The State of Marketing in 2024 and the Direction of 2025

As the year wraps up, we’re taking a moment to reflect on the state of marketing in 2024 and look ahead to the trends and innovations that will shape 2025. In this insightful episode, I’ll discuss the biggest shifts I’ve seen this year—from AI tools changing the game to the rise of hyper-personalisation—and predict where marketing is headed. Whether you’re a seasoned marketer or just starting out, this episode will inspire you to stay ahead of the curve.

Resources Mentioned:

• MailerLite for email marketing.

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Transcript

Hey. Welcome back to the New School of Marketing podcast. Before we dive into this episode, I would love to pay my respect and acknowledgements to the Palawa people of Lutruwita, who are the traditional owners of the land on which my business operates.

And I pay my respects to the eldest, past and present.

Alrighty. Welcome to one of the last episodes of the New School of Marketing podcast for this year.

As the year is drawing to a close, I thought it'd be the perfect time to actually reflect on what's been happening in marketing over the past 12 months and also to share some insights on where I see things heading in 2025.

And let's just say this year I feel like it's been full of surprises.

It's had some challenges, it's also had opportunities for growth.

I feel like it's like one of those years where it's like, oh, wow, I don't know, we've, we've had some really, really big changes, I feel, whether you're a seasoned marketer, whether you're a small business owner or maybe you're just getting started.

I hope that this episode is going to give you some insights into what worked in 2024 and what I think you might want to focus on in 2025 to sort of, you know, step your marketing up and keep up with the trends and the changes.

So let's dive in, let's kick things off by looking back at some of the biggest, I feel like, trends and biggest shifts that we've seen, especially in marketing this year.

And honestly, I have to start with this one right? AI. I feel like this year was all about AI tools like ChatGPT and all sorts of I IA driven platforms.

I feel like they've become mainstream. I feel like most people now use something like ChatGPT.

You might even have an AI twin. I started playing with this recently.

She doesn't sound like me. So there's still a little bit of a long way to go there.

But yeah, like AI is just changing our lives and businesses used AI to. I feel like a lot of them have done it well, like hyper personalized customer experiences.

I've personally used it to automate automate Things like automate time consuming tasks, but we can also use it to create content, which is also what I use things for. Like ChatGPT.

I've played with some, what is it called, art flow, make some images of myself. It's just, it's been a bit of an experiment right this year, but I feel like it's going to, it's going to get bigger.

And while some people were hesitant at first, including me, and I'm still hesitant about a whole lot of things, but I feel like those who embraced the tools have just gained a major competitive edge.

And like I said, I was resistant at first, but now that I've learned how to use some of these tools to my benefit.

Oh goodness, I don't even know how I survived without it.

Another thing is short form video like that, it's been around for a while but it's continued to dominate. So platforms like TikTok, Instagram, Reels, YouTube shorts, they literally solidified their position as a must have tool to get in front of audiences.

And I feel like YouTube explains it already. Like shorts, the focus is on bite sized content, but also like it has to be authentic. So authentic bite sized content that captures attention quickly because like I can see it in my children already, the attention span isn't quite there.

So what's the takeaway here?

One, it needs to be authentic. You don't need to be polished, you just need to show up and provide value.

It doesn't need to be a full production. That's why it's so great that we have these things like phones where we can just whip it out, you know, take a few short shots, stitch it together.

But it has to be authentic and people love that.

And another thing we've seen is the impact of data privacy regulations.

So we've seen platforms like Meta, Google, we've seen them to tighten up their the restrictions like stricter data privacy rules. And I know in a lot of countries and governments they are working on this as well and Meta and Google are, you know, paying attention to that.

So this has literally pushed businesses to rely more heavily on first party data and we've had to rethink how we think about ad targeting. I guess one of the things that I've had to really come to grips with, there's so many changes in that space.

We can't just like target everyone anymore. There's rules around regulations.

So whatever's happening behind the scenes in terms of algorithms and stuff like that, it is so important these days to build trust with customers so that we have that better chance of getting certain data because we want people on our email list and it's not as easy as it once was.

