By Lucy Marino, Executive Director, Marketing and Creative, Robert HalfMarketing and creative leaders face an exciting challenge as digital transformation in marketing reshapes how brands connect with customers.But bringing new digital ideas to life isn’t always simple. In a survey from Robert Half, marketing and creative leaders said their top digital transformation priorities for the next two years are finding the right talent to execute their strategy and replacing outdated technology and legacy systems—clear signals that people and platforms will make or break the journey ahead.The path forward requires a thoughtful balance, linking smart technology choices with a clear marketing talent strategy. Let's explore how you can bring together the right skills, people and tools on the digital transformation journey to help your company improve its products and services and create stronger customer connections.
Digital Transformation in Marketing: Team-Building Steps
Skills that drive digital transformation in marketing
The most impactful marketing teams blend proven expertise in the field with the latest technical capabilities to strengthen their customer experience strategy. Helping your team build these skills, as well as looking for them when bringing on new talent, can ensure you’re well equipped to meet your digital transformation goals.Core marketing capabilities—The fundamentals of marketing excellence haven't changed—understanding markets, developing strong brand positions and creating campaigns that move people to action. These core skills form the foundation that all the newer technical capabilities build upon.Tomorrow's technical skills—AI, in particular, has moved from buzzword to business advantage, changing how marketing teams work. Top marketers now pair their creative instincts with newer generative AI tools that enhance their campaigns. They understand how to read and use customer data meaningfully—for example, spotting patterns in website behavior to improve content or using purchase history to personalize email campaigns. This tracks with a recent Robert Half survey, where 50% of marketing leaders said expertise in AI and emerging marketing technology tops their department’s wish-list of skills needed for digital marketing initiatives, ahead of data analytics (43%) and marketing automation (38%).The human advantage—As AI-driven content creation, predictive analytics and automation reshape marketing, they're actually making certain human qualities more valuable than ever. The best marketers excel at skills machines find hard to replicate. They show emotional intelligence in understanding unstated customer needs and crafting messages that truly resonate. Their critical thinking helps them decide when to trust AI suggestions and when human judgment should prevail. Perhaps most importantly, they bring creative problem-solving to complex challenges, finding unexpected solutions and spotting opportunities that purely data-driven approaches might miss.
What’s on your 2025 tech roadmap?
Your marketing peers are putting improved data-driven insights at the center of their digital transformation plans. According to Robert Half research, 58% of marketing and creative leaders said sharper marketing data, analytics and reporting are steering their work. Other focus areas for these leaders are adapting their marketing strategies to align with the company’s digital transformation efforts (52%), overseeing implementation of digital marketing tools and platforms (48%) and collaborating with IT and other departments to implement new technologies (45%).So what tools and platforms are on their short list? Here are the top tech investments marketing leaders have penciled in for 2025:1. Marketing automation tools that make it possible to run seamless campaigns across multiple channels at once. They reduce manual work, prevent missed opportunities and ensure consistent messaging, whether customers connect through email, social media or your website.2. AI and machine learning systems that analyze customer behavior patterns to predict future trends. They can also create content that changes based on real-time customer actions, making each interaction more relevant. For marketing teams, this means spending less time on repetitive tasks and more time on creative strategy.3. CRM system upgrades that bring all customer information into one place. When sales, marketing and service teams work from the same current customer profile, they can provide more consistent, personalized experiences at every touchpoint.4. Data analytics tools that transform complex data into clear insights that every team member can understand and use. Designers can see how their work performs, writers can track which messages resonate and managers can make faster, better-informed decisions about campaigns.
6 ways to equip your marketing team for digital transformation
The main barrier to rolling out these technologies? Almost half (45%) of marketing and creative leaders say it’s a lack of staff with the right skills. And this isn’t about a shortage of data scientists. Copywriters, designers and brand managers now need enough data literacy to read a dashboard and enough curiosity to test an AI prompt. In other words, digital transformation in marketing isn't just an IT project. It's a team-wide learning curve you'll need to climb together.So, how do you close those skills gaps while still hitting campaign deadlines? Here are six practical approaches that integrate skill-building into your workflow for impact on current and future campaigns:1. Build skills from within. Set focused learning goals tied to specific software you plan to introduce, from marketing automation tools to advanced analytics. Small, targeted training sessions help teams stay current without taking them away from projects for long periods. This approach keeps work moving while building new capabilities.2. Encourage testing and taking risks. Set aside dedicated time each month for teams to experiment with new technology in a risk-free setting. For example, let writers test generative AI tools on non-client content, allow analysts to explore new CRM features with sample data or encourage designers to try analytics tools on past campaigns. Schedule regular show-and-tell sessions where teams can share what worked, what didn't and what they learned. This practical approach helps everyone build confidence with new tools before using them on high-stakes projects.3. Create clear growth paths tied to new tech. Show employees how mastering marketing automation tools or AI prompt writing can open doors to promotions or stretch projects. When people see how new skills connect to their career growth, they're more likely to invest time in learning them.4. Hire for potential and adaptability. Job descriptions that fixate on years of experience miss candidates who learn fast. As part of your marketing talent strategy, look for professionals who demonstrate self-taught digital skills, side projects or certifications that show initiative.5. Blend contract and permanent talent. Bring in specialists or consultants for AI pilots or CRM migrations, then let permanent staff absorb new techniques. When you need quick support, Robert Half’s marketing and creative hiring solutions can connect you with contract professionals in days, not months.6. Deepen your partnership with IT. Strong connections between marketing and IT teams turn technical hurdles into opportunities for growth, and Robert Half’s latest Building Future-Forward Tech Teams report highlights how technology departments are instrumental in supporting company-wide digital transformation. Schedule regular touch points with leaders in technology to discuss progress and challenges for your digital transformation goals and how your teams could collaborate.Digital transformation comes at you fast, but it doesn’t have to knock you off balance. Match each new platform with a clear marketing talent strategy and invest in people as deliberately as you do in tech. Digital transformation in marketing works best when everyone grows together, turning technical challenges into opportunities that benefit both customers and careers.
