Core marketing values should remain key anchor to your strategy in the face of digital dust storm
While the digital dust storm rages on, the truth remains clear; the best marketing still starts with a clear understanding of your audience.
Last week marked the halfway point of 2025 and it’s fair to say it’s been a whirlwind six months in the digital marketing world. Daily feature rollouts, the explosion of AI tools, and what feels like an identity crisis in SEO have left many teams spinning. But while the digital dust storm rages on, the truth remains clear; the best marketing still starts with a clear understanding of your audience.
At Perceptive Communicators, we support clients across the built environment, science, technology and leisure sectors to cut through the noise with impactful content and campaigns that deliver real commercial results. That’s our anchor, and it’s never been more important.
In recent months alone, we’ve helped deliver a sell-out audience of over 2,500 people for a world-leading quantum sector event, using a highly tailored LinkedIn campaign targeting nine distinct audience segments - from healthcare and finance to telecoms and AI. We ensured the right message reached the right people and the result was full registration weeks ahead of schedule.
In a separate campaign, a strategic Meta and Google advertising push helped drive £9 million in home sales for one of Scotland’s biggest housebuilders. This wasn’t just about serving up ads, it was about understanding buyer behaviour and tailoring content to what really resonated with them.
Of course, AI played a part. Meta’s Advantage+ and Google’s Performance Max helped amplify what was working, using machine learning to optimise placements, creatives and formats. But let’s be clear, automation alone doesn’t deliver impact. These tools are only as powerful as the thinking and content behind them. Strategy still matters. Creativity still matters. And perhaps more than ever, audience insight is the true differentiator.
That’s particularly important as AI starts to reshape how people find information. With 67% of organisations worldwide now using Large Language Models like Gemini and ChatGPT, traditional SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is being rapidly rewritten. We’re seeing the rise of AI-powered summaries, new ranking systems, zero-click searches and a flurry of new acronyms: SGE (Search Generative Experience), AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation), GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation) and AISO (AI-in-Search Optimisation).
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed. But here’s the constant: as long as people search for information before making decisions, visibility will still matter. SEO isn’t dead - it’s evolving. And today’s optimisation goes far beyond websites.
Social media posts, press releases, email marketing, blog posts and newsletters play an increasing role in discoverability. That’s why we take a holistic view at Perceptive. We ensure keywords and messaging are embedded into all communications, increasing visibility for our clients.
One recent development reinforces this point. From 10th July, Instagram has confirmed that public photos and videos from professional accounts will be automatically indexed on Google. That’s a significant shift. Posts that were once purely engagement-driven will now need to be optimised for search too. Visibility strategies are expanding - and quickly.
At Perceptive, we’re embracing these changes, but not blindly. We’re not chasing the latest algorithm tweak or relying on AI tools to do all the heavy lifting. Our focus remains on delivering measurable and cost-effective results that help clients meet their commercial goals.
That’s what great marketing is really about; connecting the right message with the right person at the right time - whether that happens to be through a LinkedIn ad, a blog post or a simple Google search. In a world of ever-faster technology, the fundamentals still win. Good marketing isn’t just about the tools. It’s about people.
Mike Christoforou is Social & Digital Director at Perceptive Communicators
