2025 Channel Predictions: Paid Media, Affiliates and SEO

Staying ahead of marketing trends is so important, especially as a digital marketing agency. How customers search is changing and is no longer just on Google. AI is constantly developing and if you don’t embrace it, you’ll fall behind. And measurement and attribution are becoming more and more complex in this changing landscape (join our next webinar “Measurement for Growth” for more advice on this!).

Last week our CEO Martin Corcoran shared his predictions for retail and eCommerce in 2025, but what do our channel experts think 2025 will have in store for Paid, SEO and Affiliates? Let’s take a look…

What does our Senior Paid Media Strategist predict for Paid Search in 2025?

Abbie Law, our Senior Paid Media Strategist, thinks advertisers are going to need to lean into the AI developments Google are offering. From predictive analytics to dynamic ad creatives, AI will allow us to deliver hyper-personalised ads, and I think the advertisers who shy away from this are going to get left behind.

Despite all the uncertainty with TikTok, I still think video is king and brands need to be investing more into this channel in 2025. Video enables brands to create authentic storytelling while enhancing the consumer journey so it can be a really valuable channel if you know how to measure it effectively.

And finally, advertisers must invest in cross-channel advertising and particularly cross-channel profit optimisation. Every year, we have to squeeze more and more out of our budgets, so I predict that advertisers who can leverage AI and advanced tracking to optimise towards profit margins and lifetime values will be the real winners of paid media in 2025.

What does our Head of Affiliates predict for Affiliate Marketing in 2025?

Immy Hussain, our Head of Affiliates, says that affiliate marketing is likely to see a growing focus on refined attribution models to ensure fairer and more accurate sales validation, especially following recent scrutiny of tools like Honey.

Sustainability and ethical commerce will likely become increasingly important in the UK affiliate landscape, with more brands choosing to work with affiliates that promote environmentally friendly and socially responsible practices.

Finally, we predict significant growth in content marketing and brand partnerships as businesses look for creative ways to reach their audiences.

One thing we have seen in the last ten years and that we expect to remain the same is that Cashback sites, premium voucher code sites, loyalty and closed user groups will continue to dominate the sector as the top performers.

What does our Head of SEO predict for SEO in 2025?

Adam Preston, our Head of SEO, says this year I expect the way people search to continue to develop and become more fluid. Rather than always navigating to Google and using that by default, search is being intertwined into devices and apps more naturally, to help you to search for what you need from anywhere.

SEOs need to keep up with this change and if they haven’t already, start testing and learning across all of these different forms of search. Whether that’s learning how to appear more prominently in AI Overviews, getting to grips with what helps you rank on SearchGPT or gaining visibility on TikTok, it’s going to be more important than ever to start thinking beyond just Google and start diversifying your approach to SEO.

Whilst we do need to look beyond Google, it’s not going anywhere and will still be the dominant search engine, especially when it comes to retail. We expect their SERPs to continue to change and further integrate AI, which means you’ll also need to be constantly testing what works best when it comes to ranking in Google and this is likely going to lean towards a great user experience and high-quality content.

 

Are you ready to stay ahead of the curve? Get in touch with our experts today at info@summitmedia.com for support with your 2025 marketing strategy. And for monthly industry and channel updates, join our Retail Bites mailing list.