By Fungai Tichawangana, Web Developer & Online Visibility Strategist

Most business websites don’t deliver any real results—make sure yours does.

Most businesses do not have a digital marketing strategy. Only 1 out of the 45 businesses analyzed during online presence audits this year had one. If you are willing to put in the time and planning to create a solid, data-driven digital marketing strategy, you are way ahead of your competition.

Leverage Trends to Create a Winning Online Marketing Strategy for 2025:

1. Create Personalized Engagement with Your Customers

• Trend: Hyper-Personalization.

• How to Use It: Say you’re a restaurant and have a new clam chowder special, instead of blasting emails out to everyone on your mailing list, including those allergic to seafood, send it only to those customers who buy clam chowder (or seafood). It keeps your list engaged, creates better response rates, and you avoid pissing people off with too many irrelevant messages.

• Actionable Step: Use tools like Mailchimp or Kit to organize segmented email campaigns based on purchase history or engagement levels. Adding simple touches, like birthday wishes or “we miss you” discounts, can help keep your audience engaged. If you don’t have a mailing list, this is your kick in the butt to get one going. They are among the top digital marketing tools for keeping in touch with your client base, growing relationships and driving repeated sales.
  

2. Optimize for Voice Searches

• Trend: Voice Searches are growing rapidly. For example: “Hey Siri, find me a coffee shop near here.”

• How to Use It: Consumers increasingly rely on voice-activated devices and visual search for their needs, especially for local services. By optimizing for conversational search queries, your business can improve visibility in these newer search channels.

• Actionable Step: Ensure your Google Business profile is updated, and use clear, descriptive image alt text to improve both voice and visual search compatibility. Use natural language on your website and answer popular questions relevant to your business (“Where’s the best coffee in Longmeadow?”).

3. Add a Pay-to-Play Strategy to Your Plan

• Trend: There is more and more noise online. It’s harder to get seen. No matter what the social media gurus tell you, most accounts on social media never achieve needle-moving significance. Social media algorithms increasingly prioritize non-commercial posts, reducing the visibility of business pages. Organic reach has tanked, with platforms like Facebook now showing an average organic reach of just 1.95%, especially for larger pages.

• How to Use It: Despite the low organic reach, many businesses still post and hope. You need to shift gears and pay to play (or spend a lot of time creating content that gets organic traction). By allocating even a modest portion of your budget to paid social ads, you can ensure that your content reaches a targeted and broader audience.

• Actionable Step: Start small campaigns on Facebook and then Google and run ads continuously. This teaches the algorithm what works for your business. Test different creative and copy. Use platform tools to set clear objectives and customize your audience demographics for each campaign.
  

4. Partner with Local Nano & Micro-Influencers

• Trend: Growth in trust of smaller influencers (Nano-influencers: 1K–10K followers. Micro-influencers: 10K–100K followers)

• How to Use It: Nano & Micro-influencers are highly relatable, often more affordable, and have trusted relationships with their audiences. Local influencers, with an emphasis on community and small businesses, can connect you to new customers without the cost of high-profile endorsements.

• Actionable Step: Reach out to local bloggers or influencers, offering free samples or services in exchange for authentic posts. Target influencers who align with your brand’s values and have a following in your community. For example, Christina Allhingham’s ‘A Bite of New England’ (@biteofnewengland, 21K Followers) shares content about great places to eat around Western MA and beyond and would be a great match for a beverage partner trying to reach out to local foodies.