Why businesses still need to hire junior marketers in the age of AI

Over the past year I’ve attended a number of webinars about AI and marketing. One theme keeps coming up: the idea that artificial intelligence could replace many junior marketing roles.

Bruntwood marketing team 2017

The reason being AI can write content, summarise research, generate ideas and analyse data faster than a person starting out in their career. If technology can do those tasks, then businesses inevitably question why hire a junior marketer at all?

It’s an understandable question. But it’s also a short-term way of looking at how marketing capability is built within a business.

After nearly 20 years working in marketing – both in-house and now as a freelance consultant – I’ve seen first-hand how marketers develop their expertise. It doesn’t happen overnight, and it certainly doesn’t happen without experience.

If organisations stop creating opportunities for junior marketers, they risk creating a much bigger problem for themselves in the future.

Every experienced marketer started somewhere

PKF marketing and business development team 2012

Like many people in the profession, my career didn’t begin with strategy or leadership. It started with learning the basics.

My first role was at MIDAS, Manchester’s inward investment agency, promoting the city as a destination for businesses. It was there that I developed a passion for marketing and began to understand the role it plays in shaping how organisations present themselves and grow.

Over time I moved through different roles and sectors – from professional services to property and regeneration at Bruntwood, energy and facilities management. I’ve worked in hands-on marketing positions and in senior roles leading marketing activity across whole organisations.

What those years taught me is that marketing expertise is built gradually. It comes from seeing campaigns succeed and fail, working with different teams, understanding customers and learning how businesses actually operate.

You can’t shortcut that process.

Experience is how strategic thinking develops

AI is excellent at producing outputs quickly. It can draft copy, summarise trends and generate ideas in seconds.

But marketing isn’t just about producing content. At its core it’s about judgement.

Good marketers learn how to:

• understand the commercial goals of a business

• interpret customer behaviour

• decide what messaging will resonate

• balance brand positioning with short-term performance

Those capabilities come from experience.

In my own work as a consultant, I often step into organisations to provide strategic support or help deliver complex marketing projects. What makes that possible is the accumulated knowledge from years of working across campaigns, sectors and business challenges.

If businesses stop investing in junior marketers today, where will that future experience come from?

The talent pipeline matters

Organisations often talk about succession planning in leadership roles, but marketing capability requires the same long-term thinking.

Junior marketers are the entry point to the profession. They learn the craft by contributing to the day-to-day work of marketing teams:

• supporting campaigns

• producing content

• analysing results

• working with internal stakeholders and external partners

Over time those experiences build the skills that organisations depend on later.

If companies remove those entry points, they create a gap in the talent pipeline. Five or ten years down the line they may find themselves searching for experienced marketers who simply haven’t had the opportunity to develop.

Junior marketers strengthen culture and brand

There’s another aspect that often gets overlooked in discussions about AI: culture.

Marketing teams play a key role in expressing and protecting a company’s brand. That isn’t just about logos and messaging. It’s about how the organisation communicates, how it presents itself and how it behaves.

Junior marketers are often deeply involved in the day-to-day channels where this happens — social media, content creation, internal communications and campaign delivery. Through that work they absorb the tone of voice, values and personality of the brand. Over time they become advocates for it.

Removing that layer of a team can make marketing feel more transactional and less connected to the organisation’s identity.

AI should support marketers, not replace them

The reality is that AI will change how marketing teams work. Many tasks that once took hours can now be done in minutes. That’s not necessarily a negative development.

Used well, AI can help junior marketers work more efficiently and learn faster. Instead of spending hours on repetitive tasks, they can focus more on understanding audiences, developing ideas and analysing results. In that sense, AI can actually accelerate professional development rather than replace it.

But that only happens if there are people in those roles to begin with.

Diverse perspectives make marketing better

Another reason junior hires remain important is perspective.

Marketing relies on understanding audiences, and audiences constantly change. New platforms emerge, behaviours shift and cultural references evolve. Early-career marketers often bring fresh insights into how people communicate, discover information and engage with brands.

