Marketers feel the heat as AI exposes skills shortage

The marketing profession is increasingly coming under pressure over a widening competence gap, with a new analysis exposing how many in the industry are struggling to keep up as AI-driven demands outpace the core expertise of the workforce.

According to a major new study, The Marketing Anchors report by Ipsos, conducted across the UK, US, Canada, and Australia, only 35% of practitioners can correctly define core foundational concepts.

Working in collaboration with Professor Mark Ritson, researchers tested marketers on ten foundational principles. Setting a benchmark of seven out of ten, the study found that a staggering two-thirds of the workforce failed to meet the grade.

The findings follow a separate report published earlier this week from Cision-owned Brandwatch, which revealed that the vast majority of marketers are spending less time on traditional activities like advertising and marketing in order to prioritise managing AI workflows (79%) and data analysis (51%).

The Ipsos study arrives at a precarious moment for the sector. While the rise of generative AI has promised to accelerate output, the report warns that the industry’s real risk is “uninformed speed”. With marketing job listings falling and a rise in “job hugging” – where employees stay in roles due to a lack of external vacancies – the ability to demonstrate genuine expertise is becoming a survival mechanism.

The data highlights a stark divide between those with formal training and those who rely on “on-the-job” learning. Among those with marketing degrees or professional certifications, 40% reached the capability benchmark. By contrast, only 9% of those who relied on workshops or experience alone passed the test.

Organisation size also dictated success; 45% of marketers in large enterprises met the benchmark, compared with just 30% in small and medium-sized businesses. This suggests that the structured environments and “independent challenge” provided by agency partners in larger firms act as a crucial anchor for professional standards.

However, a deeper understanding of the craft appears to be a double-edged sword. While trained marketers reported higher confidence and better career progression, they also felt the weight of the future more heavily. Some 55% of formally trained marketers expressed worry about AI’s impact on their job security, compared to 45% of those without training.

The personal toll of the current landscape is evident. Three in five marketers reported high stress levels, while 47% identified budget pressure as their primary concern for the coming year.

“In this environment, foundational capability increasingly functions as a form of professional protection,” the report notes. Despite the stress, the “knowledgeable” minority are far more optimistic about their longevity: 70% of trained marketers expect to still be in the industry in a decade, compared to just 41% of their untrained peers.

Ipsos senior director Samira Brophy said: “This report evidences the value of structured learning and the role that good foundations can play in strengthening marketer performance. When speed, systems thinking and continuous trial and error are needed, having a shared language, frameworks and a knowledge of the core principles is a springboard to mastery.

“Given the current baseline, there is a clear opportunity for businesses who invest in their people, data literacy and building external connections with agency and industry bodies. The opportunity is to convert pace into performance and therefore a competitive advantage. For individuals, it is a rallying cry to invest in your development, build community and stay resilient.”

Marketing Society chief executive Sophie Devonshire added: “This research is a really important sense check, particularly in the context of fewer roles being advertised. If there are fewer jobs, then the people in those jobs have to perform, and perform brilliantly. At The Marketing Society, we are all about marketers who mean business. This reinforces that performance and professionalism matter more than ever.”

Marketers feel the heat as AI exposes skills shortage

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