Learn From Us: What 2025 Taught Us About The Future Of Marketing

sweettalkmedia
Jan 13
3 min read

2025 was a year of showing up, trying new things, and leaning into the trends straight from the Head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri.

So, about that "new"...

This year, co-founder Jane stepped back for a huge life moment—she got married!! Even while being fully present for that chapter, Jane stayed connected behind the scenes, workshopping ideas and guiding our growth.

Okay, now for the "new" for you. We made 120 Reels for our clients...

The story of Intentional Content

In 2025, we shifted from recommending content to actually jumping into the creator seat ourselves!

After analyzing 2024’s insights, we HAD to. Plus, reels was the topic constantly uttered by the decision-makers at Instagram. We leaned in and made Reels our core strategy, producing 120 videos rooted in data and real audience behaviour.

However, this volume revealed a new reality: organic reach has its limits. We have officially evolved our services to always include the "Dream Team": Paid + Organic. Organic builds the story, and an ad budget is the fuel that ensures it actually reaches the right eyes.

Our First Event: Marketing Mingle

The year kicked off with our Marketing Mingle! Our goal was to empower women entrepreneurs with practical marketing advice and a space to connect with like-minded business owners.Jessica from Sweet Talk broke down the foundations, while Jenny from Virtzilla led a deep dive into newsletters and word-of-mouth through 20-minute micro-keynotes.

The outcome? While the learning was a hit, the feedback was loud and clear: people were waiting for an event exactly like this. They wanted a place where everyone was genuinely excited to be there and mingle in real life. So many business cards were exchanged, and we were asked more than a few times when the next one is happening. (Don’t worry—we’re working on it!)

The Lesson: People are craving the "analog experience." You’ve seen it all over TikTok—nostalgia is in the air, people want year 2016 again, and everyone is yearning for IRL connection. Now is the time to think about how you can show up in person.

When everyone is your audience, no one shows up

We supported a new client’s first two-day conference this year, handling everything from the strategy and training to the promotion. While the energy was high, the event didn't quite sell out. In marketing, the "misses" are often your best data points. We learned firsthand that a broad target audience combined with a short promotional window are the ultimate enemies of a sell-out crowd.

The Lesson: Specificity is your superpower. If you try to talk to everyone, your message lands with no one. We also walked away with a firm reminder that major promotions need a 6–8 week minimum to really let your story sink in. You have to be mindful of holiday noise and market saturation; aligning your timing with your audience’s actual life cycle is non-negotiable.

Growth, Gratitude, and Full-Circle Moments

Outside of Sweet Talk, 2025 was a massive growth year for Jessica in her role as a Digital Marketing Strategist. She is so excited to be leading the branding for two major projects at her day job: an upcoming awards gala and a massive expo at the BMO Centre!

It’s a total full-circle moment; back in her TV production days, she always dreamed of working on the awards circuit. Now, she’s bringing that experience to life by managing all the content creation for these projects—from directing commercials and managing professional crews to overseeing the entire video production.

Jessica is incredibly grateful for her day job team. Beyond providing these big-stage opportunities, they foster a "forever learner" culture that allowed her to level up at Social West and join Monday Girl this year. Having that kind of support system truly makes all the difference!

Looking Ahead to 2026

We’re bringing these lessons into a focused new year. Our upcoming workshop, “AI Can Ruin Your Marketing (If You’re Not Using It Correctly),” is all about using automation without losing your brand's story and yourself to the robots! Email us to get started!

We are also so excited to launch our new newsletter, The Pastel Paper (our playful take on the "White Paper"). It’s a fresh approach to marketing insights, delivered with a focus on how people actually behave online.

👉 Sign up here to be the first to know when The Pastel Paper drops and what’s next for Sweet Talk.