Week in Digital Marketing 2025-09-24

The single most important news this week is the mainstreaming of AI as the core engine behind both search and email marketing, exemplified by the widespread adoption of AI-powered tools for campaign automation, content personalization, and even search engine visibility. This matters because it directly impacts how digital marketing leaders attract, convert, and retain their audiences—requiring new strategies and skillsets to ensure your brand isn’t left invisible in a rapidly evolving, AI-driven landscape.

TL;DR

• AI is now deeply embedded in search, email marketing, and campaign automation—fundamental for success.
• Antitrust lawsuits and legal scrutiny are shaking up the adtech ecosystem and prompting platform adaptation.
• Optimizing for new AI-driven search engines and LLM visibility is becoming vital for brand discoverability.
• Email marketing continues to evolve, with automation and AI tools driving performance and ROI.
• Personalization, creative differentiation, and robust online reputation management are crucial amid automation and content homogeneity.
• Omnichannel and community strategies, especially on social media, are increasingly important for sustainable audience growth.

Change Summary

The converging trends from this week, and indeed the past quarter, make it clear that digital marketing is now in an era of persistent transformation driven by AI at every layer: from search—where AI-driven engines, LLM visibility, and answer engines require wholly new strategies for brand discovery—to the automation of email, personalization, and customer relationship management. As AI tools mature and are adopted at scale, a second-order effect is visible in the merging of technical and creative roles, forcing teams to rapidly upskill or hybridize in order to stay relevant amid dynamic workflows, measurement paradigms, and content differentiation demands.

Additionally, the increasing prevalence of legal action, such as multiple antitrust suits against Google, and fast-moving industry innovation (e.g., AI-first browsers and social platform updates) signals that platform volatility and regulatory scrutiny are only increasing. The future for marketers is thus shifting toward resilient, omnichannel, and first-party strategies: those who master both automation and the nuances of creative voice—while preparing for sudden platform or legal shifts—will gain an edge. The days of relying on single-channel SEO or generic personalization are over; instead, success will depend on holistic, data-driven, and truly audience-centric approaches amplified (not replaced) by trustworthy, human-guided AI.

Change Patterns

The last several weeks reinforce certain persistent trends: AI is no longer hype but the operational heart of digital marketing, fundamentally re-engineering how brands are discovered, engage, and convert audiences across channels. Traditional SEO and generic campaign tactics are receding in effectiveness, replaced by strategies that emphasize AI visibility (e.g., appearing in LLMs and AI answer engines), omnichannel presence, and owned data. Recurring topics—AI-powered automation, hybrid skillset demands, platform volatility (from antitrust actions to new browsers and algorithms), and heightened emphasis on user trust and community—have steadily become the bedrock of successful digital marketing practice. Notably, there is a continuing trend toward industry consolidation (martech mergers, legal actions against dominant platforms) and a clear premium placed on genuine creativity and ethical trust-building as antidotes to content commoditization brought by automation. Marketers who invest in agility, upskilling, and differentiated storytelling are repeatedly those identified as outperformers in this rapidly evolving environment.

Topic Clusters

AI-Powered Marketing, Search & Automation

1. The Future of AI in Search | Whiteboard Friday Revisited With Britney Muller
   The article discusses the evolving role of artificial intelligence in search engines, highlighting insights from Britney Muller during a Whiteboard Friday session. It examines how AI technologies are reshaping search strategies and the implications for digital marketing professionals.
2. What Dia Browser Will Mean To Marketing: Everything You Should Know
   The article discusses the impact of Dia Browser, an AI-first browser, on the marketing industry, highlighting its potential to reshape how marketers connect with audiences through enhanced intelligence, personalization, and automation.
3. The first generation of gen AI use cases in marketing are streaking through the Hype Cycle
   The article discusses the varied stages of the Hype Cycle as it pertains to generative AI in marketing, indicating that different applications of gen AI can be at various points on the cycle, such as the peak of inflated expectations or the trough of disillusionment.

Email Marketing, CRM & Conversion Optimization

1. What Are the Most Popular AI Solutions for Email Marketing?
   The article discusses the impact of artificial intelligence on email marketing, highlighting that 63% of marketers are now integrating AI tools to enhance their email campaigns. It categorizes popular AI solutions across six areas: content creation, subject line optimization, design, automation, and performance analytics.
2. Best Practices for Small Business Email Marketing: Your Guide to Higher Performance
   The article outlines effective email marketing best practices specifically for small businesses, emphasizing the importance of building a targeted email list, utilizing automation, and creating valuable content to enhance engagement and revenue.
3. Review and Reputation Management Through CRM: Best Practices
   The article discusses the importance of managing online reputation through Customer Relationship Management (CRM) for B2B companies. It highlights that a strong online presence and proactive response to customer feedback can enhance credibility and prevent potential loss of business opportunities.

SEO, Visibility & User Experience

1. UX and SEO: A Guide for Winning the Searcher, Not Just the SERP
   The article discusses the importance of user interactions, or UX signals, such as clicks and scrolls, in influencing Google search rankings and brand visibility in search results. It serves as a guide for optimizing UX to enhance SEO performance.
2. LLM Visibility: What It Is and How to Optimize for It
   The article discusses LLM visibility, emphasizing the importance for brands to be cited in large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT, to avoid becoming invisible to a significant portion of their audience.

Social, Content & Community Marketing

1. Best Practices for Social Media Community Management
   The article discusses best practices for managing social media communities, emphasizing the importance of maintaining active social media accounts for business visibility in a digitally connected world.
2. How to get more followers on your business Instagram
   The article discusses strategies for increasing followers on Instagram, highlighting its significance as a key platform for marketers and business owners given its vast user base of over 1 billion monthly active users.

Adtech, Legal & Platform Disruption

1. Magnite Becomes Third SSP in Two Months to Sue Google Over Antitrust Allegations
   Magnite has joined two other SSPs in suing Google for allegedly stifling competition, raising significant antitrust concerns in the digital advertising space.
2. Business Insider Accuses Google of Suppressing Publisher Ad Revenue in Federal Lawsuit
   The article discusses Business Insider’s participation in a federal lawsuit against Google, alleging that the tech giant suppresses ad revenue for publishers through its advertising practices.