We’re Getting Personal

Consumers are expecting customized, personal experiences and that is a trend that is only growing stronger heading into 2025. As AI advances, consumers have come to expect the same personalized experience they get on their TikTok feed across the internet. To get ahead, marketers will need to go beyond personalized product recommendations and instead look at the bigger picture. We’ll see predictive analytics and behavioral data team up to anticipate the user’s needs at every step of their customer journey.

What does that look like in practice? We’ll be seeing more ads that exist within the context of what the user is viewing and less intrusive ads. A perfect example of how we’re seeing this in action is influencer endorsements. What feels like a friend recommending their favorite product or using a certain brand of makeup is actually a seamlessly marketed digital ad. In the same vein, sponsored content might be overhauled to be more educational or entertaining. Think: a cooking video with product placement and a recipe that you’ve got to save for later.

Sustainability Stands Out

Consumers are increasingly aware of sustainability and the impact their purchasing has on the environment. Brands who have implemented sustainable measures and are transparent about their social responsibility stand out in a crowded market. While we’ve begun to see brands adopting this transparency already, expect customers to demand supply chain transparency, social impact reports, and eco-friendly alternatives in 2025.

Some examples of this could be highlighting your brand’s community impact, showcasing your eco-friendly production practices, or sharing a behind the scenes look at your supply chain and the care taken at every step in the process. As consumers become more values-driven than ever, sharing the story behind your brand’s sustainability is a must to maintain their trust.

What if your brand isn’t a product that you can make more sustainable? Consider the social impact your company has on your community and how you could improve or share the work you do in that realm. Transparency really is the key here, consumers want to see that it’s a priority for their favorite brands to be good to their employees, their consumers, their community, and the earth.

The Next Generation of AI

It’s been a big year for AI. From relatively quiet chatters of ChatPGT grocery lists to every major search engine, software provider, and analytics platform integrating AI features on the market for mass consumption. While we’ve been seeing the first Gen AI get its sea legs, the next generation of AI has already swooped in and will be here to stay in 2025.

Beyond content creation, marketers will leverage AI to ideate, edit, and personalize content to their consumer. With increased data and the ability to extract and analyze in moments— marketers will know their consumer better than ever before. Expect to see campaign optimization, trend prediction, and personalized experiences topping the list of in-demand AI features for marketers in 2025.

Speaking of Predictive Trends…

Data nerds, this is going to be your year. We’ve gotten a taste of predictive analytics and enhanced data reporting in 2024, but next year we can expect a whole lot of new features on the horizon. Honing in on the capability to create predictive models, you’ll be able to dial in campaign performance, audience segmentation, and ad creative success before you launch to a single customer.

The ability to adjust and make proactive decisions on strategy and creative decisions while in the midst of campaign creation will shift workflows and lead to more agile decision-making in the long run. We’re expecting these tools to transform how campaigns are started— using enhanced data analysis to determine if a concept will work from earlier stages and letting analytics be the guide on what direction will reach the most consumers.

It’s a Party on the SERP

As AI integrates into all of the major search engines, expect more consumers to seek out zero-click search results. Products like Google’s featured snippets and answer boxes are becoming the go-to and marketers will need to format with these features in mind. Snippet sized content, answer boxes, and local packs help you to stay visible even when you aren’t driving clicks in directly.

How do you stay competitive in a zero-click search environment? The latest data shows fewer than 60% of searches on Google lead to a click. Sure, a lot of this can be attributed to “How Tall Is Timothée Chalamet?” searches (a google answer box tells us he’s 5’10”), but what about all of those other meaningful leads that you want to click through to your website?

Before you throw out your SEO strategy— consider the bigger picture. Optimizing to be that snippet at the top of the search engine gets you a major edge over the competition even if they don’t click through: Brand Awareness. Ultimately, we must adapt to how consumers are utilizing search engines. Meet them where they’re at and get creative about using the tools you have to influence them from the SERP!

Are You Up For The Challenge?

So as you analyze how you performed in 2024 and look ahead to 2025— keep your eyes on the futuristic tech that is leading the way for digital marketing. Changing, adapting, and growing an audience in new and creative ways is nothing new for digital marketers and we can’t wait to search, scroll, and swipe our way through the next generation of digital ad content in 2025.

The post The Future of Digital Marketing: Trends for 2025 appeared first on SEMpdx.

For the first time, in 12 years, SEMpdx is opening up its conference for Community Speaker pitches! We are looking for two awesome speakers to present on a digital marketing topic. Could it be you? Yes, of course. We believe in you – now give us your best pitch.

