What I Learned Running a Marketing Agency in 2025
This is one of my favorite pieces of content I get to make each year. I would say this is when we have more free time, but in reality, it’s one of our busiest seasons, as we’re supporting our clients through the end of the year. Still, if we don’t take time to reflect, when would we become mindful in our businesses?
Lesson 1: If your offer sucks… there isn’t enough lipstick in the world to fix it.
We have now operated for 13 years and while the times have been unprecedented, I firmly believe that humans have not changed in the last 100 years. Mediums, trends, and technology for sure have, but the longings and desires of the individual have not. When the economy gets tough, the over-complicated branding, messaging, nuances, etc. begin to fall flat and tone deaf.
People get more transactional in economically unstable times.
So as we watched people who once only bought from Costco premium Tillamook cheese switch to Great Value, we watch the core value of “brand” choice become a luxury.
We saw nearly 75% of consumers do that in 2021 (source) and again in 2024 and once again 2025 – Private Label is perceived as equal value for a lower price (source)
It is no wonder we watched poor offers, poor value, and difficult markets make advertising increasingly difficult.
More channels, increased frequency of advertisements, and “unique” messages fell flat and only worked to show businesses that they need to simplify their value proposition.
Lesson 2: Relationships, Relationships, Relationships.
I’ve been meeting with a lot of people lately and to be quite frank – they don’t need marketing services.
They need partnerships and relationships so that when opportunity comes, they have the relational infrastructure to do the heavy lift to the next phase of their business. And that does go for marketing services as well, but so often I watch new entrepreneurs (even experienced ones too) race to marketing and advertising to fix problems that don’t exist.
Lesson 3: Even Corporations like Starbucks Can’t Seem to Update Their Google Maps.
There have been two occasions, in my local area where Starbucks hours have been incorrect on their Google Maps. Now usually I harp on small businesses to update this as one of the best Local SEO things they can do to increase foot traffic to their location, but I never expected Starbucks to have this problem. Especially in this age of Agentic Web, you need clear directory information to help push correct information.
People are using ChatGPT and other systems to organize their vacations, travel and day plans. You are missing out of high intention customers who have money set aside for their adventure, just because you haven’t asked Google to represent you well.
Lesson 4: Fix Your Filters.
2025 reinforced that lead flow isn’t the bottleneck when you’re already busy. The bottleneck is qualification. The fastest way to improve margins, morale, and results is getting strict on fit, budget, timeline, decision-maker access, and willingness to implement.
When we tightened filters, we didn’t just “get fewer bad clients.” We get better delivery, fewer emergencies, and more repeatable wins. In a service business, saying “yes” is easy. Protecting the team’s capacity is leadership.
Lesson 5: People Don’t Want Marketing, They Want Certainty
When buyers get anxious, they don’t stop spending; they stop gambling. They become less interested in “creative campaigns” and more interested in predictability: what happens next, what success looks like, and how fast they’ll know if it’s working.
Lesson 6: Reporting Is Not a Deliverable, It’s a Decision Engine
A dashboard that no one acts on is just a monthly ritual. In 2025 we saw that the best reporting wasn’t “more data.” It was fewer numbers tied to real decisions.
If the report doesn’t clearly answer: What do we do next? it’s not a report, it’s a receipt. The goal is to turn analytics into action: pause, double-down, reposition, or reallocate.
I’m pretty tired and exhausted of all of these platforms promising “insights” and “data” and it’s really just a dashboard with vanity. And as many old proverbs will say, its meaningless.
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If you made it all the way through, thank you for taking the time to reflect with me. I can’t imagine being in any other business, and I treasure every day I get to spend with my family and employees.