5 Brand New Digital Marketing Strategies for 2025: The Rules Just Changed (Again!)
I used to think marketing changed fast, but I’ve never seen anything like 2025. I wasn’t planning to make this video; my 2025 marketing trends video from January was supposed to last the whole year. But in just the last 6 months, so many strategies that were working perfectly have completely fallen apart. What I’m seeing right now is that the businesses thriving aren’t the ones with the biggest budgets; they’re the ones embracing these five fundamental shifts that most service businesses don’t even know are happening yet.
Table of Contents
Why Do We Need New Strategies?
Think about how you found the last new restaurant you tried. Last year, you probably Googled “best sushi near me” and clicked through a few websites or Yelp listings. But today, you might have seen it on a friend’s Instagram story, watched someone eat there on TikTok, or maybe you just asked ChatGPT, “Where should I eat tonight?”
This simple change in how we choose restaurants is actually happening with every service. From finding a plumber to choosing a financial advisor, the ways that people discover and decide who to hire have really changed in just the last 6 months. That old path where someone searches on Google, finds your website, and contacts you is quickly disappearing. Instead, they’re discovering businesses through video content or getting direct recommendations from AI tools. If your marketing isn’t aligned with these new ways of discovering businesses, you’re basically putting up billboards on an abandoned highway.
Strategy 1: AI Deep Client Research
Think of this as your foundation; it makes all the other strategies work better.
The Problem: Most of us talk about our businesses using the words we use, even though our clients probably think and talk completely differently about it. This gap in language is huge; it’s like you’re speaking French, and they’re speaking Spanish—you’re never going to connect.
The Solution: Open up ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Google Gemini and tell it about your business. Make sure you choose the deep research option. Then, ask it to search through real forums, Reddit threads, Quora threads, and review sites to find exactly how your ideal clients talk about their problems and their dream outcomes. It’ll create an amazing report that shows you their exact words, the emotional triggers that make them take action, and the specific problems they need to have solved.
Case Study: One web designer student was making his website all about “responsive design,” “UI/UX optimization,” and “cross-browser compatibility,” but nobody was contacting him. When he used AI to research how his potential clients actually talk and what they wanted, he discovered they weren’t looking for any of that technical stuff. They wanted things like “a website that doesn’t look terrible on my phone,” “a site that won’t embarrass me in front of customers,” or “one that actually gets people to call me.” When he rewrote his website using these exact phrases instead of tech jargon, his inquiries doubled in about two weeks. Same exact service, just described in words his clients actually use and care about.
Core Idea: This is probably the easiest change you can make, and it costs you nothing. Just talk how your clients talk.
Strategy 2: Just Talk (Video First)
Google search is fading fast, but that doesn’t mean people stop searching. They just changed where they look.
The Current Landscape: Young adults now use TikTok more than Google when they’re looking for something, and almost everybody uses YouTube to learn new stuff. Think about it: If you needed to fix something in your house, would you rather read an article or watch a quick video showing you how to do it? Video just works better for most things.
The Advantage: When it comes to hiring someone, video is powerful because clients can actually see your face, hear your voice, and decide if they trust you. It’s like you’re having a mini-meeting with potential clients while you’re doing something else.
Your Action Plan: Instead of obsessing over your Google ranking, you should be making simple videos that answer questions your clients actually ask.
What are the top five questions that almost every new client asks you?
Just make a video answering each one of them. Super simple.
YouTube vs. TikTok: For most service businesses, I’d go with YouTube. TikTok might get you quick views, but YouTube videos stick around forever. I’ve got videos from years ago that still bring in new students to my paid programs every single month.
Key takeaway: You don’t need any fancy equipment, but what you do need is your own face and your own voice. So no, don’t try those faceless videos with robot voices. They are easier to make, but nobody hires a robot voice. Show your actual face. Let people see the real you. That is what builds trust. If you’re too scared to do that, truth be told, that just means you’re going to be at a disadvantage when video becomes the bare minimum standard in the very near future.
Strategy 3: AI Recommendations
More and more people are skipping Google completely now and just asking ChatGPT things like, “Who’s the best accountant for small business owners in Denver?” or “What’s a good local plumber that won’t rip me off?”
