Growth marketing is in the middle of a major transformation—and in 2025, the pace of change feels faster than ever. I recently sat down with Nataly Huff, founder of Innovate Forward and longtime growth marketing pro, to talk about what’s shifting in our space, how clients are feeling about it, and where we’re both seeing opportunity on the horizon.
Nataly and I go way back. We worked together before she made the leap into consulting and she’s been helping companies turn product-market fit into meaningful growth for nearly two decades. Her perspective on today’s landscape is both grounded and future-facing.
One of the biggest topics we touched on was AI.
As I put it to Nataly, it’s making it harder to be bad but also harder to be truly good. Many of the tools out there are creating a leveling effect.
You don’t have to be an expert to get decent results. But to stand out? That still takes strategy, creativity, and depth of experience.
While algorithmic learning helps reduce outliers and inconsistencies, it also glosses over the nuance that experts bring to the table. The brands that are winning right now are using AI carefully and strategically—often paired with trusted agencies or internal teams who know how to guide it.
Some of Nataly’s clients are hesitant, overwhelmed by how quickly everything is moving. Others are enthusiastic and well-prepared, eager to capitalize on the infrastructure and teams they’ve been investing in over the last few years.
We’re seeing the same at JDM. A lot of prospective clients come to us understanding that they could figure things out eventually on their own, but they don’t want to waste time or make mistakes they could avoid by bringing in experts. Speed matters more than ever, and growth-focused orgs don’t want to lose ground.
When I asked Nataly what’s most exciting, and most challenging, right now, she zeroed in on personalization at scale.
Consumers expect content that feels deeply relevant to them. And if it doesn’t? It becomes background noise, or worse, damages brand trust. But achieving that level of personalization, and doing it at the pace and scale demanded by today’s consumer, means investing in enterprise-grade AI and the systems that support it.
More and more of Nataly’s clients are coming to her with innovation budgets and AI committees. Their question is simple: We know where we want to go, but how do we actually get there?
We also spent some time talking about where AI works and where it doesn’t.
One thing we’re seeing too often: brands trying to replace their content teams with AI tools. That tends to backfire. AI is best used as a force multiplier, not a replacement. It can help you get to a first draft faster, build out briefs, or refine ideas, but it still needs a human to create truly valuable, on-brand, strategic content.
This is important especially as platforms like Google and social media are increasingly penalizing low-quality or AI-generated content. Faster content creation doesn’t mean people can consume more of it. If the content isn’t compelling and human-driven, it gets ignored.
Another trend we’re seeing: a big shift toward account-based marketing (ABM). With less certainty around funding and a more cautious startup landscape, ABM is becoming the go-to approach for many organizations.
It’s more targeted, more intentional, and when done right, much more effective – especially when paired with tools that help personalize outreach with meaningful, human insights.
At JDM, ABM has long been part of our broader LinkedIn strategies, but we’re seeing it become the primary approach more often now. In many ways, it feels like a return to what originally drew a lot of us to digital marketing: being able to laser-focus on the right people with the right message at the right time.
With ABM on the rise, marketing operations is stepping into the spotlight.
Marketing ops is becoming more integrated with general business ops as more brands strive to create seamless, data-rich customer experiences across the funnel. Tools like Invoca are now helping call center agents see a customer’s browsing history in real time, making conversations more relevant and personalized.
Marketing ops and measurement have been major focuses for JDM over the past year. We’re helping clients tie their marketing activities to real business outcomes – not just leads, but revenue and pipeline. That means building systems that personalize messaging based on the first touch, track impact across channels, and use automation thoughtfully to accelerate the journey from visitor to customer.
“Marketing trends are going to come and go, and they’re going to evolve and accelerate. But what never changes is human psychology.”
Tools change. Platforms evolve. But understanding your audience – who they are, what they need, what they care about, and how they think – will always be at the heart of great marketing. No matter how advanced AI becomes, that human insight is irreplaceable.
And as budgets tighten and expectations rise, we’re seeing a healthy return to those fundamentals: strong strategy, clear measurement, personalized messaging, and a relentless focus on delivering value to the customer.
Thanks again to Nataly for such a thoughtful conversation. If you’re navigating these same shifts in your business, or want to talk more about what smart, scalable growth looks like in 2025, reach out. We’d love to help.