I’m a regular attendee of the Girls In Marketing webinars, which I absolutely love and have always found useful to grow my marketing knowledge. One recent webinar I attended was about recent marketing updates, and here I will be sharing my key takeaways, which I think will be useful for anyone else working or interested in the field of marketing.
The last few months have brought some big changes in marketing, which is no surprise! Something else that we are not surprised to see is another Google update. The recent update has been cleaning up search results, tackling mostly spam. Social platforms are also changing how engagement is measured, and AI continues to reshape how people find and consume information.
Here are my top takeaways for marketers this quarter and what you can do about it:
1. Google’s August 2025 Spam Update
Google’s spam update was one of its biggest clean-ups in years. The goal was to reduce spam and reward quality content. Low-value pages, repeated content, and any old-school SEO tricks are being pushed out of search results.
Sites that used to rely on keyword stuffing or bulk content are seeing much less traffic.
What you can do:
- Review your website and update older pages/content
- Make sure everything on your site is still relevant and accurate
- Avoid any tactic that feels forced or unnatural (black hat tactics especially)
- Focus on quality and trust by showing experience and real expertise
High-quality, useful content can still perform well if it’s clear and written with purpose.
2. The Zero-Click Search Era
More people are getting their answers directly from AI or search summaries without clicking on a website. This change in behaviour has created what many call a ‘zero-click environment’.
It doesn’t mean users have stopped searching; it means that they’re just getting what they need faster, without having to click. To stay visible, brands now need to write in a way that works for both humans and machines.
How to adapt:
- Use headings that clearly answer common questions
- Keep your opening lines short and factual
- Add an FAQ or How To schema so Google can recognise your structure
- Keep your tone natural. Even if AI reads your content, people remember how it made them feel
3. Email Marketing Benchmarks Have Shifted
Email data looks different now. Open rates are less reliable because of privacy tools and smart inbox previews. The real indicators of success are clicks and conversions.
AI can help you write faster, but personalisation still wins. Messages that feel like they were written for one person perform far better than generic ones.
What to focus on:
- Track clicks and replies more than opens
- Write shorter, personalised and more relevant emails
- Use AI for speed, not for tone. Keep your brand voice consistent
Personal and helpful emails build trust and long-term engagement.
4. Social Media Updates
- Instagram is still growing rapidly, and in the EU it is expanding at about 10% the rate of Facebook
- Short videos, shopping features, and strong visuals are keeping users highly engaged
- LinkedIn has tightened its controls to reduce fake comments and empty engagement
- The number of users in the EU is up by 5%
- People who post regularly are seeing the most results because the algorithm still rewards consistency
- Now the second most-visited website in the United States
- Has become a major source of discussions and recommendations for niche communities and brand research
Meta
- In November, Meta will merge data from different performance measures into one single “views” metric. This change will simplify how results are tracked across its apps
Google Discover
- Google has started showing creator posts from social platforms in its Discover feed.
- Viewers will soon be able to follow creators directly through topic hubs. The rollout is happening over the next few weeks and will open new ways for brands to reach audiences through Google surfaces
What Fellow Marketers Should Do This Quarter
- Review old content and refresh anything outdated or duplicated.
- When creating content, write for both people and AI with clear structure and concise answers.
- Measure engagement, not vanity metrics. Track conversions instead of impressions.
- Keep every message personal, whether it’s an email, a post, or a reply.
- Stay adaptable because, as you may already know, marketing is always changing!
