Surprising Review Stats To Feed Your Local Strategy [Study]

If you’ve already walked a long mile in your local SEO shoes, chances are you have plenty of lived experiences that allow you to predict some of the responses to large-scale local business review surveys.

It’s affirming to see, for example, that 85% of our respondents place a degree of trust in local business reviews, and 92% now believe that brands responding to reviews have become part of offering good customer service.

Consumers are also seeking review content across a wide variety of platforms, including traditional local business listings like Google Business Profiles, social media sites like Instagram, and other localized online spaces.

You could have made an educated guess about stats like these, but pay attention to the data in this survey that contains genuine surprises.

Statistics that challenge your biases provide critical learning moments that can feed into your local search marketing strategy.

Unexpected data points can also help you earn buy-in from decision-makers for local SEO initiatives you want to explore.

I’d like to share six local business review findings from our survey of 1,200+ North American consumers that taught me something new, plus one stat I accurately predicted and that I want to be sure is accessible to anyone involved in marketing local brands.

1. Young Consumers Are Surprisingly Patient When It Comes To Owner Responses To Reviews

Screenshot from GatherUp, January 2025

I was genuinely surprised to discover that consumers aged 45 to 60 have the highest expectations when it comes to review response time frames, with 46% of them expecting to hear back from businesses within one day.

I wrongly supposed that our youngest demographic would have the least patience because they have grown up in an era of such intense automation.

Brands that primarily serve youthful consumers are constantly told that all processes must be made as frictionless as possible to avoid abandonment and loss.

Still, this survey question reveals that – at least when it comes to owner responses to reviews – 18- to 29-year-olds are the dominant group that will tolerate reviews taking one or more weeks to receive a reply.

The best practice remains to respond to all incoming reviews as quickly as you possibly can.

If your consumer base is young, there could be other elements of your local search marketing and brand-consumer communications that require more urgent action.

2. Word-Of-Mouth Recommendations Are Far More Trusted Than Reviews

Screenshot from GatherUp, January 2025

The survey found that just 31% of consumers trust online local business reviews as much as they do personal recommendations from family and friends.

This stat will come as a genuine shocker to anyone who has concluded from other surveys over the past couple of decades that most people trust reviews as much as they do word-of-mouth (WOM) referrals.

It’s vital to know that 45% of your consumer base is likely to rely more trustingly on whether the people they know in real life think your business is worth trying than they do on the sentiment of online strangers.

This finding emphasizes the critical need for customer service standards that inspire consumers to recommend your brand to their circle.

Formal loyalty programs should be strongly considered in your local search marketing strategy.

3. Review Reading Is On The Rise

Screenshot from GatherUp, January 2025

Due to our tech-driven society’s fascination with the latest new thing, I might have thought this survey would yield signs that the review honeymoon could be over.

After all, local business reviews are now more than 20 years old, and the internet is increasingly full of distractions that could supplant the quiet habit of perusing review content.

As it turns out, I couldn’t be more wrong.

A significant 59% of consumers report spending more time reading local business reviews than they did five years ago.

We can theorize about whether this uptrend might be the result of the COVID-19 pandemic causing more dependence on the web, the outrageous cost of remote shipping prompting consumers to search for local alternatives, or other contributing factors.

Whatever the cause, the narrative you need to take to your next local search marketing strategy session is that the value of reviews is on the rise, meaning reputation management deserves priority resources.

It’s important to note that Google continues to invest in highlighting review content, both on Google Business Profiles and in other formats like the bonus text snippets called local justifications that can appear in local packs and Maps. Google clearly thinks that reviews matter.

4. Are Star Ratings Less Important Than You Think?

Image from GatherUp, January 2025

My gut would tell me that the overall star rating of local businesses on listings like Google Business Profiles would be the ultimate factor determining whether a particular business gets chosen by a consumer for a transaction. The data says otherwise.

Just 23% of respondents stated that they looked at the overall star rating of brands the last time they consulted reviews.

This pales in comparison to the 67% who focused on the most recent reviews, and the 50% who prioritized looking at the lowest-star reviews first.

This is a takeaway I find so surprising that it is challenging to construct any other narrative surrounding it than this: Modern consumers have realized that average ratings include all of the reviews a business has ever received, and that this may not be reflective of current quality.

The public is smart if they are trying to find out how fellow consumers feel about a business today, this week, or this month, instead of how a brand has performed historically.

The learning here is obvious: A successful reputation management program is one that delivers a steady stream of fresh, incoming review content.

If your review river is stagnating, you need to find whatever is damming it and remove those obstacles to ensure that your community can quickly access recent sentiment about your brand.

5. Only A Minority Of Review Readers Are Interested In Responses That Detail Brand Improvements

Screenshot from GatherUp, January 2025

In the past, I’ve recommended local business clients be certain that their owner responses to negative reviews include a detailed explanation of the improvements they’ve made to ensure that other customers don’t experience the same problem the reviewer encountered.

For example, if an unhappy reviewer mentioned that their pizza was delivered cold, I would have typically advised the brand to analyze whether this sentiment about cold food was emergent and uptrending, and then to make an operational fix.

I would have counseled them to respond to all such negative reviews with the information that the business had invested in new insulated carrier bags, or what have you.

Now, seeing that just 34% of review readers highly value this type of explanation, I may alter my best practice advice in a particular use case.

I am frequently asked by large multi-location enterprises about how to prioritize review responses when dealing with hundreds or thousands of incoming reviews.

I have seen some marketers suggest that the business should only respond to negative reviews to make scaling more manageable, but I remain leery of this advice because surveys like this one confirm for me that 73% of consumers appreciate being thanked by the business for their positive feedback.

Instead, if scaling review management is necessitating a shortcut at the moment, you might experiment with limiting the text of your owner responses to negative reviews to a sincere apology and contact information for in-person resolution, rather than taking extra time to describe operational improvements.

6. Instagram Is Definitely In The Local Business Reputation Game

Screenshot from GatherUp, January 2025

I hear a lot of grief from small business owners about Instagram’s algorithm, and though I use the platform fairly frequently, I find its formatting a bit of a mess.

These are biases on my part that led to my surprise that 52% of modern consumers are relying on this social media space for local business recommendations.

I think YouTube is a more natural fit for local business marketing for most brands, but if there’s one mantra to put at the heart of your company, it’s to be wherever your customers are.

Of course, your vertical comes into play here. Business models that relate to pleasure (think restaurants, bakeries, travel) have an advantage in the Instagram community.

If you are marketing a legal firm or a plumbing franchise, this particular social sphere could be a hard one to make headway in.

My overall takeaway from responses to this question is that a growing number of platforms are influencing local purchasing decisions. It’s not enough to manage your reputation on Google, Yelp, or TripAdvisor.

You need a presence and a fandom on whichever platforms are favored by the towns and cities you serve to maximize the referrals your brand receives around the web.

7. The One Stat I Don’t Want You To Miss!

Image from GatherUp, January 2025

92% of consumers now consider owner responses to reviews as part and parcel of providing good customer service.

This is the statistic that did not surprise me, but which I had never seen codified by any other local business review survey.

It confirms for me the advice I’ve been giving small-to-enterprise brands for many years now that creating the best possible online consumer experiences is as crucial to building a strong reputation as what happens within premise walls.

Your customers’ online and offline experiences with your company work in concert to form their opinions and determine whether they will come to you for repeat transactions, recommend you to others, and speak well of you socially.

Given this, timely, professional, accountable owner responses to reviews must be seen as a top-tier activity in your local search marketing strategy.

Few brands are large enough to safely be able to ignore a customer who is trying to communicate with them via a review.

Monopolies and near-monopolies who are getting away with review neglect are also likely leaving profits on the table because, even if a town has only one hardware franchise, fabric store branch, or supermarket, remote fulfillment is now at the fingertips of most consumers, thanks to the internet.

It’s my hope that this statistic will cut through so many of the tantalizing shortcuts to real customer service that are on offer today.

There is no more vital or lucrative focus for local brands of any size than ensuring that they are in a trustworthy, responsive, and reliable relationship with their customer base.

Smart brands will put this at the heart of their marketing strategy.

Summing Up

Surveys matter to the local SEO industry because they both confirm hypotheses and challenge biases, offering the opportunity to base strategy on data instead of guesses.

This useful survey taught me not to undervalue the patience of the youngest consumers and to encourage my clients to earn more WOM recommendations because they are more trusted than online equivalents.

Also, it taught me that online distractions aren’t getting in the way of review reading, fresh review content is more important than ever, shorter responses to negative reviews may be acceptable in some cases, and Instagram needs to be thought of as a dominant player in the local business reputation milieu.

It also confirmed my long-suspected but up-to-now unproven theory that owner responses must be seen as integral to providing good customer service.

If you’re marketing a brand that is not yet bringing its A-game to reputation management, you can share the following tips to help it rapidly improve, based on additional findings of this survey:

  • Begin collecting email and SMS contact info at the time of service so that you can request reviews. 83% of your customers will be at least somewhat responsive to your requests for their reviews.
  • Train staff to ask for reviews in person at the time of service. 47% of customers prefer this form of request.
  • Respond to all incoming reviews in a timely fashion. 73% of consumers appreciate being thanked for positive feedback, and 79% expect your response to their complaints.
  • Respond to negative reviews with an apology and an offer to make things right. 73% of unhappy customers will be willing to give your business a second chance if your owner response solves their problems.
  • Avoid engaging in any form of review fraud. Only 14% of people will give your business a try if your local business profiles get stamped with a review spam warning.

My final tip: A good large-scale review survey should inspire you to conduct a smaller one of your own within your unique consumer base.

Polling customers on a regular basis is the best way to spot new trends, behaviors, and opportunities. The better you know the preferences and habits of your community, the better prepared you’ll be to serve.

You can read the full survey results here from GatherUp.

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Featured Image: Song_about_summer/Shutterstock

7 Creative Ways To Leverage Video In Marketing via @sejournal, @xandervalencia

When it comes to digital marketing, it sometimes feels like everything’s been done before.

Browse YouTube or scroll through TikTok on any given day, and you’re likely to see the same formats over and over again.

