Esther
Good morning and welcome to another episode of the Monday Morning Marketing Podcast. Today, it's the day you've all been waiting for. I know you wait for this one specific episode every year that we do. And it's our predictions for 2025. And once again, we did not listen back to our predictions for from 2024, but I remember that a lot of them were focused on AI and a lot of them were focused on things that I know have come true. So we're going to jump straight into 2025's predictions with obviously AI again. It's going to be massive. It's going to be huge. It's going to be all encompassing. It's going to take over the world. No, it's not okay, but it will be massive. It will be huge. It will be helpful. Is thing that AI will do for your business in 2025. It will help you take off those annoying tasks that you just dread doing because they are time sucking, energy sucking hateful things that every business owner needs to do eventually that you've been putting off. So let AI do it for you, now we'll-.
Melanie
I couldn't agree with you more. I could not agree with you more. Um, I think more and more people, especially people who cross my path, even newbies into the world of marketing or business running of some description, they're all accepting AI and it's not just ChatGPT, they're accepting it in lots of different ways.
Esther
Yes.
Melanie
Which I think is great because if you won't be in the running.
Esther
So we have our first guest prediction from Anne. Take it away, Ann.
Anne
Hi, I'm Anne Popolizio from Social Squib. And my prediction for 2025 is that Threads is going to continue to grow and thrive. It's really taking the place that Twitter used to hold. The conversations that people used to have on Twitter, they're now having on Threads. There's still Bluesky in the background, but I don't see the same rate of adoption that I see with Threads. So my prediction for 2025 is that threads is going to continue to take over its domain. Not the world, but just its domain.
Melanie
Yeah. What do you think? I mean, you use Threads, don't you?
Esther
Yeah, yeah, I use Threads. For me, right now, it's a toss up between Threads and Bluesky as to which one will fully take off. I know Threads has been around longer, but Bluesky is independent, whereas Threads linked to the meta gang. So I think it'll turn into a dependence on like, it'll depend that lovely word we use all the time. It'll depend whether people want to give Meta more information and more ammunition or whether they would want to go with the former boss of Twitter over on Bluesky. So it'll be. It'll literally be a toss up.
Melanie
Well, I'm not on Threads currently. I've not had any specific desire to go on it. I haven't seen any need to go on it as yet. Maybe I am missing a trick, but, you know, there are people such as yourself, Esther, that are on it and, you know, more power to the people that want to try all the new things.
Esther
Yeah, yeah.
Melanie
So who do we have next?
Esther
We have Emma. So take it away, Emma.
Emma
My name is Emma York of Fresh Approach Digital, and my prediction for 2025 is personal storytelling. The human interest behind it all. Showing the customer journey or experience through. People and how they work with you or shop with you or buy with you. And it's about people. You as a person or annual customers as people. Personal storytelling is on the rise.
Esther
That's interesting. What do you think of personal storytelling on social media?
Melanie
I don't think enough of it's done, to be honest. I think people are still broadcasting rather than being social. I think she's hitting hit it on the nose. Absolutely. More of it needs to be done and I think more people have accepted that it needs to be done. And again, exactly the same with the old AI embraces. The people who embrace storytelling will do much, much better.
Esther
Well, it sort of contradicts a bit of the AI then, doesn't it? Because if you're using AI for content creation or ideation, then the personal storytelling is the complete opposite, because you can't really use AI to do it.
Melanie
AI, if it's used properly, can, as you say, be excellent for ideation. And people would not have conceived for a moment how sensible a story was unless they were prompted by AI. I'm sure people like us have been telling them all this time they've got to do some more storytelling and they're just not brave enough to do it. Whereas with using AI, it gives them structure, structure. It gives them detail, it gives them, you know, a framework to work from rather than just trying to think of something themselves. So I think they work beautifully in tandem.
Esther
Great. Who's next?
Melanie
I think we'll go with Fab.
Esther
Take it away, Fab.
