Press release

AI as a Booster for Digital Ad Campaigns: Five Trends for Performance Marketing in 2025

Zurich and Berlin, November 19, 2024 – Artificial Intelligence (AI) will continue to drive profound changes in the marketing world. Experts from the AI marketing analytics company Nexoya reveal which trends will become important for performance marketing in 2025 with this development: Consumer enthusiasm is returning, but consumers remain price-sensitive. Companies and consumers are gradually overcoming their reservations toward AI technology. In this market climate, marketing will focus on getting the most out of digital ad campaigns. AI will play a central role in content creation and act as a strategic co-pilot for digital multi-channel campaigns. With the acceptance and spread of the technology, AI-driven content optimization and data privacy will become more important. The AI Act presents companies with the challenge of complying with legal requirements without stifling innovation and thereby weakening their competitiveness.

Consumer enthusiasm is returning, particularly among younger consumers. This is shown by Deloitte’s study ‘Consumer Enthusiasm Reloaded: Four Theses on the Post-Inflation Consumer.’ This is a promising time for companies looking to increase their revenues after the turbulent past few years. However, consumers remain highly price-sensitive. Therefore, marketing will aim to get the most out of digital ad campaigns. The marketing analytics experts at Nexoya recommend considering the following trends for optimal performance.

Trend 1: Companies and Consumers See Potential in AI
AI itself is a powerful trend that engages both companies and consumers. This is highlighted in a recent survey by the digital association Bitkom: more than half of the population in Germany wants to see AI used in online retail. Increasingly, companies are also exploring the potential of this technology—57 percent of respondents are engaged with AI’s possibilities. One in five companies already uses AI, and more than one-third are currently planning its adoption. At the same time, about three-quarters see opportunities for their business through AI. Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK) North Westphalia found that algorithms already assist 15 percent of companies in making intelligent decisions.

Roger Gatti, Head of Product at Nexoya: “The results of the latest studies show that people are gradually overcoming their reservations about AI technology. More and more marketers also understand that AI is a powerful assistant in managing their tasks, rather than an enemy that might cost them their jobs in the worst-case scenario. The growing perception is that not using AI means missing valuable opportunities.”

Trend 2: Content Creation with Generative AI
Generative AI is most frequently used in customer interactions, with 89 percent of companies surveyed by Bitkom indicating this usage. Following this, 40 percent of companies use it in marketing and communications, where generative AI supports the creation of content for various channels. AI algorithms now produce increasingly refined text, image, and video content, aiming for highly personalized and context-specific material.

The importance of video continues to grow steadily—it is currently the most effective content format. Reels are taking over Instagram, and LinkedIn has introduced short videos. This boom is fueled by AI-assisted production, which, thanks to numerous tools, allows for the creation of professional-looking clips with minimal time investment and facilitates testing variations. As a result, AI-generated content has become standard in marketing departments. However, this also leads to content that often looks similar and lacks a personal touch. Consequently, marketers strive to create content that stands out from that of competitors, with the goal that AI-generated content should ideally not be recognizable as such. Roger Gatti emphasizes: “Teams need to invest time in delivering high-quality content across channels. Quality is key to standing out from the mass of AI-generated content. With the right approach, even low-budget video marketing can be effective. It’s primarily about creating authentic content that resonates with the target audience’s needs.”

Trend 3: AI as a Strategic Co-Pilot for Digital Multi-Channel Campaigns
In performance marketing, algorithm-driven simulations can project expected business scenarios. This is achieved through cross-channel campaign structures and portfolios, where AI predicts key metrics like cost revenue ratio (CRR) or return on ad spend (ROAS) for complex campaigns. This allows different business cases to be designed and compared. Marketing teams receive concrete answers to essential questions: How much more budget is needed to reach a certain revenue? What would it cost to generate 300 additional leads per month? Is the allocated budget sufficient to meet the set marketing goals? How would a 10 percent increase or decrease in ad spending next month impact performance? How much budget would be required to achieve a specific ROAS or cost per lead?

