As you march into Q2, there’s still plenty of time to plan for a successful year! Whether you’re ahead of the game or just getting started, now’s the perfect moment to take a fresh look at your business planning.
Where to begin?
The best way to ensure a successful remainder of the year (meaning marketing awareness, sales, positive reviews, etc.) is to start planning now! Luckily, we’re here to help!
How to Plan for 2025
Step 1: Analyze Your Past Year
Start by getting a lay of the land by analyzing what did and didn’t work for your business last year. Schedule a couple of hours with your team to get different perspectives on:
- What went well?
- What didn’t go so well?
- How could we have done things differently?
- How can we be more successful this year?
It’s easy to capitalize on your successes. On the other hand, it’s also easy to overlook the not-so-successes because… let’s be honest… they’re difficult to look at.
“Getting as specific as possible will help alleviate future stress and keep you on top of your marketing game!”
However, you can bring significant positive results to your company if you know what tactics to avoid. Look at what didn’t go well last year and inquire why those things didn’t work. Then, consider what you can do differently moving forward.
Now for the fun part. Look closely at what was done well and figure out why these tactics were successful. From there, strategize ways that you can do these things more and exponentially grow your company!
Step 2: Start Setting Business Planning Goals
Now that you have a comprehensive view of what did and didn’t go well for your business in 2024, you can move toward a brighter, more abundant future with strategic goal-setting.
Brainstorm on goals you would like to set, such as:
- How much revenue do you want to make?
- What new products do you want to create?
- What types of expansion do you want to see?
- How many new employees do you want to hire?
- Are there unique types of clients you want to target?
- Are there new marketing mediums you’d like to try out?
Once you establish your goals, it’s time to get as specific as possible. Get out the calendar and create a series of business planning deadlines. Decide the times you want to achieve your goals, and then set miniature deadlines along the way for tasks that need to be accomplished as you work toward your final plans. This will help you stay on track and avoid procrastination.
Step 3: Create a Marketing Strategy Plan
If you haven’t already done so, determine what your marketing budget is going to be for Q2 – Q4 2025. What is the maximum amount of revenue that you can allocate toward marketing your business? Remember, it’s not a bad idea to go a little high with this number, as getting the word out is critical to your business’s success (if you use the right marketing strategies, that is!)
“If it’s been a few years since you updated your website, 2025 could be the perfect time to refresh it!”
From there, sit down with your marketing team (or your marketing agency if you don’t do this in-house) and determine the best ways to distribute your marketing budget.
Here are some marketing tactics to consider in your meeting:
- Website SEO
- Social Media Marketing
- Print Advertising
- Email Marketing
- Google Ads
- Programmatic Digital Ads with Audience Targeting
- Audio or Video Advertising
- In-Person Networking
- Directory Listing
Decide which business planning tactics will be the most beneficial for your business. Then, take the time to create your strategic plan, specifically outlining what types of marketing you will do, who will do it, how often it’ll be done, and so on. Getting as specific as possible will help alleviate future stress and keep you on top of your marketing game!
Step 4: Take a Look at Your Website
If you’ve had the same website for a while, 2025 could be the year you design a new and fresh online presence!
Some minor edits need to be made to your site, such as service updates, search engine optimization, or photo changes. If it’s been a few years since you updated your website, 2025 could be the perfect time to refresh it! Design trends and user expectations shift quickly, and it’s essential that your site feels modern, professional, and aligned with your brand.
Step 5: Reevaluate Your Brand
This can be the hardest step of all. Of course, we recommend refreshing your brand every few years to continue growing brand recognition in the market. However, don’t just make changes to make changes. Be mindful and strategic, and, of course, we recommend working with the experts! (Like us, for instance…!)
Perhaps your brand looks outdated, or your business’s direction no longer matches what is reflected in your company copy and aesthetic. This can confuse the market and damage your brand in the long run.
The best advice we can give is to take a rigorously honest look at your brand and evaluate whether it continues to serve and reflect your company’s values. If it’s a yes, keep building with confidence. If not, let’s talk about how we can help you refocus and grow with intention.
We are a full-service brand and marketing agency that has helped hundreds of growing businesses and organizations tell their story and impact the market. Contact Kudzu Brands today!
Lindsey is a Partner and Brand Strategist for the agency. She is a talented brand cultivator skilled at understanding what a business needs to achieve its goals and developing creative marketing strategies that support sustainable growth. She’s never met a business she wasn’t curious about, and she loves to look for the big possibilities.