Meta has revealed its strategic advertising priorities for 2025, offering a detailed view of how the company intends to shape digital marketing across its platforms. From artificial intelligence and short-form video to messaging and Threads, each area reflects broader shifts in how audiences engage and how advertisers respond.
At the same time, a major development has reshaped the B2B media space. The digital operations of TechTarget and Informa Tech have been consolidated, combining their reach, data intelligence, and targeting capabilities. This move reflects a wider trend in digital marketing: integrating data, content, and campaign execution in more structured, effective ways.
This article outlines the key areas of focus within Meta’s latest guidance and unpacks the wider significance of recent industry movements, especially for advertisers, marketers, and digital strategists looking to stay aligned with platform developments.
Why Meta’s New Direction Matters
Meta’s latest updates are backed by Q1 2025 usage data and campaign performance figures across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, and Threads. These updates serve not just as best practices—they signal how Meta plans to operate as both a social media ecosystem and an advertising infrastructure over the coming years.
Five themes stand out:
- Automated campaigns driven by AI
- Increased emphasis on short-form video
- Business messaging as a transactional channel
- Growth and monetisation of Threads
- Integration of creators into paid strategies
Each theme is accompanied by new tools and platform updates designed to simplify execution and improve results across campaign types.
AI in Advertising: More Than Automation
Meta’s most decisive move is its push for AI-supported advertising, with a strong focus on the Advantage+ campaign suite and the Generative Ads Recommendation model (GEM). These tools automate audience selection, asset testing, and budget distribution, learning from user interactions to improve outcomes.
Key figures:
- Facebook time spent is up by 7%; Instagram by 6%.
- Threads saw a 35% increase in time spent, attributed to better content recommendations.
- Advantage+ users are generating returns of £3.65 per £0.81 spent—a 22% improvement on manual campaigns.
- GEM has driven up to a 5% lift in conversion rates on Facebook Reels.
By shifting campaign control to AI, Meta is encouraging advertisers to simplify their operational approach while improving efficiency. This automation trend is not about replacing human input—it’s about scaling creative decisions using data.
Application for marketers:
Test Advantage+ with side-by-side comparisons to existing campaigns. Analyse differences in engagement rates, conversion costs, and user retention. GEM is particularly suited for video-heavy formats like Reels and should be trialled where suitable creative assets exist.
Video: Meta’s Primary Format for Engagement
Video consumption continues to outpace static content across Meta’s platforms. With mobile usage driving demand for short, immersive formats, Meta has developed tools to help businesses meet audience expectations without expensive production processes.
New tools include:
- Image Animation: Turns static visuals into animated clips using generative AI.
- Video Expansion: Automatically resizes and adapts content for Reels, Stories, and other full-screen placements.
Reels have become especially influential. Two-thirds of users say Reels ads have introduced them to brands they hadn’t seen before. Meanwhile, usage of Meta’s internal video generation tools has increased by 30% in just one quarter.
Application for marketers:
Review any high-performing static content and convert it into video using the Image Animation feature. Take advantage of Video Expansion to make sure visual assets are ready for the formats that dominate user attention. Short-form video is now a requirement for visibility.
Messaging: From Conversation to Conversion
Meta is investing heavily in messaging as a commercial tool, shifting its position from passive customer support to active sales channel. WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram Direct now serve over 600 million business conversations per day. Globally, 80% of users engage with a business through messaging each week.
Platform data:
- WhatsApp: Over 3 billion monthly active users.
- Messenger: Over 1 billion users.
- AI-powered messaging agents in beta for automated service and lead response.
Click-to-message ad formats are designed to lower friction in the sales journey by moving users into conversation, not forms or websites. This format supports everything from product discovery to transactions.
Application for marketers:
Set up verified messaging profiles and test click-to-message ads on Instagram and Facebook. For high-volume service teams, consider joining the waitlist for Meta’s AI-driven agents, which promise better lead response at scale.
Threads: Expanding Meta’s Platform Footprint
Meta’s Threads app now serves over 350 million monthly users. Originally launched as a short-form text platform, Threads has evolved into a broader content-sharing tool with growing advertiser interest.
Ads are already available globally and are integrated into campaign objectives like Reach, Website Traffic, and Conversions. Threads benefits from Meta’s centralised targeting infrastructure, offering strong continuity for brands already active on Instagram.
Notably, 75% of Threads users follow at least one business account, and user growth has remained consistent since launch.
