Agencies, platforms, and marketers stand at the crossroads of transformation, as privacy regulations tighten, technology accelerates, and consumer behaviors evolve. Yet these challenges also present extraordinary opportunities.
Our 2025 Digital trends and predictions report highlights five trends that will shape 2025 and digs into:
- What’s changing in the market
- How to keep learning about your customers
- How to reach your customers in different places
- How to measure what’s really working along the way
In this blog post, we’ll give you a sneak peek of three of these trends — from cracking the code of signal loss to tapping into the buzz around connected TV (CTV) and stepping up your omnichannel game. Think of it as a taste test before the main course. Ready for the full menu? Download our report to get the lowdown on all five trends.
1. Signal loss: A rich appetizer of alternate ingredients
As traditional cookies crumble, marketers need fresh ingredients to keep the flavor coming. Already, about 40% of browser traffic doesn’t support third-party cookies, and marketers are spicing things up with first-party data, alternative identifiers like Unified I.D. 2.0 (UID2) and ID5, and contextual targeting strategies. In fact, 50% more of our clients received alternative IDs (UID2, ID5, Hadron ID) in their Digital Graph in 2024 compared to 2023. The number of alternative IDs resolved to individuals in our Digital Graph increased by 30% year-over-year – as everyone looks beyond the cookie jar.
There is no secret sauce to replace cookies. Instead, expect a multi-ID recipe that brings together different identifiers, unified by an identity graph. This approach turns a fragmented pantry of data into a cohesive meal, giving you a complete view of your customer on every plate.
2. The rising power of CTV: A hearty entrée of opportunities
CTV is quickly becoming the main dish on the streaming menu, as viewers load up on their favorite shows. While CTV is slated to make up 20% of daily U.S. media consumption by 2026, advertisers are still holding back on pouring in the ad spend. To unlock its full flavor, marketers need to whip up solutions like frequency capping and unified audience activation.
Although CTV will account for 20% of daily U.S. media consumption by 2026, it’s projected to command only 8.1% of ad spend. Frequency capping and unified audience activation solutions will be key to unlocking CTV’s full potential.
By 2025, nearly half of CTV “diners” will choose free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST). Marketers need strategies to prevent ad overexposure. With 50% of U.S. consumers avoiding products due to ad overload, and 30% of marketers willing to increase their CTV spend if frequency capping improves, unified identity solutions help ensure every impression is served just right.
3. Omnichannel: A flavorful fusion plate
No one likes a one-flavor meal. Marketers are moving beyond single-channel “side dishes” to omnichannel “fusion feasts” that blend direct mail, digital, CTV, and retail media networks (RMNs) into a truly cohesive culinary experience. Even though only 21% of global B2C professionals currently put omnichannel at the top of their shopping list, the growing demand for seamless, audience-first campaigns is heating up.
In 2025, having an audience-first approach will be like having a perfect pairing for every course. Unified identity solutions act as your master sommelier, ensuring that each channel complements the next, and every customer enjoys a well-rounded, memorable journey.
Vertical trends: A dessert sampler from four unique kitchens
Different markets have their own signature flavors.
- In Auto, crossover utility vehicles (CUVs) claim 51% of new vehicle registrations, and consumers in the 35-54 age group and families are the primary buyers. Automotive marketers should prioritize CUV advertising with a strong focus on family-oriented and income-appropriate messaging
- In Financial Services, marketers need to anticipate shifts in consumer behavior tied to economic conditions, such as increasing demand for deposit products when interest rates are high. For insurance, aligning campaigns with life events, like new home purchases or marriage, can maximize engagement.
- In Healthcare, advertisers are prioritizing personalized, regulation-compliant campaigns that address social determinants of health (SDOH).
- In Retail, advertisers are increasingly activating on both CTV and social platforms, with many managing their own in-house campaigns. While larger brands often rely on media agencies, a shift toward in-house media buying is emerging among some bigger players, offering more control over audience targeting and performance metrics.
Our report covers each vertical’s unique menu, helping you select the right “ingredients” for your customers. With the top Experian Audiences on hand, you can create feasts that delight, nourish, and convert.
Download our new 2026 Digital trends and predictions report
Marketing in 2026 will be defined by connection: between activation and measurement, data and AI, platforms and outcomes. These connections are what turn innovation into impact, and they’re where Experian helps marketers lead with confidence.
What you’ll learn
- AI is only as good as its data : Find out why the marketers who shape how AI works, with high-integrity, human-centered data, will be the ones who lead.
