2025 is set to be a transformational year for PPC advertising. Campaigns will become more automated, privacy-conscious, and diversified, with AI, micro-targeting, and first-party data at the heart of successful strategies.
To learn more about what’s to come, I consulted over 80 digital marketers, PPC experts, and entrepreneurs from around the world. In this article, you’ll gain actionable advice from experts in various industries, including SaaS, e-commerce, agencies, consulting, and more. You’ll also find out how to leverage the PPC trends that actually matter. Let’s jump in!
1. First-party data and privacy compliance
Although Google has abandoned its plans to phase out third-party cookies, we can still expect a major shift toward the first-party data model in 2025. This change is part of a wider trend towards privacy-conscious, customer-centric marketing.
Remember, working with first-party data doesn’t hinder your chances of success. You can still deliver personalized ad experiences and hit your goals, but it will probably take a little longer to fine-tune targeting and create a fully optimized strategy.
The same goes for privacy compliance in general. Yes, it’s limiting, but with the right tactics, you can achieve great results while still respecting the privacy of your current and potential customers.
My advice is to:
- Review your current assets, such as CRM data, e-commerce platforms, payment processors, etc. By linking demographic and purchasing data from these sources to your advertising platforms, you can identify opportunities for immediate optimization.
- Add optional surveys to your onboarding and churn sequences to collect first-party data on location, role, gender, how they discovered your brand, etc. This will help you create audience segments and tailor ads for the customer journey.
- Track offline conversions to get the full picture of your sales funnel. It will also enhance the value of your digital conversion data, giving you a better idea of how your customers behave.
- Leverage server-side tracking, ensuring data is processed on your server rather than in browsers. This will make it easier to measure campaign performance over time.
The transition to first-party data is already underway. Dan Ben-Nun, Founder and CEO of Adspace Agency, offered this advice on what you can do today:
Start building your strategy now. Collect data through subscription forms, surveys, loyalty programs, and other direct means while ensuring privacy compliance. Platforms like Google Ads and Facebook Ads are also refining their tools to help marketers use this data effectively. Over time, this will give your brand a competitive edge as personalized, privacy-compliant targeting becomes more critical in a cookie-less world.
Others are already seeing the benefits a first-party data strategy can bring. Founder and CEO of RankWatch, Sahil Kakkar, says:
Recently, we helped a brand shift from cookie-reliant strategies to a first-party data model by focusing on email sign-ups, surveys, and on-site interactions. This increased their email marketing list by 35% and enhanced targeting precision in their PPC campaigns.
2. AI in PPC
AI impact on PPC is growing fast, and integrating artificial intelligence into your PPC workflow could be one of the best decisions you make in 2025. It’s no silver bullet, but in my experience, AI is a practical and versatile tool that can improve both campaign performance and personal productivity. For instance, according to Google, brands that implemented AI in their Search campaigns saw a conversion rate increase of 14-18%.
AI is already transforming how we create and manage campaigns. It can help you save time on copywriting, landing page generation, SEO tasks, and other aspects of campaign management, such as audience targeting and bidding optimization. Here are a few ways to implement it:
- Experiment with AI-powered features like Google’s Ads Performance Max. These platform features use predictive analytics to automate audience targeting and campaign bidding, helping you reduce overall ad spend and increase the chances of engagement.
- Enhance your keyword research by utilizing AI-generated, personalized recommendations in your preferred tool (e.g., Ahrefs, Google Keyword Planner).
- Incorporate Gen AI tools like Chat GPT or Claude into the creative process. These tools can help speed up the development of ad copy, landing page content, CTAs, etc., potentially turning a half-day task into an hour-long one.
Get started instantly with these ChatGPT prompts for PPC. From keyword generation to ad copy and optimization, they’re designed to speed up your entire PPC workflow.
