5 simple tips to ensure 2025 is the year you do marketing like you mean it

New year. New start. New promises. We might not be the greatest fans of New Year’s Resolutions, but we can’t deny it’s a great opportunity to really take stock of your marketing and ask the hard question of whether your business really achieved what it wanted in 2024. And if it didn’t, what can you do differently in 2025?

And no, this isn’t about setting unrealistic goals that will never be achieved (give up alcohol, who are we kidding?!), but about checking you’ve got the basics in place to make your marketing as effective as possible.

So, without further ado, here are our top 5 simple tips to make sure you do marketing like you mean it in 2025.

1. Have a marketing plan

   If you do nothing else in 2025, just make sure you have a marketing plan in place. Yes, we know this is very much marketing 101, but research shows two thirds of SMEs don’t have a marketing plan and are simply executing “random acts of marketing”.

And while we do understand why companies don’t have one (lack of time; lack of money; lack of skills), without a plan, how do you know what to do when? How do you know whether last week’s “random act of marketing” had any tangible impact? How do you know if all that money you put into that exciting marketing idea you executed on the spur of the moment actually delivered an acceptable ROI? How do you ensure everything that is put out there, from sales materials to social media posts, from advertising campaigns to blog posts, is on brand and on message?

Yes, we know it takes effort to put a plan in place, but the old adage ‘fail to plan, plan to fail’ couldn’t be more true when it comes to marketing.  After all, a marketing plan isn’t simply about deciding what marketing activities you do. It’s about ensuring every marketing activity is aligned with the overall strategic objectives of the company. It’s about ensuring focus and consistency and helping you plan and manage your resources effectively. Above all, it’s about ensuring the right activity takes place, at the right time, through the right channels to the right target audience.

And if you really don’t know where to start, book one of our one day marketing workshops. It will cover everything you need to develop a comprehensive marketing strategy for your brand or campaign as well as firming up on the potential marketing tactics. Drop us a line to find out more about how a workshop could benefit your business.

2. Remember the bigger picture

   While “random acts of marketing” or launching a new campaign can be undeniably exciting, always, always remember the bigger picture. Marketing is, and never should be, a one-off activity, so before you even think about congratulating yourself on a fantastic launch, what do you need to do next? How are you going to use the campaign analysis to enhance and improve the campaign? How are you going to keep the momentum going and reach a broader audience over and above the early adopters? How are you going to nurture relationships and foster loyalty with new customers?

And when we say bigger picture, we don’t just mean the days or weeks afterwards, but the months, and in some cases, even the years.

Which again nicely underlines why having a marketing plan in place is so crucial. After all, do you really think all the “random acts of marketing” done by Specsavers i.e., from their Oscars roasting to the sublime Gavin and Stacey post on Christmas day(!) is actually random and just purely reactive? Or is it simply part of their wider marketing strategy?  A perfect example of how “bigger picture thinking” and marketing plans go hand in hand.

3. Check your marketing agency is still right for you

A bit like changing your energy supplier, changing marketing agency can feel like more hassle than it’s worth, and sometimes it is a case of the devil you know. But if you have had any niggles in 2024 (or even if you haven’t), it’s worth taking stock and ensuring your agency is still meeting your needs.

If things have changed, take a look at why. Is the agency being a bit less responsive than in the past, or are you as the client, guilty of leaving everything to the last minute? If the creative has become a bit meh, is it them being unimaginative or a case of you not briefing properly? (Our briefing workshop can help with that!) Do you feel like you are no longer a valued client? There could be something going on within the company such as staff changes or restructuring which is causing a drop in client focus.   In all cases, before jumping ship, it’s worth having a chat with them to discuss any concerns and to see how you can both work better together.

Oh, and if you do decide to find a new agency, we’ve put together a handy list of 8 questions you should definitely ask any possible contenders.

4. Think outside the budget box

Just like having a marketing plan you need to have a marketing budget, but while it might sound counter-intuitive, don’t let that restrict you. Yes, obviously you shouldn’t spend all your budget on one campaign or one activity, but don’t say no to something you really want to do, just because you can’t afford to do it immediately.

Remember, marketing activity doesn’t all need to be done at once, and in some cases it’s better if it’s spread out over a longer period of time. This allows you time to assess whether the marketing activity you are doing now is effective and worth continuing or whether pivoting to other marketing tactics would be a better option.

And even if that isn’t the case having, yep you guessed it, a good old marketing plan in place, means you can potentially schedule that activity for the future rather than simply dismissing it out of hand.

5. Ensure alignment across all stakeholders

And finally, probably the most important thing to check is that everyone is aligned with the company’s marketing objectives. They might not like the creative (there is always one!), but if they understand it’s on message, on brand and will successfully meet the company’s overarching goals to deliver that all-important ROI, they are much more likely to be supportive.

And that’s exactly why our workshops are so successful. By involving key stakeholders in the process from the beginning, it ensures all goals and expectations are aligned. The result: creative everyone is happy with. Yes, really!

Hopefully, that has given you some clear and simple ideas for how to improve your marketing in 2025. And if you do feel your company or brand needs a little bit of help getting there, book one of our workshops. We would love to make 2025 the year you really do marketing like you mean it.

Good luck and Happy New Year!