HubSpot Blog Marketing Leadership Report: How 720+ Brand Leaders Will Ahead in 2025 [+ How to Join Them]
2025 will likely be the most interesting year yet for marketing leadership. In the last year alone, you’ve had to navigate the rise of AI, changing consumer trends, and challenging economic times.
56% of marketers in our recent survey say marketing has changed more in the last three years than in the last 50 years. This means it’s time for marketers to prepare and adapt.
To help you create a powerful, agile strategy for 2025, we surveyed more than 720 marketers about the biggest challenges, opportunities and trends ahead. We also benefited from the advice of top marketing managers. Let’s go.
Top Trends in Marketing Leadership in 2025
1. Marketers expect various data hurdles, rapidly changing lives of their audiences, and the integration of AI to be the biggest challenges of 2025.
Data collection is becoming increasingly difficult as consumers become more concerned about protecting their privacy. Here are the specific obstacles in our investigation:
Nearly 21% of marketers say one of the biggest barriers is declining consumer trust in sharing personal data. 18% report increased regulation around data privacy. 16% report poor data quality.
Adopting a data-driven strategy in 2025 will require marketers to leverage tools and workflows that build trust and transparency around user data.
Parimal Deshpande, Senior Director of Product Marketing at Adobe Expresssays: “These challenges are front and center for marketers today. Adobe Express helps them navigate this landscape by providing tools based on licensed content, ensuring businesses remain compliant and protect creators’ intellectual property.
According to Deshpande, trust should also be a priority when it comes to the content marketers create. He says marketers must create “authentic, remarkable materials that resonate with audiences.”
“Additionally, by integrating with platforms like HubSpot, Adobe Express ensures that marketers can work within trusted ecosystems to improve data quality and campaign effectiveness,” he explains.
Thanks for the shout out, Deshpande!
Chad Sideris, Director of Marketing Technology and Lead Acquisition at Triage Staffingsays these data issues are absolute headwinds facing his field. He explains:
“Now more than ever, there is pressure to deliver value up front through low-barrier-to-entry tools, processes and workflows to gain trust and convince the end user that the Information shared with us will be used to improve your experience. and accelerate their customer journey, not just as a way to fill their inbox with vaguely relevant messages about a promotion for a category they’re not even eligible for.
2. Delivering personalized customer experiences will remain crucial in 2025, but 17% of marketers say the rapidly changing lives of audiences pose a personalization challenge.
Our survey shows that 89.64% of marketers have somewhat or very personalized experiences, and 85.77% agree that personalization increases sales moderately or significantly.
However, we’ve found that the biggest challenge when creating personalized content and experiences is keeping up with ever-changing consumer preferences and behaviors.
So what can marketers do to solve this problem? Of course, I’m never one to present problems without offering solutions. In 2025, remember that personalization isn’t just a way for your brand to stand out; it is now a basic expectation.
Instead, marketers will leverage more sophisticated and dynamic strategies that are flexible and adaptable to changing consumer needs. Sarah Howard, VP of Marketing at Aunt Flowsays personalization will be crucial to customer loyalty in 2025.
“We’re focused on hyper-personalization to speak directly to our diverse audiences, A/B testing subject lines to refine what resonates, and finding the right balance of menstrual movement education and promoting our products and partnerships,” says Howard. regarding Aunt Flow’s email strategy.
Howard says Aunt Flow is intensely focused on building and maintaining meaningful relationships in all aspects of its business, and creating personalized experiences is an integral part of those relationships.
That said, customization at scale will be a challenge as the company expands in the new year.
“Finding a balance between meaningful personalization and effectiveness, segmenting campaigns to create the right message, and ensuring we stay true to our mission while meeting business needs will always require constant refinement,” she says.
“However, we are confident that our strong relationships with our growing community will continue to be a key factor in retaining customers and creating lifelong advocates!” »
3. Marketing leaders agree that increasing revenue and sales is a major goal for 2025.
Increasing revenue and sales is a top priority for most marketers in 2025, with 20% saying it’s their number one goal.
To increase revenue, marketers will want to identify areas of the customer journey that can be further optimized. For example, you may have noticed that your audience is plateauing or even declining.
To continue to increase your revenue, you will need to consistently reach larger pools of qualified prospects. You can do this by testing platforms like TikTok or podcasting.
Alternatively, you may notice that your marketing team is attracting many leads, but they are not converting at high rates.
To address this challenge, you’ll want to create stronger offers or a more effective lead generation strategy.
Marketing and sales teams must also work closely together to ensure their missions are aligned.
“In our planning for 2025, we have partnered closely with the sales team to ensure our marketing initiatives target the right audiences and directly support our monthly revenue goals,” says Howard. “When marketing and revenue generation work together, they create a powerful engine for success. »
4. Leveraging AI to transform texts into multimodal campaigns is the top trend being explored by marketers.
Nearly a quarter of marketers in our survey (23%) say the top trend they’re exploring is using AI to convert text into campaign content, like video demos, product presentations, and podcasts.
“In 2025, marketers face the twin challenges of creating enough content for their different audiences and channels, and creating content that has impact,” says Deshpande. “AI can be an incredible accelerator to address both of these problems when designed and deployed thoughtfully.”
However, we found that only 52% of marketers say they have a clear understanding of its use in marketing, and 53% can measure the impact of AI on marketing efforts. Because these statistics are so similar, I can confidently say that they suggest that these skills go hand in hand.
By having the technical knowledge to use AI in marketing, you will be able to apply your analytical skills to measure its impact on your efforts. Marketers who learn about AI and become confident in this technology will see excellent returns on investment and remain competitive.
Other results
20% of marketers say creating value-added content is a major trend in 2025. 16% say repurposing content across channels is a key strategy. Branded content featuring industry experts is gaining traction, according to 21% of marketers. The three most valuable audience data comes from content consumption habits, basic demographics, and purchasing habits. Nearly 35% of marketers say the biggest change in the marketing industry is that it has become more important to focus on the customer and their experience with your brand. 72% of marketers in our survey are primarily trying to reach millennials with their marketing activities. The hardest age group to reach with marketing content is millennials, according to 40% of marketers.