Fab
Hi, I am Fab Giovanetti of Alt Marketing School. And my prediction for 2025 is the evolution and strengthening of creators and freelancers on LinkedIn, I believe already have seen a shift in the position and the role of LinkedIn creators and freelancers that actually have been starting to shape the content that we see on the platform. But I can see that the personal brand side of it on LinkedIn is going to only amplify and grow. Think about LinkedIn just adding a whole new video feed a couple of months ago and what that means with platforms like, like TikTok even starting to be threatened in more than one way with new laws and legislations. So I genuinely think that LinkedIn is going to see even more of a wave of creators coming from platforms like Instagram and TikTok. And it's going to be exciting to see how the shift on personal brand might potentially change the content that we see on our Feeds and beyond.
Esther
So LinkedIn is a huge platform and it's getting bigger and bigger now that people are moving away from X, formerly known as Twitter, and finding their feet on threads. Like Anne said on Bluesky and also on LinkedIn, it has shaken off the shackles of being a CV platform. Did that years ago, but still not enough people are using it to its full potential. So I think it's. I think what Fab is saying will go a long way and we'll definitely see a lot of that in 2025.
Melanie
Are we encouraging more creators, though? Or are creators kind of, hey, this works. I'm not going to try anything else new.
Esther
It's an interesting take. I don't know. Well, I suppose they'll come over until the next big thing comes along.
Melanie
I do think people tend to like me. Like me. I don't know why I haven't started threads. I'm possibly slightly mad there, but I think sometimes people go, well, hey, this works. I'm not gonna. If it ain't broke, I ain't gonna fix it. So maybe we do need to be a bit more adventurous and proactive, you know? Yeah, proactive. And I think Fab, I think she's got a point.
Esther
Okay, so sticking with LinkedIn, we're going to go with Louise Brogan.
Louise
Hello, my name is Louise Brogan. I'm the host of Raise Your Visibility Online. And my prediction for 2025 is specifically around two things. One is about LinkedIn, and I really, really think that more and more companies and businesses are going to get on board with video on LinkedIn in 2025. It's counteracting the fake news, AI generated content on LinkedIn when you show up on video. And hopefully more people will start to do webinars on LinkedIn, live events something we help our clients with. And the second prediction is that is around YouTube. And I think businesses are finally starting to realise that YouTube is a brilliant resource for generating leads in business. I know, it's definitely worked for me. People are searching for the answer to questions on the Internet and the videos I create answer those questions and they are generating leads and sales for me. So I hope that more businesses will. Start to look to YouTube. And the good thing about both of these predictions is actually you can create your video for YouTube and then take a snippet of it and put it on LinkedIn. And I wouldn't do it the other way around. I would do a video for YouTube first or record a second video around the same topic but just do it in a slightly different format. So here is to a brilliant 2025 for all your listeners and thanks Esther and Melanie.
Esther
Now I laughed when Louise sent this one in because obviously I don't do video. I think she's directing it straight at me. So yeah, LinkedIn videos doing videos on any platform because she mentioned YouTube as well there. And big shout out to Louise. She has over 100,000 followers sorry subscribers on YouTube. Now she has her silver play button and congratulations. That was a massive win for you in 2024 Louise. We're very proud. So it's obviously working. Obviously videos and using LinkedIn and YouTube is working. Don't look at me like that. She's looking at me. She's looking me. But yeah, videos again. This, this keeps coming up every year. Wonder.
Melanie
and at some stage see bearing my new hop threads with no trouble at all.
Esther
Threads doesn't ask me to go on video.
Melanie
We need to start a written campaign to get. I'd like signatures change.org or something like that to get Esther on video.
Esther
Only if it reaches 10,000 signatures will it be.
Melanie
There's a challenge guys, there's a challenge.
Esther
Will it be contemplated? Right, who's next?
Melanie
I think we shall hear from Lucia.
Esther
Lucia.
Melanie
Lucia.
Lucia
Hi, I'm Lucia from Dello Insights. My prediction for 2025 is for retail marketing. Here marketing measurement will become more aligned to retailers goals. Retailers want to meet their profit targets through cost effective acquisition, good retention and stock optimisation. To prove the value of marketing marketers are going to working much more closely. With retailers to execute campaigns that measure stock goals, margins achieved and future purchases. Supplementing the campaign led measures of cost of awareness, engagement and achieving a sale.
