How can we create Stronger Marketers in 2025?

Most of us know that the path to becoming stronger at anything is to "spend time under pressure". It's how muscles get built; as well as diamonds.

But if the pressure is applied in the wrong places, we don't get diamonds. We get ash.

And I'm pretty sure that burnout ISN'T what we're going for with our marketing teams💡

But we DO want them to get stronger year over year.

What does it take to do that? Let's explore :)

Define "Stronger"; and align on a definition

I'll be the first to admit that I've worked in organizations where what was being requested of me from a work perspective was NOT contributing to making me stronger; at least by my definition. Sure, perhaps I was learning new things, but it wasn't converting to any kind of personal strength.

Why?

Because it wasn't aligned to MY personal goals.

And it really wasn't aligned to creating strength for the business, either.

So, the very first step is to identify what it looks like to be Stronger.

According to ChatGPT, the top 4 areas where young marketers faced challenges in 2024 were in: 1) data analysis and interpretation, 2) AI and automation, 3) online presence creation and 4) cross-cultural fluency. While all of these areas deserve a focus, let's choose #2 as an example.

First of all, what's making you feel like your team DOESN'T have strong AI skills? The prompts they're using to generate content are too generic? They don't seem to be making recommendations that include AI? The recommendations they have made aren't showing any business value?

Once the gap is defined, ways to FILL the gap can be identified.

Maybe it can be filled with education. Maybe it needs to be filled with PRACTICE (are you giving them the time and space to do that?) Maybe they need a coach. Or a new tool. Or maybe they need to explore how THEY would use something, instead of using someone else's template.

There are lots of possibilities. And if you aren't filling the ACTUAL gap, then you're not going to be moving any closer to "Stronger".

Measure "Stronger"; in accordance with as many tasks as possible

Personally, I'm a huge fan of Scorecards; aka, putting all the meaningful metrics in ONE place to show the PROGRESS towards a goal.

So, if becoming Stronger at something is a goal for your team, it needs to be tracked.

Now, because each team will have a different gap and a different required filling, there isn't ONE Scorecard that works for all Marketing Teams. And here is where the fun comes in.

You get to CREATE yours💖

And in that creation process, it's OK to report on the OUTPUT (i.e. the results you're seeing).

But it's much more meaningful to report on the INPUTS; in order to track how they DRIVE the outputs 😉

You see, data is ALWAYS a lagging indicator. It comes in AFTER something has happened.

But what did we DO to cause that thing to happen?

This type of analysis, especially in Marketing, almost always gets whittled down to Tasks, and the number of times they were done. How many social posts were posted. How many emails were sent.

And sure, the activities can be considered "practice" if we're not really looking at the inputs as connected to outputs. But when we do, it's pretty obvious that just because someone MAKES more images on Canva, doesn't mean they're getting STRONGER at making brand images.

So, make sure your Scorecard includes the RELEVANT inputs, and you'll start to see what's contributing to making progress; and what's not.

And you can always remove what's not 👍

Reward "Stronger"; and make it financial

Who isn't a big fan of a financial reward?

Now, if our "Stronger" goals are connected to Marketing That Matters, then there should be NO problem financially rewarding our teams for the work they've done to become Stronger.

Where this generally breaks down is when our "Stronger" goals are NOT connected to Marketing That Matters.

Let me frame this with a personal example.

When I worked in corporate, I was sent to complete a bunch of Dale Carnegie training, which added up to a Relationship Selling Degree. It was a LOT of training. And cost the business a lot of money. And my reward for completing it?

NOT being able to use anything I learned in my workplace.

You see, what was included in the program just wasn't aligned with the company's way of operating.

Now, I'm not saying that one way or the other was a "better" way of operating, but because they weren't aligned, the courses didn't actually contribute to making me a "Stronger" employee in that organization. While it did make me FEEL like a Stronger person.

The "investment" in me from a business perspective wasn't allowed to pay dividends in the workplace. And I would guess that MUCH training falls into this category.

So, it's all well and good for my friend ChatGPT to recommend "more training" (more on that below). But just DOING training doesn't ensure it contributes to the company.

That's all about intention. And if you've done the definition stage right, then when it comes to the reward stage, things SHOULD be easy 😉

Become "Stronger"; personally AND professionally

In researching this article, I asked ChatGPT "what can young marketers do to improve their skill gaps for 2025?" and most of the output was about taking courses and workshops, researching tools, deep-diving algorithms and keywords, following thought leaders.

But there was only ONE response that I believe actually empowers people:

SEEKING EXPERIENCES

You see, with all the content and courses out there nowadays, it's easy to find things to CONSUME. What it's NOT easy to do, is learn how YOU figure things out.

When you take a course or a workshop, especially free ones, they're generally about imparting knowledge - that has been learned by someone else - on you. Which isn't BAD of course; it just doesn't actually help YOU learn.

It helps you regurgitate.

But marketing is a field in which regurgitation doesn't work (unless you always want to be chasing your competitors and racing to the bottom on price, which I do NOT support).

And researching tools to directly compare them when you don't know what YOU need them to do for you (and the business) can be a HUGE waste of time. Especially if you've assigned that task to someone who is super thorough.

And you can deep-dive algorithms and keywords LITERALLY FOREVER, because they're always changing. Can you say diminishing marginal returns?

And again, following thought leaders is good...but following never turned you into a leader.

Marketing has ALWAYS had the opportunity to lead the way. To create hypotheses about the market and test them. To see patterns and interpret them based on what OUR brand would do. We're responsible for CREATING brand experiences for people.

And if we're not seeking experiences that actually teach us something about the way WE would do it, then personally, I think we're wasting our time CHASING.

Creating was NEVER about copying.

And no one ever became Stronger by NOT putting in the work.

So, if there's ONE thing you could do to empower your Marketing Team to be more effective this year, it's to create opportunities for them to EXPERIENCE the things that make them Stronger.

Stronger problem solvers.

Stronger adaptive leaders.

Stronger testers and iterators.

With greater consistency, confidence, mastery, persistence, and discipline.

Now👆 THAT👆 sounds like a powerful Marketing Team.

And if that's what you want YOURS to look like in 2025, let's chat ✨