For more on the practical benefits of AI, here are a few words from Victor André Enselmann, Founder of the advertising agency Modeva. He had a real-life case and some cautionary advice to share:
For one client, we boosted conversions by 30% without increasing the budget, thanks to AI making real-time optimizations. However, for many other clients, we still create and improve campaigns manually. It really depends on the case — sometimes manual adjustments are more effective, so it’s important to evaluate each campaign individually.
Rhett Crites, Founder of Theme Park Brochures, reported similar results:
We switched to automated bidding strategies that adjust based on real-time performance. This saved us about 24% in ad spend and boosted our click-through rates by 28%. With the AI handling routine bidding decisions, my team and I can focus on more strategic aspects of our campaigns, like crafting compelling ad copy and identifying new keywords.
3. Cross-platform attribution
The modern customer journey is complex. Nowadays, potential buyers typically engage with several ads on different platforms before purchasing. Giving full credit to only the first/last touch doesn’t make much sense anymore, especially if your budget is tight and you want to know which advertising platforms truly offer the best ROAS.
While marketing attribution tools can help you allocate credit across different touchpoints, they can often be expensive and challenging to implement. Instead, I recommend:
- Starting with basic yet powerful tools like Google Analytics 4, Coupler.io, and Looker Studio. Combine performance data from your GA4 account and ad platforms, map out the conversion paths, and visualize this data in a real-time dashboard. With this approach, you can also compare platform cost efficiency, remarketing engagement, etc, allowing you to assign credit to the most valuable platforms.
- Build a simple attribution model and gradually increase its complexity as you learn more about how your customers interact and convert.
- Regularly adjust your model to align with changing data, customer behavior, and the latest trends. You can use a PPC reporting dashboard to keep an eye on key metrics like conversions.
Learn how to track PPC KPIs and read about the PPC statistics and benchmarks that matter in 2025.
Here’s what David Sides, a PR & Marketing Strategist for The Gori Law Firm, suggests to start with:
Invest in good analytics tools and regularly review your data. For us, tools like GA4 have been extremely helpful. We use detailed tracking methods that show us how customers interact with our ads at various stages across different platforms. This approach has given us more accurate insights into the customer journey and improved our return on investment.
You can also check out this article I wrote about the main challenges of digital marketing attribution and how to overcome them in 2025.
4. Multi-channel advertising
With rising costs, increasing competition, and the decline of third-party data, single-channel advertising just doesn’t cut it anymore. Nowadays, adopting a multi-channel approach offers a better return on investment. It’s a smart way to increase brand awareness, reach a broader audience, and diversify your budget for maximum impact.
However, without the right strategy and understanding of your ICP, multi-channel digital advertising can be tricky to execute. Here are a few tips to get started:
- Map your target customer’s journey across platforms to understand how people discover your brand, where they are most likely to engage, and what triggers a conversion. Use this information to identify channels most relevant to your audience.
- Choose channels that complement each other, such as YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram, or LinkedIn, X (Twitter), and Google Search. Being selective will help you deliver a consistent message and reach more people through retargeting.
Check our guide on PPC vs SEO.
- Visualize the customer journey in a performance tracking dashboard. This will help you see which platforms offer the best ROI so you can reallocate your budget accordingly. It also brings attention to funnel bottlenecks or low-performing channels.
Don’t expect to get everything right on the first try. For Peter O’Callaghan, Head of Marketing at ScrapingBee, multi-channel advertising is all about ‘testing and adjusting.’
Running ads across platforms like Google and LinkedIn requires constant tweaking because the audiences respond so differently. For example, we’ve found that Google works great for capturing users actively searching for scraping solutions, but LinkedIn is where we really make connections with decision-makers.
The tricky part is keeping the messaging consistent while tailoring the content to match the vibe of each platform. Plus, we’ve set up a solid attribution system to track which channels are driving actual conversions, helping us allocate budgets more effectively.
5. UGC and influencer ads
User-generated and influencer content continues to be a powerful tool for driving conversions at minimal cost. It helps build trust with your audience, increase the emotional appeal of your ads, and humanize your brand on social media.
