The Online Business Outlook for Trinidad & Tobago in 2025

As Trinidad and Tobago limps into 2025, the digital landscape is actually on a track of continued and steady growth. Notwithstanding the political, economic and social turmoil still unfolding with the SOE, elections around the corner, and what not, which is depressing to say the least, we Trinis know we can’t ‘hole we head an bawl’, even though many citizens are also actually doing just that.

2024 was another banner year in the online space. Forex and other economic issues aside, local businesses invested heavily in social media, with particular emphasis on video, especially those of raw-form, less polished productions, which had very strong traction. In the process, many local businesses have inadvertently branded themselves, thereby setting up for the long term, which is amazing, as there is nary a marketing strategy to detect, and yet, it’s working; so it’s something we should all analyze and learn from. Businesses paid less attention to their online presence via websites, both corporate and e-commerce, and seemed to focus on active marketing using social media, with passive marketing via strong websites and online stores, taking a back seat.

Businesses are still marching on though; Forward Multimedia had a full portfolio of new projects in 2024 while several competitors were advertising for new business which might be as a result of the many smaller web design and online marketing companies/individuals entering the space. We still are one of the largest. if not the largest, web and digital agencies in T&T and have continued to grow organically without paid advertising for over a decade, and that’s its own lesson in passive marketing right there.

As businesses shift more focus online, local marketing strategies are evolving to align with global trends while remaining sensitive to our local market dynamics. Unfortunately, there isn’t as much focus on robust corporate sites and online stores when it comes to inbound marketing as we would like. Our own clients don’t ask about metrics like visitor traffic and search ranking, but instead focus on sales via social media posts and paid ads.

The trend of the year is of course AI and everyone is obviously embracing it as they should be. We at Forward Multimedia plan to invest heavily in all tools and will incorporate into our clients’ campaigns. Like with any new tool, we have to be smart and judicious with its use, and encourage you to do so as well.

Platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook remain pivotal in online marketing in T&T. Short, engaging video content is outperforming static posts in terms of reach and engagement, so businesses are investing heavily in reels, stories, and all manner of videos to connect with audiences. It’s an accepted fact that Facebook’s organic reach is abysmal. Only businesses that have thousands of followers have a better chance of organic reach and engagement, and also have a better performance with static posts relative to video. Everyone else know that they simply have to pay, or go to TikTok which has a much greater organic reach.

In 2025 businesses just have to experiment and monitor the numbers to see what content and channel works best for them.

Short form video/reels are the name of the game this year, same as they were last year. Video content will continue to be king and the more creative, the better. As we learnt from the Car Wars, i.e. the foreign-used car dealership online promotion wars, almost anything goes to grab attention, and we should expect similar across the board in all industries. Still, some semblance of a marketing and branding strategy need be present somewhere in there, even as an afterthought, so at lest resist the natural Trini urge and try.

General, micro, and niche influencers with a strong following in Trinidad & Tobago are being increasingly used to connect with audiences, offering an authentic appeal in some cases and sellout appeal in others— when last did any food establishment get a bad review? Regardless, use of our local influencers should and will always be on the table, as it doesn’t matter what you like, it’s what your market likes… and responds to. We seem to have a nice wide range of popular influencers in T&T; off the bat, every Trini can name at least a few they know or follow.

Tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, Canva etc. are enabling businesses to produce AI-generated video and image content to ostensibly reduce production costs while maintaining creativity. What it primarily does is save time and allows the lesser-skilled to who are not inclined to pay for such services to execute some useful marketing. Most would be using the free versions and these certainly don’t hurt.

The use of AI in marketing in 2025 is a whole article by itself, and that article is coming soon after this one so look out for it.

A good example would be national brands like Standards and Courts who have come out swinging against each other with professional video productions as part of their own online campaigns. All businesses, big and small, accept the power and trend of online marketing, especially social media. Bigger businesses and national brands have larger marketing budgets and actual marketing professionals/agencies to develop and implement marketing strategies, so the scale and quality of productions are much higher.

The digital outlook for businesses in Trinidad and Tobago in 2025 is promising despite the economic and political climate, For businesses to thrive, it will be essential to embrace these emerging trends while addressing local challenges, which, unfortunately, doesn’t seem to have an end in sight. By combining innovative strategies with localized content, companies in Trinidad & Tobago can solidify their position in the digital economy, ensuring a future that is both digitally vibrant and economically inclusive.

Forward Multimedia is also fortifying and leveling up our services as a digital agency, and investing in the tools and resources to make yours and our digital presence in 2025 thrive.