The 2025 Hiring Playbook: 5 Trends Marketing Leaders Can’t Ignore

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In this article, Madeleine Barnes, Practice Manager at Robert Half, explores the current need-to-know trends in the marketing industry that managers should look out for in 2025.

We’re well into 2025, and the landscape for hiring marketing talent has shifted noticeably. As a Practice Manager at Robert Half, leading our Marketing, Digital & Creative Practice Group, I work with hiring managers daily to navigate these changes.

What is standing out this year? A few clear trends are shaping how teams are being built - from the skills in demand to the retention strategies that keep people on board and engaged.

Here are five observations worth considering if you’re looking to hire or retain marketing talent in today’s market.

1. AI Skills Are Becoming Essential

AI isn’t just a buzzword anymore - it is a tool reshaping marketing roles. I’ve seen a growing demand from clients to find professionals who can use AI platforms like HubSpot’s AI or content generation tools to sharpen campaigns or dig into performance data.

Recently, I placed a Digital Optimisation Strategist who used AI-driven insights and lifted a client’s platform engagement by 20% in three months. These skills aren’t universal yet, though.

If you are hiring, asking candidates how they’ve applied AI in past work will prove a solid filter for who’s keeping up.

2. Talent Retention

Retention is tougher than ever in 2025, and flexibility is a key factor. Candidates increasingly value hybrid arrangements over pay alone.

A Digital Marketing Manager I worked with this year stayed long-term thanks to a three-day hybrid setup - another very talented candidate swapped a full-time office role for a hybrid opportunity after just four months.

But it’s not just about hybrid; offering growth and learning opportunities will guarantee increased engagement from your team allowing them to feel like they are taking steps forward in their career. Adding these benefits into job descriptions can shift who you attract and who sticks around.

3. Data Is Now Part of the Creative Equation

We are seeing an increased demand for data driven marketers and the line between creativity and data is fading. Marketing leaders want candidates who can move seamlessly between crafting ideas and understanding what the data says about them.

To find these hires, I’ve seen clients look beyond portfolios to past campaign results, make sure to ask for examples of data-informed ideas or projects that they have worked on in the past.

4. Diverse Teams Bring Fresh Perspectives

Teams with varied backgrounds often outperform and you should be looking to have teams from different walks of life, whether that be; gender, ethnicity, age, neurodiversity, socioeconomic roots, or past industries worked in.

Why? Fresh angles on the same problem. So, how do you get there? It takes intent: try to tweak your job ads for neutral language, using terms like “competitive” can cut female applicants by 10%, research shows. Look at using niche boards for underrepresented groups, carrying out blind CV reviews, partnering with diversity-focused networks, or tapping into employee referrals for broader reach.

5. Speed Remains a Competitive Edge

Top talent moves fast, often off the market within two weeks. Delays such as slow CV reviews, or long processes can cost you. One client cut their process from 5 stages down to 3 with tight feedback timelines, securing an in-demand Marketing Manager who had three offers on the table.

To keep pace, I’ve seen clients set a 24-hour response goal post interview, pre-align hiring teams on must-haves to avoid going back to scratch, batch interviews into one day, use pre-recorded video screens, or fast-track offers for standouts.

These moves have secured top picks for clients I’ve advised.

For more information on hiring trends in the creative and marketing industries, you can access the 2025 Salary Guide here. Are you ready to begin building your marketing team of the future? Get in touch with our recruitment experts today.

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