Don’t wait for January: Kick-start your 2025 marketing plan now

Can you believe we’re just three months away from a new year? Every year, I find myself saying, “How quickly has this year flown by?” As a business owner, I’m sure you’re focused on that final push to hit your sales targets. But while wrapping up the year strong is important, so too is starting to plan for the next one – especially when it comes to your marketing.

From experience, the last few months of the year fly by, and December often gets swallowed up by the festive season. That’s why I always suggest getting started on your marketing planning NOW. If you want a plan that’s well thought out and actually delivers results, it’s best to begin sooner rather than later.

To kick things off, here are six key points to keep in mind as you start planning your 2025 marketing:

1. It’s not just about the numbers: We often get caught up in sales forecasts and budgets, but focusing solely on the numbers can be misleading. Sales projections are useful, but they’re just numbers. What really drives those numbers is a solid marketing plan. Your forecasts need to be backed up by well-planned marketing activities. Think of your numbers as targets, but remember, it’s the strategies and actions that get you to the finish line.

• Take a look back to leap forward: Before you dive into planning for 2025, review how your marketing performed this year – what’s worked, what hasn’t? If you’ve been tracking your results, great! Use data from your Google Analytics, social media platforms, and email marketing systems for example to help you make informed decisions. If you haven’t set up tracking tools yet, now’s the time to start.

• Set clear objectives:  Having specific goals is so important. Rather than a broad target like “increase sales”, set specific (but realistic) objectives. For example, you might want to raise your social media engagement by 20%, drive 30% more traffic to your website, generate 50 new leads per month through email marketing, or boost sales by 15%. These are clear, actionable goals that provide a detailed roadmap. They will make it easier for you to track your progress, stay focused, and adjust your strategy as needed.

• Understand your audience: Knowing your audience is key to effective marketing planning. Why? Because your audience is not ‘everyone’, and your messages shouldn’t be a ‘one-size-fits-all’. Understand their pain points, how you solve them, and what sets you apart from your competitors. Having a clear understanding of who your audience is helps you choose the right channels (and remember, you need to be on multiple channels) and craft messages that resonate with them.

• Plan for flexibility: This is more important than ever. The business world is constantly changing. While having a detailed marketing plan is great, you also need to build in flexibility. Unexpected events, new trends, and shifts in consumer behaviour can pop up at any time. Just think about recent events like the COVID-19 pandemic and political changes such as Brexit, wars, cost of living crisis, change of government to name but a few. By keeping your plan adaptable, you can pivot quickly and capitalise on new opportunities as they arise.

• Keep your marketing consistent: In times of economic uncertainty, marketing budgets are often among the first to be cut. But don’t make this costly mistake (please)! Instead, refine your budget and focus on selecting channels that offer the best return on investment. Staying active in marketing – by investing in the right places – helps you maintain visibility and stay connected with your audience, ensuring you’re in a strong position for when economic confidence picks up and resume your normal levels of marketing spend.

Starting your marketing planning now will give you a head start and ensure you’re not scrambling at the last minute.