Tips for Building an Effective Marketing Strategy for 2025 for your Business or Nonprofit

Author:  Risa B. Hoag, President of GMG Public Relations, Inc., www.gmgpr.com. 

Okay, it's time for those New Year's resolutions! Not the ones about losing weight and getting in shape, but the ones about building your business. Building a strong marketing strategy for 2025 requires a blend of traditional and digital tactics, creative storytelling, and data-driven decision-making. To remain competitive and reach your target audience effectively, it’s crucial to incorporate elements of public relations, social media, and print and online marketing into a cohesive plan. But before you begin planning, think about your budget. I am asked all the time, "How much should we spend on marketing?" While there are some guidelines available through the SBA and various surveys that show anywhere from 1.5% - 24% or revenue being spent on marketing, there aren't any 'hard and fast' rules. But this article breaks down a lot of the ways to look at your budgeting. 

Based on my decades of experience, I recommend companies plan to spend at least 5% of their gross revenues. However, it is generally recommended that new businesses spend between 25% and 35% of their total first-year budget on marketing, established and growing businesses 12% - 18%, and well-established businesses between 3 - 5%.

Also consider the level of competition you have, is there a new competitor breathing down your neck, or are you ramping up to launch a new product or service?

Also remember to include all the things that go into your marketing budget: advertising is the easy one to consider, but what about the cost of joining networking and business development organizations? Supporting non-profits by sponsoring an event can be an excellent marketing opportunity. Do you need a new website this year? There are many 'hidden' marketing opportunities and costs that you should consider and include in your marketing budget.

Obviously, the more you spend wisely on marketing, the greater investment you will be making in your business growth. So think long and hard about this gross number and then divide it by 12 to get your monthly spend. There may be months you spend more especially if your business is seasonal, but dividing it by 12 will give you a good basis from which to plan out your marketing for the year.

It is important to remember that your budget may not allow you to implement all of these strategies, in addition, you may find greater success with one vehicle over another and decide to invest heavily in one area. Tracking and understanding ROI is critical to adjusting your budget over time and planning next steps.

Conduct a quarterly review with your marketing advisor, accountant, and your team to evaluate results and make changes if necessary for the following quarter. Lastly, don't forget that marketing efforts can take time to show results. So don't jump to abandon one effort too quickly without giving it a fair shot. It takes time to build a brand, establish a reputation, and grow your business. I believe the most important element of any marketing plan is consistency over time.

Below are additional tips for marketing your business.

1. Define Your Goals and Target Audience

Before diving into tactics, clarify what you want to achieve. Are you focused on increasing brand awareness, driving sales, or improving customer loyalty? Your goals will shape your strategy and determine which channels to prioritize. Don't forget to be specific when setting your goals. If you want to 'increase sales,' set a goal of increasing them by 10% or 20%. That way you can quantify your success as you go through the year. If your goal is customer loyalty and repeat sales, how will you determine that?

Next, identify your target audience. I know this sounds basic, but I so often hear, "I want everyone to buy my product." While that may be true, it's not realistic. You likely have an ideal customer, for example: moms of toddlers, CEOs of family-owned businesses, homeowners with income levels of $150,000 or more, etc. Developing a detailed buyer persona (and yes you can identify a few) that outlines demographics, interests, and behaviors will help you fine-tune your messaging and identify the most effective platforms to reach them. You would be amazed at how many business owners skip this important step!

