The digital marketing landscape is more competitive than ever in 2025, as ad spend continues to rise. To cut through the noise, digital marketers need to personalise consumer experiences.
However, increased regulations on third-party tracking cookies — and a growing list of big scary acronyms like GDPR, CCPA, IDFA — are making marketing personalisation more challenging. To solve this issue, marketers are tapping into first-party data from the voice of their customers.
Below, we’ve compiled a list of statistics digital marketers need to know as they execute their 2025 strategies.
Digital Advertising is Getting More Competitive
Global digital ad spend will increase 10.1% in 2025, reaching over $765 billion. To cut through the noise and stand out, marketers need to be nimble and strategic in this fast-changing environment. (Source: eMarketer)
The average cost per action (CPA) is $49 for paid search and $75 for display ads. These numbers help illustrate how competitive digital advertising can be for many industries. The stakes for digital have never been higher, and neither has the pressure on marketers and agencies to optimise campaign performance to win more customers at lower costs. (Source: WordStream)
Social media ad spend is projected to reach $267 billion in 2025. Social ads have become the leading source of brand awareness for consumers age 16 to 34. (Source: SproutSocial)
Many Marketers Are Using Ineffective Strategies
Only 61% of marketers believe their marketing strategy is effective. Even though most marketers doubt their strategies, they’re still pouring massive spend into digital advertising. Sounds a bit illogical when you put it that way, doesn’t it? (Source: HubSpot)
40% of marketers say proving the ROI of their marketing activities is a top marketing challenge. Despite allocating large portions of their budgets to digital ads, many digital marketers are unable to fully gauge their results. (Source: HubSpot)
58% of marketers are challenged with targeting or segmenting their audience. Many marketers are unable to tap into all the rich first-party sources at their fingertips — this leaves them unable to personalise consumer experiences. (Source: Forrester)
57% of marketers are challenged with optimising next-best-action marketing decisions. Marketers also lack the data they need to guide consumers through the funnel after their initial brand engagement. (Source: Forrester)
80% of marketers report their lead generation efforts are only slightly or somewhat effective. Lead generation is another challenge for digital marketers — especially when they fail to track and optimise every phase of the customer journey. (Source: BrightTALK)
22% of businesses are satisfied with their conversion rates. Driving leads is only half the battle — in many cases, leads can fall through if sales agents aren’t fully equipped to handle them. Conversation intelligence tools can help sales teams get visibility into every contact centre interaction and discover opportunities to drive more revenue. (Source: Econsultancy)
42% of B2B marketing professionals state that a lack of quality data is their biggest barrier to lead generation. The modern customer experience is fragmented across many channels, making it difficult to get a full view of the customer journey. With high-quality call tracking data that ties the customer journey together, marketers can make smarter optimisations. (Source: BrightTALK)
Marketers Are Turning to AI to Gain a Competitive Edge
Nearly 100% of marketers surveyed believe AI will have some sort of positive impact on their organisations. Mark your calendars for the AI revolution — marketers are betting it will supercharge their organisations, leaving those hesitant behind in the dust. (Source: Invoca: The State of AI B2C Digital Marketing Report)
About 90% of marketers surveyed are optimistic about the future of AI. The future belongs to those who embrace the change, and marketers who are prepared to use AI will be the ones who thrive. (Source: Invoca: The State of AI B2C Digital Marketing Report)
AI is about to get a whole lot smarter, thanks to marketers' wallets. Our recent survey found that over 90% of marketers plan to dedicate a budget specifically for AI tools in 2025, with almost all of them saying they'll be investing even more than this year. (Source: Invoca: The State of AI B2C Digital Marketing Report)
94% of marketers say AI tools have helped them grow revenue in the past year. Companies that invest in AI reap the rewards and see impact on their bottom lines. (Source: Invoca: The State of AI B2C Digital Marketing Report)
Marketers Are Also Investing in Omnichannel Personalisation
In a recent study, omnichannel campaigns saw an 18.96% engagement rate, while single-channel saw just a 5.4% engagement rate. Consumers own more devices than ever before and often bounce between channels during the purchasing process. Marketers need to keep this in mind as they develop their campaigns. (Source: ClickZ)
Omnichannel campaigns produce a 250% higher rate of purchase frequency than do single-channel campaigns. Keeping your brand top of mind across numerous channels will drive more revenue. (Source: ClickZ)
Customer retention rates are 90% higher for omnichannel campaigns than for single-channel campaigns. Customers are more loyal to brands that engage with them across channels. (Source: ClickZ)
80% of consumers say they are more likely to do business with a company if it offers personalised experiences. If you don’t personalise phone call experiences, you’re leaving revenue on the table. (Source: Instapage)
Marketers Can No Longer Rely on Third-Party Data to Inform Personalisation
81% of marketers are worried that their use of third-party data could raise privacy concerns. In the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, as well as data privacy regulations like GDPR and The California Consumer Privacy Act, marketers are pivoting away from third-party data sources. (Source: eMarketer)
82% of marketers plan to increase their use of first-party data. Since third-party data presents privacy concerns, marketers are tapping into more of their internal data to inform targeting and personalisation. (Source: Signal)
Instead, Leading Marketers Are Using First-Party Data From Consumer Phone Calls
Calling is the most popular next action for many consumers running Google searches. It’s especially common for consumers searching for accounting, hospitals, dentists, and HVAC repair to place a call. (Source: LSA)
28% of people who perform a local voice search go on to call the business. In addition to digital ads, voice searches are driving a wealth of inbound calls. Calls are the most popular action after a local voice search. The seamless transition from voice search to phone call — whether on a smartphone or smart speaker — makes this option especially desirable. (Source: BrightLocal)
Calls convert to revenue 10-15x more often than web leads. Inbound callers have a high purchasing intent, and they’re usually further along in the customer journey than someone who fills out a web form. (Source: BIA/Kelsey)
Callers convert 30% faster than web leads. People often call because they need immediate assistance — they don’t have time to fill out a web form and wait around for a response. (Source: Forrester)
84% of marketers report phone calls having higher conversion rates with larger order value (AOV) compared to other forms of engagement. Phone calls are often the most valuable marketing conversions. (source: Forrester)
41% of organisations report having increased phone conversion rates by 25% or more in the past 12 months. Not only are consumers calling more due to COVID-19 — they’re also calling with higher intent to purchase. Both the volume and value of calls are increasing for many businesses due to COVID-19. (Source: Forrester)
85% of marketers believe inbound calls and phone conversations are a key component of their organisation’s digital-first strategy. Marketers across industries plan to tap into phone call data to better understand their customers and inform their strategies. (Source: Forrester)
Tapping into Conversation Analytics Data from Phone Calls Helps Marketers Deliver Better Personalisation and Drive Revenue
48% of marketers have provided or expect to provide enhanced customer experiences as a result of scaling conversation anlaytics across the enterprise. With conversation analytics data, marketers can enhance ad targeting, segment email campaigns, serve personalised website experiences, and more, based on the content of phone conversations. (Source: Forrester)
43% of marketers have improved or expect to improve customer acquisition and retention as a result of scaling conversation analytics across the enterprise. When you tailor consumer experiences based on the content of their phone conversations, you better meet their needs and earn their loyalty. (Source: Forrester)
Marketers who have scaled conversation analytics across the enterprise have seen or expect to see improved analytics efficiency, increased business efficiency, improved employee productivity, and seamless integration with existing systems. Conversation analytics allows businesses to get smarter insights into their consumers and make more informed decisions to drive efficiency. (Source: Forrester)
Additional Reading
Want to learn more about how Invoca can help you improve your digital marketing campaigns? Check out these resources:
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