Having a strong marketing strategy foundation is important for every business. As you’re planning your 2025 marketing campaigns and promotions, many factors need to be considered. Balancing budgets, planning seasonal needs, and managing capacity can make it hard for creativity to flow. To combat this friction, it’s important to take a step back and look at the big picture, assess new opportunities, and create a strategy for the coming year to guide you. Here are a few ideas to consider:
📆 Community Events
Are there annual community festivals or events your business can get involved with or host? Event sponsorship and presence are great ways to engage with your local community.
🤝 Collaboration with Other Local Businesses and Organizations
What other businesses do your customers frequent and favor? Are there opportunities for collaboration on events, special promotions, or referral incentives? Networking with the other retailers in your area can be a fruitful avenue.
❄️ Major Holidays and Seasonal Trends
Take note of major holidays, issue/cause awareness days/weeks/months that your customers care about, and seasonal trends too. Not every holiday or trend deserves recognition in your marketing efforts, but they can make for great inspiration and catalysts for campaigns.
🎯 Target Market Special Interests
What do your customers get most excited about? Build campaigns and events focused around these special interests to connect more deeply with your customers. You can create special in-store displays or designated collections on your website to cater to more niche markets within your customer base.
📱Try New Platforms
What new marketing platforms are worth exploring this year? Do you want to commit to a year of building your business’ TikTok account? Or starting a podcast? What about creating an app? Annual planning is a great time to decide which new platforms are prioritized for the year to come. Define your goals and processes now for a more successful 2025.
Does your business need marketing insight?
Our Ask Us First program provides free basic business and marketing advice to MRA members.