As organizations invest heavily in martech and personalization, marketing leaders face a familiar challenge - turning those investments into real business impact. Despite increasingly sophisticated tools, many teams struggle to realize martech's full potential, often because critical talent and expertise are missing. The solution lies not in the technology alone, but in the roles and skills that bring it to life. Three roles in particular - channel marketers, personalization specialists and data and analytics professionals - are emerging as the primary drivers of martech success.
This year, many agencies are increasing spending in areas that help them align immediate client needs with longer-term growth. For some, that means investing more heavily in data and analytics to sharpen decision-making. For others, it's doubling down on talent development or technology to stay competitive. Here, 14 members of Forbes Agency Council share the line items their agencies are devoting more of their budgets to this year and the strategy behind these decisions.