I would like to preface this article by saying this is my own opinion on the state of tracking in 2025. Marketers are renowned for being opinionated, so I don't doubt that others will have different opinions from me.

While completely anecdotal, I believe we are seeing a shift in the status quo for what makes a good social media ad.

These are some notes I made after reading Bob Hoffman's book 'Advertising for Skeptics'. For those who are not aware of Hoffman's work, he is a significant voice in the marketing industry, known for being rather critical of much of what makes up "modern marketing". While I do not agree with everything he writes, I do agree with most of what he has to say about data and tracking. This entry from my marketing journal.

This article is more of an exploration of more abstract concepts than concrete advice. However, considering the psychological element of marketing may help you in the way you advertise. That being said, I would like to clarify that I am in no way a psychologist, I am a marketer who enjoys exploring marketing concepts and theory.

I believe 2025 will be the beginning of a turning point in marketing in general, but more specifically performance marketing. We are already seeing some of these changes to the status quo being telegraphed in the last couple of years.

Much of my sentiment mirrors that of the industry at large. To ignore the utility of AI tools is somewhat ignorant and short-sighted. However, I believe it is vital for AI to be used for the right things and not just everything - just because AI can do something, doesn't mean it should. Most importantly, AI work needs to be thoroughly proofed and tweaked, so as not to lose the human touch of marketing. Nevertheless, using AI to simplify and automate processes allows more efficient working and more time to focus on the more important aspects of marketing.

How do people feel about your brand? And more importantly, how do you change how people feel for the better? Talking about brand perception always reminds me of that scene from 'The Wolf of Wall Street' between Matthew McConaughey and Leonardo DiCaprio. What I mean to say is, that it's almost completely intangible and near impossible to measure in any meaningful way. Which a lot of brands and marketers seem to get hung up on in our data-crazy status quo.

The purchase journey is important to consider and understand as someone trying to get consumers to make that journey with you. The most effective way to market your products is to be present at every stage of the purchase journey. This doesn't mean bombarding consumers with flashy discounts and sales as they're just recognising a problem or need, it means showing them the right content at the right time.

As with all my articles, this is taken directly from my marketing journal. However, I would like to preface this article by saying these notes were taken while I attended Google's peak season shopping conference in London in Q4 2024. So, this is my interpretation of what the fine folks at Google had to say on the topic.

The marketing, brand, product, and purchase/sales funnel are all very closely related and in many ways, they are just different parts of the same function. The 'Marketing Funnel' would be the correct term for this all-encompassing view. While they are often considered separate entities, I feel this overcomplicates what should be a relatively simple concept.