The Top 5 Questions Marketers are Asking in 2025 + How to Find the Answers

Marketers in 2025 are navigating constant pressure and change, asking cross-industry questions about brand equity, AI, consumer behavior, outsourcing, and more. The answers are simple and boil down to clarity, capability, and connection.

At Setup, we don’t just listen, we track these patterns, analyze them, and come up with solutions to assist marketers with their challenges. Every year, our Marketing Relationship Survey gathers insights from brand and agency marketers to identify the core challenges, shifts, and opportunities in the client–agency relationship. These aren’t hypotheticals; they’re real-time questions marketing leaders are actively asking. And your answers help drive the industry's evolution.

Here are the five most frequently asked questions marketers are grappling with this year and how the Marketing Relationship Survey responses shed light on what’s actually happening. 

Q1 | How do we balance brand building and performance marketing?

This is one of the most strategic conversations happening inside marketing departments today. The pendulum had swung heavily toward performance, but now leaders are re-investing in long-term brand equity.

According to past years’ surveys regarding agency disciplines, demand for brand marketing, creative development, and strategic planning all increased, signaling that CMOs and marketing teams value both short- and long-term impact. And you can’t build value without consistency and authenticity. 

Takeaway: The best marketers know performance and brand work better together. Knowing when to prioritize one over the other depends on your goals, team structure, and the right partner support.

Q2 | How are other marketers actually using AI?

Everyone’s experimenting, growing, and giving their two cents on AI, but few feel they’ve “cracked the code” on using AI effectively. Our survey dives deeper into how marketers are using AI, including what kind of partners clients are hiring and for what type of work. The rise in content, media, and creative agency hiring from the 2024 recap shows the spaces where AI is starting to reshape marketing teams—think automation in content development or real-time media optimization.

Takeaway: AI works best when it supports human creativity, not replaces it. Understanding how your peers are applying it is essential to identifying your best use cases and informing your strategic approach. 

Q3 | Why are marketers ending agency relationships?

This one gets to the heart of relationship health. The number one reason marketers end agency partnerships from previous results is dissatisfaction with delivery. Other leading causes include misaligned communication, weak chemistry, and unclear expectations.

Takeaway: The agency you choose is only as effective as the relationship you build. Evaluating that relationship regularly helps you prevent issues before they become deal-breakers. Checking the pulse on the agency-client relationship allows us to develop resources that help marketers navigate pain points and hopefully avoid costly breakups. 

Q4 | What should brands keep in-house vs outsource when it comes to agencies?

We hear this from nearly every marketing leader. Just check out our CMO Spotlight interviews. And, depending on the industry and budget, different marketers have different approaches since the answer often depends on bandwidth and expertise. 

Many marketers are stretched thin, often due to pressure to prove marketing’s value to the C-suite, all while managing the pressure to deliver with limited internal resources. Outsourcing to the right partner can reduce stress and ultimately save time and money, especially for complex, strategic, or fast-moving initiatives.

Takeaway: You don’t have to do it all. The key is knowing what your internal team can do best, advocating for a proper budget, and focusing on the exact agency need to unlock stronger, faster results. 

Q5 | What should I really look for when hiring a new agency?

Choosing the right partner is one of the most important decisions a marketer can make. Our survey confirms that referrals and word of mouth remains the top discovery method—likely because 75% of marketers say the search process is difficult and time-consuming, with 77% agreeing it’s anything but simple.

Takeaway: Strategy alignment, chemistry, clarity on scope, and a proven ability to deliver results should always outweigh flash or low cost. Trust what matters most to your team and lean on tools like our Agency Scorecard to help guide the decision. The more transparent clients are about their needs, the better agencies can prepare, educate, and adapt their work to meet the needs of the industry. Communication and openness are the solutions to better team work and the future of marketing. 

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Your Voice Matters—Take the 2025 Survey

The insights from our Marketing Relationship Survey help uncover where brand–agency partnerships are thriving, where they’re breaking down, and where the opportunities for better collaboration exist.

We use these results to help inform and shape the marketing industry. Our hope is that the more both agencies and clients understand one another, the more healthy, long-term relationships will occur. We also use these findings to shape new research and resources that support marketers long-term. 

If you’re a marketing leader on either the brand or agency side, your input helps others benchmark their relationships, rethink their strategies, and find the right path forward.

It only takes a few minutes—and your answers help define the future of smarter marketing partnerships.