The Great Marketing Makeover: 20 Ways to Refresh Your Strategy
by Niki Clark and Rachel Clark, Niki Clark Marketing
Approximate read time: 6–7 minutes
3 Key Takeaways:
Marketing Is No Longer About Perfection:
The brands that are thriving aren’t the ones with flawless graphics and polished copy. They’re the ones showing up real, evolving quickly, and building trust through transparency. Connection > curation.Personalization, Video, and Community Are the New Must-Haves:
Short-form video, hyper-personalized content, and tight-knit communities aren’t just trends—they’re what audiences now expect. Advisors who adapt here will stay relevant and stand out.Playing It Safe Is the Real Risk:
Marketing is moving fast, and the brands willing to experiment—whether it’s trying a new format, platform, or strategy—are the ones who grow. Safe is forgettable. Scrappy is powerful.
Marketing is changing fast. Blink and there’s a new platform, a new trend, or a fresh way to grab attention. What worked last year might already feel like ancient history (looking at you, overly edited Instagram feeds). If you’re ready to ditch stale tactics, here’s what’s actually working, and how to make it work for you.
1. AI Will Be Everywhere
From writing blog posts to chatting with customers at 2 a.m., Ai is officially part of the team. But don't worry, it’s not here to steal your job. It's here to help you work smarter, faster, and way more efficiently. The creativity and strategy? That’s all you.
Try this: Use tools like ChatGPT or Gemini to draft copy faster, then add your brand voice to make it pop.
2. Authenticity Wins
Consumers are getting better at spotting BS and they’re over the highlight reels. They want the behind-the-scenes, the bloopers, the "my dog barked through the whole Zoom call but I kept going" kind of energy. The more human and honest your brand feels, the more people trust you.
Try this: Share a founder story, post unfiltered moments, or talk openly about mistakes and lessons learned.
3. Short-Form Video Will Dominate
Attention spans are getting goldfish level short. Nobody has time for a 12-minute brand story. Platforms like TikTok, Reels, and Shorts are winning because they’re quick, scroll-stopping, and have that potato chip-y can’t-watch-just-one vibe.
Try this: Start with a simple “3 tips in 30 seconds” video. You don’t need a whole production crew — your phone and good lighting are enough.
4. Hyper-Personalization is the Standard
Mass marketing isn’t cutting it anymore. With the right data and tools, you can talk to individuals, not audiences. Whether it’s an email, an ad, or a chatbot message, people expect content that feels tailored to them. People want to feel like you get them – their needs, their vibe, their dog’s name…
Try this: Try this: Instead of sending one-size-fits-all emails, organize your list based on what people care about. Look at things like past purchases, content they’ve clicked on, or how often they engage. Then tailor your messages so each person feels like you’re talking directly to them.
5. Community > Followers
Big follower counts don’t equal big results. What really matters? People who care, interact, and hype you up. That’s what a community does. Focus on creating spaces where people feel connected to your brand and to each other.
Try this: Launch a private Facebook group, a Slack channel, or even a customer spotlight series. Create space for real connection.
6. Privacy & Data Protection Will Reshape Marketing
Third-party cookies are on the way out. That means marketers need to collect and use data ethically, with transparency and consent. Trust is the new currency. You’ve gotta earn it. No sneaky data grabs allowed!
Try this: Focus on first-party data. Ask for feedback with clear opt-ins, and be upfront about how info is used.
7. SEO is Evolving (Again!)
Search habits are shifting with Ai, voice tools, and the way people naturally talk when they look things up. Structured data, authority, and relevance still matter, but now it’s just as important to consider how real people ask real questions online in their own words.
Try this: Write FAQ-style blog posts that reflect how people actually speak. Focus on the kinds of questions your audience would ask out loud and use that natural language in your content.
8. Conversational Marketing is on the Rise
Filling out a contact form and waiting 48 hours? Yeah, no one has time for that. People want instant help, not email ping-pong.
Try this: Add a chatbot to your website or enable Instagram DMs for quick replies. Keep the tone casual, not robotic.
9. Brand Storytelling Will Be Essential
If your marketing is just a list of features, you're missing the mark. People connect with stories. Your brand needs a narrative, something meaningful that shows what you stand for and why it matters.
Try this: Tell your origin story, spotlight your team, or explain your “why” in a short video or blog post.
10. The Creator Economy is Taking Over
Trust is shifting from brands to creators. People believe people, not ads. That’s why influencers and niche content creators are killing it.
