When do you work on your marketing plan?
Many of us, myself included, use this time, at the start of the year to think about what we want from the year going forward. I wonder, have you considered what 2025 will look like for you?
As a small business owner, any time you look ahead, there will be lots of things to think about. While your marketing plan is only part of the puzzle, it’s a very significant one.

I often talk about having a plan for your marketing. In fact, you may have read the blog I wrote last year, How a Marketing Plan Helps Your Personal Brand. Anyway, I want to take the chance now to look ahead to 2025, thinking about how you can boost your visibility and grow your business next year.
Reflecting on 2024: The Good, The Bad, and The Lessons
For me, any planning starts with reflection. You can’t plan effectively to get where you want to be without recognising where you are now.
What is good in your business right now, and what would you like to change?
Think about the people you are doing business with. Are you reaching the right people? If you’ve got great customers and clients, then your branding is working effectively. To get more people engaged, you may just need to use it more effectively.
Or, do you want to reach different people, ones with bigger budgets? Perhaps there are clients you particularly enjoy working with and some you don’t; how will you get more of the right ones? Maybe everyone is buying a service you’d prefer not to be selling; think about the work or products you do want to sell and who is buying those.
Understanding what has worked well for you in 2024 will give you some insights to steer your plan for 2025.
How do you feel about how you presented yourself and your brand in 2024?
Are there things you know you want to change? Perhaps your website is outdated, your social media hasn’t been consistent, or your photos don’t reflect you any more.
Being visible is key, not only being seen but being recognised - as someone who wants you to be getting your face out there, you won’t be surprised I’m saying this. My post earlier in the year looked at how brand photography keeps you in people’s minds.
Think about where you are currently being seen and whether that picture of you is the one you want.
What do you want more of in 2025?
So, are you looking for more clients or different ones?
Don’t forget to think about those great experiences of 2024 - the work you really enjoyed,

the customer you’re hoping will call again (and send her friends). How did you get that work, and how can you get more of it? What was that person looking for, and how did they know you were the right person for them? All this information can guide what you plan for next year.
If there were things which went wrong, think about what didn’t work. Whether you couldn’t sell the product or you didn’t enjoy the work, think about whether you want to keep trying to sell that thing - and if you do, how will you make the experience better?
Were they the wrong clients? Did they not know what they were getting? Was the timing wrong for you? Did the effort involved not match what was paid?
Think about the good and the bad - what do you want more of? What would you like to change or remove?
Embracing Change
Having considered your position in 2025, it’s time to use that to consider what you want for next year. Think about how you feel about your current branding and imagery and where you need to be seen.
How do people see you?
I’m thinking here about how people see your business - wherever they see it.
Some of this comes down to your branding; we talked about this a while ago in the post Brand on Brand. I also want you to think about you, the person, the face behind the brand. Your brand photography plays a huge part in how your brand is seen - and related to. Again, I wrote a post about how your brand photography attracts the right clients to you.
Ask yourself:
Are you happy with how you’re seen?
What feedback do you get from your audience?
Are you reaching the people you want to?
There’s a lot to think about here when judging the effectiveness of your brand; talking to other people you trust may help.
Where do people see you?
What kind of marketing do you do at the moment, and how do you think this will change in 2025? For your plan, you’ll need to think about everything you do so that you can ensure you are consistent wherever people are seeing you.
Which social media platforms do you use and is your content performing how you want it to? Are the right people hanging out on these platforms, and are you reaching them?
Don’t forget your website. Is that up to date and getting you seen? Do you shout about it yourself, or are you so embarrassed that you don’t use it?
There are other places you’ll be seen, of course - in person at networking or events. What about magazine articles or books?
Are the platforms you’ve focused on still right for you? And is how you’re seen there going to work in 2025?
Adapt and Change
We’ve been thinking about what you do now and whether you’re happy about it, what else do you need to consider when you plan for next year?

Are your followers still on Instagram, or have they moved to TikTok? Perhaps you’re thinking about video and considering whether YouTube might be your next step. The more visible you are online, the more important it is that the image people see is consistent. It’s great to talk to the world on your socials, but if you’re not visible on your website, that feels odd and disjointed.
Think about any new opportunities and ideas carefully, making sure they allow you to be confidently, happily, you.
Your business may change, your goals may change, and the behaviour of your ideal clients may change; so it’s important to keep reviewing.
Boosting Your Visibility in 2025
So, what’s in store, and how will you get the best out of 2025?
Goal Setting - Be Smart
What do you want for your business next year?
Although we’re focusing on marketing, it’s essential your marketing and content goals are aligned with your business objectives.
Are you looking for more clients? Can you be more specific? How many new clients? For which services? Now, you can work out what they’re looking for and where you’ll find them.
Do you want to change the services you offer?Perhaps you want more passive income or to create a bigger, more valuable service you won’t have to sell as many of. Again, you’ll need to consider who will buy these services, where, and how you will sell them.
Perhaps you’re planning a collaboration. Collaborating with like minded businesses that have synergies with what you offer can provide great opportunities to reach a wider audience.
Whatever your goals, be specific so you can create clear marketing objectives and plan effectively.
Look Ahead
Consider the whole year, do you have plans to launch new products? Are there events you are organising or just attending? What about occasions that are important to your audience? And don’t forget to plan for time away from your business.
Looking at the big picture, consider how you want to be working through the year, and therefore what you want to promote. What kind of marketing do you need for any event, new product, or evergreen service you’re selling?

Break the year down into months, identifying specific focuses and events. Plan in your marketing to achieve these goals. Keeping your message consistent across your social media platforms, website updates, networking and more, will help ensure it reaches your audience
Taking a big picture view of your year should help you set realistic aims for your marketing to support your wider business goals.
Be Prepared
Having established your marketing objectives for the year, you’ll need to make sure you have the content to fulfill them. Again, we’re looking at your branding and the creative content which will get you seen.
We talked about creative content in the post Raise Your Marketing Game and I’m really excited to be introducing a new service called the Visibility Vault to help you do exactly that. My aim is to make sure you get the best from your brand shoot, with three online sessions we’ll discuss:
Your business
Your values
Your goals
Your ideal client
Your product
We’ll then create a plan that sits alongside your business objectives to determine what content you need to achieve your goals. With a full brand shoot as part of the package, you’ll not only have engaging and professional images but you’ll know how to use them.
At present, within every one of my Personal Brand Sessions that I do, you get:
90 images
3 video clips
4 graphics
A show reel
Imagine what a difference this could make to your marketing in 2025.
Would your business benefit from an investment in your branding? Is it time you gifted yourself a brand shoot?
Making 2025 Your Best Year Yet
Marketing your business effectively in 2025 needs an effective plan and engaging content, do you have what you need?
You can get more tips on raising your profile from the amazing book Be Brand Rich which I contributed to last year. The book has stories and expertise from 23 visual content professionals to help small brands and business owners stand out in a busy market.
And you can check out even more business hints hacks and tips by following me here on....
Of course I’m going to encourage you to invest in your brand in 2025, giving yourself the gift of amazing imagery which will raise your confidence and brand image. If you are interested in what a brand shoot - and the new Visibility Vault - might offer your business, I’d love to hear from you.
Please do get in touch at liz.devonshire@virginmedia.com, or arrange a chat by clicking the link below to find out more.
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