Yet, there are always a few creators who are able to stand out, publishing unique and never-before-seen videos.

So, how do you come up with video content ideas that are uniquely new and uniquely you?

In this guide, we’re sharing some uncommon ways to use video in your marketing, plus how to get the creative juices flowing to come up with your own creative video ideas.

Think Outside The Box With Your Video Marketing

If you want to come up with 100% unique video ideas, you need to think outside the box. Easier said than done, right?

After all, generating “creative” content ideas is kind of like “don’t think of the White Elephant” (for us nerds, Ironic Process Theory): Everything you’ve already seen before is likely to influence your creative thinking.

But like ChatGPT, it’s all about giving yourself the right prompts. Here are some of the creative catalysts I like to use to drum up unique, on-brand video ideas:

1. Be The Trend

Every “trend” that’s hot on TikTok started as a unique concept.

From the “GRWM: Get Ready With Me” trend to the “Bounce When She Walk” trending audio, each video trend began with one idea.

You simply won’t know if or when something will go viral, so don’t be afraid to be that first video.

If a certain audio makes you laugh or an image sparks an idea, lean into it.

If you encounter a situation that feels relatable to your audience, turn it into a skit or tutorial.

Many of the best trends start as raw, authentic situations. The key is to create content that’s authentic but with your own unique twist.

Think:

  • Does this scenario, audio, image, etc., seem relatable to my audience?
  • What’s an unexpected spin I can put on this that no one’s done yet?
  • Is my idea goofy, quirky, or fun – but surprisingly simple?

Sometimes, you’ll hit gold; sometimes, you won’t. The aim shouldn’t be to force virality.

The aim should be to create something fun and interesting. If it’s good, others will want to recreate it. Then, you might find yourself becoming the trend.

2. Entertain The Hypothetical

In video marketing, there are no rules. (Well, there are, but when it comes to creativity, the sky is pretty much the limit).

There’s a huge opportunity to turn traditional concepts on their head,  challenge peoples’ assumptions, and, let’s face it, ruffle some feathers in your industry.

Entertain the hypothetical. Ask the “what if” questions, and then play out the scenario in your video content.

For example:

  • What if the secret to happiness wasn’t personal fulfilment, but coffee?
  • What if, in the SEO industry, content wasn’t king but queen?
  • What if dog people and cat people lived in separate societies?
  • What if social media influencers were from Venus and everyone else was from Earth?

I know these questions seem ridiculous, but that’s the point. If you’re trying to capitalize on video content ideas that aren’t played out, you have to break the mold.

The appeal of these topics is that they grab users’ attention, especially if the conclusion isn’t what’s expected.

This prompt works even better if you are able to relate the hypothetical scenario to your industry, either flipping the script on a traditional concept or offering contrasting advice to that of other “experts” in your field.

3. Become A Mixologist

Viewers are intrigued when two seemingly unrelated concepts are mashed up together.

Marketing and horseback riding? Ecommerce and the nail salon? Christmas morning and doctor’s appointments? It’s time to practice your video mixology skills.

You’d be surprised how many connections exist between marketing a business and everyday concepts.

I mean, we see it all the time on LinkedIn, with influencers sharing what their morning cup of Joe taught them about lead generation. This type of content works because it’s unexpected, random, and gets people thinking.

Here are a few examples:

  • “Fishing and Client Retention: How to Keep ‘Em on the Line”
  • “My Visit to the Nail Salon Was a Perfect Metaphor for Product Marketing…”
  • “I Rage Quit My Business. Video Games, Marketing, and Painful Lessons”

Try being a video marketing mixologist. Consider how two unrelated concepts can come together, and then tie the lessons into your brand or industry.

4. “Steal” From Other Industries

Industries tend to be siloed from each other. Do Kim Kardashian fans know what’s going on in crypto, or vice versa? Maybe. But it’s less likely these viewers receive the same video feed. You can use this to your advantage.

Take a gander at what’s trending in other industries. This is easily accomplished by doing a keyword search on Instagram, YouTube, or TikTok.

After a few scrolls, you’ll get a sense of what topics and formats are performing well and perhaps come up with some ideas for your own field.

For instance, the “GRWM” trend has been hot in the beauty and fashion industry for a while, but not so much in marketing.

Say you’re trying to grow your personal brand. A “GRWM as a Full-Time Web Designer” might be a fresh concept with your followers.

Another example might be the “#WomeninMaleFields” trend, where creators make ironic jokes about women working in male-dominated industries and navigating the dating scene.

If you’re a product designer, perhaps you capitalize on this trend with a video like, “Did your boyfriend help you sketch that prototype? #ProductDesigner.”

While I don’t recommend actually stealing entire video ideas, you can gain inspiration by scrolling through other industry video feeds, and applying hot trends to your own niche.

 5. Up The Interactivity Factor

With artificial intelligence (AI) and augmented reality (AR) technology at its prime, there are so many ways to add interactive components to your videos.

Where most creators play it safe with “talking head” videos, you can get creative with AR-enabled elements and “gamified” experiences.

For instance, if you own a law firm, you could create a video that simulates a virtual consultation, wherein viewers can “meet with” an attorney, navigate the intake process, and receive a step-by-step walkthrough of filing their case.

This may require advanced technical skills, but you can work with a designer to create 3D models of your office, using digital model tools like Blender.

Or, you could design a “choose your own adventure” video series that takes viewers through a unique storyline.

For example, the legal process for buying a home, starting a business, or filing a personal injury claim. Users can select their own choices, influence the outcome, and even interact with a virtual legal professional.

With all of today’s tech at our fingertips, creating personalized experiences and interactive worlds is easier than ever.

6. Do The Time Warp

Traditional “before and after” videos are played out. Time-lapse videos are in. Instead of comparing before and after images of customer results, create videos that show their journey in action.

Whether it’s a fitness program, a home renovation, or an overhaul of a client’s lead generation strategy, time-lapse videos tell a story and make viewers feel like they are part of the process.

Pair this content with a voiceover, real testimonials, and captions, and you’ve got yourself an engaging video.

These videos are easy to make with the help of transitions in video editing software like iMovie, or with the help of a professional video editor.

7. Live Video Is Not Dead

Live video streaming, like Facebook Live, has been around for a while, but many more platforms have started offering an array of live video capabilities.

This presents new opportunities to go beyond standard pre-recorded videos.

Here are a few ways to leverage live video platforms:

  • Facebook Live: Great for ​​growing a community, conducting Q&A sessions, and sharing tutorials. Integrates directly with Facebook Pages, Groups, and Events.
  • YouTube Live: Ideal for long-form videos and reaching a large audience. You can embed live streams on your website or share via links. Includes Super Chat and Super Stickers features for monetization.
  • Instagram Live: Offers interactive features like polls, questions, and live guest invites. Great for behind-the-scenes footage, influencer collaborations, casual chats, and quick tips.
  • LinkedIn Live: Ideal for B2B businesses and thought leaders looking to reach other professionals. Live streaming features for webinars, industry updates, and Q&A sessions.
  • TikTok Live: Best suited for reaching younger audiences and fostering real-time engagement. Includes gifting and tipping options for monetization. Ideal for quick tutorials, influencer promotions, and audience Q&A.

What’s cool is that live videos can sometimes be downloaded and reposted as static videos later.

For example, Facebook Live has a “download” function where you can save your live video session and then upload it to other platforms, like YouTube or Instagram.

Video: Your Brand’s Digital Advantage

Brands that leverage video in creative, innovative ways can earn dividends in their marketing efforts.

Don’t underestimate the reach and impact of relatable, authentic content. If you have a novel idea with decent production quality, you can easily be the next hot trend.

You don’t need to be a video marketing expert to succeed. Often, the most impactful videos are based on ideas drawn from everyday life.

Look for inspiration in your work, surroundings, and customer stories. Then, add your unique spin to create a video that resonates with your audience and cuts through the noise.

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Featured Image: Chay_Tee/Shutterstock

Where Are The Missing Data Holes In GA4 That Brands Need? via @sejournal, @gregjarboe

As SEO professionals, we’re data-driven. So, it’s ironic that we need to ask a counterintuitive question: “Where are the missing bullet holes in Google Analytics 4 (GA4)?”

Most of us trust the event-based data that GA4 collects. But we should use other tools and techniques to independently verify our analysis and interpretation of this data.

Why?

I just looked at data in the GA4 demo account of the Google Merchandise Store, and 46,811 of the 68,976 total users over the last 28 days were acquired from the direct channel.

This means 67.9% of users arrived at the site “via a saved link or by entering your URL.”

Screenshot from Google Analytics, January 2025

If you think the Google Merchandise Store’s data is an anomaly because it’s from the GA4 demo account, then check your own data.

I did, and 57.6% of my total users arrived through the direct channel. So, your mileage may vary, but there are probably more users than you can shake a stick at.

More importantly, the Google Merchandise Store’s business goal is to sell a variety of Google merchandise, including apparel, accessories, lifestyle products, stationery, and collectibles.

How would you analyze and interpret GA4’s data to determine which marketing efforts were effective?

You could use GA4 to understand how users progress through the online shopping cart. If you notice that users have trouble with a particular step, then you could use conversion rate optimization (CRO) to make changes on the store’s website to resolve the problem.

You would analyze and interpret customer engagement data from the middle and lower parts of the so-called sales funnel.

If I were the owner of a brick-and-mortar store, I’d realize that I’m focusing all my attention on which aisles people walk down and which items they bring to the cash register.

But I still don’t have a clue where they heard about my shop before they walked through the door.

In other words, GA4 gives us less than a third of the data we need to know about user acquisition: The initial stage of building business awareness and acquiring user interest.

Somehow, we’ve missed what GA4 can’t – or doesn’t – tell us about the Zero Moment of Truth (ZMOT): the moment in the purchase process when the consumer or business buyer researches a product or service prior to visiting your website.

The Missing Bullet Holes

Why haven’t we spotted this misalignment before? Well, let me share a story.

My father was a sergeant in the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) during World War II.

