Digital marketing trends can be crucial to staying relevant and competitive as a business.

However, it can be difficult to cut through the noise and determine which trends are worth acting on when digital marketing is changing faster than ever before.

My experience in digital marketing has given me a wealth of experience following digital marketing trends -- some of which I’ve had negative consequences and others that have changed the face of my business forever in the best way.

In my opinion, you need to choose digital trends that are grounded in reality and focus on the ones that marketers are already acting on, basing your decisions on data and results-driven analytics.

In this guide, I’ll talk you through 13 digital marketing trends that are changing the game, how I picked these trends, what smart marketers are focusing on in 2025, and how the beehiiv platform is making email a thriving marketing channel.

When I’m running a campaign, I like to test out a range of techniques. This has helped me to see what works best for that individual strategy and has given me a unique perspective on certain digital marketing trends, predominantly because I’ve tried out so many of them!

I’ve tested all different kinds of digital marketing trends in my 10 years working in online advertising. Here are some of my favorites.

The way we search online is changing.

In 2024, Google released new algorithm updates, making image recognition more powerful and altering how we Google different things.

While visual search has technically been around for a long time, with Google releasing Google Image Search in 2001 and Google Lens in 2017, we’re only just seeing this digital marketing trend peak in popularity.

Other companies are releasing their visual search ideas, with Pinterest Lens and Snapchat Scan being launched in recent years. 

Even retail sites have jumped on this trend, with ASOS Style Match and Wayfair using visual search to prompt consumers to easily source clothing and furniture they’ve seen online.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the ultimate driver of visual search, analyzing images for patterns, brands, and similar designs out there to deliver the most precise results.

With 36% of consumers having used visual search and half of these saying visual information is more important than text when shopping online, it’s clear that the way we search is having a relaunch (Invesp).

Naturally, other brands are reacting to these findings, with selling sites such as Amazon, eBay, and Etsy prioritizing visual search and allowing consumers to browse their image-based product searches.

I love this digital marketing trend because it reacts to a real need that consumers are showing: the desire to search for products and services visually.

How can we optimize visual content to ensure that it appears at the top of search results in a visual search capacity?

Here are some tips:

Email newsletters have been on quite a journey in terms of popularity.

While they’ve always been around, email newsletters have  fallen under the radar when other channels such as social media and paid advertising were having their moment around the 2015 mark. 

However, in 2023, everything changed.

From 2022 to 2023, beehiiv saw the number of newsletter creators on their platform jump from 3,674 to 26,345… this is a staggering 617% increase.

Email newsletters are continuing to make waves today, with AI, personalization, and monetization making email marketing stronger than ever.

beehiiv has been passionate about engaging with this particular marketing trend, ensuring that there’s a powerful platform available for users who are clearly looking for it.

Keep reading to learn about a few features that make beehiiv stand out from its competitors in the email newsletter space.

The beehiiv Referral Platform allows creators to incentivize their audience by offering rewards in return for recommending their newsletter.

Users can set up different rewards such as promo codes, digital gifts, paid subscriptions, or physical merchandise, and then track referrals to ensure that milestones are rewarded automatically.

What I found with this platform is that their referral program is a great way of continuing to grow an audience from an already loyal subscriber base.

beehiiv is actively committed to helping creators build their audience.

beehiiv’s primary goal is to help creators build, grow, and monetize, so they designed different audience growth tools, such as the Referral Program, SEO optimization tools, and subscriber insights, to help customers grow their audiences.

beehiiv also offers tools such as segmentation to make content more relevant for certain customers and allow easy social media integration to enable creators to expand their reach even further.

Earning revenue is a key feature of the beehiiv system.

beehiiv offers many tools to enable creators to monetize their newsletters:

AI is different compared to other digital marketing movements and trends, as it’s pretty clear that AI is here to stay.

The most important thing to bear in mind with AI is how it is used. It may seem to be everywhere right now, but learning to balance AI tools with human creativity is the key to success.

