The countdown is very much on to the holiday season, with Thanksgiving and Black Friday only days away, while Christmas is a little over a month away. As such it can only mean one thing: sky-high CPMs… I mean, it’s time for an annual trends round up!

I’ve had a look at the five biggest trends and themes I’ve seen, plus there’s a few thought starters. The newsletter will return to its usual format next week.

Also, just a quick plug – I’ve joined Bluesky and am posting there far more regularly than on LinkedIn. Some of it is even about Digital Marketing; if you’re new to the platform and looking for a more frequent marketing fix, then please consider following.

Anyway – let’s get to it!

1. AI and Automation are essential (but you knew that already)

Generative AI is no longer a “nice-to-have” but a cornerstone of marketing workflows. From content creation to audience segmentation and predictive analytics, AI is driving efficiency and personalisation at scale. 

The challenge? Striking the right balance between automation and maintaining a human touch. My own personal recipe is to use it for, say, a first draft of a customer journey map, before then applying my own expertise and experience to finessing it.

2. Authenticity and credibility has never been more important

AI can churn out vast quantities of content fast; however, your competitors already know that, and are already using it. Unique “human” experiences and expertise will cut through like never before; again, video will be a key way to drive these messages home.

3. Short-form video rules

Short-form video content dominates—platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts are increasingly non-negotiable parts of a successful marketing mix. Meanwhile, LinkedIn is making a major play towards video, and with increased mobile usage on the platform portrait “talking heads” style videos are becoming increasingly common. I’m expecting to see a lot more of this in 2025.

4. First-party data 🤝 Personalisation

Customers increasingly expect tailored experiences. With third-party cookies (still) on the way out, first-party data is becoming ever more necessary. Loyalty programs, email campaigns, and app engagement will be key to delivering the level of relevance consumers now demand.

5. Social is becoming increasingly fragmented

This might not even have made the cut a few weeks ago, but the last week has shown how quickly things can change in the social landscape. Right now, Bluesky feels like a winner, while Threads and X feel like losers, especially if you look at data suggesting BlueSky has already surpassed Threads user numbers in the UK and US. 

Brands might be starting to plot their route to the platform already, but I’d recommend caution; yes, of course, you should grab those handles. However, advertisers are mooted to be returning to X, while Threads is looking to introduce ads, a move which will surely herald a major (or at least noteworthy) ATL campaign. This scrap has only just got started.

Further thinking

TikTok in the US: Donald Trump previously said he’s going to row back on banning TikTok. Only, his FCC pick wants to ban the platform. So… he’s 180’d his 180? This will be a huge story to watch over the coming months.

It’s the economy, stupid! The wider economic landscape is shifting wildly. It’s never been more important to run data-driven A/B tests and to double-check your attribution game is strong, to ensure you can demonstrate ROI and understand what works for you.

That’s it for now! We’ll be back to normal next week, and continuing until just before Christmas. If you found this interesting, I would appreciate it if you shared it with your friends and colleagues. 

If you’re feeling particularly generous, I won’t stop you from buying me a coffee. Have a great weekend, and I’ll see you next week!

I was on a client call earlier this week and someone said “it’s 7 weeks until January”, which is slightly terrifying, but also a timely reminder that we’re now right into trends season!

As with previous years, it’s quite hard to predict anything definitively new, but there are some interesting nuggets starting to emerge, notably with Hootsuite’s trends report this week. As with last year, I’ll pull together a concise compilation of the best trends in the next couple of weeks, so stay tuned for that.

But first: what on earth is going on at X?

X was always likely to play a prominent role in the news cycle regardless of the election result. However, even I’m slightly surprised at the level of chaos emerging; what does it all mean for the wider landscape?

• Firstly – there’s every chance we’re seeing an exodus of users, although until X releases its next round of user figures we won’t know for sure. My own hunch is that most of the people who were going to leave and go elsewhere probably already have done, but we’ll wait to see what the data says.
• That said, there were some high profile leavers this week; most notably The Guardian, as well as former CNN anchor Dom Lemon following a bizarre interview with Elon Musk.
• Yet, the FT conversely reports this week that while we might be seeing an exodus of users, major advertisers are being tempted back to the platform in a bid to curry favour with Musk and, by extension, Donald Trump.

With Bluesky and Threads both reporting major surges in terms of usage, it all begs the question; what does this landscape now look like?

Where before there was just Twitter, now there are X, Bluesky and Threads, all largely competing for the same slice of the social media pie. My issue with all 3 platforms is that, at least within my own network, there’s not really enough going on with any individual app to make it feel worth my while. A lot of people I know have signed up, posted once or twice, and then never posted again.

Until Threads or Bluesky improves Daily Active User figures (which reflect my anecdotal musings), it’s hard to see either leapfrogging X. 

Threads is likely to launch ads early next year. This should, probably, coincide with some above the line advertising (something that’s been absent when compared to Twitter or, a few years back, other Meta products), and this is a scrap I expect to heat up over the next year.

