How Future-Ready Marketing Teams Win: Insights from the Front Lines of Enablement

A few months ago, I ran an enablement workshop with a group of marketing leaders. The conversation kept circling back to one theme: “We know what we need, but we’re not sure how to get everyone there.” That’s when it hit me – marketing enablement sometimes feels like assembling IKEA furniture: lots of pieces, unclear instructions, and the nagging feeling you’ve missed a bit. But as anyone who’s survived a flatpack build knows, the formula works when you follow it.

Momentum ITSMA’s Marketing Skills Survey 2025 confirms what many of us feel: while sales teams invest heavily in enablement, marketing teams are often left to navigate fragmented training and unclear priorities.

Did you know that while 91% of CMOs have a marketing enablement function, over half of those sit outside marketing? No wonder so many teams feel disconnected from their own development.

How often have you rolled out a new training program, only to see engagement fizzle after a few weeks? You’re not alone.

Our research highlights five barriers that keep marketing teams from reaching their potential:

• Lack of relevant, tailored enablement resources
• Limited budgets and difficulty finding qualified talent
• Rapidly changing skills requirements
• Lack of internal alignment on skills strategy
• Difficulty retaining top talent

Too often, enablement is seen as a one-off event, not a continuous strategy. High-performing CMOs are changing this by embedding enablement within marketing, not outsourcing it to HR. As enablement leads, we know how powerful this is, but also rare.

So, what skills should you prioritize? Our survey of CMOs points to these critical areas – think of them as the essential pieces in your marketing flatpack. With the right instructions and a clear plan, you can build something strong, functional, and future-ready.

Top job functions needing investment over the next 12-24 months:

• Content strategy and operations
• Performance/demand marketing
• Marketing strategy and planning

Essential skills within those functions:

• Content strategy, localization, and optimization
• Demand program planning and measurement
• Go-to-market and competitive intelligence

And don’t overlook soft skills – CMOs say communication, collaboration, active listening, and business acumen are now as vital as technical expertise.

Pro Tip:

The most successful teams I’ve worked with treat enablement as an ongoing conversation, not a quarterly checklist. Like any good IKEA build, regular check-ins (and maybe a spare Allen key) make all the difference.

In my experience, a future-ready marketing team isn’t built overnight. It takes:

• Competency mapping: Define what success looks like in every role, assess gaps, and tailor training
• Alignment to Strategy: Enablement isn’t an island, aligning it to your organizational strategy holds us to account, but also ensures focus
• Continuous measurement: Track not just participation, but real business impact and individual growth
• A 360-degree learning culture: Align learning to business goals, foster psychological safety, and embed learning in daily work

With the right blueprint, the right tools, and a little teamwork, even the most daunting flatpack can become something remarkable!