of their marketing strategy.
That said, LinkedIn’s latest adoption pays testament to how short-form video has completed the circle from casual TikTok entertainment into B2B thought leadership, as Charna Walfall chimes in once again with her expertise:
“We’ve seen all the social platforms move towards this format, LinkedIn being the latest to the party. Audiences are consuming video content in so many variations from video podcasts, product videos, tutorials, and BTS. Video formats offer more context, are more personable and more relatable, with audiences able to envision themselves.”
On the other side of the mix, does short-form’s older relative still have a place in our hearts when discussing content marketing trends for 2025?
Let’s see what Amy Wheaton thinks:
“The writers on our team are excited about the resurgence of blogging – we've noticed more "old school" bloggers are active again, and we'll be experimenting with different blog formats to find out what clicks.”
Continuing the emphasis on the longer form, let’s hear again from SJR’s Ben Graham.
“In B2B, real insights, from real people will beat out AI “broetry” on LinkedIn. A brand Substack-based newsletter consistently bylined by smart, interesting writers could build loyalty in a more powerful way than promo codes.”
“Authentic, thought-provoking storytelling and conversations will prove more impactful than AI slop.”
Zooming out on specific content formats and types, let’s ask a question of its essence with Paul Fulberg.
“Create your own niche. The social world is shifting to a place where not just the content, but the platform defines what you stand for. Brands and their agencies are going to have to think about the message that their digital media chooses with a greater emphasis on owned channels.”
With it still the word on everyone’s lips, the only way to end this 2025 content marketing trends discussion is a fourth and final question on AI.
(4) How do you see AI shaping the content marketing industry in 2025?
We’ll start this hot topic with Amy Wheaton and her positive outlook on AI’s influence on content marketing trends in 2025.
“Predictive analytics will enable marketing teams to deliver hyper-personalised campaigns and messaging and optimise those campaigns in real-time. We're already seeing how AI is impacting SEO results and are refining content strategies to align with the future of search.”
“Becoming more efficient gives our team more time to create real, insights-driven, human content, stories, and campaigns that people connect with.”
“Our approach has been, and will continue to be, to use AI tools to scale and refine processes but not to create.”
Delivering a balanced assessment of the potential pros and cons, we have Charna Walfall.
“AI will continue to be a tale of two halves. From optimisation to automation and ideation, AI gives content marketers the ability to sharpen their content strategies and creates shortcuts to delivery. However, on the other side with the introduction of AI overviews impacting SEO, we’re going to have to get even more creative to drive traffic to our sites while battling algorithms. The focus on integrated marketing will have never been more prevalent.”
Interested in its role in SEO, Stephen Taylor from Pace also delivers a more concerning picture of the potential legal and ethical challenges.
“In 2024, we've seen almost no progress around the legal and ethical challenges of using generative AI to create content. It's still impossible to copyright AI-generated content in many countries, as one example. It's also still unclear whether most AI tools have been trained on content they did not have legal access to in the first place. On the other hand, there's huge momentum around AI-fueled content discovery.”
“As search engines, content platforms, streaming services and other tools get into AI-driven content management, users are also getting more savvy at using generative tools to actually find human-made content. This is of course changing search engine optimisation almost too quickly to keep up with, and content discovery (outside of search) will keep changing as well.”
Maintaining the theme of search, but with how it collates to UX, what’s the word from SJR?
CEO Selena Cameron had this to say:
“The not-so-quiet revolution taking place in search is infusing Gen-AI into results pages. This presents new barriers to accurate representation and is swinging the power to influence search results back to .coms. We’re taking and encouraging action now to ensure web content structure and volume are primed to influence models and substantiate authority outside of .com walls.”
In terms of using AI for content creation, we pass the floor back to Charna Walfall:
“How brands use prompts is key. Include details like their ICP and tone of voice. Exclude terms or any references that do not pertain to your brand. These enable the content produced to mirror your brand guidelines. Also, if your audience does call you out for using AI, own it. If you deny it, this will break their trust and leave a very bad aftertaste.”
To end, a sensible word from Vicki Sherman echoes Charna, “You need to be honest about using it. AI can create some cool stuff, but if it’s treated in a secretive way, then that can be damaging to those using it.”
Summarising our Content Marketing Trends for 2025
So, there you have it from the minds of our experts and the wider CMA community. In a nutshell, content marketing trends for 2025 look like this:
Expect a lot more AI integration.
Remember, authenticity reigns supreme.
Short-form video will continue to dominate.
Keep an eye out for longer-form content making a comeback.
This has been our own content marketing trends for 2025 to help give your brand some insights on how to navigate the next 12 months.
But before we go, here are some wise words from Paul Fulberg for agencies to take into their 2025 content marketing strategy:
“With more brands shifting to in-house content creation, the independence of content agencies offers something different. Clients know what they want and how they want to communicate, hence the shift to in-house. So, agencies need to be more than collaborative. They need to become part of the client.”
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