Try this: Partner with micro-influencers who actually align with your values. Let them co-create content that feels natural, not forced.
11. User-Generated Content (UGC) Will Rule
When someone loves your brand enough to post about it? That’s marketing gold. It’s social proof at its finest because when real people share real experiences, others pay attention. UGC builds credibility and trust.
Try this: Invite your audience to share how they’ve worked with you or what they’ve learned from you. Highlight their stories, testimonials, or behind-the-scenes moments and weave that into your content to build trust and connection.
12. AI-Generated Content Will Flood the Market
Expect to see a surge in AI-written content. But there’s a catch. Only the content that blends AI speed with human insight will actually resonate. Generic content won’t cut it.
Try this: Use AI to brainstorm or draft, but always add a human polish. Your voice still matters.
13. Omnichannel Marketing Will Be Expected
Your audience is bouncing from Instagram to email to Google to texting. You need to show up consistently in all those places.
Try this: Create content themes that work across channels. Repurpose a blog post into an Instagram carousel, a tweet, and a newsletter snippet.
14. Email Marketing is Not Dead
It’s actually having a little renaissance. Interactive emails and personalization are bringing inboxes back to life.
Try this: Experiment with fun subject lines, GIFs, polls, or clickable quizzes. Make it something people want to open.
15. Voice & Visual Search Will Grow
Marketers must optimize for how people search, not just what they search for.
Voice Search: Say It Like a Human
Voice Search: Think like a human, not a robot. People don’t say “retirement plan tips” — they ask, “How can I retire by 50?”
What This Means for Marketing:
Conversational SEO matters. People say, “What’s the best financial advisor near me?” instead of “best financial advisor near me.”
Long-tail keywords win. “How can I retire at 55?” works better than “early retirement.”
Featured snippets are gold. Voice assistants often read position zero results (the top of Google).
Local SEO is key. Many voice searches are location-based, like “financial planner near me.”
Try this: Add a FAQ section to your site and focus on long-tail keywords. Write like someone’s asking you a question over coffee.
Visual Search: The Next Big Shift
People can now search by snapping a photo. So your images need to work overtime.
What This Means for Marketing:
Optimized images = better visibility. Every image should have descriptive alt text, proper file names, and structured metadata to show up in visual search.
Product-based businesses will benefit most. If you’re selling something physical (like luxury watches or office decor), visual search could be a goldmine.
Lifestyle images matter. Search engines recognize context, so showing a product in a real-life setting can improve rankings.
Pinterest & Google Lens will be huge. Especially for e-commerce, fashion, home decor, and travel.
Try this: Add alt text to your images, use descriptive file names, and invest in lifestyle photos that show your brand in the wild.
16. Boring Brands Won’t Survive
Playing it safe won’t cut it anymore. If your brand doesn’t have personality, it’s going to blend into the beige sea of sameness.
Try this: Define three brand traits (like witty, bold, or encouraging) and make sure everything from your captions to your packaging reflects them.
17. Customer Experience (CX) is the New Differentiator
Your marketing might be amazing, but if your customer experience is blah, none of it matters. The brands that win will be the ones that make the entire experience from first impression to final delivery feel easy, thoughtful, and genuinely enjoyable. Remember: Retention > Acquisition.
Try this: Walk through your own customer experience from discovery to delivery. Where’s the friction? Fix that first.
18. Marketing Will Be More Interactive
People want to click, play, vote, and swipe. Static content is fine, but interactive content is what sticks.
Try this: Add a quiz to your homepage, run Instagram polls, or create a calculator that helps customers choose the right product.
19. The Line Between Marketing & Sales Will Blur
Buyers are doing their homework before they ever talk to a human. So your content has to teach and convert.
Try this: Create comparison guides, product tutorials, or demo videos that live on your site. Think of them as helpful salespeople that work 24/7.
20. If You’re Not Experimenting, You’re Falling Behind
Marketing doesn’t stand still. The brands that test new ideas, play with fresh formats, and learn from failure are the ones that stay relevant. What worked last quarter might flop next month, and that’s okay. Playing it safe is the real risk.
Try this: Set aside a budget or time each month to try one new thing. Maybe it’s a new platform, maybe it’s a weird meme. See what happens.
“So, What Do We Do With All This?”
The bottom line? Marketing isn’t about being perfect. It’s about showing up, staying human, and building real connection. The brands that thrive will be the ones that listen, adapt, and aren’t afraid to experiment.
Successful marketing is human, it’s scrappy, it’s creative, and it’s constantly changing. And honestly? That’s what makes it fun.