Esther
Something new and different from Lucia, Retail Marketing. A lot of us use retail. Maybe not a lot of us are in Retail Marketing. But it's very interesting, the whole personalisation of retail and showing people that you know what they want and need before they even want to need it.
Melanie
Yeah, I mean, it's an area I'm not particularly au fait with myself, but I like the fact that she made it so detailed her prediction. And for those of you that are retail marketers, we would love to hear back from you. Do you agree? Do you think these tools have progressed enough to actually make a standing out difference in your sector? So what do you think? We would love to hear back and maybe you've got other predictions or other points that we can bring to the fore. In fact, I don't think we've ever had a retail marketer on the podcast, have we? So if you are a retail marketer, we would love to have your opinion on the podcast so that we can make it more balanced.
Esther
Agreed, Agreed. Now we're going to hear from Mags, so take it away, Mags.
Mags
Hi, I'm Mags from Cold Leaders and this is my prediction for 2025. Brands that focus on creating unique experiences for their audience will be rewarded with exponential growth and a loyal fan base.
Melanie
So that's quite a challenge, I think, for brands to focus on unique experiences because that could be huge, that could be quite expensive to make everybody's approach and purchase a unique experience. I mean, how do you think they're going to achieve it? Esther?
Esther
Oh, with A.I. well, some of it's already been in the background because you've got, when you sign up for things, they ask you for your birthday and then all of a sudden you get a free cup of coffee or you know, one of the supermarkets gave me a free bag of sweets when it was my birthday. Love that supermarket. Now I would go on my birthday every year, might not go any other time of the year, but definitely for free bag of sweets. But I think it's something that's. A lot of brands have already been doing it in the background and if you, because there's so much information about each person online, it's a matter of honing in on that and in a way it's linked to Lucia's retail marketing prediction. So the two go hand in hand where you have to sort of build up on that. But the unique experience is when you walk into a shop, if they were able to recognise you instantly, you'd go back.
Melanie
Yeah, that's true.
Esther
You know, like we live in small communities, Melanie and I, and when you, you go into a shop and they call you by name and go, oh, remember you were in last week and you were looking for such and such a thing. That's what people are looking for again. They're looking for the small town community vibe. And if you can do that as a small brand or a bigger brand, then you will really stand out. So obviously with your pixels and your click throughs and your heat maps on your websites, you can really hone in on a lot of things that an IP address gives you. But if that heat map, if that click results in a sale, then you link that to the person. So then you'll be able to say, I see you bought such and such or I see you were interested in such and such.
Melanie
I guess we see that in Amazon already, don't we?
Esther
Oh, of course we do. Of course we do. I mean, most of the time it's guesswork, you know, or people that bought this also bought this. That's, you know, sometimes they're totally unrelated. But if you're able as a small business to, you know, if you open your doors to customers in a physical location, then you're probably more easily able to do it if you have repeat customers coming in the door.
Melanie
Okay, so she's definitely got a point.
Esther
Yeah, yeah.
Melanie
Who's next?
Esther
I think so. I think we'll hear from a guy next. I think we'll, we'll hear from Julio.
Julio
Hi, I am Julio Vallejo, National Sales Manager at Finchback. By 2025, sustainability will define the flexible packaging industry. Brands adopting single material recyclable solutions will reduce environmental impact and gain competitive edge, driving loyalty and sales in an eco conscious market.
Esther
Sustainability has been huge for a few years now, or it's been getting bigger, let's not say huge, but it's definitely been in the background for a lot of years now. So if brands had a way of getting sustainable or reusable packaging or things that have been recycled and turned into packaging, I think that's an excellent way to go forward. I mean the world will thank you for it.
Melanie
And you know, more and more businesses are expected by their countries to meet the criteria and the deadline, which, which globally is important. We all have to do our piece. So yeah, I think there's more of an acceptance that we all need to play our part. And Julio was right. I think if we lead by example, it means that we can make a difference in our lifetime and protect the future for our children as well. So yeah, very commendable and what a really nice prediction that was.