When I started conducting market research in the mid-1980s – when he was the director of marketing at Oldsmobile, and I was the director of corporate communications at Lotus Development Corporation – he told me a story that has since been retold in “Abraham Wald and the Missing Bullet Holes,” which is an excerpt from  How Not To Be Wrong by Jordan Ellenberg.

During World War II, officers in the USAAC asked Abraham Wald, one of the smartest statisticians in the Statistical Research Group (SRG), to analyze some classified data.

When American bombers came back from missions over Europe, they were covered in bullet holes.

“But the damage wasn’t uniformly distributed across the aircraft,” Ellenberg notes. “There were more bullet holes in the fuselage, not so many in the engines.”

Wald recognized that the planes that came back were not a random sample of all the planes that had been sent on bombing missions, and he also realized the damage should have been spread equally among all the bombers.

So, he asked, “Where are the missing holes?” Ellenberg explains, “The reason planes were coming back with fewer hits to the engine is that planes that got hit in the engine weren’t coming back.”

The Missing Holes In User Acquisition

Digital marketers are in an analogous situation. GA4 provides us with so much event-based data that we’ve failed to spot the missing holes in user acquisition.

So, now that we realize that we don’t have a clue about where the lion’s share of our audience discovered our brand or product before visiting our website, what should we do?

We should conduct some audience research that can tell us:

  • Who are they? (Demographics: age, gender, location, job, and income).
  • What do they do? (Behavior: how they shop, what they search for online).
  • Where do they hang out? (Platforms: social media, websites, communities).
  • What matters to them? (Needs and Interests: their problems, desires, and what they talk about).

Are there any audience research tools that can help us? Yes, they include:

  • SparkToro or Audiense: For demographic and platform data.
  • Brandwatch, HootSuite, or Sprout Social: For social listening.
  • Ahrefs, Moz, or SpyFu: For keyword research.
  • Google Trends or Exploding Topics: For detecting internet search trends.

How Do You Spot The Missing Holes?

If you’re in the initial stage of building business awareness and acquiring user interest in other countries, then how do you spot the missing holes?

For over 10 years, I used the now sunset Google Surveys to answer questions like that. You can still use Google Forms or SurveyMonkey.

I asked survey expert and CEO of Growth Survey Systems Nathaniel Laban if he would provide a sample question for such a survey, and here’s what he sent me via email:

For a consumer or B2B study, it might look like this:

1. Where do you get news and information about (brand/product)? (Select all that apply. Multiple response.)

  • From friends, family, and colleagues.
  • From an expert or enthusiast who demonstrably knows the topic well.
  • Organic search.
  • Blogs, news sites.
  • Paid search.
  • Email.
  • Organic social.
  • Organic shopping.
  • Organic video.
  • Other (Specify):

Laban added:

“Communications and marketing channels should always be investigated for one’s target audience.

You need to meet people where they are today to be successful in communications and marketing campaigns. Test your assumptions about where your audience is and back it up with statistically representative data.

Trust your math, not your gut!”

What Can You Expect To Discover?

Now that you know how to spot the holes at the top of the funnel where GA4 can’t – or doesn’t – tell us what we need to know about ZMOT, what can you expect to discover?

GA4 provides a way to measure engaged-view key events, which indicate that someone watched a YouTube video for at least 10 seconds and then triggered a key event on your website or app within three days of viewing the video.

Engaged-view key events are a more accurate way to measure the performance of your video ads. They recognize the fact that users often don’t act immediately after seeing an ad, but rather after they’ve finished watching a video.

This also explains why 70% of YouTube viewers say they’ve purchased a brand after discovering it on the platform. It indicates that YouTube is a highly effective medium for brand discovery and purchase intent.

But to measure engaged-view key events, you need to link your Google Ads account to allow data to flow between Ads and GA4.

Unfortunately, there isn’t a similar way to measure engaged-view key events for other default channels in GA4 like organic video (e.g., YouTube or TikTok), organic social (e.g., Facebook or LinkedIn), or referral (e.g., blogs or news sites).

Users actively seek information about products and services by watching or reading this content, often leading to buying decisions based on what they’ve seen and learned in these channels.

But if you conduct an information sources survey and invest in the right channels and sources of influence, then you shouldn’t be shocked to find that you tend to generate more traffic, leads, and sales, too.

Conducting Brand Lift Surveys

What if your company or clients are in the automotive, consumer packaged goods, or retail industries, and your business objective is to raise brand awareness? How do you measure that?

As I mentioned previously, you can conduct Brand Lift surveys.

Either periodically or before and after major campaigns, you can survey your audience and ask:

  • Standard Brand Awareness: Have you heard of (brand/product/message)?
  • Unaided Brand Awareness: Which of the following (brand/product category) have you heard of? (Tick all that apply.)
  • Top-of-Mind Awareness: Which of the following (brand/products) comes to mind first when you think of (statement)?
  • Standard Favorability: What’s your opinion of (brand/product)?
  • Familiarity: How familiar are you with (brand/product name)?
  • Intent: Will you buy (brand) the next time you shop for (category)?
  • Action Intent: How likely are you to purchase (brand)?
  • Recommendation: Will you recommend (brand/product) to a friend?
  • Consideration: How likely are you to (consider) (brand/product) the next time you want to (shop for) (category)?
  • Preference: Among the following (brands), which do you prefer most?

In other words, old-school market research can measure Brand Lift, which GA4’s event-based data can’t – even if it’s supplemented with audience research data.

The Lesson We Can Learn From The Missing Bullet Holes

Digital marketers who don’t conduct market research may know what users do when they reach the middle and lower funnel, but they haven’t a clue about why users in the upper funnel aren’t aware of their brand yet or where they can reach them.

That’s the lesson we can learn from “Abraham Wald and the Missing Bullet Holes.” It’s a lesson that my father learned more than 80 years ago, and he shared it with me about 40 years later. Now, I’m sharing it with you.

In short, trust GA4’s data, but verify your analysis and interpretation of it.

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Featured Image: alphaspirit.it/Shutterstock

Consistency Vs. Agility: Finding Balance In Search Marketing via @sejournal, @coreydmorris

“How is search changing and how do you react to that change?”

This was a question in the prep notes for a podcast interview recently.  It’s one that, I think, justifies a longer response than what I can give in just a minute or two on that show.

Long before AI became the most newsworthy and important focal point for the future of search marketing, there were other significant updates over the years.

These include “not provided” keyword data, voice search, drastic changes in SERP page layouts, debates over what correlation versus causation is with how social influences rankings, and myriad Google Ads ad type changes. As a result, we have been a distracted industry.

I could go on and on with examples of distractions, debates, half-truths, and things we could/should test. I’m not here to show my age, though, or try to prove anything.

What I do believe, and have experienced firsthand, is that distractions are real, and they will keep coming at us.

There’s a lot of pressure to have a strategy and plan and stick to it to be able to see results and return on investment (ROI) for SEO and PPC.

However, there’s always the threat of getting behind on updates and new technology, and having the things that work for us today stop working tomorrow.

For so many of us in the search marketing industry, this constant of change and the fact that there isn’t one way to “assembly line” the work makes it exciting and keeps it fresh.

At times, though, we can feel like we’re constantly behind new developments or that we’re chasing things with no understanding of whether they will deliver ROI or not.

I’m unpacking the benefits of balancing both consistency – sticking to what works today and your plan – along with agility to be forward-thinking and to be able to pivot when things change and update your strategy.

The Case For Consistency

In SEO, we often focus on the long game. Taking an approach that includes short-term tactics and actions that we know and trust will pay off in the longer term.

Outside of the noise and distractions of new tech and algorithms, some of our biggest challenges can be staying focused and seeing SEO efforts all the way through.

In small organizations or teams, we might wear a lot of hats, with SEO being just one of them.

In larger organizations, even in SEO teams, we often face bigger processes, including more stakeholders, approvals, compliance, legal, politics, or other teams we depend on to help implement.

In either type, or even a middle-ground scenario, some of the biggest challenges are in being able to implement and stay focused on SEO to see it through to results.

That often leads to the desire to use systems, checklists, and resources that allow us to push through to ROI.

It is very important not to get distracted, off-course, or delay the implementation of today’s tactics as it can painfully push further out the fruit of the efforts or to see the strategy through to the desired results.

The Case For Agility

On the other hand, when it comes to consistency, with the biggest constant in search being distraction or change, we have to have agile processes and strategies that lend to adjustments in tactics.

While we must maintain a base level of consistency and focus, blindly doing something without paying attention to outside factors like algorithm changes, emerging technologies, changes in consumer behavior, or changes in the competitive landscape can lead to a lot of effort.

When you get further down the road, it can equal a lot of time, effort, and/or dollars spent without the desired ROI.

If you’ve been doing search for a while, you can typically spot outdated approaches and tactics being done by other brands or agencies.

It is critically important to stay current with what works today and where the future is going.

Whether that is a fragmented world that includes optimizing for being found in AI results alongside search engines or further emerging challenges with attribution of our efforts, we have to keep testing, researching, learning from others in the community, and refining our own approaches to apply to our strategy and tactics.

Agility has always been important in search, and it is heightened even more right now.

Finding Balance

I believe the key to being a successful search marketer or seeing ROI in your investment, efforts, and resources for SEO and PPC in this era is to have a balanced approach. One where consistency is non-negotiable and where you have a system with agility built into it.

I find myself often saying that we have to both focus on what works today and not get lost chasing shiny objects of AI and things of tomorrow.

At the same time, we can’t bury our heads in the sand and ignore what is to come tomorrow so that we don’t get left behind and become outdated in our approach.

Ways that I have found helpful to navigate all of this include having structured testing, learning, and research built into your strategy – allowing necessary room to test and to adapt and adjust.

Whether you tend to spend time on what’s next and the future or push it off and do what matters today, you have to find what works for you.

AI task forces in organizations are a great way to build accountability across teams to push some to innovate and test while also reining in others and making sure you don’t lose focus.

Your strategy, approach, and system must be consistent, and it must also leave room to adapt to the rapidly changing landscape of both organic and paid search ecosystems and channels.

