Steel Recaps January’s Top Marketing News of 2025

As a service to our clients and partners, Steel summarizes the top stories in marketing and advertising each month. Please reach out to Kirsten Cutshall for more discussion on this month’s marketing news or with anything that is on your mind. We would love to hear from you!

Video Transcript

I’m Kirsten Cutshall with Steel Advertising. It’s January 31st, and here’s your top marketing news in under 5 minutes.

Marketing budgets are rising but so is confusion over KPIs according to Nielsen’s 2024 Marketing Report. 

72% of marketers are anticipating bigger ad budgets this year, with 63% of budgets allocated to digital channels. With inflation and economic uncertainties, most marketers are prioritizing performance marketing over brand-building efforts this year. 

However, Nielsen analysts observed a growing misalignment between marketing goals and KPIs. Marketers’ top KPIs are long-term ROI and full-funnel ROI. But these same marketers who focus on individual performance channel metrics and direct response media buying won’t deliver on these more overarching goals.

This may be why marketers are not seeing expected overall returns from performance channels. While 84% of respondents were confident in ROI measurement on specific performance channel tactics, only 38% evaluated their brand and performance efforts holistically against those overall goals. 

To improve long-term ROI, understand the interplay between your brand and performance channels. Sometimes, the best way to get a 1% increase in revenue is a 1% increase in brand metrics. 

Next, Meta is making its move while the future is uncertain for TikTok. 

To address concerns about censorship, Meta recently eliminated third-party fact-checkers, replacing them with user-driven “Community Notes” system. For marketers, the impact has mixed implications. Meta hopes the change brings people back to the platform and increases engagement frequency. However, if healthy discourse isn’t maintained, there may be controversial moments for the platform and advertisers

Simultaneously, Meta is preparing for TikTok’s uncertain future by doubling down on Reels. Responding with new tools and redesigned dimensions to prioritize vertical video, Meta is positioning themselves as the go-to platform for short-form, entertainment-driven content, but the youngest audiences are also looking to alternatives like Red Note. 

Marketers should be on the lookout for shifts in demographics and engagement on Meta over the next six months. Staying proactive will allow you to adjust strategies to capitalize on any emerging trends early. 

Finally, buying streaming TV may become as easy as buying social media.  

Successful TV advertising requires multi-channel buying for a majority reach. According to Nielsen’s Gauge, streaming commands 43% of total TV viewing, surpassing cable at 24% and broadcast at 22%. Satellite marketing and other channels make up the remaining 10%. Streaming platforms now firmly dominate the TV landscape, fueled by sports, blockbuster films, and hit originals.

Current TV buying can be cumbersome, but change is on the horizon. Comcast recently announced their new Universal Ads platform, enabling advertisers of all sizes to buy premium TV and video ads as easily as social media. This one-stop platform aggregates media companies to simplify access to premium video, making Comcast’s first cross-industry collaboration of this scale. Launch partners include A+E, AMC, DIRECTV, Fox, NBCUniversal, Paramount, Roku, TelevisaUnivision, Warner Bros. and Discovery with more to follow.

By streamlining advertisers’ ability to buy, scale, and measure TV, the Universal Ads platform makes TV advertising more accessible than ever. Make sure that your team is capitalizing on the efficiency. 

Thanks for listening and please reach out if you want to talk! Staying ahead of the curve will help you succeed in this ever-changing marketing landscape!

I hope this helps make your job easier. Feel free to reach out if you want to talk about these topics or anything marketing. 

Sources:

Marketing budgets are rising but so is confusion over KPIs according to Nielsen’s 2024 Marketing Report.
https://www.nielsen.com/insights/2024/maximizing-roi-in-a-fragmented-world-nielsen-annual-marketing-report/

Meta is making its move while the future is uncertain for TikTok.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/07/tech/meta-censorship-moderation/index.html
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jodiecook/2025/01/14/what-the-tiktok-ban-means-for-your-business/

Finally, buying streaming TV may become as easy as buying social media.
https://www.adweek.com/convergent-tv/netflix-streamers-record-ratings-december/
https://www.adweek.com/convergent-tv/comcast-universal-ads-advertisers-should-know/