- Activation and measurement are coming together: Explore how marketers are shifting from reporting after the fact to guiding performance in the moment.
- First-party data activation is becoming a foundational capability: See how it’s now possible to onboard and activate privacy-compliant audiences across channels, all from a single system.
- Commerce media is no longer just a retail play: Understand why auto, CPG, financial services, and travel brands are now adopting retail-style models to connect data, media, and sales outcomes.
- Curation is the new programmatic standard: Learn how curation brings identity, quality, and control together, allowing marketers to target confidently across connected TV (CTV), audio, and the open web.
Experian’s U.K. 2025 advertising trends
This article highlights the major advertising trends set to shape the U.S. market in 2025, but significant industry changes are happening on a global scale. For a more comprehensive look at worldwide trends, check out Experian’s U.K. 2025 advertising trends.
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Tracey Scheppach's new marketing and media practice leverages Tapad's device-level data to help clients achieve "marketing nirvana" NEW YORK and CHICAGO, April 5, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — Today, Tapad, now part of Experian, is the leading provider of unified, cross-screen marketing technology solutions, and Matter More, a next generation marketing and media practice with deep experience in the advanced TV space, announced a strategic partnership to bring together world class digital data and audience development expertise to help marketers improve how they connect with consumers. As consumer behavior continues to expand across multiple devices, today's marketers need robust, comprehensive data solutions to accurately engage the people who matter most to their brands. At the same time, the TV industry has reached an advertising tipping point, capitalizing on the power of device-level data. "Achieving unduplicated reach and frequency across all channels with true addressability, and the ability to measure outcomes, is marketing nirvana," says Tracey Scheppach, CEO and co-founder of Matter More, a new agency built for the modern age. "The best opportunity to deliver 'marketing nirvana,' at scale, is by partnering with Tapad and using their world-class Device Graph to help our clients simply matter more to the people they care about most." "By leveraging our access to rich TV data, we can now measure the actual performance of media across channels," says Marshall Wong, SVP, TV for Tapad. Tapad's proprietary Device Graph™ unifies consumer behavior data across all devices, uncovering the interests, passions and behaviors of the audiences who matter most. As with any data solution, privacy, transparency and trust are crucial to bringing marketers a solid offering that delivers results. "Tapad is excited to partner with Matter More to tap into their knowledge base and experience working with some of the largest brands on TV today," says Kate O'Loughlin, SVP and GM of Tapad's media division. "The time has come to truly unleash the power of device-level data at scale." Contact us today
Ensure you understand privacy compliance pitfalls with special attention on shopping cart abandonment emails.
Partnership combines customer connections and cross-device scale to deliver more strategic customer insights NEW YORK AND CHICAGO — March 16, 2017 – Signal, the global leader in customer identity, today announced a partnership with Tapad, now part of Experian and the leading provider of unified, cross-screen marketing technology solutions. This global integration extends device connectivity for Signal’s clients across North America, APAC and EMEA by leveraging Tapad’s proprietary Device GraphTM. With Signal’s Customer Identity Solution, brands benefit from more visibility of known customers, lower costs to reach those customers and decreased expenses and data loss that often results from using multiple vendors. Integrating with Tapad’s Device Graph, which connects billions of devices, enables Signal clients to build an even broader view of their known customers across multiple devices. This integration combines Signal’s customer identity scale with Tapad’s device scale to expand the reach of addressable media channels and enhance customer journey insights across touchpoints. Tapad and Signal were able to drive incremental device connections for more than 65 percent of customer profiles, linking an average of 6.8 browsers and devices per customer. With this combined data set, Signal clients can expand their authenticated view of a customer to all associated devices and realize more strategic insights into their high-value users. The partnership also allows Signal’s clients to integrate in real-time with Tapad’s media platform, Unify. This proprietary technology enables advertisers to make real-time activation and buying decisions with maximum scale, as well as automated reporting and measurement. “Continuously recognizing customers across devices instantly and in a privacy-safe way is essential for marketers to stay competitive,” said Marc Kiven, founder and CRO of Signal. “We are thrilled to enter this unique, global partnership with Tapad, enabling our clients to access their technology and more effectively reach customers in real-time and at scale.” “Being able to leverage a persistent view of customer connections across devices is a huge challenge for brands,” said Pierre Martensson, SVP and GM of Tapad’s global data division. “With Tapad, Signal is now able to connect with the billions of existing data points in our device graph to help clients better understand customer behavior and realize even stronger customer engagement.” Contact us today