Esther
Yeah, yeah. And I think that leads us nicely into Patricia, take It away. Patricia.
Patricia
Hi, Patricia Greene here from The Web Crew. So my prediction for 2025 is that there will be a scramble for many web owners to make sure that their website is fully compliant with the European Accessibility Act, which comes into full effect in June this year. This means that many website owners who sell products or services within the EU will need to ensure they have proper web accessibility best practices in place. The good news, however, for micro enterprises, that companies with fewer than less than 10 employees and a turnover below 2 million are immune for now.
Melanie
I didn't even know that. But then I don't do websites.
Esther
No, but it does affect you because you have a website or look, as she said at the end, because of number of staff and turnover, etcetera, it probably doesn't affect you yet. Okay, so these are very important things to bear in mind and consider because yet can happen at any time.
Melanie
It's handy for me to know for my clients as well. So when I'm doing group training or even one to one training, it's handy to know.
Esther
And I know some of our audience isn't in the EU. I mean, I don't even live in the eu and neither does Patricia. But it's for all websites that sell to the EU.
Melanie
Yeah.
Esther
And as the World Wide Web, that's all websites.
Melanie
I live in the EU.
Esther
You do? Yes. Right, who's next? Let's go for Sarah Clay.
Sarah
Hey. Hey. I'm Sarah Clay and I run Sarah Clay Social, which is a LinkedIn marketing agency. We run company pages for companies and we also train employees how to use LinkedIn more effectively from their personal profiles. And this is what I see changing in 2025. So in 2025 I see companies having a very different voice and a very different presence on LinkedIn. I see more personable content and I see more human centric content on company pages. What I also see happening for companies is their CEOs, their C suite, their heads of departments, being on LinkedIn via their personal profiles and going out talking about the brand, talking about the product and the product knowledge and also sharing insights and thought leadership to build relationships with other people on LinkedIn. Because that, that's what business is about. It's about building relationships. And I think people are realising that more and more on LinkedIn and they're upskilling to use LinkedIn more effectively, as if it's more like a real life situation. Boy, are they going to have to do some upskilling some of these people to, to make that presence. But I see it happening on LinkedIn. I see CEOs and C suites being on LinkedIn, maybe even using video to bring their audience audiences closer, but certainly being out there being more obvious, being more apparent and being brand leaders themselves rather than relying on the company page. I think it's a very, very exciting time and I'm really looking forward to being on LinkedIn in 2025 and seeing this happen. I'm Sarah Clay from Sarah Clay Social.
Esther
So it's very interesting that a few people have mentioned things around the similar, with a similar end goal. Sarah's talking about LinkedIn, Louise talked about LinkedIn, Fab talked about LinkedIn. But it's different, a different take on the same platform.
Melanie
Again, it depends on, you know, who you're trying to talk to on those platforms, what areas you're prepared to work in. Some prepared to do live, some are prepared to do videos, some are prepared to do carousels, some are prepared to do ads. Nobody's mentioned ads so far?
Esther
No.
Melanie
Interesting. But, you know, I, I love the fact that she's fighting against the trend of AI. She's. She's bringing back authenticity and being more human and being, you know, caring more about the whole person rather than the end goal. But it's quite unusual, isn't it, how all these experts are kind of fighting against one another in their, in their opinions. But this is why this works. This is why we do this every year. Because we don't know who's going to win out.
Esther
No, no, but I think, you know, with the amount of people that have sent in their predictions and, you know, three out of, you know, three or four of them so far have talked about LinkedIn. So is that the platform to be on?
Melanie
Yeah.
Esther
Is that where we should put. I'm not saying put all your eggs in one basket, but is that where we should put a few more eggs?
Melanie
Yeah, I mean, I think a lot of people are now using it much more as a market marketing platform than a job platform these days. And as it should be. I think it. Yeah, it makes an excellent marketing platform and it's a great tool to search as well. It's a great website to search-.
