Blog | What Capabilities Will Drive Marketing Performance in 2026?

What skills will your marketing team need to stay effective in 2026 and how are you preparing them now?

Marketing in 2026 will demand new skills, faster execution and smarter teams. With AI moving from novelty to necessity, customer expectations evolving and budgets under pressure, your marketing team's capabilities will either accelerate your growth or hold you bac.

In our previous blog, AI in Marketing: Where to Begin, we explored why your best marketing asset is your team and not your tech stack. AI will only be as valuable to your business as the people who know how to use it. If your marketing team understands how to apply AI in practice, the benefits go far beyond efficiency. It builds confidence, reduces pressure and helps your marketers focus on the parts of the job that matter most such as creativity, strategy and customer insight.

According to industry benchmarks, organisations typically allocate between 2% and 5% of their overall budget to training. Yet fewer than half of CMOs have a clear plan for upskilling their teams in AI and data-led marketing.

([Source: Human in progress])

Budgets are tightening but now is the time to invest strategically in your team training so the payoff is felt in 2026 and beyond.

1. Audit Your Team's Capabilities: Where Your Team Is Today

The first step is to understand your team’s current set of skills, strengths and aspirations. Many organisations uncover more capability than expected when they look closely across digital, data, brand and customer engagement. It is just untapped or unrecognised.

Map skills, certifications and experience
Identify capabilities gaps based on where the business is headed
Invite self-assessment to reveal hidden expertise

Tip: Ask team members to score themselves across key capability areas (for example, data literacy, customer insight, AI tools, campaign agility). Then compare against strategic needs for 2026.

2. Make Training a Constant Priority

Having a one-off training day is no longer an option. Teams need ongoing opportunities to stay sharp.

Encourage micro learning and practical training (for example: podcast, short online modules)
Support cross-functional learning from AI to data storytelling
Create a safe space to test new ideas and approaches

💡 Consider allocating half a day every fortnight to team learning, whether that means attending a webinar, sharing new insights or testing a new tool.

3. Build Skills Aligned to Future Business Needs

Skill building should follow the direction of the business. Do not train for training's sake. Train for strategic alignment. The following areas are likely to be most critical by 2026:

AI and automation fluency

From early adoption to everyday use, across content creation, analytics, personalisation and workflows

Data storytelling

Shaping strategy with insight, not just numbers. Turn complex numbers into compelling narratives, not just reports.

Agile campaign management

Test fast, learn fast and pivot quickly, keep up with markets. Close the loop from insight to action.

Sustainability and ethics in marketing

Build trust by aligning with customer values. You team should know how to communicate values with clarity and integrity.

4. Build a Culture of Curiosity and Continuous Learning

Skills matter but culture sustains performance. A learning-driven team is more adaptable, more resilient and more efficient.

As a leader, your role is to foster curiosity, collaboration and shared learning.

Allocate learning time, even in busy cycles
Reward experimentation and shared wins
Normalise learning as part of performance, not as an extra

This is how you will drive marketing performance in 2026 and beyond.

Final Thought: Invest in People Before Tools

Your marketing team is still your most valuable asset but the skills that serve them today will not be enough tomorrow. They will also feel pressure and uncertainty about what lies ahead. It is better to allocate time and budget for training now than risk losing qualified and committed marketers to competitors or watching their motivation and performance drop.

By evaluating the current strengths, investing in learning and aligning with what the business will need in 2026, you can ensure your team stays engaged, confident and ready to drive growth.

One final note, there are many providers of AI training but many lack of marketing understanding. Choose partners who understand marketing first and AI so your team’s learning is practical and relevant.

Next Step: Map Your Team’s Capabilities

We have created an editable team capability template to help you:

Identify current skill levels
Highlight priority gaps
Plan practical next steps

Download the Capability Mapping Template here and get started today. Or get in touch if you would like support reviewing your team’s needs.

To learn how we could help your organisation and team, contact us.

September 2025