Direct-to-consumer (D2C) ecommerce is evolving, driven by Gen Z’s shopping habits and the rise of powerful AI tools.

A young, culturally influential, and economically powerful group, Black consumers are shaping digital trends through high engagement with streaming and social media while shaping retail with their distinct shopping preferences.

The news: Meta announced numerous updates to its messaging ad options, with a heavy focus on WhatsApp. Meta is expanding Ads Manager to include WhatsApp campaigns, centralizing multi-campaign management across its platforms. The feature allows businesses to upload subscriber lists to use Advantage+ to optimize ad budgets or manually choose messages for additional placements. Our take: The ongoing potential for divestiture could have significant implications for advertisers that rely on Meta’s ecosystem—but the new features will still make WhatsApp a more appealing option for those that haven’t considered it as a key ad channel.

Germany’s digital landscape is evolving fast, driven by shifting consumer behaviors, increasing ecommerce adoption, and changing media habits. Recent data reveals the trends shaping digital spending, retail sales, and more.

The news: Meta’s Threads is adding direct messaging (DM) and a “highlight” feature to show trending topics related to a user’s feed. Our take: DMs will allow consumers to interact directly with brands and could open up a new customer service channel, while brand social media accounts could become part of the narrative as new “highlight” trends arise. Marketers and social media managers should boost brand presence on Threads by engaging with followers and posting on relevant trending topics.

Online fashion sales are stable and growing slowly, but they lag wider ecommerce. Consumers are concerned about sustainability, but price is a bigger priority.

TikTok will see healthy user growth this year in the US, even as its future remains unclear. User time spent on the app is falling YoY, but it still leads other social networks. However, it’s facing more competition from Instagram and YouTube.

The news: Instagram and TikTok are working on plans to develop connected TV (CTV) apps to mimic the success of YouTube’s big-screen push, per The Information. Our take: Advertisers may be hesitant to spend on placements before user adoption is proven. TikTok and Meta should prepare for initial losses and, to ensure a robust content pipeline for TV, introduce new simple editing tools or financial incentives to help creators optimize vertical posts for the horizontal big screen.

The news: YouTube launched an AI search function that could streamline the content discovery journey but pose problems for smaller creators and influencers. The feature gives users a carousel of relevant videos in response to their search queries, similar to Google’s AI Overviews. Our take: With YouTube’s vast content library, AI search could help users find relevant content faster, though opacity around how its algorithm surfaces videos means creators may need to experiment with keywords and video titles to see which strategies get their content placed in AI video carousels.

The news: Influencer marketing spending is increasing steadily in the US and worldwide, representing a key area of growth as audiences turn to the creators they trust for purchase decisions. In a conversation with EMARKTER, Arthur Leopold, head of the creator content ad platform Agentio, discussed why audiences are turning to influencers, how technology is changing the game, and where influencer marketing is heading. Our take: Influencer marketing continues to be a core focus for advertisers in a consumer landscape dominated by social media—but as more brands invest in influencers, advertisers need to keep key considerations in mind.

The news: Small- and medium-size businesses (SMBs) are increasingly relying on social media as a key marketing tool—but over half are struggling to keep up with the rapidly evolving landscape. Over three-quarters of small business leaders state that using social media has made a positive impact on their business—but 56% find it difficult to prioritize social media use, and 54% struggle to produce enough content to support multiple social media channels. Our take: Keeping up with social media’s future requires SMBs to integrate it as a core business function rather than viewing social media as an afterthought.

Latin America’s ad market will surpass $40 billion this year as it continues to defy economic uncertainty. Rebounds in Argentina and Chile, along with double-digit growth in retail and social media spending, will fuel momentum. Here are the latest trends you need to know.

The news: Brands are increasingly engaging with nano-, micro-, and mid-tier influencers—creators with up to 10,000, 50,000, 500,000 followers, respectively—and shifting away from macro- and mega-influencers with larger followings. Nano-influencers maintain the highest engagement rate across influencer categories on Instagram at 6.23%. On Instagram, there’s a notable trend of engagement rates decreasing as follower count increases. Our take: Partnering with nano-, micro-, and mid-tier influencers enables brands to tap into deeper authenticity and niche audiences, translating to more meaningful engagement and higher ROI than broader, but less personal, macro-influencer campaigns.

The news: While brands invest heavily in social media giants like Instagram and Facebook, smaller platforms are showing steady growth—indicating a future where ad opportunities go beyond the big players. While the Meta platforms make up an enormous 72.5% of US social network ad spending, smaller social media platforms are holding their own, experiencing growth at a similar rate to Meta. Our take: While advertisers shouldn’t discount the massive reach Meta offers, smaller players are increasingly valuable for driving results, especially as competition intensifies on larger platforms.

Brands are increasing investments in influencer marketing, and placing a greater emphasis on measuring ROI as a result. Measurement remains a challenge, but there are steps marketers can take to ensure campaigns align with business goals.

The trend: Instagram is gaining momentum across Asia-Pacific, fueled by India’s 2020 TikTok ban and a projected 10% user growth in that market for 2025. Japan’s forecast has also climbed, with 44.4 million users expected next year. Our take: Instagram’s rise isn’t just reactive—it’s a sign of strong localization and feature depth. With TikTok facing stricter laws in Australia and Southeast Asia, Instagram’s Reels and group-channel tools position it as the more stable, advertiser-friendly option. Brands targeting APAC should reevaluate platform strategies as Instagram captures more of the region’s fast-changing digital attention.

The news: US adults are increasingly dependent on digital platforms for news, with social media and video overtaking traditional news outlets for the first time. 54% of US adults get their news from social media, per the Reuters Institute’s 2025 Digital News Report, compared with 50% from TV news and 48% from news websites and apps. Our take: Linear platforms could offer personalized news digests and mobile- and social- friendly content to reengage younger users, while advertisers should diversify their campaigns across social media platforms to follow fragmented user engagement.

The number of social network users in the US will tick up 1.7% YoY this year, while adult users will see almost 2% growth. But time spent on social networks among adult users will peak this year, meaning the battle for engagement is on.

The news: With scams on the rise, advertisers and brands need to be thoughtful with their communications to keep it out of junk folders. 96% of US adults get at least one scam email, phone call, or text message each week, per CNET. Our take: To stop volume fatigue, brands should avoid inundating users’ phones and inboxes with constant messaging. Social media could offer a less-saturated space where short-form content can exemplify brand personality and where users are more likely to expect engagement.

The news: A CBS investigation discovered hundreds of deepfake ads on Meta platforms promoting “nudify” apps that create sexually explicit content based on images of real people. The analysis of Meta’s ad library found at minimum hundreds of deepfake ads across Facebook, Instagram, Threads, Facebook Messenger, and Meta Audience Network. Our take: The rise of deepfakes on major platforms like Meta emphasizes AI’s potential to erode consumer trust and raise brand safety risks—forcing advertisers to navigate a growing gap between innovation and lagging safeguards.