Adapting To What’s Next In Search

I have talked in the past about the dangers of “checklist SEO” or just following best practices. Yes, following a checklist and being dedicated to it does help with consistency.

But, the current and future challenges facing both paid and organic search are less about the tactics and more about how we can do what works now and be able to adapt and implement what works in the future.

Personally, I’m good with the search world revolving a little less around Google and being more fragmented. Yes, it will require work to be a leader in the search industry of tomorrow.

However, I’d rather be part of where it is going than leave the industry, as I know some people personally are looking to do in the near future.

Are you up for the challenge? If so, I strongly recommend that you find your own balance and I’m in your corner as we tackle what is to come.

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Featured Image: SvetaZi/Shutterstock

How Digital Has Changed Branding 

This edited extract is from Digital Branding by Daniel Rowles ©2025 and is reproduced and adapted with permission from Kogan Page Ltd.

If you could only get a feel for someone’s personality by them telling you things about themselves, we may end up with a very shallow understanding of them.

We may also have difficulty believing in the personality that has been constructed – and we may start to question the motivations behind what they are telling us about themselves.

That is exactly the situation of commercial branding that uses broadcast channels such as TV.

A personality is sculpted, and then we are told what the personality is. We don’t get to discuss, engage with, and really understand the true personality.

Digital media now means, however, that the conversation is no longer one way. I can challenge, ask questions, and develop a truer picture of the brand. I can see through a sculpted brand and start to see it for what it truly is.

This can be a scary thing for many traditional brands. It can also be a huge opportunity.

AI And Branding

Artificial intelligence (AI) has had a profound impact on the world around us in very recent months and years.

Things that were science fiction, or at least extremely difficult to do unless you had sufficient expertise and resources, are now made possible with tools available to everyone.

These AI-based tools and their application can have a huge impact on our digital branding.

This can be as simple as giving us the opportunity to create a better user experience by using machine learning to help us optimize a website experience (for example, by giving somebody content that is customized for them specifically) or by generating an image that follows our brand guidelines using generative AI.

However, beyond these AI tools that help us become more efficient and more effective, we also find ourselves faced with new risks and ethical challenges.

Let’s take a real-world example. Using a low-cost tool like Eleven Labs, I can create a completely convincing deepfake of my own voice. I can then type in any text I want and get the deepfake voice to read that text.

The voice sounds exactly like me, and I can even generate the same speech multiple times, and each time it will sound slightly different and have ever so slightly different intonation, just as I would if I read the same thing multiple times.

To test the quality of this voice, I replaced a segment of me speaking on the Digital Marketing Podcast, which has over 150,000 listeners. Nobody noticed.

So if I can deepfake myself, do I need to even bother recording podcasts anymore? Do I need to inform my listeners?

Legally, I don’t have to, but I would suggest ethically I should. If I trust you, and I suddenly find that after listening to your voice for some time, that it wasn’t really you, it will damage my trust.

AI gives our brands a huge amount of tools to improve what we do, but we also need to be careful how and when we use these tools, so we don’t damage the trust in our brands.

Any use of AI needs to be done mindfully, considering the impact it may have.

Global Soapbox

If a brand is essentially the personality of something, digital media gives us the ability and opportunity to understand the true personality of something.

We can then use that understanding to help guide us in our decision-making processes.

This is a great opportunity from a customer point of view.

For example, it means that instead of being put on hold for an hour when phoning a call centre and having little choice but to tolerate it, I can now go straight to one of many social media channels and make my frustrations very clear and very visible.

I now have a global soapbox with access to all of the other potential customers out there, and I can impact a global organization’s brand in a way that was not possible before (or, at least, was incredibly difficult).

That highly visible complaint then becomes part of other people’s brand perception (fairly or not), and suddenly, the years of building a brand can be tumbled very quickly.

This is a very much changed environment for businesses to operate in – if they ignore this change, then it can lead to problems.

This ability to engage with and research into a brand can also be looked at from an even simpler point of view.

Perhaps I am researching buying a car or a B2B service. I can now do a lot of research and inform my decision before I speak to the car dealership or service vendor.

When I do make this final step, I am far more informed and have developed a fairly in-depth perception of the brand before I engage directly with them.

In fact, from the information I gleaned online, I may have opted out from even considering certain brands.

That information may have been on a third-party website in the form of a review or comment from someone I have never met, but I may trust it over the voice of the brand itself.

Social Media Fail

This fast-changing environment and the slow pace of businesses to adapt to it is leading the social media disaster stories that we see on a daily basis online.

Most social media disasters demonstrate a lack of knowledge of how to practically use a particular social media channel or show a belief that the brand can manipulate the channel in some way and get away from this need for authenticity and transparency.

The other common theme is that of failing to understand the changed role of the brand in this two-way conversation.

Traditional Brand Metrics

Traditionally, a brand has been measured by asking questions and trying to judge what someone thinks of a brand, and trying to work out what this means in regard to potential sales.

There is a wide range of different ways of looking at this, but generally, we would take some sort of sample survey of our audience and see what their attitudes were before and after exposure to some form of marketing.

This survey would ask a range of questions, and there are lots of different approaches, but fundamentally, we would look to answer the following questions:

  • Are you aware of the brand?
  • Do you like the brand?
  • Do you intend to buy the brand?
  • If you have purchased, do you intend to do it again?

Essentially, we are assuming that if we can get more people to answer positively to each of these questions, we are likely to get more sales.

This can still be an extremely valid process, but only when effectively integrated into an overall approach.

Sum Of All Experiences

Essentially, digital branding is the personality of our organization, service, or product created by the sum of all experiences that an individual has with that brand.

This still includes things such as visual identity, but now also includes much more important and influential touchpoints such as social media interactions and online reviews.

Your logo may make you recognizable, but it is your overall brand that decides what I remember you for.


To read the full book, SEJ readers have an exclusive 25% discount code and free shipping to the US and UK. Use promo code SEJ25 at koganpage.com here.


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Featured Image: Roman Samborskyi/Shutterstock

How Performance Marketing + Brand Fuels Traffic Growth And Conversions [Webinar] via @sejournal, @hethr_campbell

Building a brand that fuels trust, loyalty, and long-term value is no easy feat. But with the right strategy, your brand can become the cornerstone of a high-performing marketing campaign that drives real results.

On January 16, 2025, at 2 pm, join us for an exclusive live webinar, How Performance Marketing + Brand Fuels Traffic Growth And Conversions.

Mordy Oberstein of Unity and SEJ’s Editor-in-Chief Katie Morton will dive deep into the vital connection between branding and performance marketing, sharing actionable insights that you can use to boost traffic and conversions right away.

Why This Webinar Is A Must-Attend Event

Creating a brand that inspires loyalty and maximizes conversions isn’t just about being seen—it’s about building a lasting impression.

With expert insights and real-world case studies, this webinar will empower you to elevate your brand’s impact and refine your performance marketing strategy.

Here’s what you’ll take away:

  • Proven tactics to extend Customer Lifetime Value and drive customer loyalty.
  • Insights into performance marketing trends—what users are searching for and how to capture their attention.
  • Case studies from industry leaders highlighting branding successes (and mistakes).
  • Why branding is the great equalizer in today’s crowded digital landscape—and how it can become your most effective driver of clicks and conversions.
  • Expert Insights From Mordy Oberstein and Katie Morton

Mordy and Katie will lead this discussion, sharing their expertise on creating brand synergy, increasing brand search volume, and using branding as a powerful tool for performance marketing success.

You’ll leave with actionable tips and strategies to ensure your brand stands out in 2025 and beyond.

Who Should Attend?

This webinar is perfect for:

  • Marketing leaders looking to maximize the impact of their branding efforts.
  • Performance marketers aiming to align branding with measurable results.
  • Business owners who want to cultivate loyalty and increase Customer Lifetime Value.

Live Q&A: Get Expert Advice

Stick around after the session for a live Q&A with Mordy and Katie, where you’ll have the opportunity to ask your burning branding and performance marketing questions.

Can’t make it live? Don’t worry! Reserve your spot, and we’ll send you a recording to watch on your own time.

Don’t miss this opportunity to revolutionize your branding strategy and drive better results in your performance marketing campaigns.

Reserve your seat today!

New Study Highlights Martech Challenges To Reach Target Audiences via @sejournal, @gregjarboe

A new study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of TransUnion has revealed significant challenges faced by many marketing teams.

These challenges primarily stem from the complexity of their marketing technology (martech) stacks.

The study found that a substantial 70% of marketing leaders struggle to effectively identify and reach their target audiences across various channels.

This difficulty arises from the fragmented nature of their martech systems, often involving a multitude of tools.

Two-thirds of the marketers surveyed reported using 16 or more martech solutions, significantly increasing the complexity of their operations.

This complexity presents several critical obstacles for marketing teams. These challenges include difficulties in personalizing customer journeys, scaling marketing efforts effectively, integrating AI capabilities, and ultimately, wasting valuable marketing budgets.

In a press release, Matt Spiegel, executive vice president and head of TruAudience marketing solutions at TransUnion, said,

“Marketing leaders know what they need to do—they’re just stuck juggling 16 or more martech solutions, creating overwhelming complexity.”

He added,

“It’s not about changing your stack but leveraging identity and data tools to connect these disconnected tools. Without that connection, inefficiencies become significant concerns. We hear from teams every day struggling to bring it all together. But when they do, the difference is massive.”

However, the research also highlights a promising solution: The utilization of identity resolution tools. By integrating their fragmented data sets through these tools, organizations can significantly improve their marketing outcomes.

The study revealed that organizations leveraging identity resolution are more likely to meet or exceed their customer experience and understanding goals, improve customer insights, and make more data-driven decisions.

What Else Can Marketing Leaders Do?

Beyond identity resolution, marketing leaders can employ several strategies to effectively identify and reach their target audiences across various channels.

Data-driven segmentation plays a crucial role. Instead of relying solely on demographics, marketers should utilize a wider range of data points, such as purchase history, website behavior, social media engagement, and interests, to create highly targeted audience segments.