Hootsuite launches 2025 trends report

Hootsuite has launched its annual trends piece. I’m planning on taking a deeper look at upcoming digital and social trends over the next few weeks, but this will possibly make for some interesting reading in the meantime. 

Key takeaways are:

• Content experimentation is up, with brands foregoing long protected brand guidelines to do so
• Brands are commenting elsewhere to grow outbound engagement
• Apparently, social listening is launching social into a new era – though, given this is coming from Hootsuite, you’ll forgive me for taking that with a pinch of salt. 
• Oh also, AI is your new social media strategist.

Read the full piece here. Social Media Today also launched its trends piece this week.

Further Reading

ChatGPT’s foray into search is utilising Bing’s search index; this means that how your website indexes on Bing suddenly got a lot more important.

Although, those ads might be less personalised in the EU, following a concession from Meta earlier this week across its wider ad suite.

LinkedIn has added an ‘Open to Volunteer’ button, which is actually a really nice initiative.

Spotify is launching a new revenue sharing initiative for creators, something which puts it right onto YouTube’s turf.

That’s it! If you found this interesting, I would appreciate it if you shared it with your friends and colleagues. 

If you’re feeling particularly generous, I won’t stop you from buying me a coffee. Have a great weekend, and I’ll see you next week!

Amid the geopolitical fallout from events earlier this week, the real question I’m sure you’ve been dying to have answered is “What does this mean for Meta!?!”

Well, this week, I’m aiming to answer that very question, as well as what it means for regulations around AI. Plus, there’s news from Australia, where under-16s will be banned from using social media and ChatGPT launching a search feature. Let’s go!

What does Trump’s victory mean for us?

Donald Trump’s vibe on social media, such as it is, is freedom of speech and deregulation around issues such as content moderation. Cynics will argue “sure, as long as he agrees with it”, and there are valid concerns around this – particularly in relation to some of Elon Musk’s behaviours.

But there’s more to digital and social platforms than content moderation; antitrust and dominance have been huge themes of Biden’s administration, and we’ll see changes here.

• Of all the major platforms, Meta has been the most cautious and communicative in its attempts to moderate political advertising. However, Meta has faced far more scrutiny and antitrust measures under Joe Biden’s administration than it did under Trump. It’ll be instructive to see whether or not this stance continues over the next few months. I don’t see the platform easing up on content moderation, but at least targeting might be spared further governmental scrutiny and change.
• Obviously, TikTok has had a turbulent year in relation to the incumbent administration, and Trump’s rhetoric last time around was indeed to ban the platform, largely due to national security. However, he’s since backtracked on this, and one has to assume many within owners ByteDance are quietly confident moving forwards.
• Google is another big player with reasons for cautious optimism following Trump’s election. Trump has only recently commented on how Google has too much power, and has said in vague terms that he “would do something about it”, but he stopped short of any talk around a ban or a breakup. Indeed, Reuters reported this week that he’s expected to dial back existing Antitrust cases against the platform.
• I wouldn’t expect any noteworthy changes for LinkedIn, while the biggest impact for Snapchat and Reddit would probably be less requirement for content moderation. The only challenge here will be what advertisers make of all of it, particularly on a youth dominated platform such as Snapchat.
• And finally, we have X. You’ll already know that Elon Musk was a major supporter of Trump and, he’ll likely argue, a key factor in his victory. Anecdotally, just based on biographies I’ve read, he reminds me a little of a magpie and I can’t help but wonder if having a shiny new governmental role will distract his attention further way from X – which might, ironically, be good news for a platform which needs to rebuild bridges with sceptical advertisers. Musk might be further emboldened in terms of further rolling back content moderation, but I’m not even sure what difference that would make at this point.

What’s Trump’s view on AI?

AI is obviously one of the key themes to life in 2024 going into 2025, but it’s surprisingly one that we haven’t heard loads from Trump on. His previous administration generally supported AI in the context of American competitiveness (in 2019 they launched the American AI Initiative, to admittedly mixed reviews), but there wasn’t really much talk of regulation. But, in fairness, in 2019, discussions around AI regulation were minimal compared to 2024.

Previously, Elon Musk discussed his concerns about AI and how it needs to be regulated, so this could perhaps be a theme of life under Trump if he does indeed become something of a tech tsar. That said, on the campaign trail, Trump alluded to removing some of the AI-related policies either put in place or in development by the Biden administration. VP-elect JD Vance has taken a similar stance.

Further Reading

Elsewhere, Australia has said it plans to ban 16 year olds from social media, but hasn’t yet made contingencies for how this will be enforced. One to certainly keep an eye on.

ChatGPT has launched a search feature. This was announced minutes after last week’s update was sent out and ordinarily would be headline news for me; it could potentially disrupt the search landscape in the short term. I’ll write more on this in the coming weeks.

Meta is rolling out a variety of new ad units which, put simply, will create more flexible and dynamic ads, but will need more creative inputs.

That’s it! If you found this interesting, I would appreciate it if you shared it with your friends and colleagues. 

If you’re feeling particularly generous, I won’t stop you from buying me a coffee. Have a great weekend, and I’ll see you next week!