As we navigated a crowded and evolving marketing landscape in 2024, we gained valuable insights into the power of adaptability, the importance of strategy, and the need for data-driven solutions. Join us as we reflect on the biggest challenges of the past year and the key marketing lessons learned in 2024 — and explore how they can shape your brand’s success in 2025.
What Were the Biggest Marketing Challenges?
“A big challenge was eroding marketing budgets. Across industries, B2B marketers saw their budgets shrink over the course of the year, and many are heading into 2025 with fewer resources. It's going to require agencies and brands to be extra savvy in where they place their spend in order to eke out every bit of value we can.”
— Rachel Martin, Executive Director, PR & Content Strategy
“In 2024, B2B marketers faced a complex landscape shaped by economic uncertainty and rapid technological advancements. Demonstrating the value of marketing efforts through accurate ROI measurement remained a key challenge, as did aligning marketing and sales teams for optimal lead generation and conversion. Data privacy regulations and the need for robust security measures added another layer of complexity to data-driven marketing strategies.”
— Hillary Ferry, Executive Director, Digital Marketing Solutions
What Were Your Marketing Lessons Learned?
“It was a loud and messy year in the world to try and break through. This is a trend that only seems to be increasing every year. The lesson: Absolutely nothing matters until you have someone's attention.”
— Drew Jones, Executive Director, Creative
“Data. Always focus on the data — collecting it, protecting it, evaluating and understanding it, and leveraging the resulting insights to optimize and evolve your strategies.”
— Jen Ruggle, Executive Director, Experience & Technology Solutions
“Adaptability is a critical skill to have as a marketer. As always, clients and agencies had to pivot frequently due to changes in budgets and priorities as market conditions changed. While an annual marketing plan is a great benefit and helps set teams off in the right direction, I’d wager that more often than not what came out at the end of the year was different than the plan. Being flexible and adaptable are lessons we all need to follow.”
— Patrick McGill, Vice President, Integrated Marketing
“Content strategy has moved from a nice-to-have to a must-have for brands. There have never been so many channels, so many formats, so many ways of going to market — and it shows no signs of slowing down. Rather than fragment their efforts into ever-shrinking slivers, I'm seeing more B2B brands proactively request a centralized content strategy to govern their efforts.”
— Rachel Martin, Executive Director, PR & Content Strategy
“2024 has been a transformative year for marketing, with AI rapidly reshaping the landscape. As early adopters, we've been on the front lines, witnessing firsthand the power of AI to reshape and enhance various areas of our marketing efforts: from social media content creation to search engine optimization and paid media campaigns. We've found its impact most valuable when combined with human input for ideation, creative concepting, content generation, automating personalization, A/B testing, optimizations, and analyzing marketing data to unlock hidden insights. Our journey has been filled with invaluable lessons, revealing both the potential and the current limitations of AI in marketing. While there's still room for growth, AI’s capabilities are expanding at an incredible rate, and its role in shaping the future of marketing is undeniable.”
— Hillary Ferry, Executive Director, Digital Marketing Solutions
Looking Ahead to 2025
2024 proved to be a defining year for B2B marketers: demanding adaptability, a deep understanding of data best practices, and a willingness to embrace new technologies like AI to redefine our role in driving business growth. If you’re ready to put marketing plans into action that deliver results in 2025, connect with our team today.