Creative twists often make UGC ads even more impactful. You can take inspiration from brands like Ryanair, Aldi, and Duolingo, who frequently leverage negative reviews, sarcasm, and absurd humor in their UGC-based advertising.
On the other hand, influencer collaborations are no longer the domain of B2Cs with giant budgets. Even a brief B2B collaboration with a LinkedIn influencer can deliver surprising results in a niche market. On that note, here are some ways to take advantage of these trends:
- Experiment with nano- or micro-influencers who have less than 100K followers and charge up to $250 or $1250 per post, respectively. You’ll have less competition, and it will be much cheaper to run tests and find out if their audience is a good fit.
- Prioritize ‘raw’ content over anything hyper-produced. Audiences engage more with UGC (User Generated Content) ads that don’t look or sound like ads, such as entertaining product demos filmed with a phone camera.
- Consider video advertising platforms like TikTok or YouTube Shorts, which boast some of the highest engagement rates. Last year, 69% of all brands used TikTok as their main platform for influencer marketing.
Gordon Hwa, Founder & Head of Digital of Khepri Digital, can attest to the impact of influencer ad content on campaign outcomes:
The authenticity and engagement of UGC and influencer content can make it a highly effective component of a paid strategy. We’ve seen brands increase conversions significantly by incorporating influencer-generated content into their video ads, especially on platforms like Instagram and TikTok. When combined with micro-targeting, these types of ads feel more genuine and relevant to the audience.
Amanda Poulsen, Lead Digital Marketing Manager at Seamless.AI, also weighed in here:
As influencers in the B2B space are still fairly new, I would advise you to research what other companies similar to you are doing/have done in the past year or two. Strategies are constantly being reevaluated. I have found more success in smaller ‘influencers’, especially for selling products focused in the SMB and mid-market area. People are more trusting of someone in their ‘growing’ stage rather than someone who has already ‘made it’.
Check out this guide to conducting a PPC competitor analysis and staying ahead in the game.
6. Micro-targeting
A successful campaign starts with a strong set of targeting parameters. Think about it this way: You can design striking, on-trend creatives, but if they aren’t shown to the right people, even the most original words and visuals lose their impact. That’s why marketers are ditching generalized customer profiles — ‘food enthusiasts’ or ‘frequent travelers’ — in favor of a micro-targeting approach.
Micro-targeting involves using customer data to create personalized user experiences. Let’s examine how you can implement this in your advertising:
- Segment your audience based on specific attributes and behavioral markers. For instance, if you have an e-commerce audience, this could be cart abandoners who frequently visit your site or loyal price-sensitive customers from Europe.
- Leverage first-party data (including GA4 and product usage data) to refine your current ICP(s) and build an accurate picture of potential buyers.
- Run small-scale tests to gauge the effectiveness of your micro-targeting efforts, especially when you’re experimenting with niche segments (e.g., startup founders with Series A funding in England). That way, you won’t waste too much money if the campaigns underperform.
Many businesses are already reaping the benefits of a micro-targeting approach. For instance, according to Brooke Webber, Head of Marketing at Ninja Patches, it has positively impacted engagement and budget:
We don’t just target “hobbyists” or “fashion fans” in our ads. We drill down to those interested in specific areas like cosplay, scouts, or military groups. That’s where paid ads really pay off — we reach exactly who we need to.
Our budget stretches further this way too. When every click leads to someone who’s genuinely interested, it’s worth the cost. We’d rather reach 50 highly targeted people than 500 random ones, and that’s made a huge difference in our ad spend.
I also heard from Shaun Bettman, a Mortgage Broker at Eden Emerald Mortgages, who shared an impressive example of micro-targeting success:
A recent campaign targeting first-time buyers is a perfect example that lives up to this approach. We crafted ads that spoke directly to their concerns, such as low down payment options and educational resources.
