10 resources to kick-start your data strategy in 2025

The close of 2024 is here and 2025 is coming in hot. Are you ready? 

More importantly — is your data ready for 2025? 

Once consumers get over the hangover of holiday advertising, shopping, and spending, they’ll expect a lot from brands. Pinpoint personalization and thoughtful privacy will be at the top of the list. Anything less will leave your brand playing catch-up.

But you need a solid data strategy to support those hyper-targeted campaigns securely, especially if you plan to fold AI into the mix. 

So, if you’re planning for 2025 to be the Year of Your Data Strategy, we’re here to help with a roundup of resources and expert advice. Watch, read, and listen through this list to find practical steps to get more value from your customer data and launch next-level marketing personalization.

1. Watch and read: Scott Brinker’s Martech for 2025 report and interviews

Scott Brinker and Frans Riemersma teamed up to produce an epic Martech for 2025 report detailing trends in martech and AI. The 108-page tome features some must-read survey stats and opinions from martech leaders on where the industry is headed. 

The report’s main takeaways include:

• Generative AI is reshaping martech - AI-powered tools are transforming marketing operations, with thousands of new AI-native solutions emerging. The rapid adoption of generative AI highlights a shift in how marketers engage with technology, focusing on efficiency and automation.

• Hybrid is the stack of the future - Custom software has a growing role alongside commercial martech platforms. Many companies are combining off-the-shelf tools with bespoke solutions tailored to their unique needs, leveraging modern data stacks like cloud warehouses and APIs for seamless integration.

• Composability is critical - Martech buyers increasingly prioritize platforms that support API-driven composability. This enables businesses to build flexible, scalable systems by integrating data and tools, empowering non-technical users to innovate through no-code and low-code solutions.

• Data is the backbone of AI success - A universal data layer is vital for leveraging AI effectively. By aggregating structured and unstructured data, companies can create a comprehensive view of their customers, enabling more precise targeting and real-time personalization.

• The rise of “service-as-a-software”- AI-driven services are blurring the lines between tools and labor, offering businesses new ways to outsource outcomes instead of tasks. These services promise cost-efficient solutions for marketing challenges, from audience segmentation to campaign optimization, and are expected to reshape tech stacks and workflows.

If you don’t have the time to read through the whole report, you can also check out the conversations Scott and Frans held with martech thought leaders, including GrowthLoop’s CEO Chris O’Neill. 

Head to Scott Brinker’s YouTube channel to catch all the Martech for 2025 discussions.

Watch: end-to-end marketing with AI and the data cloud

2. Read: Data transformation starter kit

So, you want to change how your organization collects, manages, and accesses data. We call that “data transformation.”

It sounds daunting, but the good news is that plenty of organizations have gone through this process — and some of them shared their experiences with us. 

With insight from groups like CHG Healthcare, Priceline, the Kansas City Royals, and NASCAR, we compiled a data transformation starter kit that outlines practical steps to get you started. 

If you’re a marketing or data leader hungry for a better, more unified approach to data, this eBook is for you.

Get the data transformation starter kit

3. Read: Snowflake’s Modern Marketing Data Stack 2025

Snowflake’s annual Modern Marketing Data Stack report is a must-read for any data-minded marketer. This year’s report didn’t disappoint, as it dove head-first into the new era of advanced AI and what it means for marketing technology in 2025 and beyond.

The report focuses on:

• The rising impact of first-party data - The power and potential of large, unified data sets has reshaped the idea of the martech stack and marketing as a profession.

• Three major forces redefining the marketing ecosystem - AI, privacy considerations, and data revelations are more than just trends, they’re game-changers reshaping an industry (think: the advent of smartphones). 

• Leaders in every aspect of marketing technology - Snowflake looked at how 9,800+ of their clients built their marketing stack to drive business growth.

Get the Modern Marketing Data Stack report

4. Watch and read: How to get started with a data strategy

Back in the Mad Men days, marketers struggled to get any data about their customers. Today, the struggle is the opposite — we’re swimming in it. From social media to CRMs to website analytics, data is everywhere. The challenge is turning that flood of information into clear, actionable insights that drive results.

That’s where a data strategy comes in. With the right data strategy, you can:

• Personalize marketing campaigns with precision.

• Spot opportunities for smarter product development.

• Improve ROI by focusing ad spend where it works.

Without a strategy, you risk wasted budgets, poor personalization, and siloed data.

Director of Data Alex Sotis shares his advice and best practices for creating a winning data strategy, from defining objectives to leveraging cutting-edge tools like composable CDPs. 

Learn how to get started with a data strategy

5. Watch: Data strategy advice from CHG Healthcare

When we talk data strategy, we focus a lot on the tech — how we collect data, where we store it, how we access it.

But a successful data strategy hinges on one critical element: the people. 