Esther
Yes.
Melanie
For answers. So who do we have next? We have and Sarah McCracken.
Sara
I'm Sara McCracken, founder of The PR Club, helping business owners, leaders and entrepreneurs to transform their businesses using the power of PR. My prediction for 2025 is that business owners and leaders will start to do more PR. They will embed PR strategies within their core business offering and use that as a way to build their reputation and engage with their target audiences and key stakeholders and ultimately customers through a priority our approach. Obviously, this approach will need to sit alongside your marketing and advertising plans. The two are not mutually exclusive. So I would love just to wish everybody every success for 2025 and really think hard about how they can use PR to improve what it is that they do.
Melanie
Yes, I completely agree. The amount of times we get and when we do it as well, we talk about stuff that comes up in our podcasts every single week. But it shouldn't stand alone. Not one thing should stand alone. You shouldn't just put all your eggs into one basket. Shouldn't just do TV ads. You shouldn't just do social media and PR. We've seen how powerful it can be. We've seen it with our friend Samantha. She's made such a huge leap in her exposure with, with the great work of Tara. So, you know, it's. Yeah, I agree, but it's just, it's so difficult to afford, isn't it, for smaller businesses and, you know, trying to help them understand the power of PR and its place in their whole marketing arc is. It's difficult.
Esther
Well, I reckon we get Sara on the podcast and get a few more tips from her when it comes to PR, because we haven't had one. Haven't had somebody talk about PR in a long time because-.
Melanie
It has been long, long time.
Esther
We had Tara on years ago. But, you know, this is coming into, we're going to start year six soon. So it's, it's been a while, but yeah, PR. Pr.
Melanie
Cool.
Esther
So next up is Hanna. Take it away, Hanna.
Hanna
Hi, I'm Hanna McDonnell from Hanna McDonnell Marketing. I believe the top trend in Digital marketing in 2025 will continue to be hyper personalisation. We're all fighting to be more visible in the digital environment. And by knowing who your customer is, how they shop, when they shop and why they shop will help you leverage against other brands. You can use AI tools and Analytics to help you with that personalisation. And it's that unique shopping experience that will lead to more sales, customer retention, brand loyalty, and in the long run, it'll build trust as well as help meet customer expectations. So the word of the week, hyper personalisation.
Esther
I can see a running theme here. Now, a lot of these people who sent in predictions do not know each other, but the fact that yet another prediction person is talking about personalisation and making it more personable and making it more connected to you as a business owner, connecting to your clients as people there has to be something in it. I mean we can't go through 2025 in a days of well, AI will do it. AI will do it.
Melanie
You see, I think a lot of this has come about because more and more on, you know, on street shops and factory outlets and that sort of stuff have closed and that close personal relationship that the shop owners and the staff had has gone.
Esther
Yes.
Melanie
And although it's made massively convenient to order stuff online, I, I get it, I do. That relationship has gone. And you know, Maslow's hierarchy of needs, one of the most important things that was needed was a sense of connection, a sense of belonging and unfortunately we've kind of lost that because of this, all these online platforms. So we have to craft it somewhere else.
Esther
Yeah, yeah. We have to figure out where we're going to get it from or where we're going to give it from. Is it doing more in person events if you are a service based business? Is it setting up a pop up shop if you usually just have an online shop? Is it showing your face on video? Yeah, I heard myself. I heard it. So not me admitting to anything. It is not me admitting to anything. But you need, you know, people are so skeptical these days too about is it AI, is it AI generated is, you know, even videos and photographs. You cannot be 100% sure that it is actually that person because AI has come along so much and it will continue to come along. So they want that physical in person, you know, you can't so far, you can't fake an in person body, you know.
Melanie
Oh, not yet.
Esther
Not yet. But it's coming. But it's one of those things where that will be the deciding factor maybe. And whether people buy or not.
Melanie
Do I ever give my.
Esther
No, that's what I was just going to say. We've saved the best to last.