Customer data platforms (CDPs) can be instrumental in this process, as they unify customer data from diverse sources, providing a single, comprehensive view of each individual, which enables more precise segmentation and personalized messaging.

Omnichannel marketing is essential for a seamless customer experience. Marketers should ensure consistent messaging and experiences across all touchpoints, including email, social media, website, mobile apps, and physical stores.

Utilizing cross-channel retargeting, where customers who have interacted with the brand on one channel are reached through targeted ads on other platforms, can significantly enhance reach and engagement.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) offers strong tactics for marketing leaders to identify and reach their target audiences such as conducting audience research and learning more about the audience that searches for a keyword, uses words in their bio, or visits a website.

Additionally, focusing on high-quality, original content – this content should address the specific needs and interests of the target audience while incorporating relevant keywords naturally. Lastly, prioritizing user experience (UX), not just for Google, but also to satisfy the user.

Content marketing is another powerful tool for marketing leaders to embrace. This requires conducting in-depth audience research and developing buyer personas and gathering direct feedback from their target audience.

Marketers can implement a content pillar strategy that creates in-depth content pieces and cluster supporting content around them. Then  distributes and promotes content effectively, whilst leveraging social media, email marketing, and community building.

Social media marketing offers valuable insights and engagement opportunities. Marketing leaders should conduct in-depth audience research with advanced targeting options – go beyond demographics and leverage social listening tools to understand audience needs and preferences.

They should create engaging content combined with paid advertising and develop shareable content, run targeted ads, and collaborate with influencers.

Marketing leaders need to build and engage with online communities and actively participate in conversations, host contests, and run live Q&A sessions. Lastly, leveraging influencer marketing by partnering with influential figures within the target audience can amplify reach and build trust.

Digital Public Relations (PR) ensures promotion online to reach target audiences such as building relationships with relevant media and journalists. This involves identifying and cultivating relationships with key media outlets and journalists who cover topics relevant to their target audience. And, creating compelling and newsworthy stories with stories relevant to the target audience’s interests that offer unique insights or perspectives.

Monitoring online conversations and media mentions allows for understanding brand perception, addressing concerns, and identifying engagement opportunities.

Paid advertising strategies can effectively expand reach, whilst programmatic advertising allows for highly targeted campaigns across various channels.

Finally, leveraging Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems is crucial. By effectively utilizing the customer data stored within their CRM systems, marketers can gain valuable insights into customer interactions, preferences, and purchase history.

This data can then be used to personalize email campaigns, website experiences, and other marketing messages, fostering stronger customer relationships and driving conversions.

See Your Customers Clearly

The study emphasizes the critical role of identity resolution in streamlining martech operations and achieving better marketing results.

By connecting the dots between their various systems, marketers can gain a clearer understanding of their customers, deliver more personalized experiences, and ultimately, achieve greater success in their marketing endeavors.

Spiegel concluded,

“At the end of the day, it’s about being able to see your customers clearly. When you connect the dots between systems, you’re creating better experiences for people. And that’s what drives results.”

By implementing the strategies above in conjunction with identity resolution, marketing leaders can gain a deeper understanding of their target audiences, deliver more relevant and personalized messages, and ultimately achieve greater success in their marketing campaigns.

About The Survey

Forrester Consulting conducted a survey on behalf of TransUnion in the fourth quarter of 2024 to assess the current state of martech and identity resolution programs within US enterprises. This survey gathered insights from 325 marketing technology decision-makers.

The survey focused on understanding the marketing goals and challenges faced by these decision-makers and was conducted over a two-month period, commencing in November 2024 and concluding in December 2024.

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Featured Image: Cagkan Sayin/Shutterstock

Email Marketing: An In-Depth Guide via @sejournal, @BennyJamminS

Email is as a highly effective direct marketing channel and could be considered the modern version of direct response marketing.

Email marketing campaigns are core strategies in modern digital marketing, with entire businesses successfully built on the communication channel.

The real benefit of email marketing is the direct relationship you can build with your audience that you can control without the threat of a third party closing an account. A qualified email marketing list is priceless!

At a time when search platforms are getting more aggressive with advertising, generative AI is taking away organic traffic and some social media platforms are unstable, email is a way that brands can engage with their users and nurture trusted relationships.

Keep reading to understand how you can use email marketing to connect with your audience.

What Makes Email Such An Effective Marketing Channel?

Email marketing can be highly effective due to a variety of factors:

  • Opt-in: Because automated emails must be opt-in and have opt-out options, email audiences are often highly engaged.
  • Engagement data and segmentation: With the right email marketing platform, you can leverage data to improve how you create and target emails. You can also ask users for their preferences and organize campaigns around responses.
  • Push marketing: Rather than waiting for users to input keywords, you can deliver experiences to them based on their activity history or a set of stated preferences.
  • Personal and professional distinction: People will often sign up for emails using the most appropriate email address for the use case. This is great for B2B businesses because it enables you to reach people while they’re in a professional environment and mindset.
  • Advanced automation: Email marketing platforms can help you create automated campaigns and customized experiences based on what you know about your customers. You can deliver different communications and email types to different user groups and move users into different automated tracks based on their behavior.
  • Testing: It’s incredibly easy to test messaging, subject lines, segmentation, etc., with email marketing platforms.

This combination of advanced functionality and a strong connection between your audiences and your brand enables powerful marketing campaigns for many different types of businesses, whether you’re a publisher or an ecommerce store.

How Email Marketing Fits Into Your Campaigns

Email is one channel among many. Even email-only newsletters need other channels to acquire subscribers.

Generally, email is a channel for audiences who are aware of you in some way. They might have purchased a product, downloaded a document, signed up for a free trial, signed up for a newsletter, or set an alert.

Email audiences have usually taken action to end up on your mailing list. This makes it a critical channel for cultivating relationships, moving users through consideration stages in a sales process, or re-engaging users who took previous actions.

In combination with organic discovery strategies like social media, SEO, and paid advertising like search engine marketing, email campaigns can improve how well you can reach and convert audiences.

Building An Email Marketing Campaign

Your email list is a powerful tool. If you use the opportunities it presents you, you can enhance not only your marketing campaigns but how well you understand your audience and the effectiveness of your tactics.

With an email list and the right platform, you have access to:

  • Information that people give you about themselves when signing up for offers or curating their experiences.
  • Information about the emails they open and actions they take in those emails.
  • The ability to connect actions that people take on your website to their email so that you can understand their needs and motivations, follow up on incomplete actions, and provide personalized experiences.
  • The ability to segment your audience into personas and tag them based on specific needs, situations, and demographic information.

Email campaigns are your opportunity to put timely and focused offers in front of the right people at the right time, as well as cultivate their interest and trust.

For a campaign to be successful, you need to know what you want from your audience and what problems they come to you to solve. To build an effective email campaign, you need:

1. A compelling offer to sign up for emails and provide you with information.

To find this compelling offer, you need to know what offer is valuable enough to trade for information and inbox access. This could be:

  • A downloadable report.
  • A newsletter.
  • The opportunity for exclusive or unique offers.
  • Updates on a specific product or release.

2. Tracking and tagging. Tagging is the true power of email marketing.

Ask people to submit basic information like their age, interests, or company size when they sign up.

But you should also look for an email platform that allows automated tagging, for example when someone completes or begins but does not complete an action on your website.

3. Custom campaigns and “tracks” based on information and behavior.

Based on the data you gather, you can create custom campaigns for different types of users. This should include:

  • Different email cadences are based on their level of engagement so that you don’t risk turning people off by communicating too frequently or too little.
  • Customized offers and reminders based on interests and behavior.
  • Unique content for different segments of your audience to focus on their specific needs.
  • Automated responses to action and inaction that change a user’s experience. For example, moving users who don’t open emails to a specific campaign designed to reengage them.

4. Testing and experimentation. Email is one of the best ways to test your messaging.

You can test subject lines, different offers, and ads, your conversion optimization, etc., and the right platform will give you all the engagement data you need to refine your campaigns.

Separate a group into different test campaigns to compare performance so that you’re always improving and gaining insights about your audience.

Email mailing lists are your engaged audience. Take the opportunity to get to know them.

Different Types Of Emails In Email Marketing

Depending on your business model and your audience, you may need different types of emails – and different combinations – in your campaigns.

Some campaigns will be more directly promotional, while others will focus on information.

You need to understand why someone signed up to receive emails in the first place to determine what kinds of emails to send them. You can do that by tracking how they signed up. Was it through an offer page? A digital download? A social media promotion?

You should also collect people’s preferences as they sign up and through welcome emails to better understand their needs.

Once you understand the intent behind an email signup and the user’s preferences, you can choose the best types of emails to send.

An email marketing platform should be able to do this for you automatically, entering users into different segments to receive types of emails based on their preferences.

Promotional Emails

Promotional emails are focused on conversions. They’re for audience segments that you’ve identified as likely to make a purchase but maybe need a little more enticing.

For example, it might be a user who has items in their cart but didn’t make a purchase. Or a user who went through the process of customizing a product but didn’t add it to their cart.

You might have identified them as someone waiting for a sale or shopping around.

It’s helpful to add incentives to promotional emails so that users get additional value for being on the mailing list.

Remind them of a discount code, or reward them for following through on an abandoned purchase by promising a future discount.

It’s important to be careful and intentional with these emails because they often get shunted into promotion-specific inboxes and lost in a sea of other promotions.

Running a nurture campaign to convince audiences to whitelist these emails could be an effective tactic.

Newsletters And Service Emails

Newsletters and emails containing news and information can be a service or business model themselves.

Alternatively, you can use this service to keep connected with audiences and keep them engaged with your brand, even if your business model isn’t newsletter-based.

Putting true informational value in people’s inboxes is difficult, and not all businesses are set up to do it effectively. These types of emails work best for companies that already invest in educational content or news.

If you don’t have an existing mechanism for content production, be aware that these emails are high-effort!

The tradeoff is that audiences are more likely to engage with emails regularly if they get genuine value from a newsletter.

You can build strong trust with audiences, and if the newsletter is successful, open a new revenue stream with in-email advertising.

Company Information And Update Emails

You can send emails with information about your company, although the audiences that respond well to them may be limited.

