Will AI Replace Marketing Jobs in Des Moines? Here’s What to Do in 2025

Des Moines marketers now face a national AI surge that directly reshapes local hiring and day-to-day work: Stanford's 2025 AI Index reports 78% of organizations used AI in 2024, PwC's 2025 AI Jobs Barometer shows AI skills can command a 56% wage premium and lift worker value, and the World Economic Forum warns upskilling is urgent as employers may cut roles where tasks can be automated; in practical terms, that means local agencies and small-business marketers who adopt prompt-driven workflows and AI oversight faster will keep entry-level pipelines and client ROI, while those who don't risk fewer on-ramps for junior talent.

For hands-on, workplace-focused training, consider Nucamp's 15‑week AI Essentials for Work bootcamp - practical AI skills for the workplace; for the data behind these workforce shifts see the Stanford 2025 AI Index report and PwC's PwC 2025 AI Jobs Barometer analysis.

“Top performing companies will move from chasing AI use cases to using AI to fulfill business strategy.”

AI is already reframing marketing jobs in Des Moines by shifting routine campaign tasks to automated systems and forcing human roles toward strategy and oversight: local firms are adopting programmatic buying and data-management workflows to target neighborhoods and cut wasted spend (see TLG's programmatic advertising insights), Des Moines agencies are running Google's Performance Max to automate asset testing and bidding - one local PMAX case produced 19 conversions versus three from Search in the same month at similar cost - and automotive dealers around Des Moines/Ames are piloting agentic AI that not only recommends prices and inventory but automatically reallocates ad dollars to units that need demand.

The result for local marketers: fewer hands-on bid adjustments and more demand for skills that validate model outputs, design higher-level audience signals, and translate AI-driven insights into client-facing strategy - concrete proof that learning prompt-driven controls, PMAX optimization, and DMP-informed audience segmentation can preserve and grow mid-level marketing roles.

Read more on programmatic tactics and PMAX implementation for Des Moines teams below.

“AI will help dealers gain efficiencies as we come out of the COVID bubble and into a tougher business. The car business is competitive, with tight margins, and every dollar counts.” – Len Short, Lotlinx

Which marketing tasks are most exposed in Des Moines are the repeatable, high-volume duties that AI and programmatic systems can execute faster: plain data entry and form-filling (local listings show 59 Data Entry Specialist openings in Des Moines with pay roughly $24k–$42k, per Zippia), template-driven content production (a West Des Moines temp-to-perm Content Writer role listing at $35–$45/hour on Randstad highlights how mid‑rate writing gigs can be replaced by AI drafts), and routine marketing-automation rule maintenance or basic campaign setup (Randstad lists eight marketing automation specialist roles in West Des Moines, signaling plentiful but often transactional work).

The so-what: automation will hollow out the volume opportunities that once trained junior hires, so the clearest defense for Des Moines marketers is to swap manual execution for oversight, prompt‑engineering and integration skills that validate AI outputs and connect systems.

For practical tools and local examples to kickstart that shift, see Nucamp AI Essentials for Work bootcamp - top AI tools and workflows for marketing teams and the cited local job listings below.

Local marketers in Des Moines can pivot from threat to advantage by using new training, funding and events that translate AI from buzzword into billable skills: DMACC's new Artificial Intelligence AAS (launching Fall 2025) offers hands‑on courses in machine learning, data analytics and natural language processing with online delivery and small class sizes to build practical tooling and oversight skills - ideal for marketers moving from content production to AI-driven personalization; the state's Future Ready Iowa programs (including Last‑Dollar Scholarships and targeted grants) make reskilling affordable by covering tuition gaps for high‑demand training; and industry gatherings such as the Iowa Artificial Intelligence Summit for Industry provide applied tracks on “AI‑enhanced marketing and sales,” networking, hands‑on demos and six months of session recordings so teams can operationalize learnings.

Combine funded coursework, short workshops and local case studies and marketers can claim a “prompt‑to‑campaign” skill set that local agencies need now - turning automation into higher‑value roles in strategy, model validation and data storytelling rather than job loss.

Learn more from DMACC's program, Future Ready Iowa, and the Iowa AI Summit.

“This event provided practical, relevant information and left me with new ideas to consider. I was surprised by the range of AI applications beyond the obvious.”

Real employers around Iowa show AI is already reshaping jobs rather than simply eliminating them: factories such as Country Maid (Butter Braid) moved from hand‑worked lines to tightly integrated machines that quadrupled output since 2000 and, as one operator put it, “What we used to make in a day, we now make in an hour,” even while the state shed nearly 39,000 manufacturing roles since 2000; similarly, Principal Financial cut staff who handled paper or routine customer work from 70% to about 30% as automation took over.

A Robert Half survey of Des Moines firms confirms the spread beyond shop floors - 39% report machine learning use, 36% use AI and 57% use IoT - so local employers are hiring fewer for repetitive tasks and more for monitoring, validation and systems integration.

For practical, local marketing playbooks and tool examples that mirror these employer shifts, see Nucamp's roundup of essential AI tools for Des Moines marketers and the Des Moines Register's in‑depth reporting on automation in Iowa.

“What we used to make in a day, we now make in an hour.”