SEMpdx’s conference called Engage (previously called SearchFest) is scheduled for Thursday, March 8 2018 at the Sentinel Hotel in Portland, Oregon. Are you interested in being a speaker at Engage 2018? We want to hear from you.

Become a Community Speaker at at Engage 2018 by doing this:

• Complete the form below and submit it on or before October 6, 2017
• Submit only one presentation idea (your best idea, of course)
• Your topic should be about digital marketing
• Tell us what actionable insights you’ll supply to attendees

If Selected:

• You must show up in person on Thursday, March 8, 2018 in Portland, Oregon to present.
• You will, of course, receive a complimentary ticket to attend the entire conference.
• Create a 25 minute PowerPoint presentation (expect about 10 minutes of Q&A)
• You will be invited to attend the Speaker and SEMpdx Member Reception the evening of March 7th.
• If traveling from outside the Portland Metro area, you will need to cover your own travel and hotel costs.

The Engage organizing committee will narrow the applications to 6 to 8 finalists, then ask SEMpdx Members to vote on which of the two finalists shall present at Engage 2018.

The two Community Speakers selected will be announced on or about October 13.

We will let all applicants know if they have been selected or not.

The post Pitch Now to Become a Community Speaker for Engage 2018 appeared first on SEMpdx.

In getting here, we’d like to recognize and share a big THANK YOU with SEMpdx’s creative partner and branding agency for Engage, Watson Creative. SEMpdx engaged (no pun intended) Watson earlier this year to help guide our organization through the rebranding process which included a Brand Audit, Competitive Audit and a Workshop with the Engage Rebranding Committee (special thanks to Darin Fenn, Mike Rosenberg, Alan George, Rachel Schmidt, Kevin Getch, Scott Hendison, Trish Carey) before beginning their creative process and delivering a logo and suite of branded assets for print and digital that captured the essence and evolution of our conference and represented SEMpdx as an organization. Thank you, Watson Creative team (special thanks to Jay Garcia, Taylor Garber, Colby Schlicker)!

In addition to rolling out the new branding, we also kicked off Engage Conference ticket sales last night. We are sharing an incredible deal with the first 20 people who purchase their Engage Conference tickets. Get yours today for just $249!

We look forward to seeing you on March 9, 2017 at Engage!

The post SEMpdx Unveils Engage Conference Branding appeared first on SEMpdx.

Please meet Sarah Hinds in her own words below!

What is your day job?
I’m a digital marketing consultant helping clients drive their overall online marketing efforts.  I also offer training to small businesses who want to manage their digital marketing efforts in-house, but need guidance getting started.

What is your area of expertise?
My specialties are in paid search and email campaigns.  I also focus on ensuring clients are running holistic marketing efforts.

Why did you choose digital marketing as a career path?
My college background includes mathematics and Spanish, but in a round-about way, I found myself taking a job in a creative marketing role.  While employed with that company, they were expanding to include an ecommerce department and I was exposed to SEM for the first time.  I was immediately drawn to the analytical and data-driven side of marketing, and decided I wanted to transition to digital marketing where I could incorporate more of my math background.

What advice do you have for other professionals looking to break into the digital marketing industry?
I’ve found that it takes a lot of self-discipline to succeed in digital marketing.  This is an industry that is constantly evolving, so you need to be willing to put in the extra time required to learn incoming best practices and other changes.  I also recommend getting involved with your local professionals group (SEMpdx if you’re a Portlander) as the networking will prove invaluable in many ways.

What is your SEMpdx volunteer claim to fame?
Shortly after I made the switch to digital marketing, I was introduced to Blu Drobushevich, who told me about SEMpdx.  I started attending the monthly events and was asked if I’d be interested in writing a blog post after each event to help raise awareness and interest.  Since then, I’ve continued the event recap blogging and have also gotten involved in other areas such as SearchFest and the Marketing Committee.

What is your favorite benefit of being an SEMpdx member and volunteer?
The networking that takes place at SEMpdx events is, in my opinion, unmatched.  Everyone I’ve met genuinely wants to help each other and doesn’t think twice about going out of their way to help a new acquaintance land their next job, client, etc.  I’m also impressed with the effort the board places on finding caliber speakers to help fuel our ongoing training, which is essential in this ever-changing industry.

In your opinion, what is the most memorable marketing or advertising campaign, brand or story from the past year?
That’s tough.  One campaign that stands out is Geico’s “Unskippable” campaign.  The series of online video ads was pretty innovative in the way they embraced the issue of pre-roll.  They made the advertising clichés work in their favor and, ultimately, demonstrated that a simple idea often works best.

