In a year marked by tighter budgets and even tighter scrutiny from boards and CFOs, brands can no longer afford wasteful media spend. With consumer behaviour fragmenting, AI platforms evolving, and privacy tightening its grip on digital tracking, 2025 demands more strategic, accountable advertising than ever before.
Here are five clear, actionable rules to optimise your advertising spend this year — backed by industry evidence and strategic insight.
- Start (and stay) with first-party data
With Google’s deprecation of third-party cookies rolling out in full this year, advertisers relying on old-school targeting methods are officially behind the curve. As Marketing Week puts it, “2025 is the year of owned data” — and brands must double down on collecting, organising, and activating first-party data across CRM systems, loyalty platforms, and consented analytics.
Brands doing this well are shifting spend into email, SMS, and loyalty programmes, where they can build sustainable reach without paying Meta or Google for every click. Read more on first-party data strategy.
- Let AI do the heavy lifting — but don’t hand over the keys
AI tools like Google Performance Max and Meta’s Advantage+ are streamlining campaign performance — but blind trust is not a strategy. You need rigorous creative testing, well-structured data inputs, and active human oversight to stop algorithms from auto-optimising into mediocrity.
A recent eMarketer report shows that while AI-powered ads can reduce cost per acquisition, performance plateaus without strategic input from marketers. Don’t fire your team — empower them with the right tools and training.
- Rebalance brand and performance budgets
Performance marketing will always be measurable — but over-investing in short-term conversion at the expense of long-term growth is a false economy. According to The Australian’s recent feature, campaigns that blend brand and performance channels outperform those that don’t by over 70% in total effectiveness.
The benchmark? The 60/40 rule still holds: 60% of budget on brand building, 40% on performance. The most successful brands are the ones that resist the urge to chase immediate gratification.
- Ditch over-reliance on Meta and Google
It’s time to stop treating Google and Meta like default settings. Their dominance is declining — not in scale, but in effectiveness. CPMs are rising, while ROI is flattening. Meanwhile, channels like TikTok, influencer partnerships, and connected TV (CTV) are generating stronger engagement at lower cost.
As Vogue Business notes, smart brands are diversifying into direct partnerships, native content, and alternative placements to cut through. Don’t just shift media — shift the format and the story you’re telling.
- Upskill your team before you upgrade your tech
The biggest ROI unlock in 2025 might not come from media buying at all — it may come from your internal capabilities. Whether it’s performance marketing literacy, creative testing workflows, or AI prompt writing, marketers need sharper, more technical skills to stay competitive.
Agencies like Fabric Academy are reporting a surge in demand for upskilling, as in-house teams try to regain control over strategy and spend. Consider training budgets an investment — not overhead.