The St. Louis chapter of the Society for Marketing Professional Services brought together multiple marketing organizations on National Marketing Day to talk about the latest tools and trends of 2025. H/L’s own Chris Kilcullen, VP Director of Digital Marketing and AAF STL board member, shared the stage with other marketing professionals from AMA, 314 Digital, the Social Media Club, Nonprofit Marketers Network and Urban League to discuss the top tools and trends going into 2025.

 

SMPS

Front row: Brandi McDonough, Sydney McDermott, Eric Rhiney, Back: Ryan Green, Joey Sminchak, Chris Kilcullen, Wes Morgan, and Alicia Underwood

Sydney McDermott, Program Director of SMPS STL moderated the discussion which revolved around what we’ve learned in 2024 and heading into the future. Some of the questions posed to the panel included:

  • What’s one marketing tool you can’t live without right now, and why?
  • Each of our organizations represents a different sector of marketing—how can we better collaborate and learn from each other to drive innovation?
  • How would you describe the current state of marketing in your industry?
  • What major trend is shaping your marketing strategy for 2025?
  • In an era of data-driven decision-making, what metrics truly matter, and how can marketers balance analytics with creativity?
  • How do you see marketing evolving in the next 5–10 years, and what should marketers do now to stay ahead of the curve?

It was clear that A.I. was a dominant presence in today’s marketing trends, with most agreeing that A.I. is an incredible time saving tool when it comes to research, preparing responses to RFP’s and RFQ’s, as well as aggregate note-taking automation.

On the influencer front, many agreed that influencers need to provide meaningful, on-going brand interaction and not just a one-time endorsement. And in order to have an authentic vibe, the proper influencers must be identified through a vetting process to yield the proper and relevant matchup between that person of influence and the brand.

 

Lastly, all agreed that we must embrace the data-driven age of marketing and use research to glean accurate intelligence to properly move our brands and products forward. Relying solely on instinct and experience is no longer adequate.

Happy National Marketing Day to all and enjoy the Spring season!