2025 Planning Should Always Include Marketing Strategy
As 2024 enters its final months, many businesses are focused on wrapping up the year, doing everything they can to hit their revenue numbers. Often times strategic planning—particularly in marketing—can get deprioritized. Unfortunately, doing so will set you on your heels at the beginning of 2025. Marketing is a profession where we are expected to be able to be strategic, creative and figure out how to help drive revenue all while have our fingers on the pulse for absolutely all new trends and be able to shift on a dime (see my full blog post on the complexities of marketing here).
While the expectations around this tap-dancery are ludicrous, it is so much easier to manage if the strategic plan is in place. Essentially, being on your toes now will allow Marketing to be nimble when necessary while keeping an eye toward the larger organizational goals. That is why now is the perfect time to start planning your 2025 marketing strategy. Below are a few more specific reasons why:
1. Stay Ahead of the Competition
In a competitive market, the early bird catches the worm. By starting your 2025 marketing strategy now, you gain a significant advantage over competitors who may wait until the last minute - or not even start thinking about 2025 until...well...2025. Early planning now allows you to anticipate market trends, understand shifts in consumer behavior, and position your brand accordingly. A proactive approach enables you to enter the new year with a clear direction, ready to run, while others scramble to catch up - and often aren't ready until the middle to end of Q1.
2. Adapt to Emerging Trends
Marketing is constantly evolving. What worked a year ago may not be effective tomorrow. Starting your 2025 strategy now gives you the time to research and understand emerging trends. Whether it’s the rise of AI in customer engagement, shifts in social media usage (see this and this), or new regulations affecting digital advertising, early planning allows you to incorporate these elements into your strategy. By staying ahead of trends, you ensure your marketing efforts remain relevant and impactful.
3. Budget More Effectively
Budgeting is a critical aspect of any marketing strategy. When you start planning early, you can allocate resources more effectively, ensuring that you have the funds—and staffing—necessary to execute your vision. Early planning allows you to identify potential financial constraints, explore cost-saving measures, and start prioritizing initiatives to fit within those financial constraints. Additionally, a well-planned budget ensures that you can make strategic investments in areas that will yield the highest return.
4. Set Clear, Measurable Goals
A successful marketing strategy is built on clear, measurable goals. It helps to keep everyone focused on what marketing should and should not be trying to achieve. By beginning your planning process now, you give yourself ample time to define what success looks like for your business in 2025. This, in turn, allows you to align your marketing efforts with broader business objectives, ensuring that every campaign, promotion, and initiative contributes to your long-term vision.
Like I always say, marketing plans and initiatives should always be connected to the business goals and any business issues you're trying to solve for. If they aren't, your KPIs and associated marketing efforts will likely not perform how you envisioned, wasting budget dollars. But if you set them against the business goals at the beginning and then check in frequently to see if you are meeting those goals, you can adjust or amplify more effectively.
5. Build Stronger Partnerships
Marketing success often depends on strong partnerships—whether with influencers, media outlets, or technology providers. Starting your 2025 strategy today allows you to identify and cultivate these relationships well in advance. Early engagement with partners means you can negotiate better terms, co-create content, and align your efforts for maximum impact. Strong partnerships take time to build, and early planning ensures you’re not rushing the process which often times dilutes the potential results. In a world where creators and influencers are increasingly driving the bus, having those relationships locked in place early can significantly benefit your business.
6. Mitigate Risks
Every strategy comes with risks, be it in marketing or any other function in an organization. In a marketing strategy it could be changes in consumer preferences, economic downturns, a trend to capitalize on or unexpected competition. By planning your 2025 marketing strategy now, you can conduct a thorough risk assessment and develop those backup plans. Being able to see the big picture and plan for ways to avoid risk makes it that much easier to succeed. Knowing the risks and having backup plans A, B, C and D in place allows you to pivot your strategy when necessary, without creating the scramble effect that puts everyone on their heels.
7. Maximize Creativity
Creativity is the cornerstone of effective marketing. However, it hasn't been as potent as it once was (see my blog post about why here). While Marketing has a reputation of being able to turn everything around on a dime, the reality is that true creativity thrives when there’s time to brainstorm, experiment, and refine ideas. Starting your 2025 marketing strategy today gives your team the space to think outside the box, test new concepts, and develop innovative campaigns. Early planning means you’re not pressured by tight deadlines, allowing for a more thoughtful and creative approach to your marketing efforts.
8. Enhance Team Collaboration
Effective marketing requires collaboration across departments, from sales and product development to customer service and finance. Starting your 2025 strategy early allows you to bring all relevant stakeholders into the planning process, fostering a sense of ownership and alignment. Early collaboration ensures that everyone is on the same page, working towards shared goals, and contributing their unique insights to the strategy.
After all, there is nothing worse than the marketing team spending insane hours and money creating the perfect campaign for a new product to support the sales team and that sales team not knowing about it or being prepared to support it. This also goes back to what I was saying in #4 above about ensuring marketing is aligned to business objectives. If all parties across the organization know what's happening and their objectives are also aligned to the same initiatives, everyone—particularly your customers—win. Which leads me to the next point...
9. Improve Customer Experience
Today’s consumers expect personalized, seamless experiences across all touchpoints. Early planning allows you to develop a customer-centric marketing strategy that prioritizes the needs and preferences of your target audience. By starting now, you can map out the customer journey, identify pain points, and create a strategy that enhances the overall experience. A well-planned approach to customer engagement across the entire organization (not just marketing) will help you build stronger relationships and drive long-term loyalty.
10. Achieve Long-Term Success
Ultimately, the goal of any marketing strategy is to drive long-term business success. By starting your 2025 marketing strategy today, you’re setting your business up for sustained growth and profitability. Early planning allows you to take a holistic view of your marketing efforts, ensuring that each element of your strategy contributes to your long-term vision. With a clear roadmap in place, you can navigate the challenges and opportunities of 2025 with confidence.
Conclusion
Starting your 2025 marketing strategy today is not just about getting ahead; it’s about ensuring your business is prepared to thrive in a rapidly changing environment. Early planning allows you to stay competitive, adapt to trends, and build a strategy that drives long-term success. So, as you finalize your 2024 goals, take the time to look ahead and start planning for 2025. Your future self—and your business—will thank you.
Let's Connect
Like what you read here? Considering how it might apply to your own business? Then let’s connect and get started on your 2025 strategic planning today.
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