Understandably, many marketers feel threatened by AI. However, I’ve found that AI Tools like Jasper, ChatGPT, and Midjourney can be used alongside my marketing to make certain processes more efficient, rather than replacing my services completely.

My favorite ways to use AI are included below:

In a nutshell, AI is best used to automate tasks that don’t require a lot of creativity or user intent. Using AI for planning and data analysis can free up marketers to do what we do best – the creative bits!

If you’re skeptical and need some inspiration, check out how AI newsletter The Neuron figured out the best ways of using AI for their business in this beehiiv blog.

Another interesting trend that seems to be sticking around is building brands in public to accelerate growth.

This transparency is very new for brands, with the inner workings of a business previously being held in secret for most industries.

A new trend towards fostering transparency and sharing the journey with your community is becoming the new normal. I love this trend as it has so many advantages for both the business and the consumer.

The business can be less guarded about its approach and receive increased public support, which usually results in better engagement rates and quicker growth.

The consumer enjoys a more transparent relationship with a business, often enjoying a more direct line of communication, too.

There are a few different methods for building in public. Here are my favorites:

Showing sneak peeks of your business behind the curtain can show your desire to be transparent with your audience.

There are various ways you can accomplish this, from office tours to showing the people behind your brand. Whichever way you choose, bringing your audience along allows the personality of your brand to shine through and builds trust with your audience.

I love a product roadmap.

This type of content typically shows how a product has been developed so far and an outline of where you see that product going over time.

The reason I love this trend so much is that you can directly involve your audience in the vision of a product. You can ask for feedback and direction from people who may use the product and provide a timeline for how you see releases taking place.

Roadmaps can be really successful as they provide a clear view of the product’s timeline to your audience and help to balance expectation management with obtaining a good understanding of your audience’s thoughts.

Short-form video is a digital marketing trend that doesn’t seem to be slowing down.

Short-form videos dominate major social media channels such as TikTok and Instagram and have even made their way to mediums such as YouTube that are more typically known for long-form video content.

Short-form video content is usually less than 60 seconds long and is typically displayed vertically to prioritize mobile viewing.

I like using this type of content because it’s cost-effective, affords my brand a wide reach, and can be used with trending audio/effects.

With short-form videos receiving 2.5 times more engagement than long-form videos (Yaguara), every brand should try out this trend if they haven’t already.

The next trend is all about building a community.

There seems to have been a shift in recent years from trying to grow as many followers as possible to cultivating active, engaged audiences. 

This shift seems to have emerged from consumers desiring stronger relationships with brands, with the growth of the direct-to-consumer (DTC) space.

There are many benefits to this trend, including better customer retention, improved engagement rates, and overall better consumer loyalty by focusing on creating a strong community brand.

Here are some of my favorite ways to build a community online and grow loyal, passionate customers:

Encouraging your employees to share content is a highly successful marketing strategy.

I knew that employee-generated content (EGC) was successful but didn’t have much in the way of tangible results, and I was skeptical about the actual levels of engagement. I did some digging for some stats, so I could decide if this trend was really for me.

Here’s what surprised me…

Content shared by employees receives eight times more engagement than content shared through a brand (PostBeyond)! This shows the true power of EGC and why all brands should give this a go.

Personal content from employees is more authentic than content shared by the company as a whole, which I believe helps focus on human connection and being great for both customer and employee engagement.

Employees could share their personal favorite products from a brand or share their day-to-day tasks as employees. Your employees can be your best brand ambassadors, so leveraging your employees' unique insights into your business can improve the reach and engagement levels of your content. 

Google has become more focused on relevance over the years.

With the rise of conversational AI and increased user expectations from search engines, niche and intent-driven Search Engine Optimatization (SEO) content has become a strong digital marketing trend, which I personally think is a great thing.

Gone are the days of broad keyword-based SEO and irrelevant content. These days, brands need to provide users with the most relevant, authoritative information if they want any hope of ranking highly in search engines.