Why the Shift? I think it’s because ChatGPT doesn’t just show a list of options like Google does that you then have to go investigate each one of them. It’s going to recommend specific businesses. I recently needed my rooftop pergola repainted. Sure, I could have done a typical Google or Yelp search, but I went to ChatGPT instead. It gave me three great options, including their contact info, and I just got a bid from each one of them. This business got my money because ChatGPT recommended them to me. It’s kind of like asking a neighbor who just had the same thing done, “Hey John, who painted your pergola? Can you give me their number?”
How to Make Sure Your Business Gets Recommended by AI:
Optimize your Google Business Profile: Make it as good as you can. Fill out every possible section, add as many photos, and answer questions in the Q&A section. This is where AI tools get a lot of their information.
Get more reviews: AI tools want to recommend businesses with lots of positive five-star reviews. Set up a simple system, maybe a text message that goes out after you finish working with someone, just prompting them for a Google review.
Be super clear on your website: Clearly state exactly what you do and who you help. AI tools definitely will scan your website to understand your business, so don’t be vague.
(A little spammy, but effective for now) Write a listicle on your own website: I’ve heard of businesses writing an article on their own website that’s basically a listicle of “the best [fill-in-the-blank] business in their city.” Then they just list the top three to five in the category in the city, and wouldn’t you know it, they put themselves number one. A lot of AI tools are going to find that article and then directly use it in their power ranking. Yes, I do admit it’s a little spammy and it may not work forever, but it seems to be working for now at least.
Core Idea: This is only going to be getting bigger as more people get comfortable using AI tools. If you’re the first in your niche to do this, you’ve got a major head start.
Strategy 4: AI Image Creation
This can save you tons of money and make you look much more polished than your competitors.
The Tool: ChatGPT’s new image tool (or other AI image generators) is crazy good. It’s like having a graphic designer on call 24 hours a day, except it doesn’t cost you anything extra.
Applications: Think about all the visual things your business needs: social media posts, ads, website images, maybe even a logo refresh. Normally, you’d be paying a designer hundreds or even thousands of dollars for all of that work. But with ChatGPT, you can create gorgeous, professional images just by describing what you want.
Example: Let’s say you’re a chiropractor. You could tell ChatGPT, “Create an Instagram ad for my chiropractic practice. Show a split image: on one side, a person hunched over a desk, grimacing in pain. On the other side, show the same person with perfect posture. Add text that says ‘Life without pain starts here. Book your first adjustment today.'” What you get back is usually pretty good. If you want to take it to the next level, you can even give it an image as a style reference, and their AI is going to create something new but with the same vibe you gave it.
Core Idea: This isn’t some generic stock photo with text slapped on it. It’s a custom-designed ad that speaks directly to your ideal patients’ pain points and shows them exactly what relief looks like. You can use ChatGPT’s image creation for Facebook and Instagram ads, social media posts, website header images, logo designs, and you don’t need any design skills at all. Just describe what you want in your own words and give it any images you like for style.
Strategy 5: Vibe Marketing
This next strategy is probably the biggest game-changer of all. It’s called Vibe Marketing, and it’s basically like having an entire marketing team that works for you for free.
The Idea: Instead of learning all the technical marketing skills yourself, you just tell AI what you want, and it does all the heavy lifting. It’s kind of like being the director of a movie instead of the cameraman. You bring the vision, and then AI handles the rest. What used to take days or weeks can now happen in minutes.
How it Works:
Facebook Ads: If you need a Facebook ad, just tell ChatGPT, “I need an ad for my plumbing business, targeting homeowners with old pipes. Show a split image: rusty, leaking pipes on one side; beautiful new plumbing on the other, and make it feel urgent but trustworthy.”
Website Copy: You don’t need to be a copywriter anymore. Just describe your business and your ideal client to AI, and it’s going to write all your pages. If you want to change the tone, just say, “Make this sound more friendly,” or “This feels too salesy. Fix it.”
Email Campaigns: Tell AI about your service and what you want to accomplish, and it’s going to write a whole email sequence for you.
The Advantage: The beauty is that you can test way more approaches when everything’s this fast. If you don’t like how an ad performed, have it create five new versions in 10 minutes so you can see what works better.
Case Study: One of my students used this for his accounting firm. He told AI exactly what his ideal clients were worried about and what results he wanted to promise them. Within an hour, he had new website copy, three Facebook ads, and a whole month’s worth of email content, all perfectly aligned and really professional looking.
Core Idea: You bring the vision (the “vibe”), and AI handles the content creation. This dramatically lowers the barrier to entry for effective marketing and boosts efficiency.