Here we are at the beginning of a new year. As much as the wheels of commerce have slowed over the past couple of years, 2025 promises to be a better year for business. In order for that to happen, your marketing gears need to begin to turn. Marketing is the leader for sales, which starts up production, which makes money start to flow, which churns the economic levers that make the whole engine run. Before any of it starts, your marketing has to work.

We break marketing into three phases. The first phase is Awareness Marketing, with the goal of establishing your brand in the minds of consumers in your target market. Take a look at these ten brand names: Red Bull, AutoZone, Monopoly, KFC, Home Depot, Tide, Best Buy, Buick, Hostess, Sheraton. My guess is you know all of them by their names without seeing a logo, an ad or their social media pages. You would not confuse one for the other. You have complete clarity on what each brand represents. This is what Awareness Marketing does. It defines a brand and makes it so well known that consumers know all about it as soon as they hear the name. How well do consumers know your brand? Awareness Marketing is important because without knowing your brand – and for what it stands – no one will buy it. If you want a starting place to engage your target market, crank up your Awareness Marketing.

The second phase is First Time Sales Marketing. Knowing about your brand does not ensure a sale of your products and services. You know thousands of brand names that you will never purchase. You have been made aware of them, you just don’t need them. A good marketing strategy transitions potential customers from awareness to a proposition to try your brand. To be effective you have to understand what the consumer needs from you. Where are they experiencing a problem that your brand can fix for them? What is it they think they need to feel good, alleviate pain, make life easier, etc.? Position your brand to meet consumers at a feeling level. Emotion sells well. But don’t just tell them about your brand, position it as the best solution for them. That means you have to understand what your competition is telling consumers too. You have to compete to beat the other brands clamoring for the attention of customers. Pitch your brand as the best solution. One more thing about First Time Sales Marketing, don’t forget to entice the consumer to make a purchase. Ask them to buy your product or service. Knock down any barriers they might have. Give them an incentive to buy now rather than put it off for another day.

The third phase is Retention Marketing. Often businesses are so busy making new sales they forget about their current customers. Retention Marketing gives them a reason to purchase from you again. It rewards customers with special deals and loyalty programs. In the end, we want to hold our share of the market. Retention Marketing does just that. It builds brand allegiance. It should be your goal to get all of your customers to this place of faithful devotion to your brand.

The new year is upon us – make sure your marketing gears are beginning to turn. Your success in 2025 depends upon it.