The E-E-A-T framework (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) is also becoming more important for rankings, adding to this drive towards niche and intent-driven content.

So how do you create content that will follow this trend?

Here are my top tips:

The shift away from third-party cookies has started a digital marketing trend focused on first-party data.

First-party data is information a company collects directly from its customers (e.g., an opt-in form on a company website). 

With consumers becoming more focused on privacy, businesses are looking for more sustainable ways of collecting data. This is particularly prevalent given that third-party cookies are facing depreciation with the risk of new privacy regulations such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).

What are the benefits of first-party data?

First-party data is highly valuable due to its accuracy and reliability. In addition, it hasn’t been convoluted like third-party data, which can be a mix of data from various sources.

Collecting first-party data makes it easier for a company to control information and focus on data management, fully understanding its origins and accuracy and having no dependence on third-party sources/intermediaries.

Collecting first-party data also allows for enhanced personalization/targeting and, therefore, the opportunity to build stronger relationships with customers.

This is a trend that I hope is here to stay, as it’s great for businesses. Plus, the use of first-party data helps to protect consumers from the risk of data leaks and provides a more transparent service.

People are no longer only using Google to search online.

Users are searching on social media platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, and Reddit to find the information they need, particularly when it comes to products they want to buy.

According to Google, 40% of 18-24 year olds are using social media as their primary search engine (TechCrunch). This stat is huge and confirms my thoughts that this trend is highly significant in changing the world of search as we know it.

But why are people leaning towards social search rather than using traditional search engines?

Some believe that social media offers a sense of authenticity that traditional search results may be lacking due to advertising and sponsored content.

However, with social media platforms becoming more heavily sponsored, there must be other reasons. One of these reasons could be that the drive towards visual search is, in turn, helping social search, with social media platforms being more visually based platforms.

I believe it’s more likely that generational shifts are contributing to the rise in social search, with younger people becoming increasingly comfortable with using social media as an information source.

Mobile-first internet access also makes social media more convenient. Why leave the platform you’re already using on your phone to use a separate search engine?

Whatever the reason, it’s super clear that social search is a valid competitor for Google, and optimizing content for social platforms is key to brands remaining in the game moving forward.

Did you know that interactive content generates up to 80% higher engagement rates than traditional content formats (Eventflare)?

The use of quizzes, polls, interactive videos, and calculators is changing the way we post content. Gone are the days of text and video dominating social media feeds and newsletters. The new king of content is interactive.

With increased engagement comes a range of other positive Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that can positively impact the following metrics :

Another trend that is seeing continued growth is the way influencers engage with their followers.

In 2025, more and more influencers are moving to owned platforms.

Why? It’s largely because of a desire for control and diversification. 

Third-party platforms may restrict influencers from marketing the way they want to and may also tie them into long-term fee structures.

An influencer using their own platform can control what content they produce and how they monetize it. It also allows them to build a solid community in one place.

Each of these reasons is causing the influencer marketing space to evolve, with more of the following types of influencer content seen regularly:

Content that is created by individuals rather than brand campaigns is the final trend I want to talk about today.

People are becoming more inspired to create content that is more genuine and relatable, rather than overly polished content that may come across as more “sponsored.”

There are various reasons why creator-led content is outperforming branded campaigns, but the main reasons are linked to authenticity and connection.

Individual-led content is more likely to instill a connection than content published by a company. This is likely to lead to better engagement rates, conversion rates, and potentially a higher return on investment (ROI), too.

Brands can leverage creator-led content, too, by prioritizing content published by their employees or customers, sharing personal experiences based on an individual’s views rather than as their brand as a whole.

Why Listen to Me? I have been working in the digital marketing space for 10 years, predominantly helping brands with their email marketing and online presence. I now specialize in creating great content for beehiiv to help people nail their email strategies!

The trends I’ve picked in this piece come from my personal experience.

