2025 will be here before you know it. What’s your plan for growth?

Savvy business leaders are turning their attention to brand marketing.

Brand marketing is everything that communicates what you do, why you do it, who you do it for, and why your way is best. It helps potential customers understand when they need you and brings previous customers back so you can deepen those relationships, leading to higher Lifetime Customer Value.

Brand marketing focuses on the promised experience others will get from you no matter which offering they purchase. For service-based businesses, brand marketing is even more important: It helps establish the trust people need before they work with you.

Brand marketing is always important. But 2025 will be pivotal.

Here’s why:

1. The Post-COVID Slump Is Over …

Over the second half of 2024, inflation has been up and consumer confidence has been down. Now, there are a few hopeful signs on the horizon. Interest rates are down. Inflation is slowing. A few things in your local grocery store are starting to get more affordable. And, of course, the stock market is nudging higher.

If the election taught us anything, it’s that markers like the stock market don’t always translate to the reality your customers are feeling. Still, plenty of industries are shaking off the doldrums and gearing up. Real estate, healthcare, manufacturing, construction, finance – these and more are ready to rebound.

On January 1, it’s game on.

Economic troubles don’t last forever – but if you cut back on marketing when times were tough, you might end up at the back of the pack when it’s time to enjoy the recovery. No matter what tough choices you had to make to get through the pandemic, brand marketing can help you bounce back in 2025.

2. … And So Is the Election

One reason many leaders have hesitated on brand marketing is this:

The presidential election sucks all the air out of the room.

In 2016, the presidential election season ran 600 days – 82% of the way to two solid years. It might blow your mind to find out that things aren’t like that everywhere. To give just one example, the official election season for the United Kingdom is just 25 working days, about five weeks. That’s about 4% of ours.

No wonder everyone’s exhausted.

And if your business happens to operate in a swing state, you know things are even worse. Odds are good that many of your customers are shell-shocked after receiving hundreds of donation calls and thousands of mailers. They’ve probably checked out for the rest of this year – maybe looking forward to some boozy eggnog.

But they’ll be ready to pay attention to you soon.

Will your brand be there to welcome them?

3. Old Brand Marketing Assumptions Might Be Wrong

A lot has changed since 2020, but plenty of marketing advice is still based on outdated rules.

Take social media, for example.

According to the old rules, Twitter is the place to be to reach your customers online. But that may be changing.

Twitter is in the middle of a mass exodus, and it’s not just because of politics. Bots are running amok on the platform, clogging it up with AI-generated junk. Where will people go next? While Bluesky is one answer, it doesn’t tell you the whole story – that’s a job for your marketing agency partner.

Let’s look at another big shift:

It wasn’t so long ago when it was safe to assume that if you were running a service-oriented business, you weren’t going to find your future customers on TikTok. The reason why is obvious: If you’re an orthodontist, you can’t market to teens between rounds of Fortnite – you need to reach their parents, and they weren’t on there.

But that’s changing.

According to recent statistics, about 43% of TikTok’s user base are aged 20 to 39, while just over 20% are aged 40-49. That means your customers are on TikTok. And on top of that, 71.2% of TikTok Shop users have bought something after seeing it in their feed. So, TikTok drives buyer behavior, too.

It’s time to challenge your assumptions and find new opportunities that will make your brand marketing even better. To do that efficiently and effectively, many savvy business owners will work with a marketing agency. No matter which path you choose, the time to act is right now.

4. Your Brand Assets Need a Refresh

If most of your brand assets are from 2020 and before, you probably need a refresh.

The biggest example? Your website.

In 2020, many websites weren’t even mobile-friendly. These days, you need a mobile-responsive website to have a chance of getting found. A truly responsive website is one that adjusts its layout on the fly to fit with users’ displays and inputs. That usually means a totally different “look and feel” between desktop and mobile.

As of right now, about 63% of online traffic comes from mobile.

And that general trend is only going up.

Getting behind it is crucial to keeping your brand relevant.

5. You’re Probably Not Doing Enough Brand Marketing

Even in the best of times, most businesses don’t invest enough in brand marketing.

And these haven’t been the best of times.

By and large, businesses should be spending 5% to 7% of gross on their marketing. Within that figure, the right amount for brand marketing varies by your goals. Brand marketing can coexist with product marketing, but it needs to be consistent, aligned with your strategic objectives, and focused on your unique audience.

Working with a marketing agency is a good way to square the circle. If you don’t have a strategic marketing plan in place, your agency partners can help you clarify your objectives and the best way to get there. That way, it’s easy to “reality check” your marketing campaigns and correct course as needed.

6. It’s Easier Than Ever to Do Brand Marketing Right

All of this might make brand marketing look like a tall order.

But nothing could be further from the truth – with the appropriate resources.

Collaborate with the right marketing agency and it’s easier than ever to get on the road with compelling, customer-centered brand marketing. A good marketing agency combines strategy and execution, bringing everything you need to the table. You don’t have to worry about training, technology, and all the rest.

Opportunity is coming in 2025, and time is of the essence. Savvy business leaders understand that recruiting a marketing director and building an internal team can take far longer than 12 months. Likewise, curating a team of freelancers can be like herding cats … and you’ll be missing out on a cohesive strategic vision.

He who hesitates is lost, so call the marketing agency that can stand up your brand marketing fast. Backed by years of experience, New York Ave will position your brand to flourish in 2025. Contact us to find out more.