The digital world’s dynamic nature can make it challenging to stay ahead of the curve. However, embracing emerging trends and becoming an early adopter of new technologies can be fundamental in the adtech landscape. The online ecosystem holds so much power, influence, and access for businesses and advertisers, but what makes it crucial for your 2025 advertising strategy?
Global advertising spending is predicted to reach around US$1,158.00bn in 2025, a 6.5% increase from the previous year. The advertising industry as a whole is forecast to spend as much as 80% of its budget on digital advertising by 2029.
To ensure that you allocate your digital ad spend in the right areas, it’s crucial to know what ad tech will be trending in the future. Here are five key advertising technology trends that will shape the industry throughout 2025.
1. Retail Media Growth
A recent Coresight Research report details that international retail media marketing is likely to reach $179.5 billion in value this year. This is due to brands seeking more targeted advertising, original data, and clearly measurable ROI, which retailers can provide at the point of sale. However, to know whether this avenue is worth exploring, it’s key to understand its appeal.
A Retail Media Network (RMN) is a platform owned and run by retailers. They allow brands and businesses to advertise directly to the consumer via their key channels, such as websites, apps, and in-store. Retailers can collect valuable first-party data on their customers’ shopping habits, preferences, and behavior. This allows for more targeted and relevant advertising on a brand’s behalf.
Coresights believes that brands leveraging RMNs can expect to see margin increases of up to 70%. Although retailers began harnessing the power of their consumer access over a decade ago, we’re set to see RMNs trailblaze the industry over the next twelve months.
2. Owned Media Networks
Closely related to the idea of RMNs is Owned Media. The rise in retail media hasn’t gone unnoticed, with major industries such as finance, telecoms, and airlines taking note. Owned Media can be any channel a company has direct control over, such as its website, email marketing, apps, and so on. Given the success of RMNs over the last decade, it’s no surprise that advertisers are looking for more.
The 2025 report by Sonder Media tells us that many industries are evolving their presence and commercializing access to their data and customer base. Just like RMNs, brands can harness direct access to relevant consumers with their products and services. This isn’t just a development for the industries utilizing their platforms but for key partners looking to monetize their reach.
3. The Rise of Self-Service Advertising Platforms
But trends don’t just encompass the media giants and big-money businesses. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) make up over 90% of global businesses – so it’s not just about catering to the household names we all know and love. This is where the popularity of self-service ad platforms comes in.
Self-service means that brands can actually plan, buy, and pay for their own media campaigns through a specially created portal. Because it reflects how clients are used to working on their own search and social media campaigns, it’s accessible and user-friendly.
Our New York based Sales Director, Matt Rohrs, tells us that ‘Ideally, self-service would plug into a media company’s existing workflow and tech-stack. That means that the self-service solution needs to work with your CRM, OMS, Ad-Server, ERP, DMP, etc.’. Therefore, we can see that self-service adtech integrates a brand’s sales and marketing and easily slots into its current setup.
4. CTV and Audio Advertising Evolution
Another big hit in the adtech world for 2025 is connected TV (CTV) and audio platforms, such as podcasts and streaming services. With more than 546 million podcast listeners around the globe, it’s no surprise that advertisers are turning to major platforms with their ad spend. In fact, ad revenue is said to double and clock $4 billion this year! So, what does this mean for advertisers?
Just like the consistent dominance of CTV, which is predicted to surpass $42 billion by 2028, turning to targeted ads to access highly segmented and reliable users in this way is set to be huge. With a significant emphasis on storytelling by nature, we expect brands to utilize this more in campaigns throughout 2025.
5. AI-Powered Personalization
Last but certainly not least, we’re looking at you, AI! AI has undoubtedly made its mark in previous years and shows no sign of stopping. But when it comes to advertising technology, all eyes are on personalization for 2025. We know that increased targeting and relevance are key to maximizing ROI and results, but AI is set to be at the heart of that.
By next year, it’s predicted that 80% of marketers will lean into AI for personalization. We know personalized ads based on behavior get results, but thanks to Dynamic Creative Optimization (DCO), AI is looking to change ads to reflect buyer behavior in real-time. Real-time prediction is also coming into play here as AI will look to showcase to consumers what they want before they know what they want!
Conclusion
Diving into one or all of these trends will certainly help you see better results and optimize your advertising throughout 2025. By being adaptable, assessing your current advertising strategies, and trialing new adtech to see what it can do for your business, you’ll stay ahead of the curve in advertising technology.
Are you looking for a platform to manage your ad inventory? Reach out to a member of our team today to discuss our media sales, media buying, and self-service advertising solutions.
