“Traditional marketing talks at people. Content marketing talks with them.” – Doug Kessler, co-founder of Velocity

Among other benefits, content marketing helps you generate leads, drive growth, build trust with your audience, and gain traction on socials – not to mention how it’s expected to reach US$107bn revenue worldwide in 2026 – so, staying on top of trends is crucial.

Here are some you should consider. 👇

1. AI in content marketing

Content creation

AI has many different uses in content marketing, including content creation. For instance, tools like ChatGPT can assist you in drafting articles and developing video scripts, freeing you up to focus on strategy – or more creative tasks.

Personalization

Another way to leverage AI is to deliver personalized content to your audience, since AI can help you tailor content to individual preferences.

For example, the tool Dynamic Yield matches content to people’s preferences and allows for real-time adjustments that create personalized experiences.

Predictive analytics

AI-driven predictive analytics allows you to anticipate future behaviors, meaning you can more easily tweak and improve your content strategies.

It analyzes historical data to forecast trends, which also lets you make more informed decisions and allocate resources more effectively.

AI in SEO

AI is changing SEO practices, including the way we search and optimize content – e.g., AI-powered search engines prioritize context, semantics, and user intent over exact-match keywords, a change that forces marketers to create content that addresses people’s needs instead of just optimizing it for specific terms.

Also, AI tools are capable of analyzing vast amounts of data (like user behaviors and engagement patterns) to make recommendations on keywords and readability.

Another thing to consider is voice search, which differs a lot from written queries. They tend to be longer, more conversational, and include more questions. AI-driven SEO tools can analyze these patterns too so that you can create content similar to natural speech that answers what people want to know.

Short-form videos

According to a HubSpot report, 83% of marketers used short-form video in 2024, with 42% of respondents saying 21-30 seconds is the ideal length.

So, it’s fair to say that short-form videos will continue to dominate, with TikTok, Reels, and Shorts leading the charge.

AI-generated videos

We’ve seen above that AI can be used to create content, and we expect there’ll be many brands using it to create 100% AI-generated videos in 2025.

After all, using AI to this effect can help you cut costs, speed up the production process, scale content, and automate repetitive content (e.g., training or customer support materials). It also has a lower entry barrier for marketers without video production teams or expertise.

However, there are many concerns about this topic, such as the ability to create deepfakes, spread misinformation, and infringe on copyrighted properties.

An example of an AI-generated video that wasn’t well received is Coca-Cola’s Christmas ad: 

Shoppable videos

This type of content allows consumers to interact with the products featured within the video.

Instagram is a great example of shoppable videos. The platform has integrated shopping features that enable you to tag products in the videos. When people tap on those tags, they’re taken to a product description page within the app where they can buy the product.

This feature is widely used by many businesses, especially in fashion and beauty, where both influencers and brands showcase products in their posts and stories.

Source: Instagram

Shoppable videos are expected to be a trend in 2025 for many reasons, including:

  • Increased demand for online shopping
  • Tech advancements
  • Integration across several platforms
  • Better customer experience since the buying process is easier and faster
  • Change in viewing habits, with consumers looking for more interactive and engaging content

3. Strategic pricing pages

Strategic pricing pages are highly focused on conversion and are structured to help potential customers understand what they’re paying for and why. These pages integrate marketing, sales, and product messaging to influence buying decisions.

For example, instead of just saying: “Basic plan: $X, Pro: $Y”, a strategic pricing page would explain the value behind each tier, such as: “$X/mo, best for scaling teams who need automation to drive efficiency.”

They’ll be more of a trend in 2025 as customers (more and more) expect clear, upfront pricing information before buying, so hiding the price can mean losing trust – people might not follow up to request pricing and, instead, choose a competitor.

On top of this, pricing pages, when optimized with SEO in mind, can help you rank higher in search and attract high-intent traffic.

A good pricing strategy can tell a very compelling story and highlight the unique value you offer. 

Source: Slack

4. Open playbooks

While not a new thing, open playbooks are more important than ever in 2025 as the desire for transparency and trust is at an all-time high. They offer a competitive edge, especially if you have an open playbook and your competitors don’t.

These are publicly accessible and shared, and outline best practices that can cover a wide range of business operations, such as:

  • Marketing and growth strategies
  • Sales processes
  • Customer support and engagement
  • Pricing strategies
  • Internal processes
Source: GitLab

Companies choose to have open playbooks because, as mentioned, customers crave transparency. Not only this, but open playbooks can also be collaborative and encourage knowledge-sharing.

They also help your company establish itself as a thought leader by openly showing your expertise, and they provide opportunities to request external feedback, which leads to continuous improvement.

Open playbooks are particularly useful in sectors like marketing, AI, cybersecurity, and SaaS, where the demand for trust is high.

5. Decentralization of social media

Decentralized social media platforms are an emerging trend to reduce the control that large tech companies have over online comms.

Instead of relying on a single company’s servers and policies, decentralizing social media means distributing power among users – and preventing single points of failure.

The aim is to have more transparency, avoid censorship, and own our own data. In addition, decentralization means people can earn directly (e.g., crypto) without having to give a cut to the platform. 

For instance, the concept of the “fediverse” (interconnected but independent platforms) is gaining traction, as it allows users to interact with many services without being limited to a single ecosystem. In essence, it’s an “interconnected social platform ecosystem based on an open protocol called ActivityPub, which allows you to port your content, data, and follower graph between networks.”

A specific example of a decentralized app is Bluesky, which is also growing in popularity. It’s an X-like platform that lets users move their accounts between different platforms without losing followers, content, and brand identity.

In short

Marketing is changing fast and both individuals and companies are having to keep up. The brands that do so will stand out in 2025.

The key takeaways? Be ready to adapt, experiment with ideas and formats, and leverage AI wisely. All in all, it’s about delivering value to your audience.