Will the marketer of today speak the same language as the marketer of tomorrow? New research from Marketo says maybe not.

The Marketing 2025 report suggests the rate of change in the industry to accelerate over the next five years, with transformative forces such as AI and data analytics poised to change day-to-day operations for marketers.

The study, which asked 700 senior executives to imagine marketing in the future, found the most in-demand skills in 2025 will be around analytics, neuromarketing, data & insights, CX/UX, AI and machine learning.

Technically speaking, the tools that enable these skills – whether that be advanced micro-segmentation, VR or chatbots – “will sit on the top of the shopping list”.

And while these skills and technologies will change how marketers do their job, the biggest change will be in mindset.

In particular, investment priorities will shift as marketers and business leaders look into new technologies.

The top area of spend is search engine marketing (SEM) & pay-per-click (PPC), with 14 per cent of respondents listing it as their highest priority and 12 per cent as their second priority.

This was followed by traditional advertising, which 16 per cent of people said is their top priority going into 2025 and eight per cent said second priority.

In total, SEM/PPC, traditional advertising and paid social accounts for around 37 per cent of total spend.

But more and more companies are starting to pour their marketing budget into tech-based platforms such as CRM, CMS, and marketing automation and social media tools, which now accounts for 33 per cent of spend.

This means a relatively mature market, like Australia, will soon spend more on technology than campaign spending.

The relationship between customers and businesses will also soon change, as the emphasis moves away from transactional metrics towards building an overall relationship with the customer.

By 2025, customer lifetime value is tipped to be the most important priority for marketers, with customer retention dropping into second spot.

Marketing sourced revenue will be the number three priority.

These customer-led focuses will impact senior leadership positions, with both CMOs and CEOs to be directly aligned to the priorities.

To find out more about marketing in the year 2025, check out the Marketing 2025 report by Marketo here.