Working on different campaigns with clients in a range of industries has given me a set of favorite trends that I try again and again, regardless of whether they’re still popular.

Some trends don’t age well, but it’s my firm belief that if you find the right set of digital marketing trends, you can use them to form a successful strategy. 

I’ve prioritized the trends that have provided my clients with tangible results that can provide insights into how I can improve my campaigns moving forward and show me which trends I should prioritize.

It’s not guesswork. Picking the wrong trends can be highly detrimental to a business, which is why it’s so important to test out different methods before running full-scale with them.

Newsletter platforms are thriving more than ever before; and, in my opinion, this is largely because of how they facilitate the digital trends I’ve discussed today.

Newsletter platforms promote authenticity, growth, and transparency, which are clearly at the forefront of consumers’ mindsets. Plus, they offer owned distribution, which creators can’t always achieve via other marketing mediums.

Here are some other key reasons why newsletter platforms like beehiiv are excelling over other platforms, such as social media:

Newsletters are known for achieving great engagement rates.

Are you aware that email open rates vary from 15-25%, while open rates from organic media are just 2-4%, on average?

Clearly, email is offering much higher engagement rates than social media, and this is because consumers have actively invited a newsletter into their inbox and are therefore likely to interact with it.

Check out this blog comparing email newsletters to social media for more interesting stats!

A regular newsletter opens a direct line of communication with your audience.

This offers many advantages, such as brand loyalty, the ability to send targeted messaging, and means you’re not at the control of a third-party platform that may dilute a message with sponsors or algorithm changes.

Reaching your audience directly is the best way of communicating with them, allowing you to fully control the process and build trust with your subscribers.

One of email’s best features is its ability to automate processes and improve efficiency.

Whether you want to set up a welcome series introducing your new subscriber to your brand or automate list-cleaning to make sure it actually gets done regularly, there are many different ways that email can make your communications more efficient.

As an analytics buff, I love that email provides me with information I can actually use to push results.

You can track a wide range of metrics through newsletters, including open rates, click-through rates, conversions, and audience retention. These KPIs can provide valuable insights about your marketing performance that other marketing channels can’t.

Check out beehiiv’s 3D Analytics if you want to improve how you measure your newsletter campaigns. There are so many insights you can unlock with this platform – you can even track trends to see what new digital marketing movements you need to keep an eye on!

For me, if a marketing channel isn’t driving growth and revenue, it’s questionable whether or not it’s working.

Newsletters drive tangible, real business outcomes like monetization, revenue growth, and conversions, making it super easy to see what is working and what needs to be improved.

While some other marketing channels focus on revenue growth, email newsletters are one of the lowest-cost ways to do this measurably.

So what have we learned about digital marketing trends in this help guide?

Let’s summarize:

If you’re ready to get started with an email newsletter, sign up for a free, 30-day trial with beehiiv.

I’ve personally used beehiiv to test out a range of the digital marketing trends mentioned in this piece, and I can confidently report that it allowed me to easily track any trends I was testing, while producing a visually appealing, results-driven newsletter.

Some of my favorite beehiiv features include segmentation, A/B testing, and the beehiiv Ad Network, but I won’t spoil the fun. Check out beehiiv for yourself and see how you can benefit from a first-class newsletter.

A digital marketing trend is a shift in the direction of online marketing that is known for increasing traffic, engagement, or other KPIs.

It’s important for brands to identify and utilize the best digital trends in order to stay relevant and competitive in the digital market.

Aspects that affect digital marketing trends include a change in consumer behavior, technological advancements such as AI, and changing marketing techniques such as new platforms, tools, and automation methods.

The top rising trends in digital marketing are listed below:

Below is a list of the top seven types of digital marketing:

The top digital marketing trends for 2025 include the focus on useful AI tools, the rise of social media searches, and the success of human-generated content.

Each of these trends focuses on the move towards searching through social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok, using AI to improve efficiency, and allowing humans to focus on creating content that is authentic, transparent, and has a human touch.