The marketing industry has never been known to sit still. In 2025, it’s moving faster than ever. Between the rise of AI, changing customer expectations, and pressure to do more with less, the skills you need for marketing are evolving. Finding marketing professionals with the right skillset is crucial.

With nearly 30 years of marketing recruitment experience, we’ve seen our fair share of shifts in the industry at EMR. Our latest salary survey and market trend report confirms what many hiring managers are feeling in terms of stagnant salaries and role consolidation. There’s a broader shift in the type of skills for a marketer that you should be looking out for.

Wondering what makes a skilled marketing hire in 2025? Here, we’ll take a look at the most valuable marketing skills that drive value today, with some insights that will help you identify where to invest for long-term success.

The most in-demand skills needed for marketing professionals today

The rise of the generalist marketer

One of the most noteworthy shifts identified in this year’s market trends report is the move toward hiring generalist marketing professionals. Adaptable individuals with marketing skills that allow them to contribute across various disciplines are in demand, albeit difficult to source. With leaner teams and consolidated roles, having one person who can wear multiple hats is a major asset.

The return of the generalist doesn’t mean the end of specialist skilled marketing roles, of course. However, consolidation is slowing down salary growth across mid to senior level roles and seeing fewer opportunities for those with a niche specialism.

For hiring managers, this means assessing candidates on how they adapt and where they can add value across the board. Key generalist marketing skills to look out for include:

• End-to-end campaign planning and delivery
• Working knowledge of digital, content, email, and brand
• Ability to juggle multiple projects and switch gears fast
• A collaborative mindset with strong commercial instincts

Digital performance and data skills

Digital marketing skills are still central to success. Roles that are tied directly to measurable results, such as paid media, SEO, and analytics, continue to be in high demand, with marketing budgets under more scrutiny than ever from the boardroom.

When hiring, look for candidates who can do more than pull reports. The most skilled data-driven digital marketers understand how to link metrics back to business objectives. Showing the value behind each decision and how they improve return on investment is essential when providing insights to internal stakeholders who might not be as data-savvy.

Data-driven digital marketing skills to prioritise include:

• A track record of managing ROI-focused campaigns
• Clear understanding of how to analyse and present marketing data
• Familiarity with GA4, Looker Studio, and campaign management tools
• Ability to link data to business KPIs

Automation and AI skills

While our market trend report shows that AI hasn’t displaced marketing jobs, it’s certainly shifted expectations. The robots haven’t taken over, but leveraging these technologies is becoming a required skill for marketing professionals. Increasingly, understanding how to thoughtfully integrate automation into day-to-day work is valued.

Look for candidates who can show you how they’re using AI in meaningful ways. This could be a content executive speeding up ideation, or a marketing manager streamlining their reporting. AI capabilities are becoming key skills required for marketing.

Skills to prioritise in AI-aware marketers include:

• Familiarity with generative tools like Jasper and ChatGPT
• A natural curiosity and interest in tech
• Critical thinking about AI output and the ethics behind them
• An understanding of how AI can support their work, not replace it

CRM and retention marketing are smart investments

With many businesses shifting focus from acquisition to retention, CRM and lifecycle marketing have taken centre stage. Our report highlights CRM as a key area of demand, especially where teams are looking to deepen engagement or drive long-term customer value.

Skilled marketing professionals in this space understand how to use data to deliver personalised experiences, automate communications, and identify growth opportunities within existing customer bases. If you’re building out loyalty programmes or managing subscriptions, these skills for marketing can unlock real returns.

CRM marketing skills include:

• Behavioural segmentation and personalisation
• Automation strategy and journey mapping
• Familiarity with tools like HubSport and Salesforce
• Campaign measurement and insight reporting

Soft skills are just as important as hard marketing skills

Soft skills for marketers have always been crucial. Particularly if you’re hiring for a senior marketing position, the way they lead and support others sets the top professionals apart. Soft skills like resilience and empathy are core competencies.

With 79% of respondents in our survey stating that they would leave a role if hybrid working was removed, it’s clear that marketers care about how they work. Hiring managers should assess how candidates show up in a digital-first world. Looking out for soft skills just as much technical know-how will help to build a stronger team.

Soft skills that are most important in marketing include:

• Active listening and clear communication
• Strong collaboration skills across teams
• Self-awareness and openness to feedback
• Adaptability in fast-paced, changing environments

Get more insight into the top marketing skills

Hiring the right marketers in 2025 means thinking beyond job titles. The skills that drive impact are changing, and your approach needs to move with them. If you’re hiring now, knowing which marketing skills to prioritise is a strategic decision that can shape the future of your business.

Want to look deeper into the state of the marketing industry? Download our 2025 salary survey and market report for the inside scoop into everything from salary benchmarks to hiring trends. If you’re ready to work with our expert team, submit a brief today to get started.