Luke Stenis, product manager of data and engineering at CHG Healthcare, says it's vital to get top-down buy-in on a data strategy and technology investments. What’s even more important is celebrating the people who help execute that strategy—whether it’s an entry-level marketer, the CEO, or the janitor.

Hear it straight from Luke in this clip from GrowthLoop Live: 

6. Read: Harnessing the power of agentic AI

The AI wave has grown exponentially since ChatGPT’s birth in late 2022. 

But the AI tech that’s currently riding the top of that wave? Agentic AI. 

While many marketers are still getting to know the concept of AI agents, Google Cloud recently unveiled an AI agent ecosystem program that helps its partners build, market, and scale AI agents faster than ever. 

From automated customer service to smarter supply chains, these agents are solving real-world challenges across industries. Plus, with the new AI Agent Space on Google Cloud Marketplace, it’s easier than ever for businesses to find and deploy these cutting-edge solutions.

So, what does this mean for marketers? Read on to learn how Google’s new AI agent ecosystem has the potential to unlock your team’s productivity and campaign success. 

Learn about Google's AI agent ecosystem program

7. Listen: Marketing and data together forever

As we discussed at GrowthLoop Live, a successful data strategy involves collaboration between marketing and data teams. But historically, these two teams don’t integrate — focusing on different business objectives, goals, and success metrics. 

Bringing these teams together is possible, and GrowthLoop Co-Founder Chris Sell talks all about it on this episode of the Deconstructing Data podcast.

• What effective teamwork looks like between marketing and data teams

• The true impact of siloed data

• How to build trust in data with a first-party data plan

• The tech stack needed to support unified data and teams

Hear Chris on the Deconstructing Data Podcast

8. Read: Leveraging AI for data modeling and activation

AI has the power to unlock more than just efficiencies and time savings. It can provide powerful data modeling and analysis — all in a matter of minutes. 

This guide from Making Science and GrowthLoop explores how your business can leverage AI and advanced data modeling to revolutionize your marketing strategy. You’ll learn how to:

• Master the data foundation for AI success - Learn why centralizing your data in platforms like Google BigQuery is essential for AI-driven marketing. Dive into techniques such as server-side tagging and advanced machine learning models to improve data accuracy, privacy, and scalability.

• Boost campaign impact with predictive analytics - Understand how predictive modeling can help you identify high-value customers, optimize ad spend, and improve customer segmentation. Learn about tools like Instant BQML and advanced media mix modeling to enhance decision-making and marketing efficiency.

• Transform marketing with AI-powered personalization - Discover how AI tools like Google Cloud's Vertex AI and GrowthLoop's composable CDP empower marketers to deliver hyper-personalized customer experiences at scale. Learn strategies to build dynamic audience segments, optimize campaigns, and maximize marketing ROI.

• Seamlessly integrate AI into your marketing stack - Explore the benefits of embedded AI solutions that integrate directly into your existing technology. These tools streamline workflows, enable real-time insights, and reduce implementation time, allowing marketers to act faster and with greater precision.

Get the guide from Making Science

9. Watch: Brian Himstedt’s vision for a unified data stack

When the Kansas City Royals set out to create a vision and plan for unified data, they knew it needed to achieve four things: 

• Integrate data effectively into and out of a single source of truth

• Activate the data directly from that single source of truth

• Structure data in a way that’s effective for the team to analyze 

• Help the whole organization clearly visualize the data and results 

If this sounds like something you want to achieve, you don’t want to miss this great clip from Brian Himstedt’s GrowthLoop Live session. He dives into his vision for a better, more unified data stack at one of MLB’s leading organizations. 

And if you’re looking for more great insight from Brian, you can also check out his full GrowthLoop Live session here.

10. Download: CDP RFP template

You’ve aligned your data and marketing teams. 

You’ve set a comprehensive data strategy. 

You’ve started the process of unifying your data into a single location. 

It’s a beautiful picture, isn’t it? 

Before we get too far in this visualization, though, remember that you’ll need a way to activate that unified data. In other words, how will you build audiences and customer journeys that you can deploy across various channels? 

The solution you seek is a customer data platform (CDP). And if you’re working with a single source of truth in the data cloud, a composable CDP is the ideal choice. For many organizations, purchasing new tech like a CDP requires a detailed request for proposal (RFP) process. 

If you plan to launch a CDP RFP in 2025, this free template is a perfect place to start. It outlines more than 75 crucial questions for vetting platforms and includes plenty of room for customization based on your organization’s needs. 

Get the free CDP RFP template

Make 2025 the Year of Data

If you want to stay competitive in 2025, your data strategy must be sharp. Customers expect more from your personalization and privacy, and the only way to deliver on that is with a unified data strategy and tech stack.

But developing and maintaining a data strategy isn’t any easy feat. We hope these resources will help you navigate the steps and challenges to get to a unified state and realize the full value of your customer data. 

Here’s to 2025 — a year where your customers, team, and brand will all benefit from better data.