9 Marketing Trends for Active Lifestyle in 2025

As the new year quickly unfolds, marketing strategies are rapidly evolving, shaped by the ever changing technological advancements (good and bad), evolving consumer behaviors, and emerging opportunities that come from both. 

Many of us within the active lifestyle space know our industry is not always the leader when it comes to leading edge marketing but just like marketing itself, that will change in 2025. Here are some of the tactics that brands will need to implement to build their momentum in a new era and a new year.

1. AI-Driven Marketing: The New Standard

I didn’t want to lead with this one but I had to. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is no longer a futuristic concept; it’s a must-have tool for marketers or really anyone. In 2025, AI will continue to dominate marketing tactics by streamlining processes, improving customer engagement, and driving efficiency. Here’s how:

• Content Creation: AI tools are enabling marketers to draft blogs, social media posts, and even video scripts faster than ever. While human creativity remains irreplaceable, AI can handle the grunt work, giving you more time to refine and innovate. Staring at a blank screen is a thing of the past.

• Predictive Analytics: AI helps brands anticipate consumer needs by analyzing past behavior. Whether it’s predicting demand for winter running gear or identifying peak times for promotional campaigns, AI is indispensable for data-driven decision-making.

• Personalization: Consumers expect tailored experiences. AI-powered recommendation engines can deliver customized product suggestions and more, ensuring higher conversion rates.

To leverage AI effectively, brands must find the right balance between automation and authenticity, ensuring technology enhances—rather than replaces—the human touch. Because we are communicating to humans, not machines. At least for now.

2. The Rise of “Flexible” Agencies

Performance marketing is evolving as media platforms change their algorithms, ad formats and tools with increasing frequency. This has created a growing need for agencies to be as agile as the platforms themselves while also leveraging trends, mistakes and successes from the other markets they serve. Some key agency attributes that I look for are when reviewing vendors for my clients are:

• Adaptability: Agencies must be able to pivot quickly to capitalize on new ad types and platform updates. If you are in search of your first agency or a new one, any prospective vendor should be talking about being nimble and flexible versus adhering to a very specific playbook. Yes, agency specific strategies and in-house tools are valuable as long as they can digest change.

• Cost-Effectiveness: Agencies often operate with flexible pricing models, making them ideal for brands needing scalability without hefty retainers. And that all starts with a partner that fits your size. Big agencies with big clients are not theoretically aligned with a scaling start up even when they promise big results.

• Specialization: Whether you are filling a specific need, i.e. Meta, or need someone for all your performance needs be careful of the one shop who does it all. Maybe perfect fit for now but you will outgrow unless they grow with you.

Partnering with the right agency can free up your internal resources for creative output while ensuring your paid marketing campaigns remain cutting-edge.

3. Social Commerce: The New Sales Funnel

Social commerce—the integration of shopping directly into social media platforms—is exploding in popularity. For active lifestyle brands, this trend represents a golden opportunity to turn engagement into immediate sales. What this new opportunity offers is:

• Seamless Shopping: Platforms like Instagram and TikTok allow users to purchase products without leaving the app. Whether it’s a trending ski jacket or a new line of running shoes, the buying process is frictionless.

• Influencer Integration: Creators can tag your products in their posts, making it easy for their followers to shop instantly.

• Live Shopping Events: Hosting live Q&A sessions or product launches with shopping capabilities can drive urgency and excitement.

If social commerce isn’t part of your strategy yet, now is the time to integrate it into your marketing mix. Will the active lifestyle space dive deeper here? They will need to even if TikTok isn’t around for the long haul.

4. Content Creators and Brand Collaborations

Content creators are no longer just influencers; they are brand partners. The shift toward authentic, long-term collaborations will define 2025. There is a lot of cross pollination between influencers, affiliates and content creators but here are some ways to organize your thinking:

• Micro-Influencers: These creators have smaller but highly engaged audiences (i.e. the key metric to be looking at), making them more relatable and effective for niche markets.

• Exclusive Partnerships: Collaborating with creators to launch co-branded products or exclusive collections adds a layer of authenticity and excitement while potentially reaching an audience you had very little, or any, connection with.