Investors are an example of an audience group that would be highly invested in company update emails.

Be careful with the cadence of these because they can get lost, just like promotional emails.

Welcome Emails

Welcome emails are important for setting expectations, gathering information, and beginning nurturing campaigns.

In a welcome email, you can give users information about the track they’re on, the cadence of emails, what information they can expect, etc.

You can also use welcome emails to guide users through the next steps and instruct them on how to customize their experience.

Nurturing Emails

Nurture emails take a slow and gradual approach to engagement and winning conversions.

They are critical to any email campaign because they create touchpoints with users and can help lead them to an eventual business goal like a conversion or sale.

These emails attempt to move users into consideration stages in a journey or assist them with their consideration and comparison activities.

They might include reminders, information about free services or information, or check-ins to ask users to update their communication preferences.

Re-Engagement Emails

Re-engagement is very similar to nurturing but occurs when a user is colder.

If they haven’t interacted with an email in a while, you can move them to a re-engagement campaign that presents them with specific reminders or offers to try and get them to become an engaged user again.

It’s important to keep email lists clean by removing users who haven’t engaged for a long time.

If you’re gathering data from your email list or selling advertising, this ensures that you don’t have inflated data. However, before you kick users off an email list, you should enter them into a re-engagement campaign to see if you can pull them back in.

Feedback, Survey, And Review Emails

Direct feedback is one of the best ways to get information about your audience.

Surveys can be used to create content with first-party data, and feedback surveys can help you further customize user experiences. Reviews can be used as social proof.

These types of emails can also be combined with sales and nurturing campaigns to increase retention and conversions. Offering people rewards for providing their feedback can lead to additional conversions.

Choosing Your Email Platform

Consider the functionality and your needs, and growth potential when you’re choosing an email platform.

Some of the core functions you should look for are:

  • Tagging and segmentation: You need to be able to work with the data you have about your list and separate users into groups. This helps you create customized campaigns.
  • Automated campaigns and timing: Email platforms should give you the ability to create a set of rules and emails and apply them to a group. This includes all of the emails to be sent, the timing of the emails, and tracking results.
  • Website event tagging: You may need a platform that allows you to connect website behavior with email accounts. This can be critical for understanding user behavior and creating effective nurturing and re-engagement campaigns.
  • Email behavior analysis: The platform should report metrics like open rates and in-email conversions and follow conversions from email onto the website to see what actions users take.
  • Testing capabilities: Your email marketing platform should enable you to test different campaigns, different messaging, subject lines, images, and offers within specific audience segments and report on the compared effectiveness.

Email Marketing Is A Powerful “Middle” Strategy

Between awareness and a sale, there’s often an email. Or two or three. Or more.

Email lists are so valuable because they’re a direct source of information about who your audience is, what they want, and what they respond to. It’s also a relationship that you have a lot of control over.

The right platform with the right capabilities combined with a strong content strategy can increase the rate at which you gain conversions from audiences that are already aware of your brand.

With automation, you can set these processes to occur automatically.

Email Marketing FAQ

What Is Email Marketing?

Email marketing involves encouraging users to sign up to receive emails, and then sending them specific, targeted emails to keep their attention, nurture their journey, and gain conversions.

Email marketing works by nurturing users to build a relationship and connection with your brand.

Journeys toward sales and conversions can take a long time, and the right email campaign can remind users to come back to you when they’ve made a decision to make a purchase.

Alternatively, email newsletters can themself be a business model, where you provide high-quality experiences in people’s inboxes and sell advertising. Advertisers get access to the audience of your email list.

What Are The Benefits Of Email Marketing?

No matter what your business model is, a well-curated email list is a valuable business asset.

Whether you’re selling advertising on your email list or nurturing users through purchasing journeys, email marketing is one of the best ways to gain insights about your audience, test your strategies, and re-engage with users who become disconnected.

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Featured Image: one photo/Shutterstock

Top 10 Digital Marketing Trends For 2025 via @sejournal, @gregjarboe

Digital marketing is changing and the industry is trying to adapt whilst accepting the uncertainty.

So, let me offer an alternative approach that you could take this year.

Invite all the key decision-makers in your organization – including C-level executives as well as the heads of digital analytics, digital advertising, SEO, content marketing, and social media marketing – to an off-site meeting to help them understand how the ten digital marketing trends mentioned below will shape your digital marketing strategy for 2025.

This is no ordinary time and you need to decide if your new digital marketing strategy will enable your organization to weather the coming storm.

To give you a starting point for crucial conversations, here is my take on the top 10 digital marketing trends for 2025:

1. Digital Marketing Fundamentals

In Digital Marketing Fundamentals, I mentioned that the Content Marketing Institute (CMI) and MarketingProfs conducted a survey that found:

“Content marketers are resilient. Most have met the challenges of the pandemic head-on.”

In response to the pandemic, B2B and B2C marketers:

  • Increased time spent talking with customers.
  • Revisited their customer/buyer personas.
  • Reexamined the customer journey.
  • Changed their targeting/messaging strategy.
  • Changed their distribution strategy.
  • Adjusted their editorial calendar.
  • Put more resources toward social media/online communities.
  • Changed their website.
  • Changed their products/services.
  • Adjusted their KPIs.
  • Changed their content marketing metrics (e.g., set up new analytics/dashboards).

I concluded:

“Both B2B and B2C marketers totally overhauled the process for creating a content marketing plan from stem to stern. For some, 2020 was the year of quickly adapting their content marketing strategy. For others, it was the year to finally develop one.”

This is now relevant again, so replace “content” with “digital” and 2020 with 2025.

2. Artificial Intelligence (AI)

From a senior executive’s point of view, the increasing reliance on AI for data analysis, customer segmentation, and personalized marketing campaigns raises concerns about the balance between automation and human touch.

Some might argue that your organization should “focus” all its attention and resources on the trend of AI. To prove a point, I used a generative AI tool to crank out 10 sub-trends of this megatrend below:

  1. Hyper-Personalization: Utilizing generative AI to craft highly tailored content and user experiences based on their behaviors, preferences, and demographics.
  2. AI-Driven Content Creation: Automating the production of content such as blog posts, social media updates, and product descriptions using generative AI tools, enabling marketers to scale their efforts efficiently.
  3. Voice and Conversational Marketing: Enhancing customer interactions and simplifying the purchasing process by adopting voice search optimization and conversational AI technologies like chatbots.
  4. Predictive Analytics for Customer Insights: Leveraging data-driven insights to help marketers make informed decisions and refine their strategies in real time.
  5. Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) Integration: Empowering customers to visualize products in their own space before making a purchase decision.
  6. AI-Powered Customer Journey Mapping: Using AI to analyze customer interactions, identify key touchpoints, and optimize the journey to minimize friction and boost satisfaction.
  7. Sustainability and Ethical AI: Prioritizing sustainable marketing approaches and the responsible use of AI, ensuring transparency and accountability in AI applications.
  8. Enhanced Data Privacy Measures: Implementing AI solutions that respect user consent and safeguard data, maintaining regulatory compliance while extracting valuable insights.
  9. Integration of Ecommerce and Social Media: Streamlining shopping experiences directly within social platforms to boost engagement and drive sales.
  10. AI-Enhanced Marketing Automation: Elevating campaign management through advanced automation, including features like A/B testing, real-time optimization, and personalized email strategies.

Yes, these sub-trends are driven by advancements in AI technology. And, yes, anyone can argue that AI should be considered the only digital marketing trend to focus on for 2025.

However, everyone should prepare to find the right balance between automation and the human touch. That’s what senior executives are concerned about.

3. Digital Analytics

I’d start with measurement. (No topic is more likely to get the attention of C-level executives than measuring results.)

Following an industry report, business outcomes, such as site visits, leads, and sales, have become the primary success metrics.

Since August 2007, when YouTube started offering video advertising, brands and their agencies have always prioritized reach and frequency. So, the key criteria for digital video investments has fundamentally changed.

But two-thirds of buyers, particularly smaller advertisers targeting niche audiences, cited issues across nine key areas of measurement:

  1. Co-viewing.
  2. Placement transparency.
  3. Brand safety/suitability.
  4. Viewability.
  5. Ads served on made-for advertising sites (MFAs).
  6. Ads served on TVs turned off.
  7. Getting sell-side data.
  8. Using multiple currencies.
  9. Standard sell-side targets.

So, what should digital analytics focus on for 2025?

In a recent post on LinkedIn, Avinash Kaushik recommended:

“Marketing’s Incrementality: Business results from marketing tactics that would not have occurred otherwise.”

He added:

“It is the absolute pinnacle of proving the value of Marketing. It is the only answer a smart CFO wants (and upon receiving it will give your CMO all the budget required to capture incremental revenue/profit!).”

He concluded:

“Very few in our ecosystem are focused on measuring incrementality. One reason is it requires sophisticated thinking, and that’s often missing. Another reason is that incrementality is actually measured, but it gets killed by the org because the results are so bad.”

4. Digital Advertising

If you’re the head of digital advertising for your organization, then you need to find the right balance between AI and human touch in 2025.

For example, I said decision-makers at your organization already know that the new AI-generated holiday ads from Coca-Cola attracted a lot of criticism.

Some described the three new AI versions as “the biggest branding blunder of the year,” and others said the AI campaign “earns Coca-Cola a lump of coal.

After measuring the emotional impact of holiday ads, and comparing the current AI-generated holiday ad with the original human-created 2020 version, Ian Forrester said:

“The difference between the AI and the original was most stark in their evocation of warmth, a mainstay of Christmas advertising. The original evoked intense warmth among 33.0% of viewers, whereas the AI versions were significantly below this. So, while the AI is producing images which on the face of it seem cute and heart-warming, the human viewer to some degree discerns their synthetic nature, which detracts from their impact.”

And Barney Worfolk-Smith, added:

“Some in the advertising community who feel a sense of ominous threat will instantly adopt a negative stance. I don’t blame them, but the reality is, the toothpaste is out of the tube, so we should all have a hand on the wheel of a human AI hybrid Christmas Coke truck to have a stake in the future.”

