What happens when an industry evolves at lightning speed – but professional training fails to keep pace?
Teams are left scrambling to figure things out as they go. Mistakes are made. Confidence drops. And performance takes a major hit.
That’s the reality in marketing today.
But there is a way forward: with timely, targeted education and the right kind of support, marketers can ensure they’re ready for what’s next.
Here’s how.
Though marketing has always been a fast-moving industry, the fundamentals of practice remain largely unchanged.
Market research, campaign strategy, content creation, consumer insight. The core capabilities that underpin great marketing are the same as they ever were. But the way we deliver them has changed beyond recognition.
Digital innovation, privacy reform and, most recently, AI, have shifted the way marketers do their jobs.
Today’s execution relies heavily on technologies and platforms that didn’t exist even 5 years ago. And yet, training on these tools is patchy, inconsistent or – most worryingly – absent altogether.
According to Anthony Toovey, ADMA’s Strategic Advisor on Capability, this is one of the biggest drivers of the industry’s growing capability crisis.
'There are several reasons that marketers are not as well trained as they used to be. Shrinking training budgets and pressure on headcount mean employees are in larger roles with less experience.'
Add to that the constant evolution of data and privacy regulations, and you’ve got a perfect storm.
And the problem is worsening as AI becomes more integral to daily operations. ADMA’s recent AI, Talent & Trust report found that while 75% of marketers use AI tools at least weekly, only 29% of marketers have undertaken AI training.
‘Marketers are losing access to essential education at the exact moment their ways of working are being fundamentally reshaped. Marketing leaders need to take accountability and say training isn’t optional. Capability building must be a priority,’ Anthony continues.
To close the skills gap, we must first define what success is in this new environment.
So, what kind of marketer will thrive in today’s climate?
Someone well-versed in timeless marketing skills and fluent in contemporary tools and tactics. An agile thinker with hybrid capability – someone who can evolve with the industry without losing sight of what’s always worked.
We call this future-ready professional the NextGen Marketer.
‘A NextGen Marketer has the same core skills the industry has always demanded – with the ability to apply them effectively in an AI-enabled world,’ explains Anthony.
‘Take concept development, for example. Generating ideas for your next product or campaign used to begin with a creative brainstorm. Now, it might start with a detailed brief to a Gen AI platform. But you still need the creative instincts to prompt well, the strategic lens to refine what you get back and the judgement to know which ideas are worth pursuing.’
That kind of versatility doesn’t happen by accident. It has to be taught. Which is where ADMA’s NextGen Marketer Series comes in.
To bridge the gap between classic marketing and modern execution, we need a targeted, forward-thinking training solution grounded in real industry data.
The NextGen Marketer Series draws on insights from ADMA’s Capability Compass, the skills assessment tool designed to pinpoint capability gaps in marketing teams.
When CMOs and team leaders use the tool, they are asked which marketing skills they believe are most important to their organisation and to the job roles in their teams.
Their answers showed a clear message: marketers were falling short in the areas that matter most to senior leaders. Which meant there was an unmet need in the market.
‘We were viewing this incredibly insightful data that clearly showed where CMO priorities lie,’ says Anthony. ‘We felt it was our responsibility to be proactive with it.
‘ADMA is a purpose-led organisation – our job is to support the industry and make sure marketers are ready for what’s next. We knew we wanted to build something that would address those capability gaps head-on.’
So, the team developed three highly practical courses, each targeting an area flagged by CMOs:
Each course addresses 12 to 13 critical skills identified in the ADMA Capability Compass and teaches them through common marketing workflows. This way, participants can immediately see how the skills can be applied in their day-to-day work.
Anthony uses Campaign Leadership Mastery as an example.
‘The course follows the full lifecycle of a campaign – from defining why you need a campaignand writing the brief, to execution and measuring results. It blends the classic skills needed to bring a campaign to life with practical AI hacks that help marketers work more efficiently.’
When designing the NextGen Marketer Series, the team at ADMA was keen to gather input from marketers on the ground.
‘We spoke to the market about what they’d want from these courses, and three things came through loud and clear,’ says Anthony. ‘First, they want to learn how to apply these skills in an AI-driven world. Second, they want the teaching to be as practical as possible. And third, they want to learn from a live expert they can interact with. These were our top priorities when designing the courses.’
Every course is built to be actionable, giving participants techniques and insights they can use in their roles straight away.
‘A theoretical course just won’t fly in today’s environment,’ adds Anthony. ‘People want to leave equipped with the ability to do better work tomorrow than they did yesterday. And that’s exactly what these programs are built for.’
Each course is available in 2 delivery formats:
But one thing stays constant: they’re always live.
‘There’s been a proliferation of pre-recorded course content in the market, which is great for a certain need,’ says Anthony. ‘But we find there’s real value in learning live from an expert – being able to ask questions, getting feedback and engaging in real time.
‘The NextGen Marketer courses are all delivered live, whether virtually or in person, so students can benefit from the interaction.’
By blending timeless skills with the latest AI tools, the NextGen Marketer Series builds the hybrid capability that modern marketing needs.
‘It’s a new kind of training, but it’s not an experiment There is a wealth of data and clear industry demand behind us. We feel confident this is what the profession needs right now.’
Want your team to become NextGen Marketers? Explore the series and enrol today.