As we approach the end of 2024, M&R Marketing is taking time to reflect on the year as we look ahead to what’s next in 2025. Since January 1, 2024, our team combined 15 years of lessons learned with the innovations of today to grow and serve our clients even better.
Let’s go ahead and dive into the lessons learned within our agency and from the marketing industry overall.
Marketing Lesson #1: People Expect (Even More) Personalization
Thanks to the rise of artificial intelligence and machine learning in the past few years, people are becoming more and more accustomed to ultra-personalized experiences both online and in the everyday world. Algorithms embedded into apps and websites use machine learning to analyze the data that a person feeds them and create a highly personalized experience for that particular user.
And this kind of personalized experience is everywhere—from social media platforms to voice assistants, streaming platforms, financial applications, smart home devices, and even the technology in self-driving cars. Since the early 2010s, we have all been growing accustomed to personalization online and through our network of IoT (Internet of Things) devices—like our smartphones, smartwatches, fitness trackers, smart thermostats, smart appliances, etc.
Personalization in Marketing
Personalization, especially personalization in marketing, is becoming increasingly necessary. Gone are the days when companies could rely on generic mass messaging to reach audiences and capture their attention. Now, personalization is the name of the marketing game.
But we’re not talking about one-to-one personalization in marketing—that’s nearly impossible, even when using AI or machine learning tools. (Well… so far, at least.) Personalization in marketing means understanding the buyer’s journey on a deep level and creating focused strategies that maximize various touchpoints along that journey.
To increase the personalization of your marketing for your audiences in 2025, it’s crucial to:
- Gather and analyze as much audience and client/customer data as possible
- Use data to create well-informed and detailed customer personas
- Divide your customer base into subsections based on similarities and shared characteristics
- Create digital marketing strategies and enact well-designed marketing tactics for each subsection, including email marketing, video marketing, social media marketing, geofencing, and others.
- Evaluate the performance of each marketing channel and make adjustments whenever necessary.
Marketing Lesson #2: AI Is to Be Harnessed, Not Feared
Personalization in marketing, or successful and effective personalization in marketing, is only possible using machine learning and other AI tools. Plus, there are additional marketing solutions AI has presented over the years that savvy marketers have taken advantage of.
Understandably, the recent rise in AI technology has many marketers concerned about several things including:
- Will AI replace the need for human input?
- Will AI eliminate human creativity?
- Will AI reduce the quality of information available?
- Will AI violate privacy?
- Will AI violate IP and copyright law?
- Will AI negatively impact decision-making?
Many additional questions and concerns have arisen since AI first became a mainstream talking point around the release of ChatGPT and Dall-E in the early 2020s. Those of us in the marketing world, specifically, have probably asked a million questions collectively about what AI means for companies trying to reach and capture audiences authentically and reliably.
AI in Marketing
While it’s important to acknowledge the risks that AI marketing can and does pose, 2024 has taught us that AI in marketing should be harnessed, not necessarily feared.
The benefits of using AI tools to create and execute your marketing strategies are numerous and include:
- More detailed data analysis
- Stronger market research
- Enhanced personalization
- Better customer engagement
- Improved pivoting insights
- Faster content creation
But one of the biggest things to know about implementing AI tools to assist with marketing strategies and tactics is that they have to be harnessed and guided—they should never be used without human influence and interference.
Consumers expect authenticity. Consumers expect honesty. Consumers expect autonomy. Without diligent oversight and intervention from a team of marketers, generative AI can easily create a sense of inauthenticity and homogeneousness within a marketing strategy. It can produce content full of inaccurate or contradicting information. It can even directly pull content from another source, putting the company in violation of IP or copyright law. Ultimately, it can scream, “This company’s marketing is AI-generated,” and leave a terrible taste in audiences’ mouths.
To harness the power of AI marketing for your company in 2025:
- Always always always evaluate the information produced by whatever AI tool you use.
- Never blindly use AI-generated content, especially for client-facing collateral.
- Prioritize accuracy, authenticity, reliability, and originality, no matter how you use AI.
Marketing Lesson #3: Authenticity Always Wins
This lesson isn’t necessarily new or unique to 2024—the need for authenticity in marketing has been around since marketing was first invented. After all, there’s a reason we still refer to slimy-seeming companies as snake oil salesman to this day.
However, rediscovering why authenticity matters is one of those recurring lessons that circled back for many people this year because of the whole AI thing.
2024 saw a lot of eyebrow-raising AI action:
- Google launched its search generative experience (SGE), the AI Overview, in May of 2024, which has been met with some controversy because of the answers it has produced to many questions since its launch. For example, when one user asked if pregnant people could smoke, it answered “yes,” while another user asked how to keep cheese from sliding off a pizza, to which the AI Overview suggested adding glue.
- AI-generated images of people and animals affected by hurricanes Helene and Milton floated around the internet, especially on social media, manipulating some viewers into thinking the images were real.
- Coca-Cola recreated its classic 1995 Christmas ad using generative AI, which was met with a ton of criticism.
Authenticity in Marketing
For the most part, people can tell when they are being duped, manipulated, or lied to. Or if they can’t, they become angry, frustrated, and hurt when they realize that they fell for something inauthentic. With more and more exposure to AI-generated images, videos, and text, many people are becoming increasingly suspicious of *all* images, videos, and text-based content. Even the slightest sense of inauthenticity or inaccuracy is enough to raise eyebrows and have people squinting at their screens.
To keep your customers and audience satisfied with your brand, always prioritize authenticity, regardless of whether you employ AI-driven strategies or marketing tactics (but especially if you rely on AI for anything). Maintain your brand voice at all times; only produce what is accurate, original, and true; and ensure your audience receives the real you in everything.
We learned a lot in 2024, and we can’t wait to apply what we know to your marketing strategies in 2025. Call 478-621-4491 to Get Started!
The marketing experts at M&R Marketing are all about learning, growing, and embracing lessons that push our clients further.
To learn more about what we know and how we use it to serve your company, call 478-621-4491 or contact one of our business development managers today to talk about your marketing plan for 2025.
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