So, if you’re not in the driver’s seat for similar human-AI experiments in 2025, then someone else probably will be.

5. SEO

If you’re the head of SEO for your organization, then you might want to read, A New Era Of SEO: Leveraging YouTube, LinkedIn, And Cross-Channel Strategies For Success.

So, I don’t need to tell you that it’s time to re-envision your career path.

Going forward, you will need to invest more time in learning four additional disciplines: digital analytics, digital advertising, content marketing, and social media marketing.

And you will also need to demonstrate critical thinking about digital marketing strategy if you ever hope to climb the ladder in your organization.

Since that article was published, Rand Fishkin, asked How big is ChatGPT’s market share of search? And, using data from SimilarWeb and Datos, Fishkin estimates that Google’s cross-platform share of search in October 2024 was over 83.5%.

YouTube’s share was almost 7.0%. ChatGPT’s share was over 4.3%. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Reddit, Pinterest, and Perplexity’s combined share was almost 3.4%. And Bing’s share was almost 2.0%.

So, yes, I realize SearchGPT is the latest Bright Shiny Object (BSO). But it’s still 1.6 times more important to leverage YouTube – at least for the near future.

6. Content Marketing

If you’re the head of content marketing for your organization, then you should read Why AI in Demand Generation Is No Knight In Shining Armor [New Research].

If you do, you’ll know that most demand-gen marketers feel pressured to “get good” at generative AI so they can “do more with less.”

CMI surveyed marketers to see if they felt pressured to deliver results despite having limited budgets and resources. The response? A significant 56% said they feel this pressure “to a great extent,” while 39% admitted they feel it “to some extent.”

Just 5% reported feeling no pressure at all and a recent Deloitte study found that 79% of C-suite respondents expect gen AI to drive substantial organizational transformation in less than three years.”

However, the study also found that most organizations prioritize tactical advantages, such as boosting efficiency and cutting costs, over broader goals like driving growth and fostering innovation.

In the article above, Robert Rose recognizes an inconvenient truth: generative AI magnifies what already exists.

So, if you use a content calendar to crank out dull social media posts, boring in-person events, and bland emails, then AI will simply amplify those weaknesses.

Conversely, if your content strategy makes videos worth watching, creates content worth sharing, and provides experiences worth the price of admission, then AI will enhance those strengths.

So, AI isn’t a magic wand. It’s more like a booster that accelerates your existing efforts.

As this year’s findings demonstrate, successful demand generation remains a human-centered and complex task. Efficiency alone won’t transform ordinary efforts into extraordinary success.

True success lies in creativity, uniqueness, and the thoughtful execution of ideas.

In the end, the story is yours to tell — make it exceptional.

7. Social Media Marketing

If you’re the head of social media marketing for your organization, then you might want to pay attention to the growth of BlueSky.

Similarweb reported:

“On Nov. 6, the day after the US presidential election, both website traffic and app usage spiked for Bluesky in the US as it became the destination of choice for journalists and opinion leaders (as well as followers of those people) who decided to either stop using X or begin using it less.

Usage of the Bluesky app is up 519% compared to the first 10 months of the year. The UK echoed the trend, with Bluesky usage up 352% compared with the first 10 months of the year.”

Before you rush to add yet another platform to your social media portfolio, dig a little deeper into the latest data from Similarweb.

Below is the chart that Carr sent me of the top social networks worldwide based on desktop and mobile web visits in October 2024.

Image from author, December 2024

If you’re data-driven, then here’s the data:

  • YouTube got 29.1 billion visits that month.
  • Facebook got 12.5 billion.
  • Instagram got 6.0 billion.
  • X (formerly Twitter) got 4.6 billion.
  • Reddit got 3.5 billion.
  • TikTok got 2.2 billion.
  • LinkedIn got 1.8 billion.
  • Pinterest got 1.2 billion.
  • Threads got 154.1 million.
  • Snapchat got 130.3 million.

Although it doesn’t appear in the chart, Bsky.app got 75.9 million visits in October 2024.

So, if you’ve got 1,000 people on your social media marketing team, then shift one of them to BlueSky. But based on Similarweb’s latest data, 99.9% of us should shift more people to YouTube.

8. Digital PR

It may seem odd to include Digital PR in your list of the top 10 digital marketing trends for 2025.

But Spencer Stuart noticed that 34% of Fortune 500 CMOs lead functions in addition to marketing, such as communications.

So, if your organization is one of those companies, then you’ll want to invite your head of corporate communications to your off-site meeting.

You may also want to respectfully recommend that they read 7 Steps To Building A Kickass Digital PR Campaign before attending.

And your organization would really benefit by building a kickass digital PR campaign.

9. Influencer Marketing

Invite whoever heads up influencer marketing to your off-site – even if they report to the head of digital advertising, content marketing, social media marketing, or corporate communications.

The head of influencer marketing should argue that “schmooze optimization” is the cost-effective way to achieve your marketing goals.

And, suggest to your head of SEO that they read “SEO Industry Trends Report 2024: The Search Revolution Has Already Begun.

Kasumovic says:

“Kevin Indig reveals that only 6% of AI Overviews (AIOs) include the search query – indicating that the future of SEO lies in understanding user intent rather than keyword targeting.”

Kasumovic argues:

“The brands that rise to the top will be those that leverage the intersection of human expertise and AI automation – a balance that requires both creativity and data-driven discipline.”

He recommends:

“Collaborate with industry experts, influencers, and knowledgeable creators to build content that demonstrates deep expertise and credibility.”

10. Omnichannel Marketing

Your customers expect a seamless experience across all platforms. But if your marketing strategy is still siloed, then you might as well be using carrier pigeons to get your message across.

That’s why your organization needs to hammer out an agreement on a customer-centric strategy that integrates all your channels to create a consistent brand experience for customers.

But who is the voice of the customer in your organization? If there isn’t an obvious choice, there are three potential candidates:

  1. A digital analytics expert who recognizes a seamless customer experience across multiple channels will be essential.
  2. A digital advertising expert who knows that integrating PPC campaigns across multiple channels (search, social, display) will be vital for a cohesive customer journey.
  3. An SEO expert who understands search engines are increasingly considering user experience (UX) metrics as ranking factors.

In Summary: Get Key Decision-Makers Involved

This is my take on the top 10 digital marketing trends for 2025 which will hopefully give you a starting point to tailor a version for your organization.

What is important to remember is to get all the key decision-makers in your organization involved.

I suggest you take time to outline your priorities and where you need to go in 2025.

Get ready for the storm to face it head on.

More Resources:


Featured Image: Hurca/Shutterstock

10 Hosting Trends Agencies Should Watch In 2025

This post was sponsored by Bluehost. The opinions expressed in this article are the sponsor’s own.

Which hosting service is best for agencies?

How do I uncover what will be best for my clients in 2025?

What features should my hosting service have in 2025?

Hosting has evolved well beyond keeping websites online.

Hosting providers must align their services to meet clients’ technological needs and keep up with constantly changing technological advances.

Today, quality hosting companies must focus on speed, security, and scalability. Staying ahead of hosting trends is critical to maintaining competitive offerings, optimizing workflows, and meeting client demands.

So, what should you watch for in 2025?

The next 12 months promise significant shifts in hosting technologies, with advancements in AI, automation, security, and sustainability leading the way.

Understanding and leveraging these trends enables agencies and professionals to provide better client experiences, streamline operations, and reduce the negative effects of future industry changes.

Trend 1: Enhanced AI & Automation Implemented In Hosting

AI and automation are already transforming hosting, making it smarter and more efficient for service providers, agencies, brands, and end-point customers alike.

Hosting providers now leverage AI to optimize server performance, predict maintenance needs, and even supplement customer support with AI-driven features like chatbots.

As a result, automating routine tasks such as backups, updates, and resource scaling reduces downtime and the need for manual intervention. These innovations are game-changing for those managing multiple client sites and will become increasingly important in 2025.

It only makes sense.

Automated systems free up valuable time, allowing you more time to focus on strategic growth instead of tedious maintenance tasks. AI-powered insights can also identify performance bottlenecks, enabling you to address issues before they impact your website or those of your clients.

Agencies that adopt these technologies this year will not only deliver exceptional service but also be able to position themselves as forward-thinking.

Bluehost embraces automation with features like automated backups, one-click updates, and a centralized dashboard for easy site management. These tools streamline workflows, enabling agencies and professionals to manage multiple sites with minimal effort while ensuring optimal performance.

Trend 2: Multi-Cloud & Hybrid Cloud Solutions Are Now Essential

In 2025, as businesses demand more flexibility and reliability from their online infrastructure, multi-cloud and hybrid cloud solutions will become essential in the hosting world.

These approaches offer the best of both worlds:

  • The ability to leverage multiple cloud providers for redundancy and performance.
  • The option to combine public and private cloud environments for greater control and customization.

For agencies managing diverse client needs, multi-cloud and hybrid cloud strategies provide the scalability and adaptability required to meet modern demands. Multi-cloud solutions allow agencies to distribute their clients’ workloads across multiple cloud providers, ensuring that no single point of failure disrupts their operations.

This feature is particularly valuable for agencies with high-traffic websites, where downtime or slow performance can have a significant impact on revenue and user experience. Hybrid cloud solutions, on the other hand, let agencies blend the scalability of public clouds with the security and control of private cloud environments.

This service is ideal for clients with sensitive data or compliance requirements, such as ecommerce or healthcare businesses.

Bluehost Cloud provides scalable infrastructure and tools that enable agencies to customize hosting solutions to fit their clients’ unique requirements. Our cloud hosting solution’s elastic architecture ensures that websites can handle sudden traffic spikes without compromising speed or reliability.

Additionally, our intuitive management dashboard allows agencies to easily monitor and allocate resources across their client portfolio, making it simple to implement tailored solutions for varying workloads.

By adopting multi-cloud and hybrid cloud strategies, agencies can offer their clients enhanced performance, improved redundancy, and greater control over their hosting environments.

With our scalable solutions and robust toolset, agencies can confidently deliver hosting that grows with their clients’ businesses while maintaining consistent quality and reliability. This flexibility not only meets today’s hosting demands but also helps position your agency for long-term success in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.