So building trust, coming up with new strategies to sort of work in this new landscape of all these new regulations or sharpened up, refined regulations.

Yeah, the trust factor is really, really important.

So as we reflect on 2024, I know, like nostalgic, right?

There's some key lessons that every marketer and business owner should take into 2025.

AI is one of those things. Keep working on it, keep experimenting with it, see how it can actually help your business.

But number one is, I would say diversification is key.

Relying on a single platform, whether it's like Instagram, Facebook or email, was kind of risky in 2024. And the businesses that really thrived were the ones that used a multi channel approach.

So you really want to be blending things like social media, email marketing, paid ads, in person connections, other platforms. Don't just focus on one, don't have all your eggs in one basket.

And I have seen this with quite a few businesses that relied very heavily on launching and they've been doing it like that for like 10 years. Like they would, you know, run these ads for a couple of weeks, grow their list massively and then have a launch at the back of that.

It worked for 10 years.

Things are changing. It needs to be like that multi channel approach and we can't just kind of like stop, start. It needs to be this layered. It's like an onion or good cake.

I like, I like layering cake more than onions.

So yeah, you really need to have that sort of multi channel approach. Doesn't mean that you have to be everywhere. But you've got to think about what tools can I use, what platforms can I use that can really work with each other and that I can do really well.

But we can't just focus on like a single platform and a single strategy.

And I have learned with a lot of clients that what worked before is not necessarily going to work right now. So keep testing, keep pivoting in a way reevaluating, because things are slowly, not even slowly, things are changing.

Another thing is the customer experience.

It's so, so important. And automation tools like chatbots, certain CRM platforms, they actually make it easier to streamline customer experiences. But the magic really happened when businesses combined automation with a human touch.

So yes, use it to make your business easier, but don't forget that human touch. And that human touch can be automated. Like it could be a video of you responding to something so yeah, customer experience is really, really important.

They want, they don't want to deal with a robot. They love automation. Trust me, your customers love automation because it makes their life easier too. They get answers quicker and things like that, but they still want that human connection and that human touch.

What else worked well or, you know, is another thing to sort of look at is authenticity. So authenticity over perfection.

Audiences want realness. They don't want like overly polished, salesy kind of content.

The businesses that really leaned into being authentic, storytelling, building a community, they really stood out.

So look at those people around you that are building communities that really do storytelling well and you can just see that they're authentic because that's the way forward.

So the main takeaway is that your marketing efforts should focus on delivering value and building relationships, not just selling.

So now let's shift gears and look ahead.

Nobody knows exactly what's coming, but I'm going to share my top predictions with you. So what's coming or what's on the horizon for 2025?

The first thing I think AI goes deeper. AI is going to go deeper, but the human creativity is going to be crucial.

So the tools will continue to evolve and it will keep helping businesses streamline their processes and potentially even predict trends. But don't let AI replace your unique voice and your unique creativity.

Use it as a tool, not as a crutch.

And I think I may have sometimes like leaned into this a little bit too much where I've gone into ChatGPT and gone, oh yeah, that's cool. And then I read it like three days later and go, oh, it's not really like there's that human element is missing.

So lesson to myself is, yes, use it as a tool, not as a crutch. And I'm going to just literally give myself a few days grace, look at it again and then go, ah, okay, we can do this a little bit better chat GPT and get it to write it again.

Another one I can see happening is the rise of, I'm going to dub it slow marketing.

There's been talk about this already, like it's not my term.

There's actually quite a little bit of buzz around, you know, slow marketing. And it's all about building meaningful relationships with your audience rather than focusing on quick wins. Like really have that deeper connection.

And that means that we need to invest in content that educates, that entertains and that inspires rather than just things that push sales.

I also think that first party data is going to become a non negotiable so with third party cookies becoming obsolete, 2025 will really be a year to kind of double down on building your email list.

Like I've been saying this for 10 years to be honest. Like we always need to be building our email list. It's so, so important. But it's becoming more and more important.

So we really need to double down on building your email list, collecting data directly from your audience.

So lead magnets, quizzes, webinars and like gated content, as in get content that people have to put in their data for, are going to be your best friends.

And my other prediction is that niche platforms will, I think grow in popularity.

