The Absolute State of Marketing & Promotion in 2025 - research results
What 77 marketers told us, and what it means for the future of marketing that feels good and works
When Sharon and I launched our survey early this summer, we wanted to take the pulse of marketing today. Before we refreshed the Valuable Content Marketing principles for the next decade, we were keen to listen. To hear from the people doing the work: the marketeers and comms leads, the strategists, founders, and freelancers trying to make marketing matter in 2025.
So we asked our network, across sectors and sizes, a simple set of questions:
How does marketing feel right now? What’s working? What’s not? What do you long for?
77 people responded. Their answers paint a vivid, emotional, sometimes sobering picture of a profession in flux: one that’s tired, hopeful, resourceful, and deeply human.
1. The emotional bellwether of marketing in 2025
Marketing isn’t just technical work, it’s emotional labour.
“Exhilarating one day, soul-sapping the next.”
AI has accelerated output but flattened originality. Many respondents spoke of fatigue and sameness, yet there’s a fierce determination to stay human. The most positive people we heard from were those with a sense of purpose and clarity, those who know what they’re about and believe in what they promote.
64% said they feel proud of their work.
But 52% also said they often feel exhausted by it.
Confidence and energy are the dividing lines. The marketers who feel confident in their values and audiences are thriving; those who feel buffeted by trends are drained.
👉 Read Sharon’s insightful post: What marketers fear, hope for, and really think | The ASMP Survey 2025
2. A fractured landscape
The tactical ground is shifting faster than ever. Channels multiply, algorithms flip, audiences scatter.
“We’re everywhere – and getting nowhere.”
SEO feels harder. Organic reach on social has collapsed. Paid ads bring short bursts of attention but little trust. The one ‘channel’ everyone agrees still works? Word of mouth – personal recommendation and genuine community.
3. The trust deficit
The most repeated word in our open responses: authenticity.
“I can tell when something’s AI-written. It’s shiny but soulless.”
Marketers are questioning their tools. AI helps, for sure (we used it to help distill the research results) but without any human input, does it connect? Social media feels to many like a “necessary evil.”
What audiences crave, and what marketers want to deliver, is realness: honest tone, story, care.
4. The deeper challenge: clarity and confidence
When we looked past tactics, the biggest barriers were strategic and human.
Clarity of message, confidence in direction, and recognition inside organisations.
Many said marketing is still undervalued (“the colouring-in department”) even when it’s what keeps the lights on.
“We’re brilliant at telling other people’s stories, not our own.”
This points to a profound identity issue: marketing as meaning-making, not just promotion. The future belongs to those who reclaim that role.
5. What people miss
There’s a quiet but clear nostalgia running through the data we collected. People miss human contact: print, events, long reads, conversations. They miss joy and creativity. They want to put heart back into the work.
“Human stories matter. No robot will ever replicate that.”
It’s a reminder that marketing has always been about connection.
6. The mindset shift
The survey suggests that what separates the energised from the exhausted is mindset.
Those who approach marketing as relational, creative work, who see it as an act of service, report higher motivation and better results. Those chasing algorithms or trends feel lost.
So the new equation looks something like this:
Human over algorithm.
Clarity over complexity.
Courage over conformity.
Connection over clicks.
Confidence over confusion.
7. What’s next: towards marketing that feels good and works
This research is the foundation for our updated Valuable Content Principles: a framework for marketing that’s human, helpful, and joyful, even in a messy digital world.
Over the next few months we’ll share the draft principles and invite your feedback. But for now, here’s the headline insight from the survey:
Marketing works when it’s relational.
It stops working when it’s transactional.
The work ahead is to rebuild confidence, creativity, and trust – in ourselves, in our audiences, and in the craft.
Read the full survey
See all the charts, quotes, and insights from 77 marketers who shared their truths.
👉 Download the full report here
If this research resonates, do tell us what you think.
Join us as we shape the next chapter of Valuable Content: principles for marketing that feels good, does good, and works by putting relationships, trust and humanity back at the heart of all we do.