Wroclaw, 13.02.2025

2025 digital marketing budgets: hyper-personalization, AI & privacy

13 February 2025

A survey carried out by Piwik PRO in January 2025 reveals that one-third (34%) of marketers anticipate an increase in digital analytics spending in 2025, while one in two (51%) expect it to stay the same. According to 68% of respondents, a significant share of budgets will be allocated to analytics tools, which will be crucial in implementing marketing strategies. Only 2% of the respondents said that the role of digital analytics would decrease.

Survey of 350 digital analytics professionals and marketers from Europe and the US conducted from 15 December to 10 January.

According to the Gartner CMO Spend Survey for 2024, only a quarter of CMOs reported having adequate funding for their strategies. Marketing budgets fell from 9.1% of revenue in 2023 to 7.7% in 2024. The research conducted by Piwik PRO suggests that this pattern is about to shift, at least in an area related to analytics and marketing technologies. After a challenging 2024, the market is experiencing a wave of optimism and a more thoughtful approach to investments, especially those leveraging artificial intelligence (AI).

According to findings from Piwik PRO, around 29% of those surveyed consider the advancement of automation and AI-based solutions a key focus in their digital marketing strategies. Equally important is customer experience, which is a crucial factor for almost one-third of the participants. One in five respondents identified privacy and data security as significant concerns in 2025, along with cross-channel marketing (14% of responses).

In 2025, marketing teams will be tasked with maximizing their output while minimizing costs, striving for solutions that deliver significant results for less. As a result, various organizations will evaluate their marketing resources and opt for solutions that provide a broad selection of capabilities within reasonable budgets. For example, Piwik PRO offers more than just digital analytics – it also provides data activation through its Customer Data Platform (CDP) module.

Mateusz Krempa, COO at Piwik PRO

Rise of hyper-personalisation

Artificial intelligence (AI) will continue revolutionizing daily operations in marketing and analytics, as indicated by almost a third of respondents. This will also significantly impact customer experience issues, which the survey showed are just as important to marketers. The influence of modern technology on deepening customer relationships has led to the emergence of a new term, “hyper-personalization”, which involves, among other things, anticipating consumer needs.

Hyper-personalization, however, would not be possible without the broader adoption of solutions such as a customer data platform (CDP), which collects, manages, and analyzes information from different channels to create one centralized database. A CDP enables marketing and sales departments to activate data, significantly improving their results and efficiency. A customer data platform helps in:

Determining the best strategy for reaching selected audiences - Utilizing AI for this task offers the advantage of rapidly analyzing huge data sets to create hyper-personalized profiles.
Creating tailored messages - Personalizing each of the customer touchpoints in real-time. The use of AI can significantly speed up the creation of relevant content.
Getting the message across at the perfect time - Marketing and sales departments receive real-time notifications about the current phase of a prospective customer's journey.

Unwavering focus on data security and privacy

One in five of those surveyed said that data security and privacy issues will be the most important element of marketing strategies in 2025. The future of privacy regulations like GDPR, LGPD, CCPA, and HIPAA is characterized by an evolving landscape that demands organizational adaptability. With the increase in consumer knowledge and the evolution of technology, regulatory systems may become more stringent and complex.

Authorities will likely intensify their review of data practices, focusing on artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). In this field, the emphasis on privacy is very strong, especially in Europe. Recently, there has been a lot of buzz about the new Chinese chatbot DeepSeek, which is supposed to be a serious competitor to other LLMs like ChatGPT. Few people know that according to DeepSeek’s privacy policy, it collects personal data and stores it on Chinese servers, which is a violation of GDPR. This trend will likely lead to heavier penalties for non-compliance, compelling organizations to prioritize data protection measures.

Businesses increasingly understand that adhering to privacy regulations is essential and can offer advantages, particularly in fostering customer trust. Many companies have incorporated privacy into their core operations, benefiting the digital economy, but there is still room for improvement. Our research suggests that one in five companies view privacy as the most critical aspect of their marketing strategies. Challenges remain, but I’m sure more companies will prioritize privacy compliance effectively alongside marketing.

Mateusz Krempa, COO at Piwik PRO

In 2025, we will see a continuation of recent trends fueled by the growing incorporation of artificial intelligence (AI), the emergence of hyper-personalization, and a heightened focus on data privacy and security. These trends highlight the necessity of enhancing efficiency and complying with current regulations, which empowers marketing divisions to execute their strategies.