Application for marketers:
Threads should be added to any campaign running on Reach or Engagement objectives. Brands active on Instagram can use Threads to repurpose content into short-form, text-driven formats, increasing cross-platform reach with minimal effort.
Creators and Social Commerce: Authenticity Over Advertising
Meta is advancing its Creator Marketplace on Instagram to facilitate direct collaborations between brands and creators. These creators now play a central role in campaign execution, not just organic outreach.
Performance insights:
- 40% of Instagram users have purchased something based on a creator’s recommendation.
- Partnership Ads allow brand content to be merged with creator posts for added reach and credibility.
- Fashion brand boohooMAN reported a 35% rise in new customers using creator-led ads.
Consumers tend to trust individuals more than corporate pages. Creator campaigns reflect this, building purchase intent through familiarity and shared cultural context.
Application for marketers:
Use Instagram’s Creator Marketplace to find micro-influencers aligned with your audience. Focus on Partnership Ads for better engagement and attribution, especially during campaign bursts or product launches.
Meta’s Broader Platform Objectives
While these recommendations support better campaign performance, they also point to Meta’s commercial priorities:
- AI tools streamline advertiser onboarding and improve efficiency.
- Video formats keep users engaged longer, increasing ad views and retention.
- Messaging opens new monetisation paths, especially through AI-led automation.
- Threads expands reach beyond Facebook and Instagram.
- Creators add trust and help content blend into the feed.
Meta’s goal is to reduce friction while encouraging brands to build campaigns that feel native to the platform experience.
Practical Actions for Digital Marketers
To apply these insights effectively:
- Trial AI campaigns with controlled tests using Advantage+ and GEM.
- Convert images to video with Meta’s animation and format tools.
- Open messaging profiles across WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram to enable new sales conversations.
- Add Threads placements to existing campaign setups for extended exposure.
- Partner with creators via the Creator Marketplace to build social credibility.
These steps are about aligning with how people now engage across Meta’s platforms: quickly, visually, and personally.
What the TechTarget–Informa Tech Merger Means for B2B Marketing
Outside of Meta’s ecosystem, another shift has redefined enterprise digital marketing. TechTarget and Informa Tech have combined their digital operations, creating a single entity with reach across content syndication, account-based marketing, and buyer intent data.
Combined capabilities:
- TechTarget brings years of buyer behaviour data and a content distribution network geared toward technology decision-makers.
- Informa Tech adds event-driven media and vertical insights through brands like Omdia and AI Business.
This consolidation strengthens their ability to provide end-to-end solutions in content delivery, audience targeting, and campaign attribution—particularly for B2B firms in tech, SaaS, and enterprise sectors.
Implications for advertisers:
- A more streamlined path from awareness to conversion in long sales cycles.
- Better audience insights through first-party data at scale.
- A stronger alternative to programmatic advertising for complex buying journeys.
The merger underlines a wider shift toward owned data and integrated campaign planning—paralleling some of the moves made by Meta in consumer spaces.
Industry Perspectives
“Advertising is becoming less about placement and more about platform fluency. The winners in 2025 will be those who understand how the platforms function—technically and culturally.”
— Dr Tanya Meyer, Digital Strategy Lead
“The merger between TechTarget and Informa Tech speaks to the increasing need for reliable buyer data in enterprise marketing. B2B is not far behind B2C in terms of personalisation.”
— Anna Pilkington, Growth Director, ElevateCX
“Marketers need to spend less time chasing new platforms and more time understanding the real changes in user behaviour—like private messaging and short video content.”
— Kevin Zhang, Media Analyst, Pulse Analytics
Looking Ahead
Meta’s advertising strategy for 2025 signals a clear shift toward personalised, lightweight, and scalable content delivery. It’s not just about formats—it’s about fitting into user journeys more naturally. AI, video, and private messaging are already shaping where attention goes and how action is taken.
Meanwhile, in the enterprise marketing space, platform consolidation is making first-party data more accessible, more actionable, and more valuable. Both trends point to one overarching principle: intelligent targeting now requires intelligent infrastructure.
About Search Engine Ascend
Search Engine Ascend is a trusted source of digital marketing insight and strategy. We help businesses navigate change with confidence, using evidence-backed methods that align with real-world trends. Our expertise spans SEO, paid search, content strategy, and performance marketing—providing the clarity needed to make better decisions online.
