Skip to content
Every year I take a moment to look back at what actually worked, for my clients and for both my businesses, Starfish Marketing and Mell Speaks.
It helps me see the patterns and work out what’s worth carrying into the next year, and focus on what works rather than what keeps us busy.
With that in mind, these are the marketing lessons from 2025 that came up again and again across the marketing I managed, mentored, or supported this year. Hopefully they save you a bit of trial and error in 2026.
What worked best
1. Clear messaging still wins
One thing that stands out is how important it is to keep messaging clear and show up consistently. Not fancy. Not complicated. Just the basics done properly.
Clear messaging makes everything easier. When ideal clients can quickly understand what you offer and how you help, it sets the foundation for the rest of the marketing to make sense. It reduces confusion. It keeps content aligned. It means you are saying the same thing across your website, socials, emails, and anywhere else people come across your business. That kind of clarity helps people connect the dots faster.
Consistency works alongside that. Not the type that needs daily posting or a colour-coded content calendar that takes three hours to maintain. Just regular, predictable activity. Monthly blogs, weekly socials, or a steady newsletter rhythm. Showing up often enough that ideal clients recognise you and stay familiar with how you can help them.
The combination matters. Clear messaging without consistency gets lost. Consistency without clear messaging just creates noise. Putting the two together keeps marketing grounded and helps businesses stay front-of-mind in a way that feels manageable rather than overwhelming.
It is a good reminder that the basics still matter and it is one of the clearer marketing lessons from 2025.
2. People responded to real stories
Sharing genuine, everyday moments made a clear difference this year.
The posts that showed real work, real people, and real experiences always drew more attention than anything overly polished.
Ideal clients want to feel connected, and storytelling continues to be one of the simplest ways to build that connection.
At the same time, the businesses with strong, consistent professional branding stood out.
When your brand is strong, stories land better because people already recognise who you are.
Visual consistency, clear messaging, and a professional presence help build brand awareness quietly in the background, which means those “human moments” actually carry more weight.
It is one thing to show the relatable, behind-the-scenes content. It is another to do it inside a brand that people already know and trust.
When both are in place, brand awareness grows faster, people remember you for longer, and enquiries become easier.
3. Zero-click content became essential
Let’s start with explaining what zero-click content is.
It’s content that answers a question fully within the platform where it appears. There is no need to click through to a website to get the information. It became essential this year because platforms shifted towards ai driven and answer-led experiences.
Google introduced the little bubble with answers, that sits above the traditional links to websites, which means answers are shown directly on the search results page.
ChatGPT Search delivers responses without sending people to external sites.
Social platforms expanded their own search functions, which meant posts were being treated more like knowledge sources.
With all of these changes happening at once, the platforms were simply giving people the information where they already were. And that’s why zero-click content became essential.
That means that content that clearly explained something, responded to a specific problem, or matched a common search phrase appeared more often in search results inside the platform.
Adjusting content to this style gives businesses more visibility in the zero-click world. This is probably the biggest change or adjustment I saw this year and is one of the more important marketing lessons from 2025.
4. Websites carried more weight than many expected
Plenty of predictions for 2025 said website visitation would drop due to the start of the zero-click world (see point 3 above).
People were meant to stay inside social platforms, rely on AI answers, and skip websites altogether. That is not what happened for my clients.
Across the service-based businesses I work with, website traffic actually went up.
Wait, what!!! Yes, we’re seeing website traffic increase in a world where it’s meant to be decreasing.
What does this mean?
It means your ideal clients are still heading to websites when they are getting serious about working with someone. They want the details. They want reassurance. They want to check that you are credible before taking the next step.
It also shows that even with the shift toward in-platform answers, your website still plays a central role in your marketing.
It is the one place where your message, your services, your pricing, your process, and your story sit together clearly. When ideal clients are ready for proper information, they go there.
So while the broader digital environment keeps changing, your website remains the steady point that supports every other piece of your marketing.
What didn’t work as well
1. Posting for the sake of it
Random content with no strategy created noise but no outcomes. If it’s not aligned to a goal, it’s not helpful.
2. Relying on a single platform
I should frame this one after my own fun with Instagram suspending my accounts only a couple of weeks ago. If a platform disappears, your marketing should still function. Websites and email lists really are the safety net.
3. Planning once a year
The businesses that reviewed monthly stayed ahead. If you set a plan in January and don’t revisit it until June you’re going to struggle to keep up with changes in your industry, your ideal clients, or the general digital environment.
Planning is not a set-and-forget activity. It’s a cycle.
What surprised me
I noticed more ideal clients wanting deeper support. Not more volume, but more clarity, confidence, and partnership. They wanted someone to tell them what matters, what doesn’t, and what to do next. They wanted someone who gets their business and makes the marketing side feel doable again – and that's exactly what I love doing.
Where this leaves us for 2026
Everything from this year pointed to the same thing.
The businesses that made the most progress weren’t necessarily doing more. They were doing the right things in a steady, intentional way.
It reinforced what many of us already know but sometimes forget when life gets busy. Marketing works best when it is:
- Simple
- Strategic
- Consistent
- Aligned with what ideal clients actually care about
Nothing complicated. Just marketing that suits your business and has a clear purpose.
If you take anything from your own 2025 efforts, let it be this.
You do not need more marketing. You need clear, focused marketing that actually supports your goals.
So what do you do with these lessons?
Here is the part where you can turn a year’s worth of information into something practical.
- Review the marketing that delivered the most meaningful results
- Stop spending time on activities that only “look productive”
- Tighten your message so your ideal clients recognise themselves instantly
- Create value where your ideal clients already are
- Keep your plan flexible enough for minor adjustments throughout the year
And if all of this feels like something you would rather hand over, that is exactly why Starfish Marketing exists. Let's talk.
FAQs
How do I know if my marketing message is clear enough?
Your message is clear when ideal clients can explain what you do in one or two sentences without needing extra context. If people regularly ask follow-up questions to understand your services or who you help, your message likely needs tightening. Clear messaging should make it obvious what problem you solve and why you are the right person to solve it.
How often should a small business review its marketing plan?
A monthly review works well for most small businesses. It does not need to be a big session. A quick check of what you have done, what connected with ideal clients, and what needs adjusting helps keep your marketing aligned with your goals and the environment you are working in. It also prevents the common issue of setting a plan in January and not looking at it again until halfway through the year.
Does zero-click content replace my website?
No. Zero-click content helps people discover you and get quick answers inside the platform they are already using. Your website is still the place where ideal clients go for full information, services, pricing, credibility, and next steps. Zero-click content helps build awareness. Your website supports decision-making.
