In 2025, advanced AI systems and privacy-first approaches will remain top priorities for marketers. Traditional targeting strategies that rely on flat data points and outdated addressability methods are giving way to a more nuanced, multi-dimensional understanding of consumer behavior. Embedding technology, connected TV advancements, and privacy-conscious solutions are reshaping how brands connect with their audiences. For marketers, the imperative is clear: embrace these innovations to remain relevant, competitive, and effective. By understanding these trends and taking proactive steps, brands can unlock new opportunities, enhance engagement, and build consumer trust.

New Insights with Advanced AI

AI has reached a point where machines can understand human language with a level of sophistication previously exclusive to humans. Embedding technology, a key AI breakthrough, has brought a revolution in computing linguistics and opened up new commercial opportunities. In 2025, marketers will embrace advanced AI systems that deliver a more refined contextual analysis, focusing on the complete context of consumer interests rather than isolated data points.

Many brands still rely on a flat targeting approach and only consider separate data points of user demographics or behavior. But human interests are multi-dimensional. By bringing together the complete context of consumer interests, brands can analyze vast amounts of content across a multidimensional space.

AI can now go beyond isolated data points, integrating a nuanced understanding of consumer behavior across channels, customizing models to suit specific needs, and moving beyond traditional targeting to deliver more relevant ads. The use of embedding technology gives brands a personalized map that understands how words, ideas, and content relate to each other.

• It enables you to move from a flat map of targeting opportunities to a multidimensional globe—discovering connections and opportunities that were previously invisible to you
• The outcome for brands is the discovery of unconventional audience insights and powerful marketing opportunities, formerly undetectable through traditional targeting, that drive higher engagement
• Marketers should challenge their targeting assumptions: How many dimensions are you really considering? Test and measure campaigns that leverage multi-dimensional contextual understanding over traditional targeting signals

Messaging Resonance Across Screens

As digital formats continue to dominate entertainment consumption, connected TV (CTV) will keep growing and expand its reach. Brands will shift from treating screens as isolated platforms to viewing them as a unified, continuous thread of audience engagement.

Historically, CTV has had a limited ability to offer granular targeting. Subscription-based platforms often restrict their contextual targeting to genre- or show-level categories. By enabling content-based targeting in CTV, contextual AI allows advertisers to align their campaigns with specific themes and moments that resonate most with their audience, capturing new audiences that may have been missed with traditional behavioral targeting.

By transcribing dialogue, recognizing visual elements, and understanding tone and sentiment, contextual AI is already highly effective in video advertising. And as large language models continue to improve, they will unlock further opportunities for more granular targeting and more adaptive personalization.

The game-changing contextual opportunity lies in connecting the dots between screens. When brands understand how interests flow from web articles to streaming shows, from mobile videos to connected TV, you unlock the ability to:

• Deliver consistent messaging that resonates, regardless of channel and format
• Tackle fragmentation head-on by leveraging multi-screen contextual audiences in premium environments
• Build a measurement framework that captures the effectiveness and audience accuracy of contextual TV campaigns

Marketing Technology News: MarTech Interview with Eric Stine, Chief Operating Officer @ Sitecore

Privacy-First Approaches Amid Addressability Shifts

The advertising industry’s adoption of alternative identity solutions that respect user privacy is just getting started. This shift is about combining multiple approaches to build a robust and flexible system. In 2025, marketers will focus on a mix of contextual advertising, privacy-focused initiatives, first-party data, and alternative IDs, which will form the backbone of their digital marketing strategies.

Brands can build a more resilient and privacy-conscious ecosystem if they embrace a combination of privacy-first solutions. Protecting personal data and ensuring transparency are foundational principles that will determine marketers’ long-term success.

This multifaceted strategy of integrating various privacy-first solutions will enable brands to:

• Navigate the complexities of digital advertising in a privacy-compliant world, ultimately leading to more effective and ethical marketing practices
• Maintain user engagement and trust while embracing sustainable solutions
• Connect with consumers who are increasingly out of reach through traditional cookie-based tracking
• Develop a range of alternative targeting strategies, from using first-party data and sharing data in privacy-compliant ways to using contextual targeting, and use these as standalone solutions or in combination
• Leverage privacy-compliant environments for data sharing alongside contextual advertising to create audiences and interest groups that can be targeted in retargeting campaigns, aligning well with privacy-by-default principles

As marketers navigate the road ahead, embracing these innovations will be key to staying ahead of the curve. Advanced AI systems that offer deeper, more contextual insights will help brands uncover connections and opportunities once hidden in traditional targeting. Multi-screen contextual understanding will break down silos, enabling consistent messaging across platforms and unlocking the full potential of connected TV. Meanwhile, privacy-first approaches will help brands adapt to the shifting addressability landscape, ensuring ethical and effective consumer engagement.

The opportunities for forward-thinking marketers have never been greater, but the path to success requires challenging assumptions and adopting flexible, future-proof frameworks. By acting now, brands can position themselves as leaders in this transformative era, delivering value to consumers while driving long-term growth.

Marketing Technology News: Why You Need a Brand Calendar for Customers in 2025