The Next Era of Marketing Teams: Are You Ready for What's Coming?
This is my recent and slightly extended Marketing Unfiltered newsletter (1st of August). I dive into the future of Marketing org design and why it will look and feel very different and not just because of AI. There is a dedicated slide deck at the bottom of the post you can edit for yourself and share with your team.
There’s a journey Marketing leaders are about to embark on, reshaping and designing the Marketing org of the future.
With this in mind, I thought I would delve into how you could shape your Marketing functions for the next few years and future-proof early.
Methodology & Disclaimer
I took the most common “roles” across D2C, B2C & B2B. If you look after customer support or customer success teams happily include them as separate teams or connect them to where they operate in your org
Most departments won’t have the full range of roles included, and many teams will be smaller, where team members will have to wear multiple hats; however, it will help you to design your org and get ahead of executive questions in the near future.
If you prefer video, you can enjoy it at the bottom of this post.
What The Present Day Looks Like
Teams are often bundled together under a discipline
Many teams are disconnected - even within Performance teams, they will not share learnings and proactively collaborate as they have different goals or OKRs
Marketing ops has become particularly popular in recent years. We have seen this team grow and could potentially grow again in 2026+
What The Near Future Could Look Like
Despite the headlines, we might well see Marketing departments grow while they show growth through AI, consolidation of competitors and M&A
We could see new roles within the content teams, including content producer and specialist roles within content distribution
We may see the planner (potentially calling the role a Strategist) brought back into play with more content output and a requirement to plan out bigger bang campaigns and more Product Marketing campaigns needed
There will likely be new dedicated roles within AI, including a specialist AI Marketer role and with the push in AI into Voice, it could be a role that integrates across “Community & Audience”, Brand, “Content Marketing” and “Product Growth”
How Many Set Up Their Orgs Currently
It is important to call out how most orgs are designed around
Goals (or OKRs)
A set of skills
High performers, whether in a management or Manager of Managers role or teams connected to a high performer
There is often no right or wrong in org design, however many do not revisit and do not understand how it is often set up to hinder the success of the team, specifically if set around goals.
In the future, these might have to change and be deliberate in understanding how to cross-functionally get the most out of people and improve performance
Consider how you set up your org design and how it might need real thought in shifting to new tech shifts, new demands on roles and the decline in certain channels
Being Cross-Functionally Minded
Another way you could consider mapping out teams and talent is by connecting how they will sit cross-functionally, whether that’s in operations towards the beginning of the funnel or in mid to the end of the funnel or when inside of the Product.
You can then apply goals and visually show how the teams connect together and have to play within the same space(s)
Will we finally see a move away from “user” and “database” to community and audiences where many can feel freer to create and curate content and product features that work for sets of cohorts?
Entering The Phase Of Full Funnel Roles
Something I believe will happen is that roles will evolve to fuller funnel Marketing roles, not just statically sitting at the top of the funnel or concentrating at the bottom of the funnel. This will mean working across the funnel and often working at different stages more smartly.
Roles such as PR, community/social media, brand, Product Marketing and Growth often will work up and down the funnel, but in the new world, they may need to be called out as full funnel roles. Specialists will have to become more generalists and work with their colleagues far more closely and effectively.
How Might We Look At Grouping Team Members Together
Another framing that lands is how you might frame these roles, could roles land under Brand, Performance, amplification and distribution? With AI changing the Marketing landscape, will these new classifications make it clearer for your business and team members to understand where they are placed and streamline some leadership
Although some of the above can be seen as conflicting, the fluid nature of Marketing, there is going to have to be real clarity for team members
A Question To Ponder:
Where would you apply teams and talent in the newer funnel to incorporate community, AI and new forms of referral and WOM?
Will 1950s Disney Be Your Inspiration To Map Out How To Win?
Could you be inspired by how Walt Disney mapped out Disney’s business in the 1950s to gain alignment and show how your department will work moving forward?
Org Design Coaching Moment
Remember, with org design, you are designing for the next 18 to 24 months, not just for 6 to 12 months in advance.
You have to move up to be strategic in your choices, not just tactical replacements.
You have to plan for change, identify areas to improve with the way Marketing is evolving (look at the shape of the department, how you can shift roles and mature your team members), not just fill gaps in certain skills or replace an exiting team member with the exact same skillsets.
Where will you make the hard decisions to progress your business sucess?
Here’s an automated video by Google NotebookLM of the article 👇
Want To Map Out Yourself Or Run Your Own Exercise?
Here is a list of roles I collated, and if you want to run your mapping exercise, you can use it accordingly or request access to the slides here.
Current Common Roles:
Brand, PR/Comms.
Paid Media, Performance, SEO, Content Marketing, Digital, Analytics. Customer Experience.
Product Marketing, Growth (Product + Marketing)
App Marketing, ASO
Lifecycle, Email, CRM
Marketing Ops
Project/Campaign Marketing
Marketing Research
Social Media, Influencer Marketing, Community Manager, Marketing Manager (Generalist), Affiliate Marketing
Event Marketing, Field Marketing
Role Reintroduced: Planner
Future Roles: AI Marketing Manager / Strategists, Voice Marketer, New Device Marketing
Over to you, I believe this will be a great exercise for any team or Department leader.
Thanks for reading, and if you’d like to discuss this or need some help crafting your future, drop me a DM on LinkedIn or just hit reply to this email.
Danny Denhard
» If you need help: I coach leaders, consult with startups and challenger brands and advise companies looking to grow, so get in touch
🗣️ Share On Your Network 🗣️
Click to
Subscribe to my weekly Marketing leaders newsletter Marketing Unfiltered