Melanie
Well near the last at least. So I think. Okay. And this was also about the accessibility. Okay. Voice is going to be used in a lot more things. Okay. But voice search isn't quite there yet in every platform or every accent or every accent. And I think voice search not just in the likes of Google Search and Siri and you know, I think we're going to have to add it to our own websites as well because people just expect that sort of ease and access these days. I don't, I'm not a website designer or a website specialist so I don't know how hard this will be to add on to every type of website from Wix to Webflow. I've no idea. But I think that's something that people who craft and make websites are going to have to add as a plugin or as a, you know, a special adoption of some description. And, you know, I think the millennials are expecting it, frankly.
Esther
Yeah, I think they're expecting-.
Melanie
Zennials, even worse.
Esther
I think they're expecting it. But I don't, you know, coming back to the unique experiences, I don't think every company can afford.
Melanie
Yeah.
Esther
The cost of it because it's, you know, new technology is always more expensive to implement and to put into the different platforms. So I think it'll be a. Yes, it's a wonderful idea for a lot of businesses, but until they can afford it, there's, you know, it'll be pie in the sky for so many. Who's next?
Melanie
Next we have Simon.
Simon
Hello, Melanie and Esther, it's Simon Hodgkins here. Firstly, I want to congratulate you both on the great podcast. Now let's move swiftly on to the prediction. I predict that the coming months ahead will see the year of Agentic AI becoming much more prevalent, where AI doesn't just assist, but acts independently to deliver outcomes. From creating personalised marketing campaigns to optimising entire workflow, Agentic AI will take on tasks that once required much more human oversight, freeing marketers to focus on important areas like strategy, creativity and connection. Thanks for having me and keep up the brilliant work.
Melanie
I'm not surprised to hear that from Simon. Simon's from Global Discussion, as you heard. And you know, he gets to meet and speak to an awful lot of different people. So he's probably had a good running thermometer and barometer of what's coming up. So I trust his opinion, personally.
Esther
If you trust it, then I trust it. Well, you know, why not kickstart 2025 by putting some of these predictions down on your vision board, mission board, mood board, whatever board you want to use and see if they. Yeah, that's where the videos one's going for me. It's going on the dartboard. But see, just see if you can implement any of these. And see, just keep an eye on the trends as they come out during the year and just see, you know, how good or bad or indifferent our predictions are this year because, you know, we won't be keeping track of them.
Melanie
We never listen back, do we?
Esther
I'm joking, I'm joking. And we will have. Some of the people who have sent in their predictions have already been on the podcast, others haven't. So keep an eye out for them as well, and just keep listening guys-.
Melanie
I've just realized you're doing the outro.
Esther
I'm not doing it just yet because I will leave it for you. But sometimes we forget to tell them about our Etsy shop. So go to our Etsy shop. You can find it on our website. Super easy to find on the website. And buy yourself some merch for 2025.
Melanie
Oh, yes. And we are going to be out and about, going to different places. Do we tell them?
Esther
Yes, do tell them.
Melanie
We're off to Social Media Marketing World. Yay.
Esther
We will be taking San Diego by storm at the end of March this year, 2025. So do pop over and say hi. We will be wearing our branded merch.
Melanie
Absolutely.
Esther
And we will see you there. If you're on that side of the pond for that. Wonderful.
Melanie
And if you're not there, you might see us at AtomaCon.
Esther
AtomaCon. In June in Newcastle Upon Tyne, England. I have to say the whole name because there are so many Newcastles in the world. So join us there for that. And that's. I've only got events done up until June because I can't think any further ahead. But you will see us out and about.
Melanie
Definitely separately and together.
Esther
Yes, definitely.
Melanie
Oh, thank you. She's. She's nodded to me that I can now do the outro. Thank you. Thank you for the perfect permission. Yes. Anyway, it's been great to serve you guys for the last nearly five years. So join us when we return next year with our first podcast of the year and we have a very, very special guest.
Esther
We do.
Melanie
We do. So thank you so much for your, for you listening to us, for your downloads, for your support. We really appreciate it. Both myself and Esther do. And we will see and speak to you next year. Bye for now.
Esther
Bye-bye.