What is the most impactful digital marketing industry trend that you’ve seen or heard about at a conference this year?
Voice search is going to have a big impact on search behavior.  Since users alter their search behavior when searching by voice versus the keyboard, marketers will need to adapt their optimizations accordingly.  I’m eager to see if the natural language that comes with voice search will be key in revealing intent more clearly.

If you could have any other job in the world, what would it be?
If I were to completely switch gears, I’d be a pilot for a charter service.

What is your favorite Portland happy hour location?
It depends on the season… One of my summertime favorites is Bluehour.  I love their front patio.

Where can we find you (social media platforms)?
I’m mostly on Facebook.

Thank you, Sarah for being such a fantastic volunteer and supporter of SEMpdx!

Please make sure to congratulate Sarah when you see her next at an event or via social media.

The post Sarah Hinds – SEMpdx Volunteer of the Quarter appeared first on SEMpdx.

The SEMpdx board has selected Rachel Schmidt of Upsource as our inaugural Volunteer of the Quarter in recognition of her impactful contributions to our SearchFest (now Engage conference) sponsorship efforts and much more.

Please meet Rachel Schmidt in her own words below!

What is your day job?
By day I manage the Client Services/Account Management department, as well as the Production department, at an awesome company called Upsource.  I make sure our clients are happy and our products are fulfilled at a level of excellence.  Essentially, if it’s not sales, I’m involved.  Shout-out to the amazing Upsource team!

What is your area of expertise?
I would say my “expertise” is in improving systems and growing teams.  I enjoy the challenge of identifying and solving workflow issues and streamlining processes, but I’m also very passionate about people.  It’s important to me to be the kind of leader that people enjoy working with.

Why did you choose digital marketing as a career path?
Marketing of any kind was always very interesting to me, even as a kid.  I love the psychology and creativity that goes into capturing a potential customer’s attention.  Digital marketing specifically was something that I sort of fell into, but I truly enjoy my work and intend on furthering my career in the industry.

What advice do you have for other professionals looking to break into the digital marketing industry?
Take an entry-level position and work harder than everyone else.  There’s a Mark Cuban quote I really like that says, “Work like there is someone working 24 hours a day to take it away from you,” and that type of work ethic is bound to make you stand out.  I also think it’s important to not get too comfortable with where you’re at.  If you stay humble and keep pushing and educating yourself, you’ll have no problem breaking into any industry you choose.  If you want it, go for it!

What is your SEMpdx volunteer claim to fame?
I work for Darin Fenn, who is on the SEMpdx Board of Directors as the Sponsorship Chair.  For this year’s SearchFest conference, I coordinated with all the sponsors after Darin confirmed their involvement.  Together, we helped SEMpdx double the sponsorship amount from the previous year!

What is your favorite benefit of being an SEMpdx member and volunteer?
My favorite benefit is the amount of networking that takes place.  There are constant opportunities to meet other people in the industry, and I would say that I’ve made lasting connections with people that extend beyond an SEMpdx event.  Being a member has also allowed me to stay up-to-date on industry trends and best practices.

In your opinion, what is the most memorable marketing or advertising campaign, brand or story from the past year?
This is very “Millennial” of me, but Buzzfeed has completely taken over social media.  You can’t escape the top ten lists and silly quizzes that, for example, let you find out which Game of Thrones character you are (I was thrilled to get Daenerys Targaryen, by the way).  I have to admit that I participate way more often than I should.  It’s so dumb but entertaining!

What is the most impactful digital marketing industry trend that you’ve seen or heard about at a conference this year?
There has been a lot of discussion about the rise of artificial intelligence and machine learning based systems, especially in relation to social media.  The fact that a machine has the ability to learn based on user behavior and then filter what a user sees is very impactful.  Users are also becoming conditioned to seeing ads and their behavior is evolving, so we in turn have to evolve our strategies.

If you could have any other job in the world, what would it be?
I think it would be fun to work in the A&R department at a record label.  Or anything that involves baby animals.  

What is your favorite Portland happy hour location?
That’s tough because Portland has the best food!  I would say Doug Fir, Urban Farmer and Tasty ‘n Alder, to name a few.

Where can we find you (social media platforms)?
I’m mostly on Instagram @rskyeschmidt, but you can also find me on Facebook.

Thank you, Rachel for being such a fantastic volunteer and supporter of SEMpdx!

Pease make sure to congratulate Rachel when you see her next at an event or via social media.

The post Rachel Schmidt, Upsource – SEMpdx Volunteer of the Quarter appeared first on SEMpdx.