Trend 3: Edge Computing & CDNs Replace AMP For Improving Website Speed

As online audiences grow, the demand for faster, more responsive websites has never been higher. Edge computing and Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) are at the forefront of this evolution, enabling websites to reduce latency significantly. For agencies managing clients with diverse and international audiences, these technologies are crucial for improving user experience and ensuring website performance remains competitive.

Edge computing brings data processing closer to the end user by leveraging servers located at the “edge” of a network, reducing the time it takes for information to travel.

Combined with CDNs that cache website content on servers worldwide, these technologies ensure faster load times, smoother navigation, and better performance metrics.

These features are especially beneficial for media-heavy or high-traffic websites, where even a slight delay can impact engagement and conversions.

Bluehost integrates with leading CDN solutions to deliver content quickly and efficiently to users across the globe. By leveraging a CDN, Bluehost ensures that websites load faster regardless of a visitor’s location, enhancing user experience and SEO performance.

This integration simplifies the optimization of site speed for agencies with multiple clients. By adopting edge computing and CDN technology, you can help your clients achieve faster load times, improved site stability, and higher customer satisfaction.

Bluehost’s seamless CDN integration enables you to deliver a hosting solution that meets the expectations of a modern, global audience while building trust and loyalty with your clients.

Trend 4: Core Web Vitals & SEO Hosting Features Make Or Break Websites

Core Web Vitals play an important role in today’s SEO, as Google is increasingly emphasizing website performance and user experience in its ranking algorithms. Today, loading speed, interactivity, and visual stability impact a site’s ability to rank well in search results and keep visitors engaged.

That means optimizing Core Web Vitals isn’t just an SEO task for agencies managing client websites. Fast load times and responsive design are critical parts of delivering a high-quality digital experience. For example, metrics like Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), which measures how quickly a page’s main content loads, depend heavily on hosting infrastructure.

Agencies need hosting solutions optimized for these metrics to ensure their clients’ sites stay competitive in the SERPs.

Bluehost offers a WordPress-optimized hosting environment with features specifically designed to improve load times and server response speeds. From advanced caching technology to robust server architecture, Bluehost ensures that sites meet Core Web Vitals standards with ease.

Additionally, our hosting solutions include tools for monitoring site performance, allowing agencies to proactively address any issues that could impact rankings or user experience.

By prioritizing Core Web Vitals and leveraging SEO-focused hosting features, agencies can enhance their clients’ visibility, engagement, and overall online success. With Bluehost’s optimized hosting solutions, you’ll have the tools and infrastructure needed to deliver fast, stable, and high-performing websites that delight users and search engines.

Trend 5: Sustainable Hosting Practices Help Reduce Energy Consumption

Sustainability is no longer just a buzzword. It’s a key consideration for businesses and agencies alike. As 2025 progresses, more clients will prioritize environmentally conscious practices, and hosting providers will step up to offer greener solutions, such as energy-efficient data centers and carbon offset programs.

Migrating to a sustainable hosting provider not only supports client values but also demonstrates a commitment to responsible business practices, which will resonate more with consumers in 2025 than ever before.

Efficient hosting practices reduce energy consumption and create a more sustainable digital ecosystem. It will also allow you to help clients meet their environmental goals without compromising on performance.

These benefits are especially valuable for clients with higher energy and performance demands, such as those in ecommerce, media-heavy, or high-traffic industries.

Bluehost has long been recognized as a trusted hosting provider that operates with efficiency in mind.

Our robust, energy-efficient infrastructure already aligns with the sustainability goals of environmentally conscious clients.

In addition, our long-standing reputation, proven history with WordPress, and demonstrable reliability enhance your clients’ sustainability objectives, ensuring they can operate responsibly and confidently.

By choosing sustainable hosting practices and partners like Bluehost, you can contribute to a greener digital future while reinforcing your clients’ environmental commitments and strengthening client relationships by aligning with their values.

Trend 6: Security Must Be A Core Offering

Security is a non-negotiable priority for any website. Cyber threats like data breaches, malware, and DDoS attacks are on the rise, and the consequences of a breach, including lost revenue, damaged reputations, and potential legal issues, can devastate clients. As a result, offering secure hosting solutions with proactive security measures is essential to safeguarding clients’ businesses and building trust.

These key features include SSL certificates, which protect sensitive data while boosting SEO rankings and user trust, and regular malware scans to prevent vulnerabilities.

They should also include automated backups that enable quick restoration in the event of a crash or attack and provide comprehensive protection and peace of mind. Essential security features are standard in Bluehost hosting plans, including SSL certificates, daily automated backups, and proactive malware scanning.

These built-in tools eliminate the need for additional solutions, added complexity, or costs. For agencies, our security features reduce risks for your clients and provide peace of mind.

By choosing a hosting provider like Bluehost, you can prioritize client security, reinforce client trust, and minimize emergencies, allowing you to avoid spending time and resources addressing threats or repairing damage.

In short, by partnering with Bluehost, security becomes a core part of your agency’s value proposition.

Trend 7: Hosting Optimized For AI & Machine Learning Is Key To High Visibility On SERPs

As artificial intelligence and machine learning become increasingly integrated with websites and applications in 2025, hosting providers must keep pace with the increasing demands these technologies place on infrastructure.

AI-driven tools like chatbots, recommendation engines, and predictive analytics require significant computational power and seamless data processing.

AI and machine learning applications often involve handling large datasets, running resource-intensive algorithms, and maintaining real-time responsiveness. Hosting optimized for these needs ensures that websites can perform reliably under heavy workloads, reducing latency and downtime and delivering consistent performance.

If you plan to be successful, you’ll also require scalable scalable hosting solutions. These solutions allow resources to expand dynamically with demand, accommodate growth, and handle traffic surges.

Bluehost’s scalable hosting is built to support advanced tools and applications, making it an ideal choice for agencies working on AI-driven projects. Our robust infrastructure delivers consistent performance, and flexibility allows you to scale easily as your client’s needs evolve. By leveraging Bluehost, agencies can confidently deliver AI-integrated websites that meet modern performance demands.

Trend 8: Managed Hosting Helps You Focus More On Profits

In 2025, websites will become increasingly complex. Businesses will require higher performance and reliability, and everyone will be looking to operate as lean and efficiently as possible. These trends mean managed hosting will become the go-to solution for agencies and their clients.

Managed hosting shifts time-intensive technical maintenance away from agencies and business owners by including features such as automatic updates, performance monitoring, and enhanced security. In short, managed hosting enables you to simplify workflows, save time, and deliver consistent quality to your clients.

These hosting services are particularly valuable for WordPress websites, where regular updates, plugin compatibility checks, and security enhancements occur frequently but are essential to maintaining optimal performance.

Managed hosting also typically includes tools like staging environments, which allow agencies to test changes and updates without risking disruptions to live sites and ensure you can deliver a seamless experience to clients.

Bluehost offers managed WordPress hosting that includes automatic updates, staging environments, and 24/7 expert support. These features allow you to handle technical details efficiently while focusing on delivering results for your clients without added stress or time.

Trend 9: The Shift Toward Decentralized Hosting Boosts Your Brand’s Longevity

In 2025, expect to see decentralized hosting gain attention as a futuristic approach to web hosting. Like Bitcoin and similar advancements, the technology leverages blockchain technology and peer-to-peer networks to create hosting environments that prioritize privacy, resilience, and independence from centralized control.

While this model appears to provide exciting new opportunities, it’s still in the early stages. It faces challenges in scalability, user-friendliness, and widespread adoption, which agencies can’t typically rely on for client sites.

Decentralized hosting may become a viable option for specific use cases, such as privacy-focused projects or highly distributed systems. However, centralized hosting providers still offer the best balance of reliability, scalability, and accessibility for most businesses and agencies today.

For these reasons, agencies managing client websites will continue to focus on proven, reliable hosting solutions that deliver consistent performance and robust support.

So, while decentralized hosting may gain traction this year, Bluehost will continue to provide a trustworthy hosting environment designed to meet the needs of modern websites. With a strong emphasis on reliability, scalability, and user-friendly management tools, we offer a proven solution agencies can depend on to deliver exceptional client results.

Trend 10: Scalable Hosting For High-Growth Websites Is Key For Growth

As businesses grow, their websites will experience increasing traffic and resource demands. High-growth websites, such as e-commerce platforms, content-heavy blogs, or viral marketing campaigns, require hosting solutions that can scale instantly. And scalable hosting is critical to delivering consistent user experiences and avoiding downtime during peak periods.

Scalable hosting like Bluehost ensures your clients’ websites can easily adjust resources like bandwidth, storage, and processing power to meet fluctuating demands. Our scalable hosting solutions are designed for high-growth websites. Our unmetered bandwidth and infrastructure were built to handle traffic surges, ensuring websites remain fast and accessible.

These features make us the ideal choice for agencies looking to future-proof their clients’ hosting needs.

As the digital landscape continues to evolve in 2025, keeping up with the latest trends in hosting is essential for agencies to provide top-tier service, drive client satisfaction, and maintain a competitive edge. From AI and automation to scalability and security, the future of hosting demands flexible, efficient solutions tailored to modern needs.

By understanding and leveraging these trends, you can position your agency as a trusted partner and deliver exceptional results to your clients, whether by adopting managed hosting or integrating CDNs.

Bluehost hosting will meet today’s demands while helping to prepare agencies like yours for tomorrow. With features like 100% uptime guaranteed through our Service Level Agreement (SLA), 24/7 priority support, and built-in tools like SSL certificates, automated backups, and advanced caching, Bluehost offers a robust and reliable hosting environment.

Additionally, Bluehost Cloud makes switching easy and cost-effective with $0 migration costs and credit for remaining contracts, giving you the flexibility to transition seamlessly without the high cost.

Take your agency’s hosting strategy to the next level with Bluehost. Discover how our comprehensive hosting solutions can support your growth, enhance client satisfaction, and keep your business ahead of the curve.


Image Credits

Featured Image: Image by Bluehost. Used with permission.