With AI, various options can be visualized, allowing marketing leaders to select the optimal path to reach their objectives. Such simulations support scenario-based planning and communication within the company. Roger Gatti explains: “Nexoya’s solution combines scenario simulation with AI-based automated optimization of ad budgets. This improves performance and enhances operational efficiency, making AI a strategic co-pilot for digital multi-channel campaigns. Thanks to these technological advancements, performance marketers can focus more on their strategic tasks.”

Moreover, the forecasting method Marketing Mix Modeling (MMM) is gaining increasing relevance, particularly when combined with AI. MMM, a methodology from the 1970s, is currently experiencing a renaissance as it analyzes advertising effectiveness on a meta level. However, in the fast-paced world of marketing, MMM alone is not enough. It only unfolds its full value when combined with other methods such as geo-tests and cross-channel experiments. Marco Hochstrasser, CEO and Co-Founder of Nexoya, explains: “While many market players focus heavily on Marketing Mix Modeling (MMM), it’s important to move beyond the hype and recognize its limitations. At Nexoya, we use AI as a strategic co-pilot to seamlessly integrate MMM with experiments and cross-channel insights. In today’s rapidly evolving marketing landscape, MMM can provide valuable and actionable results—but only when paired with additional measurement methods that capture the complexity of modern campaigns.”

Trend 4: AI Optimization Instead of Search Engine Optimization
The rapid development of artificial intelligence is transforming the way we search for and consume information. Instead of traditional search engines like Google, more people are turning to conversational AI tools like ChatGPT, which enable an interactive and personalized search experience. For advertisers, this means that in addition to SEO, AI optimization is now also crucial.

Companies can adapt to this trend by optimizing their content for AI-powered search systems, ensuring it is structured in a way that AI platforms can understand and present as relevant information. More users are also utilizing visual and voice-activated search, opening new opportunities for brands while requiring optimization of ad content for these channels. In this new information landscape, companies that adopt AI optimization early and adapt to the evolving search environment stand to gain. Roger Gatti adds: “Not only AI platforms but also social media is increasingly becoming an important search engine, especially for e-commerce, shopping, and retail. Platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest are used by consumers to discover products, read reviews, and make purchasing decisions. Brands benefit by strengthening their presence there and strategically placing ads where customers seek shopping inspiration.”

Trend 5: The AI Act Requires Strict Data Privacy
All companies operating in the EU are affected by the AI Act, an EU law aimed at the safe development of AI. Those using AI are prohibited from certain applications, like social scoring, and are generally required to maintain transparency, especially regarding training data. The regulations pose a challenge for small and medium-sized enterprises, which must consider these stringent requirements in their activities, including digital advertising. There is a risk that compliance with these regulations may stifle innovation and weaken competitiveness. Companies utilizing AI-based platforms and tools for modern marketing need to choose providers that comply with the AI Act, which specifically requires the use of only aggregated, non-personally identifiable information (PII).

Roger Gatti explains: “To ensure compliance, advertisers are increasingly focusing on first-party data—data they collect directly from their customers or users, unlike data from third-party sources. Although Google has not yet phased out third-party cookies, fewer users are now navigating with IDs, as restrictions on handling these IDs in browsers and smartphones have become increasingly strict. This poses a significant challenge for performance marketing, especially in terms of data privacy and regulation.”

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About Nexoya

Founded in 2018 and based in Zurich and Berlin, the marketing analytics company Nexoya Ltd. provides automated analytics for digital marketing tailored to medium and large enterprises—user-friendly and compliant with data privacy standards. The SaaS platform ‘nexoya Marketing Analytics’ optimizes multi-channel marketing campaigns through machine learning. The solution aggregates key metrics from various channels like Google Ads, Meta, and LinkedIn, displays them in a clear format, and monitors these metrics. Based on collected data and using artificial intelligence (predictive analytics), Nexoya then optimizes campaign budgets. This solution frees marketing teams from routine operational tasks, simplifies automated data-driven decisions, and reduces marketing costs by up to 30 percent. Nexoya only collects non-personalized data, stored in certified Swiss data centers. Its clients include well-known companies such as Yuh, Generali, Swisscom, and Zürcher Kantonalbank (ZKB) in Switzerland, as well as Magix Software, Yello Strom, and bike-components in Germany. www.nexoya.com

Press contact
Sabrina Ortmann, Nexoya
Phone: +49 30 549 092 40
E-mail: press@nexoya.com