Start by building practical, employer-ready skills: enroll in the DMACC Digital Marketing Certificate (Ankeny or online) to gain hands-on training in SEO, social media, CRM, e‑mail marketing, web development and content marketing, then add a focused data toolkit - Excel, Python, SQL and Tableau - so AI outputs can be validated and turned into measurable campaign improvements; DMACC's Data Analytics Course lists a 240‑hour curriculum and concrete automation and modeling skills that help entry-level hires move from execution to oversight.

Pair short, local workshops (Blue Compass-style GA4, SEM and AI-for-marketers sessions) with one portfolio project that shows a prompt-to-campaign workflow, and use community pathways (DMACC, UI 2+2 guidance or NICC certificates) to stack credentials into a hireable resume.

The so-what: employers in Des Moines now prefer candidates who can both create content and prove it moved KPIs - these two courses give the exact mix of production and measurement most local teams ask for.

“The online marketing world continues to evolve, and Blue Compass is the experts, constantly educating themselves on what's new and changing. I've worked with them for over four years and am amazed at their knowledge and ability to convert it into practice for clients.” - Corey Morrison, Director of External Relations, On With Life

Resumes, interviews and networking in Des Moines's AI era require sharper presentation and smarter tool use: start with an ATS‑safe, one‑page, text‑first resume that prioritizes role‑relevant bullets, strong action verbs and quantified outcomes (remember that many resumes never pass initial ATS scans), and add a short “AI tools & validation” skills line that names how those tools were used in measurable work; use AI to refine language and keywords but write your cover letter and complete any test assignments yourself to avoid the “generic AI” trap.

For interviews, rehearse examples that show how prompts or models were monitored, validated, or improved campaign KPIs, and use campus / city resources for practice - Iowa State students can access Big Interview's ResumeAI feedback while anyone can learn best practices on tailoring and AI use.

Finally, network at local workshops and vendor demos to turn contacts into references and portfolio projects; local AI tool examples and prompt-to-campaign demos help hiring managers see practical impact.

So what: in Des Moines hiring, the resume is the gatekeeper - clear evidence you can both wield AI and prove its results is what gets a human interview. See Iowa State resume guidance, guidance on using AI without hurting applications, and local AI tool examples for Des Moines marketers below.

Des Moines marketers should track federal AI guidance because it shapes what clients, vendors and public partners will expect around transparency, provenance and workforce readiness: the White House's American AI Initiative and related executive orders emphasize “trustworthy” AI, workforce training, standards and agency cataloging of AI use-cases (American AI Initiative - federal AI strategy & principles), while the U.S. Department of State's Open Data Plan commits to machine-readable public data, richer metadata, and an enterprise inventory (1,300+ data assets, 381 published to Data.gov) that will make government datasets more usable for local targeting and evaluation (U.S. Department of State Open Data Plan - transparency, metadata, and reuse).

The so-what: document dataset provenance and metadata for every AI-driven campaign, require written vendor SLAs on model fairness and data handling, and surface simple audit trails to win procurement reviews and client trust - see practical local tool recommendations in Nucamp's roundup of essential AI tools for Des Moines marketers (Nucamp AI Essentials for Work syllabus - essential AI tools for Des Moines marketers).

“Federal contributions in early-stage R&D can help lay the technical and scientific foundation for truly revolutionary new technologies…”

Employers and managers in Des Moines should treat AI adoption as a workforce strategy: use Iowa Workforce Development's employer services to find hiring support and labor-market data, join regional Iowa Business Sector Partnerships for workforce planning and training to co-design training pipelines with community colleges and chambers, and tap state incentives and on-the-job funding - like the Accelerated Career Education (260G), Industrial New Jobs Training (260E), Jobs Training (260F), New Jobs Tax Credit and STEM Internship Program - to underwrite reskilling and paid internships; connect with DMACC's Intel® AI for Workforce offerings to build short, employer-aligned AI certificates that supply validated talent; and assign a single point of contact to own vendor SLAs, audit trails and hiring outcomes so AI tools are integrated responsibly.

For practical, immediate assistance, contact Iowa Workforce Development's Business Engagement team (iaworks@iwd.iowa.gov or 888‑848‑7442) or the Sector Partnership lead (kathy.leggett@iwd.iowa.gov) to convert grants and training into hireable skills.

“AI is a once-in-a-generation type of technology, providing a set of tools and assets that can pivot or really move you into this next phase of productivity.” - Allie Hopkins, Google (ABI)

Practical roadmap: audit current skills, pick one employer‑validated credential, and prove impact with a prompt‑to‑campaign portfolio that ties AI outputs to KPIs - employers in Des Moines hire for measurable results, not buzzwords.

Use Iowa funding and programs to defray cost: explore Future Ready Iowa's Last‑Dollar Scholarship and employer grants to cover training, then enroll in a focused, workplace bootcamp such as Nucamp's 15‑week Nucamp AI Essentials for Work bootcamp registration to learn prompt engineering, tool workflows and job‑based AI skills, and pair it with DMACC's analytics coursework (240 hours) to validate model outputs with data.

Update your resume with a short “AI tools & validation” line, build one local case study that shows conversions or cost‑per‑acquisition improvements, and network at vendor demos and sector partnerships to turn projects into references - this sequence converts reskilling into hireable evidence, protects junior on‑ramps, and gives Des Moines marketers a defensible, measurable edge in 2025.

“Top performing companies will move from chasing AI use cases to using AI to fulfill business strategy.”