AI and Digital Marketing in 2025: Reflections and Guidance

Earlier this year, a handful of Fathomers had the opportunity to attend the Marketing Artificial Intelligence Conference (MAICON), an event for leaders and practitioners seeking to explore, experience, and engage with marketing AI.

As we reflect on the year and prepare for what’s ahead, marketing AI is at the forefront of conversations, so we asked the team who attended MAICON a simple question: 

What are you still thinking about from MAICON?

“One key takeaway from MAICON 2024 is the potential of AI to act as a 'Digital Doppelgänger,' enabling marketers to automate repetitive tasks while preserving human oversight for creative direction and strategy. This approach emphasizes using AI to amplify rather than replace human effort. Implementing a shared prompt library could streamline consistency in AI outputs, allowing us to maximize AI efficiency without sacrificing authenticity.”

How to apply it: Think of AI as amplifying, not replacing, your expertise. Your experience allows you to tailor AI’s outputs for maximum value creation. By refining tools, like custom GPTs, with your expertise, you can outsource mundane tasks while focusing on the strategic ones. 

"MAICON highlighted AI's rapid transformation, underscoring the need for adaptability. In a field as intricate as digital marketing—especially within the healthcare industry—embracing AI’s advancements is essential for managing complexity and maintaining an agile, future-proof approach."

How to apply it: The longer you wait to familiarize yourself with AI, the harder adoption will be. Don’t wait to get started exploring what’s possible.

“A big takeaway from MAICON was that marketers often use AI like our current tools, hoping it’ll solve the same old problems. For example, using ChatGPT as a search engine. To get the most out of AI, we need to see it for what it is—a fresh perspective that opens up new ways to tackle challenges, not just a plug-and-play solution.”

How to apply it: Lumière's Law refers to our tendency to use previous media or innovations to define a new media, which is a trap. Instead, keep an open mind and allow yourself the space to dream big when brainstorming AI applications and use cases. 

"Attending the MAICON conference was truly energizing. Hearing diverse perspectives on AI applications reaffirmed that we’re leveraging AI in advanced ways. Digital marketers are racing to adopt AI and do it thoughtfully and effectively. While there’s no single 'silver bullet' solution and much remains uncertain, the conference was a powerful reminder of the possibilities ahead.”

How to apply it: Give yourself credit for the exploration you have done. There’s a wide-ranging spectrum of AI adoption, and we should prioritize progress over perfection as we continue our exploration.

“My key insight from MAICON is that the technology has more capabilities than humans have found use cases for. AI is advancing daily and doing things people didn't think would be possible for years. Even the savviest experts can't possibly harness the full power of AI on their own. This means endless opportunities for testing, learning, and applying AI to our work. If there's something AI doesn't seem to be able to solve for us today, it will probably be able to solve it in the coming days, weeks, or months.”

How to apply it: Stay up-to-date on the emerging stories in AI, like you monitor local news or industry trends. As marketers, we find the Marketing AI Institute’s newsletter and podcast create a good foundation. 

“At MAICON, I heard that over 80% of marketers are using AI, but just 60% are admitting to using AI. We might feel compelled to make AI sound and feel more like us, and there’s certainly value in that: This can make your AI usage more thoughtful and strategic. However, this raises ethical and legal questions that must be sorted out in the months and years ahead.”

How to apply it: Create AI personas that reflect your organization’s or client’s tone of voice. Train your AI tools with messaging examples that capture your brand’s style and values. Use these personas to ensure your communications resonate and build stronger connections with your audience. But be intentional and forthright about using AI or risk losing trust.

“One thing that still resonates with me was a point around ethics: how working within strict guidelines—like we do in healthcare—helps us stay in line. With AI, we can’t just jump in and use whatever’s new. Each tool has to be tested and proven to make sure it’s safe for us, our clients, and their partners. Even though AI is moving fast, starting with some basic vetting steps makes me feel confident we’re on the right track. For me, it’s also about knowing our team will keep learning, testing, and adapting, so we’re handling AI thoughtfully—for us and our clients.”

How to apply: As you explore AI for professional purposes, make sure you know who has to vet tools and how they’ll go about doing so. Identifying this information ahead of time will save headaches down the road.

“I went to MAICON still a bit unsure of the role AI would play in the future of marketing. I left  convinced that we are on the right track at Fathom and excited that we can be a great resource for our clients in guiding their AI journeys. The ability to utilize AI tools to create actionable workflows won't be just a value add in the coming years, but more of a business necessity.”

How to apply: Educate yourself and your team on integrating AI tools into workflows to create actionable, efficient solutions. Share insights and best practices to help clients and colleagues see AI as a business necessity for long-term success.

Across the board, these takeaways from MAICON underscore one unifying truth: the future of marketing lies in the thoughtful integration of technology and human ingenuity. AI is an accelerator. Whether improving efficiency, enhancing creativity, or driving strategic decisions, the right balance of technology and human expertise unlocks our full potential.

Curious on how you can take your AI adoption and implementation to the next level? Download our AI Empowered Guidebook with essential use cases, frameworks, tools, and resources for starting or advancing your AI journey.