And that doesn't mean that Meta and Google are going away, they aren't going anywhere. But I think that niche platforms and community based networks will see growth.

And that's like think, you know, forums, private membership sites, smaller apps to cater to specific audiences. I think they are going to grow in popularity. I personally have been using Slack a lot more this year than I probably have used Facebook groups to connect with people.

A lot of the times with my clients I use both Slack and Foxer.

It's just less noise. I don't have to go on a social media platform. So I think that is going to grow in terms of the marketing space as well.

So I want to leave you with some practical steps you can take to set yourself up for success in 2025.

Your first step is to look at your current strategy, give it an audit. What worked in 2024, what didn't work really just take some time to review your numbers, like look at all the metrics.

What does it tell you and where can you make improvements? Because if you don't know your starting point, you don't know what you can improve. You got to know, you know the state of, you know.

Yeah. What's happening before you can actually make improvements. So sit down, look at all the numbers. What do they tell you? Where you can make, where can you make improvements?

Then number two, diversify your channels. If you're relying too heavily on one platform, I want you to start exploring new ones.

Don't add heaps of new ones in one go because it gets overwhelming. But don't just rely on one platform. Could you add, for example, a podcast if you don't already have email marketing, make sure that make you make that your priority and use email sequences.

Or maybe now is the time to have video, like add a video strategy to your toolkit, whether that is YouTube, whether that is more heavily on reels, if you know, you're not already doing all the things on Instagram, really think about what can be another channel for you to drive growth to your business.

Number three is invest in automation and in tools. Literally make things easier for yourself with tools to help you streamline your workflow. And whether it is email marketing automation, whether it is like a CRM software or even simple scheduling tools, it's time to work smarter and not harder.

The last, I would say this the quarter, last quarter of this year, my main focus with local businesses because I'm a mentor for local businesses as well. Here in Tasmania, a lot of that focus has been on email marketing automation.

Like how can we make it easier when people put in inquiry, make it somewhat automated so they get like, you know, you either tell them where they get the information or you tell them, hey, thanks, I'll be in touch with you rather than they get nothing back.

And I'm pretty sure I've given this example before as well. If you get people to subscribe to your email list, make sure there is at least one email that acknowledges that they have subscribed.

I have subscribed two businesses here and not given anything. So my first thought is did it work?

Am I actually on the list? I still have yet to receive an email from them, so I still don't know if it actually worked. So use the tools. They are, they are literally built for you to make automations.

I will share my favorite email marketing software in the show notes. It is affordable actually, you can start for free if you have less than a thousand subscribers and you can build automations straight away.

So I will share that. It's Mailerlite. I will share my link in the show notes because honestly, hats off to it, I've used different ones over the past few years and I really love it.

So use automation.

And number four, focus on relationship, not just on reach. I honestly, I don't even care about reach, to be honest.

The bigger your reaches doesn't mean that you know, the better your business is. No, sometimes actually a smaller audience is better. So in chase, instead of chasing those big numbers, really focus on building a loyal and engaged audience.

People that know you, like you and trust you. I would rather have 100 people that are like, you know, loyal and just always there than a thousand that I don't know.

You know, they just kind of go awol. So really focus on relationships, not just rich.

As we wrap up 2024, I want to say thank you for being a part of the new school of marketing podcast community.

This year has literally been about navigating change, about embracing new tools, about finding better ways to connect with our audiences.

And I think some of that will continue into the new year.

And my hope for you in 2025 is that you'll continue to show up, that you experiment and that you actually find joy in your marketing journey. I know it's not always easy.

I have my frustrations too, especially when, you know, once again, we have to find something else.

Sometimes I'm a little bit jealous of my brother who's in accounting. Numbers don't really change. They either add up or they don't.

So hopefully you actually do find some joy in your marketing journey. Don't be afraid to try new things. And remember, marketing is about building relationships, not just making sales.

Wishing you all a successful and inspiring 2025.

I hope that you found this episode helpful again.

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I'm a marketing strategist with over 10 years of experience in ads and that means you don't have to navigate ads alone.

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Until next time. Take care and market your business every day.