A team made up entirely of senior professionals may have deep experience, but it risks becoming disconnected from how audiences actually behave today. Strong marketing teams usually combine both.

Building the marketing teams of the future

The future of marketing is unlikely to be a choice between humans and AI. It will be a combination of both.

Businesses will need:

• experienced marketers who provide strategic direction

• specialists who can interpret data and guide decision-making

• junior marketers who bring new ideas and develop into the next generation of leaders

AI will sit alongside all of this as a tool that improves productivity and insight. But technology alone cannot build marketing capability within an organisation. That still requires people.

A long-term view of marketing talent

Marketing is a profession built on learning, collaboration and experience. The skills that define great marketers – judgement, creativity, empathy and commercial understanding – develop over time.

When organisations invest in junior marketers, they’re not just filling an entry-level role. They’re investing in the future capability of their business.

AI will undoubtedly transform how marketing teams work. But if we remove the starting point for new talent, we risk hollowing out the profession entirely.

The challenge for businesses isn’t deciding whether to hire junior marketers or adopt AI.

It’s understanding how the two can work together to build stronger, more resilient marketing teams for the future.

How is AI changing your marketing team?

Are you investing in new technology, developing internal capability, or reconsidering the structure of your marketing function?

I work with organisations to review marketing strategy, clarify positioning and build marketing approaches that support long-term growth.

If you’d like to discuss how your marketing function is evolving, feel free to get in touch.

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Related content

Frequently asked questions: Marketing teams and AI

• Do businesses still need junior marketers in the age of AI?

  Yes. While AI can automate some marketing tasks such as drafting content or summarising research, it cannot replace the experience and judgement that marketers develop over time. Junior roles are where people learn how marketing works in practice — from understanding audiences to delivering campaigns and working with stakeholders. Without these entry-level roles, organisations risk losing the pipeline that develops future marketing leaders.

• Why are junior marketing roles important for succession planning?

  Most experienced marketers develop their expertise through years of practical work. Junior roles allow individuals to build the knowledge, commercial awareness and strategic thinking required for senior positions. If businesses stop hiring junior marketers, they may struggle to find experienced professionals in the future because the talent pipeline has been reduced.

• Can AI replace entry-level marketing tasks?

  AI can support some tasks traditionally carried out by junior marketers, such as content drafting, research summaries or basic data analysis. However, marketing is not just about producing outputs. It requires critical thinking, creativity, collaboration and an understanding of brand and audience. These skills develop through real experience, which AI cannot replicate.

• How can AI support junior marketers rather than replace them?

  When used well, AI can help junior marketers work more efficiently and learn faster. Instead of spending hours on repetitive tasks, they can focus more on analysing results, developing ideas and understanding customer behaviour. With the right guidance, AI becomes a tool that enhances learning rather than removing the need for entry-level roles.

• Will AI replace marketing jobs?

  AI is unlikely to replace marketing jobs entirely, but it will change how marketing teams work. Many tools can now automate tasks such as drafting content, analysing data or summarising research. However, marketing still requires human judgement, creativity and an understanding of audiences and brand positioning.

  The most likely outcome is that AI will become a tool used by marketers to work more efficiently, rather than a replacement for marketing professionals.

• How will AI change marketing careers?

  AI is already reshaping the skills marketers need. Alongside traditional marketing capabilities such as strategy, messaging and audience understanding, marketers increasingly need to know how to work with AI tools.

  This includes:

  • evaluating AI-generated outputs

  • structuring prompts effectively

  • interpreting data and insights

  • ensuring content aligns with brand positioning

  For early-career marketers, this means developing both marketing fundamentals and AI literacy. Those who can combine the two will be well positioned as the profession evolves.

• What happens if businesses stop hiring junior marketers?

  If organisations stop creating entry-level marketing roles, they risk creating an “hourglass” workforce structure with senior leaders at the top but no emerging talent developing beneath them. Over time this can lead to skills shortages, higher recruitment costs and a loss of internal knowledge and continuity.