This targeted messaging led to a remarkable 42% increase in conversions over just a couple of months. Moreover, the quality of leads we’re generating has significantly improved.
7. LinkedIn Ads dominance for B2B
LinkedIn is expected to continue to be the go-to platform for B2B advertising in 2025.
The platform boasts a huge audience of working professionals (about 130M DAU) who mainly use the platform for practical purposes like knowledge sharing, career development, and sales outreach. LinkedIn users want to hear about new tools and what’s happening in their industry. This makes it the ideal place for highly-targeted B2B ad campaigns.
Want to get the most out of LinkedIn this year? Here are some helpful tips:
- Start by identifying the lowest CPC bid and gradually increase it until you hit the sweet spot for your ads. This approach can help you save money in the long term.
- Use LinkedIn’s ad library to get inspired by what your competitors are doing/achieving. You can see the estimated number of impressions their campaigns received, impressions by country, and location targeting parameters.
- Pack value into the first 2-3 lines of copy – the part before ‘see more.’ Experiment with different ‘hooks’ and create multiple ad variations to understand what works.
- Test new creative ad formats, such as short videos, which typically offer higher engagement rates.
Here’s some sage advice from the Head of Growth and Marketing at Instrumentl, Will Yang, who recommends laser-focused targeting:
LinkedIn’s professional data allows you to get extremely granular with who sees your ads based on factors like job titles, skills, company traits, and more. Don’t waste your budget showing ads to people unlikely to buy. Define your ideal customer profile, choose the most relevant targeting facets, and continuously optimize based on performance data.
For example, when promoting project management software to enterprises, I created separate LinkedIn ad campaigns for different buyer personas like PMO directors, IT managers, and C-level executives. Each had distinct messaging highlighting the most relevant value props and pain points.
By surgical targeting, the ads avoided wasted impressions and the campaigns achieved 3x higher conversion rates than taking a mass audience approach.
Meanwhile, John Simmons, Head of Partnerships at InboxAlly, highlighted the importance of a strong value proposition:
When I was creating a LinkedIn ad for a project management software, instead of just listing features, I emphasized how the platform could help teams complete projects 17% faster on average. This compelling ROI statistic really caught people’s attention. We consistently find that B2B buyers respond better to messaging centered around addressing pain points and driving ROI.
8. PPC automation
One surefire way to save time and money in 2025 is to automate certain aspects of your PPC workflow. Instead of spending hours crafting the perfect bidding strategies and keyword lists, you can focus on the bigger picture and scale campaigns hassle-free.
Platforms like Google and Meta have built-in automation features. In Facebook, for example, you can automate campaign set-up by simply selecting the objective. Your campaign will automatically be tailored to a specific audience, allowing you to dedicate more time to the creative process.
Here are a few things to keep in mind when getting started with automation:
- Don’t set and forget. Automation is just another tool. Regularly review the results and make manual adjustments to your campaigns if necessary.
- Pick one area to automate first, such as bidding. Once you’ve measured the results and become familiar with the workflow, you can explore other areas worth automating.
- Go beyond campaign automation to enhance other aspects of your work. For example, you can use PPC reporting automation tools like Coupler.io to track all of your campaign data in one place and analyze cross-platform performance.
- Don’t automate too much. Some tasks and adjustments are better left to humans. Be open to the benefits automation can bring, but don’t expect it to be a holy grail or 100% reliable.
Gert Kulla, Founder and CEO of RedBat Agency, recommends using automation to optimize for conversions rather than clicks:
The key is to implement automated bidding strategies, like target CPA or maximize conversions, that align your bids with your ultimate conversion goals. This allows the platforms to dynamically shift spend towards keywords and ads that are demonstrating the best conversion performance.
One retailer I worked with had been manually managing bids to increase clicks, but once we implemented automated bidding their conversion volume increased by over 30% while cost per conversion dropped 15%.
