Let’s cut to the chase: marketing in 2025 is no walk in the park. And while some businesses seem to glide effortlessly through the challenges (or maybe not even really experience them at all), the reality for most (regardless of how big or established your business is), is that marketing is not easy this year. It’s become increasingly complex. Things that worked 6 months ago don’t anymore. And whether you consider yourself a marketer or just someone who has to do marketing things, What am I doing wrong? is a question you probably ask yourself daily.

You’re not doing anything wrong per say—no one really knows what’s right at the moment. But what we do know? Marketing is changing. So today, we're diving into the top three marketing challenges of 2025 that are throwing small business owners for a loop. If this year has been a wild ride for you, stick around because we're about to break it all down.

The top 3 marketing challenges for small businesses in 2025:

• The decline of organic reach on social media
• AI (artificial intelligence)
• Shifting consumer confidence and buying behavior

Marketing Challenge #1: The Decline of Organic Reach on Social Media  

If you’ve been feeling like your social media content is getting seen by like 18 people, you’re not making it up. Organic reach on social media has taken a nosedive, leaving even the savviest marketers scratching their heads. Because even when you create high-quality, engaging content that jumps on trends, it seems harder than ever to get noticed. So, what’s the deal? While no one knows the exact cause (if you know anyone at Meta who can give us an actual answer, hit me up!), the need for social media platforms to generate revenue is a likely culprit. Paid reach is currently the way to get reach numbers you’re used to seeing, leaving small businesses (who rely on free or low-budget marketing channels), frustrated.

The other thing is, algorithm changes are demanding more engagement before showing your content to more people—making it a real catch-22 situation. You need engagement to get seen, but you can't get engagement if you’re not seen. So, what can you do other than roll your eyes? Encourage your audience to interact with your content by using polls, carousels, and other content formats that require them to do more than just double tap to like. You can also start collaborating with others can also boost your reach since the content gets shown to the audiences of both accounts. Enji’s new social media scheduler feature allows you to add collaborators to your scheduled Instagram posts.

Oh, and we have to say it: Feeling like your reach is down is very different from knowing your reach is down. So start tracking your reach to understand what normal looks like for you—Enji’s performance dashboard can help with that.

MarketingChallenge #2: The Overwhelming World of AI Tools  

Even though we are fans of AI and building tools with it to help you get your marketing done faster, AI is a double-edged sword in 2025. Because even though there are these incredible tools to speed up marketing tasks, the sheer number of them is overwhelming—so what are you even supposed to use? Layer that with the fact that each is promising to be the ultimate solution, it starts to feel like you’d be dumb not to try it? But then you end up with way more tabs and subscriptions that can (honestly) complicate your workflow.

The rapid pace of AI development only adds to the challenge. But we won’t get into that 🥵

Then there is how AI is reshaping how people are searching for things on the internet. With search functions on Google, social media, and AI platforms like ChatGPT, there are a lot more places we need to be “optimizing” for—and that can feel daunting. But for now (and since the rules are far from being set in stone), focus on creating content that clearly states what you do, who you doit for, and where…and be consistent with sharing that across all the platforms you’re marketing on. That means your website and social media bios. And, if you want to take things a step further, add a solid FAQ page to your website because those longer questions are probably similar to the ones people are searching for.

A marketing challenge I didn’t include in this video but deserves honorable mention? The amount of content being produced and how that is making people more skeptical of what they read and see. Don’t believe me? There are plenty of copywriters and marketing venting on the internet about how using the em dash has all of the sudden turned into a “this content was made with AI” flag—it's not.

Marketing Challenge #3: Shifting Consumer Confidence and Buying Behavior  

The last marketing challenge is what I like to simply call the “2025 factor”. Because if you are a human living on planet earth, you know uncertainty is the name of the game in 2025, and it’s reshaping consumer behavior. People are being more cautious with their spending, often opting to push off making purchases because they want to feel more secure before buying. And this shift underscores the psychological aspect of marketing—understanding and addressing the concerns your potential clients and customers have is crucial.

And even though you can’t control when a potential customer will make a decision, you can control how many opportunities to take to put your business in front of them. I mean, this is what marketing is. And what marketing does is try to get people the information they need to buy from or book you at the right time. So consistency is key. Taking the shots is key. Keep your business visible is key. So this definitely isn’t the time to take shortcuts with your messaging or offerings. Dive deep into understanding your customers’ current struggles and realities. Do some customer research and tailor your marketing to meet their needs.

After that, you can take a deep breath. Running a small business in 2025 isn’t easy, but you can do hard things. Focus on what you can control, and push forward, even if it’s just one tiny step at a time. This year demands grit, resilience, and self-belief. While it’s normal to feel tired and frustrated, remember that you’re not alone. The Enji community is here to support you, and together, we’ll navigate these challenges. Keep going—you’ve got this!

And if you need help better organizing your marketing so you have a clear plan to help you get through these marketing challenges, start your free 14-day trial of Enji today! Because Enji isn't just marketing software for small businesses, group coaching is included so you get more of the support you need.

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