• Cross-Platform Strategy: Successful collaborations span multiple platforms, from Instagram and TikTok to YouTube and even podcasting but you do not need to be across all every time. Pick one and nail it, then move on.

By focusing on meaningful partnerships rather than one-off sponsorships, brands can build credibility and foster lasting consumer trust with new audiences through partnering with content creators.

5. The Expansion of AR and VR Experiences

Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) are transforming how consumers interact with brands. These technologies are becoming more accessible and impactful in 2025 through the following key takeaways.

• Virtual Try-Ons: Let customers see how a pair of running shoes or ski goggles (thanks Warby Parker) look and fit without stepping into a store.

• Immersive Storytelling: Use VR to take your audience on a virtual trail run or snowboarding experience, immersing them in your brand’s ethos.

• Enhanced Events: AR and VR can elevate product launches and events, creating memorable, shareable experiences while separating you from your competitors.

Investing in these technologies now can pay dividends in engagement and brand loyalty. BUt it is not cheap. Perhaps better to watch others test this in the first half of the year.

6. The Power of Community Building

The best tactics tend to stick around. And community development is a tried and true practice that is not going anywhere. Consumers crave connection, and brands that foster a sense of community will thrive in 2025 by doing a few simple and intern friendly tasks. 

• Online Forums and Groups: Create spaces where your customers can share tips, stories, and experiences. Better yet, just pay attention to them and take notes. These are literally fireside chats with your existing and potential customers.

• User-Generated Content: Incorporate your audience into your content. From customer reviews to organic social media content you can then incorporate them into ads, email and PDP content that provides authenticity and credibility.

• Local Events: Host meet-ups, workshops, or pop-up shops to strengthen your brand’s presence in the real world. Pick a region or two and own it.

Community building isn’t just about marketing; it’s about creating a lifestyle that customers want to be part of and needs to be found in all of your customer touchpoints.

7. The Rise of Marketing Measurement Tools

In 2025, the emphasis on quantifying marketing effectiveness will grow, driven by tools like Marketing Mix Modeling (MMM) and platforms like Triple Whale, Northbeam and Prescient AI. What I like about the transition away from GA4 is:

• Advanced Attribution: Tools like MMM help brands allocate budgets effectively and quickly, by analyzing the impact of various marketing channels.

• Real-Time Insights: Platforms like Triple Whale provide real-time dashboards to monitor performance and make quick adjustments.

• ROI Transparency: These tools offer clear metrics, making it easier to justify marketing spend to stakeholders, especially your CFO.

Investing in these measurement tools can help brands make data-driven decisions, ensuring every dollar spent contributes to measurable outcomes. GA4 is a decent place to start your journey but not where to scale it.

9. Rebalancing Brand Marketing and Conversion Marketing

If you made it this far in the blog you have found the holy grail of 2025 - or at least from my POV. The tug-of-war between brand building and conversion-driven marketing is finally seeing a resolution. You just need to find it for your brand. In 2025, you need a more blanched approach when it comes to your short term and long term marketing KPIs. Some important areas to think about are:

• Long-Term Value: Brand marketing builds trust and loyalty, creating a foundation for sustained growth but hard to justify in the short term. Having the right executive team helps with this.

• Immediate Results: Conversion marketing delivers short-term wins by driving sales through targeted campaigns and your board members or the executive team love them, unfortunately.

• Integrated Strategies: Brands will need to align their marketing thought process, ensuring that brand messaging supports conversion tactics and vice versa. Focusing on MER vs ROAS is a slow transition but yet necessary.

Striking the right balance between these two approaches will be crucial for active lifestyle brands aiming for both immediate impact and long-term success in 2025.

2025 is shaping up to be a transformative year for us marketers. By embracing these trends, active lifestyle brands can not only keep pace with industry changes but also lead the way in innovation and consumer engagement because we know how to get creative with small budgets. The key is to stay agile, authentic, and aligned with your audience’s evolving expectations, and your company objectives, while knowing where and when to spend your budgets.

Wishing everyone a strong start to 2025.