2. Public Relations: Building Trust and Visibility

Public relations is a cornerstone of any successful marketing strategy. I am not just saying this because it is 50% of our business (advertising support makes up the other 50%) but because it is true. People still want to read authentic stories that resonate with their core values and relate to their lives ultimately connecting them with brands. Here’s how to leverage PR effectively:

• Craft Compelling Stories: Develop press releases and pitches that highlight your brand’s milestones, initiatives, unique offerings, personal stories from staff, and stories of unique ways you were able to assist customers. Journalists and influencers are drawn to stories that are newsworthy and engaging.
• Build Media Relationships: Foster relationships with local, national, and industry-specific media outlets. Regularly engage with journalists and editors to position your brand as a credible source of information. We do this constantly for our clients which often leads to the media contacting us and asking for an interview or information from our clients.
• Leverage Thought Leadership: Position company executives as thought leaders by securing opportunities for interviews, guest articles, or speaking engagements. This establishes credibility and aligns your brand with expertise. Writing articles that include tips (like this one) is a great way to gain interest from the media and set your company up as an expert. Consider wrapping those tips around special days, seasons or holidays. There are a huge number of special days throughout the year, some traditional and some silly, but many make for great marketing opportunities! Just search "special days" and you'll see a host of different lists that you can use throughout the year.

Another great way to garner media attention is to host a survey. Set up a Google form and have people respond to the survey and then release the survey results to the media along with your commentary. The media loves stats and trend information!

• Monitor and Respond: Track media mentions and online conversations about your brand. Respond to feedback—positive or negative—to show that you value your audience’s input. We monitor clipping services for our clients so that we can show them the many clips we garner throughout the year on their behalf along with the value if the article was actually purchased as an ad.

Keep in mind that PR can sometimes be a long game. Our recent story for American Christmas that aired on the Today Show in early December took three years to obtain! However, it aired twice, including on Christmas Day, in hundreds of markets nationwide. While it can take a long time to get a national story done with the biggest media, local and regional media can have shorter turn around times, but again, patience is the key when looking for big feature stories, that's why it is important to release information on a regular basis so that you are not only increasing your odds of getting placements, you are demonstrating your expertise to the media. A strong PR campaign will enhance your brand’s reputation, generate earned media, and amplify your other marketing efforts.

3. Social Media: Engage and Grow Your Audience

Social media remains one of the most effective tools for reaching and engaging your audience. We utilize social media for our clients by crafting and implementing social media content calendars as well as by advertising to their target markets. This combination is critical in establishing your brand and underscoring your expertise and offerings in a consistent manner. In 2025, focus on creating meaningful connections through these tactics:

• Content Strategy: Develop a mix of content types, including videos, infographics, user-generated content, and behind-the-scenes posts. Highlight your brand’s personality while aligning with your audience’s interests. Make sure you are planning in advance and not just flying by the seat of your pants! Creating a content calendar that includes the text, links, hashtags and images will help everyone be on the same page so there are no surprises when things are posted and so there are no delays. Don't forget to include posts for special days and promotions.
• Platform Selection: Prioritize platforms that align with your target audience’s preferences. For younger audiences, TikTok and Instagram are key (however, there is a looming ban on TikTok so keep that in mind if that's one of your options). According to Statista.com as of July 2024, 24.2 percent of Facebook users in the US were aged between 25 and 34 years, and if you want to reach a business audience, LinkedIn is king.
• Paid Advertising: Invest in targeted ads to reach specific demographics or promote key campaigns. Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn all offer advanced targeting options to maximize ROI. LinkedIn also has great customer support through the advertising portal to help you (which is helpful because advertising here is somewhat confusing).
• Community Engagement: It's important to respond to comments, messages, and mentions promptly to foster a sense of connection and loyalty. People get frustrated if they don't hear back from you promptly. Identify someone in your organization to be the social media manager and at the very least check comments once a day.
• Analytics and Adjustments: Use social media analytics tools to track engagement, follower growth, and campaign performance. Check this information on a regular basis and keep track of trends. Refine your strategy based on what is working.