Meanwhile, Daniel Nyquist, Chief Marketing Officer at Crosslist, reminds us that automation takes time to master:
Truly optimized PPC automation requires meticulous configuration of triggers, conditions, and actions. For example, I advise clients to create location-specific bid adjustments rather than blanket changes. If the Chicago branch routinely converts at a 20% higher rate, you can target Chicago IP addresses with a +20% bid. Small tweaks like this add up. Automation makes it feasible to scale such nuanced tactics across thousands of campaigns.
The key is to diligently audit your analytics, identify trends and opportunities, and then codify those findings into automated rules. It takes work upfront but pays off exponentially over time.
Find out how to conduct a PPC audit with this dedicated guide.
9. Budget management
As advertising shifts to a multi-channel approach, it’s never been more important to properly allocate your budget and keep a close eye on platform performance. Combined with fast-growing competition and rising CPC, there’s also less room for risk-taking or mistakes.
That’s why a well-managed budget is crucial for achieving consistent results in 2025. Here’s some advice on how to make every penny count:
- Embrace automation. As I mentioned earlier, automation can help you reduce ad spending through smart bidding and keyword discovery. It can also help you save money by eliminating repetitive tasks.
- Regularly evaluate the performance of your channels and abandon those that don’t offer any decent return on investment. It’s better to focus on 2 to 3 high-performing channels than to stretch your budget thin for more reach/impressions.
- Pay attention to seasonal or industry trends so you can plan portions of your budget around them and achieve a higher ROAS.
- Be data-driven. Use dashboards to track spending across platforms and monitor the signs of expensive campaigns. (P.S. You don’t need to create a complex dashboard from scratch — check out Coupler.io’s range of free PPC report templates, like the one below):
One thing was clear from the expert inputs I received: AI is one of the most valuable tools for PPC budget management. Here’s John Pennypacker, VP of Sales & Marketing at Deep Cognition, with his success case:
We recently implemented an AI-powered bid management system for a B2B client’s Google Ads campaigns. This tool analyzes historical data, market trends, and real-time performance to automatically adjust bids across thousands of keywords. The results were impressive — we saw a 25% increase in conversions while actually reducing the overall ad spend by 15%.
For marketers looking to leverage this trend, I’d recommend starting with a pilot program on a subset of your campaigns. Pay close attention to how the AI interprets your campaign goals — sometimes, you might need to adjust your input parameters to align with your broader business objectives.
Meanwhile, the Partnerships Manager at Digital Web Solutions, Victor Julio Coupé, recognized AI’s applications for reducing cost-per-click:
I recall a client who was struggling with budget management. We applied AI-based bidding algorithms, and within three months, they saw a 20% decrease in cost-per-click while maintaining high lead quality. The efficiency gained through automation is undeniable, but it’s important to balance AI’s capabilities with human insight for the best results.
10. Voice search optimization
While voice search may not attract the same buzz as, say, Gen AI, it can be a hidden goldmine for PPC marketers. For example, 75% of US households are expected to own a smart speaker in 2025, and about 50% of the population already uses voice search daily.
By optimizing your search ads for this growing niche, you can tap into new audiences of mobile-first and smart speaker users. Here are a few ways to do it:
- Incorporate natural language into your ads. Voice search queries are usually full sentences with prepositions, i.e., ‘What are the best noise-canceling headphones to buy in 2025?’ vs ‘Best noise-canceling headphones 2025.’ Target those long-tail keywords in your creatives.
- Add filler phrases to your copy, such as ‘can I get,’ ‘tell me how to,’ or ‘can you recommend.’
- To maximize the chances of engagement, target peak hours for hands-free mobile device use, such as the morning commute and after-work hours (school runs, cooking, etc.).
Toni Farrell, Marketing Manager at Coastal Motor Homes & Caravans, had more advice on how to optimize ads for voice search – particularly for B2Cs:
Structure your content to answer common questions like “who,” “what,” “where,” “when,” and “how,” since these are often what people ask when using voice search.
Don’t forget to include local keywords and phrases, as many voice searches are aimed at finding nearby services. Meanwhile, regularly test and optimize your ad copy to keep it fresh and effective as voice search technology evolves.
Other trend predictions for 2025
Here are a few other trends and tips worth mentioning, courtesy of our expert contributors. And it’s also recommended to check the latest marketing trends that we’ve blogged about.
Auction insights importance
Struggling to achieve consistent results through bidding? Elisa Montanari, Head of Organic Growth at Wrike, explains how auction insights might be the key:
My advice is to monitor your auction insights closely — they’re often why ad performance drops. Competitors regularly ramp up bidding limits, quickly pushing your visibility down. By keeping a watch on those insights and some cash at the ready, you can adjust your own bidding strategy to maintain consistent and positive performance.
On a separate note, Elisa offered this advice on how to avoid getting lost in the weeds of pay-per-click performance tracking:
Don’t get too caught up in vanity metrics or tracking the wrong actions. If you’re focused on traffic, for example, you’re ignoring whether that traffic is producing conversions. Take the time to choose reliable and meaningful goals and set up a proper tracking system. Without it, it becomes impossible to tell if your PPC ads produce a solid return.
Zero-click advertising
If you’re experiencing low click-through rates, you’re not alone. Gavin Yi, Founder & CEO of CNC machining company Yijin, offers some advice on how to engage your target audience despite this new ‘zero-click ad environment.’
Focus on offers with instant gratification. Things like immediate discount codes, special deals, or exclusive access work wonders when users can unlock them directly within the ad.
Embedding lead forms right in the ad, for example, makes it easy for users to sign up for newsletters or contests without needing to leave the page — boosting conversions on the spot. Offering quick previews of tutorials or product demos can also grab attention and spark interest right away.
Contextual targeting
Another way to minimize the impact of a ‘cookieless world’ on your PPC performance is to use contextual targeting. This approach is similar to micro-targeting in that it uses first-party data collection to improve the relevance and reach of your campaigns.
Sabas Lin is the CTO of Knowee AI. He offered this advice on how to apply contextual targeting in PPC:
Start by identifying the kinds of websites, content themes, and digital spaces that not only attract your ideal audience but also reflect your brand’s vibe and ethos. Using linguistic analysis tools can help scan potential placements, making sure your ads appear next to content that complements your message. You can also leverage machine learning tools to predict which content will engage your audience and refine targeting over time.
Eco-friendly PPC
Sustainability is not just a passing trend so it makes sense to start paying more attention to it in 2025. Nora Sudduth is the Founder & Owner of a successful business consulting firm. She has this advice for B2C companies seeking to connect with eco-conscious audiences.
Get started instantly with these ChatGPT prompts for PPC. From keyword generation to ad copy and optimization, they’re designed to speed up your entire workflow.Design PPC campaigns that showcase your business’s commitment to sustainability. Make sure your messaging highlights the environmental benefits of your offerings, like using recycled materials or adopting energy-saving production methods.
Use visuals with earthy tones and nature-inspired imagery to reinforce the eco-friendly vibe and create a sense of renewal. Including testimonials from happy customers who appreciate your green practices can also be a powerful way to connect with like-minded shoppers.
PPC trends for 2025: Why bother?
It’s tough out there folks. PPC advertising is facing plenty of new challenges, but by leveraging the latest technologies and approaches, you can stay competitive and thrive in 2025.
Tools like AI might seem intimidating (even useless) at first, but they can potentially save you a lot of money in the long run. I’d urge you to experiment this year. Even if your tests don’t pay off right away — or at all — you’ll have a better idea of what works for your team and what isn’t worth pursuing in 2026.
Finally, I want to sincerely thank all of the experts who shared their practical advice, PPC strategies, and mini-case studies for inclusion in this article. I hope their contributions were as inspiring for you as they were for me!
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