4. Print and Online Marketing: Balancing Tradition and Innovation

While digital marketing often dominates the conversation, print and online marketing still play a vital role in a multi-channel strategy. Here’s how to integrate both effectively:

Print Marketing

• Direct Mail Campaigns: Send personalized offers, event invitations, or new product postcards to your audience. Postcards are less expensive and offer an immediate view of your products and services because there isn't an envelope to open. Depending on your target, consider hand-addressed envelopes and narrowing your outreach for an approach that often yields higher results. Stats show that direct mail often has a higher view rate than email and adds a tangible element to your marketing. One note: the design of your postcard or direct mail piece needs to be as eye catching as possible. Be sure to include the design costs in your overall budget.
• Local Advertising: People still love their local printed newspapers! We use these all the time for our clients with great results. Consider local newspapers, regional magazines, and available community newsletters to reach audiences in specific geographic areas. This can be particularly effective for small businesses, event marketing, and sales promotions. And I always tell my clients, if you want these outlets to be there to tell your story (through PR), then you need to support them through advertising.
• Branded Materials: While many businesses have done away with printed material, consider printing brochures, flyers, and business cards to distribute at trade shows, community events, or networking opportunities to leave a lasting impression. I have high-quality business cards with a velvety feel which I purchased because one of my clients had them and I loved the way it felt and couldn't throw it away! A high-quality business card is an inexpensive way to demonstrate the quality of your services and show the care you put into your own business. It offers an immediate positive impression.

Online Marketing

• Search Engine Marketing (SEM): Consider adding Google Ads campaigns to your marketing mix to capture high-intent users searching for products or services like yours. This often requires support from an agency so you don't waste money on key terms that won't be effective for your business.
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO): SEO is often misunderstood. And many companies charge thousands of dollars a month to assist with SEO. However, you can do this less expensively on your own if you have someone in-house who knows how to access and optimize your site. One of the best ways to enhance your SEO is to post blog content on a regular basis to improve organic search rankings. Focus on high-value keywords, the overall user experience, and mobile-friendliness to make the most of SEO opportunities. Changing the Alt text for every photo on your site is a simple way to enhance your SEO as well.

Another SEO opportunity that people often don't consider is having backlinks from other sites. Very often that is accomplished through PR. When your press releases or articles are published on line and include a link back to your website, you are increasing your SEO. The higher the ranking of the site that is providing the backlink, the better it is for Google's algorithm. So PR goes a long way over time to increasing your site's visibility with search engines.

• Email Marketing: Spend time and money on building your loyal customer base. Identify ways to collect emails, on your website, through your POS, offer a promotion if people sign up with their email at checkout on a piece of paper, anything that helps you collect emails will go a long way to building your ability to re-market to customers. Then set up regular (but not annoying) regular email blasts and offer promotions, tips and information, and 'insider' or VIP offers. Email remains one of the most cost-effective marketing channels. We also do a great deal of email marketing for our clients through partners so that we are utilizing lists that fit their ideal customer profile and offer something that will appeal to them. These have been very effective.
• Content Marketing: Conent is Queen whether we are talking about social media strategies or website strategies. So valuable and educational blog posts accomplish several marketing goals, offering eBooks, and creating videos will all position your brand as an authority and drive traffic to your site.

By combining print and online efforts, you can reach a broader audience and create a consistent brand presence across multiple channels.

5. Measure Success and Refine Your Strategy

No marketing strategy is complete without a system for measuring results. Use analytics tools to track key performance indicators (KPIs) such as website traffic, social media engagement, PR coverage, and conversion rates. You can also just ask people how they heard of you and keep a record that you review throughout the year. Be sure to schedule regular reviews of your website and marketing performance and then make data-driven adjustments to improve outcomes.

6. Stay Agile and Embrace Trends

It's no secret that the marketing landscape changes quickly! In 2025, trends such as AI-driven personalization, short-form video content, and immersive experiences like AR/VR are gaining traction. Stay informed about emerging tools and tactics and be willing to adapt your strategy to stay ahead of the competition and maximize your marketing efforts.

Building a marketing strategy for 2025 requires a thoughtful mix of public relations, social media, and print and online marketing efforts. By defining clear goals, understanding your audience, and maintaining flexibility, you can create a strategy that drives growth, engagement, and long-term success.