Exclusive survey findings benchmark retail media network structures, capabilities, and priorities as the landscape continues to take shape.​

CMOs are confronting AI fatigue by refocusing on human creativity and trust. As automation accelerates, leaders are rebalancing efficiency with authenticity to restore credibility and performance.

In 2026, marketing success will hinge on visibility, credibility, and governance. AI-led discovery is redefining how B2B buyers find brands, human influence is reshaping how marketers build trust, and data governance is powering growth.

Google is expanding its use of agentic AI across its advertising suite, announcing that Ads Advisor and Analytics Advisor—two new, Gemini-powered assistants—will roll out to all English-language Google Ads and Google Analytics accounts in early December. Per Google, the tools aim to make campaign management and data interpretation faster, simpler, and more conversational. AI copilots are becoming table stakes. With Google and Amazon both embedding agentic AI into their ecosystems, conversational interfaces will soon be the default way advertisers plan and manage campaigns.

B2B social media has evolved from an awareness tool into a central part of how brands build trust, influence buying decisions, and drive business growth. AI, video, and influencer marketing are reshaping strategies and raising expectations for measurable impact.

In this report, CMOs share how they’re transforming influencer strategies to deliver business impact—and what solution providers can do to help.

B2B influencer marketing has become a key strategy for driving trust and engagement. Buyers turn to industry experts, micro-influencers, and thought leaders for credible insights. Marketers should use video and events to maximize reach as well as AI for efficiency and measurable ROI.

Data fuels marketing, but it’s tough to track and even harder to make sense of. Businesses juggle measuring customer behavior, respecting privacy, and personalizing experiences—all while marketers try to prove their campaigns are worth the investment. Analytics and attribution tools help by showing what’s working, where to focus, and how to improve.

Getting your commerce media tech stack right takes time. Building partnerships and integrating workflows likely won’t happen all at once, so businesses should shop the market for the right partnerships, implement with care, and make sure to evaluate and reevaluate your operations as you scale. Here are steps businesses should keep in mind.

Marketing measurement is changing fast, with new tools making data collaboration, privacy compliance, and cross-channel insights easier than ever. To stay competitive in 2025, marketers will need to find smarter ways to connect fragmented data and uncover deeper insights into the customer journey.

On today’s podcast episode, we discuss the big questions Meta is hearing from advertisers, the interplay of analytics and marketing, and the argument for removing the distinction between brand and performance marketing. Tune in to the discussion with Vice President and Principal Analyst Jasmine Enberg and Chief Marketing Officer and Vice President of Analytics at Meta Alex Schultz.

Google’s I/O showcases bold AI integration across products: The announcements show its marketplace strength but it’ll need an effective monetization strategy to beat the competition.

“[Generative AI] is an aggregated view of all we know,” said Tess Kornfield, vice president of product and data science at ThredUP, at our Outlook and Strategies for 2024’s Second Half EMARKETER Summit. Issues with generative AI aren’t always a result of the tech itself. Often, AI exposes existing issues which are exacerbated by the tech’s scale and efficiency. Here are three areas marketers should watch when working with generative AI.

The end of third-party cookies signals a new era for audience targeting, pushing marketers to reimagine segmentation strategies from the ground up. Learn how industry leaders are adapting, using insights based on behavior, preferences, and interactions to forge deeper connections with consumers.

“We're never going to get back to what [digital advertising] used to be. And the sooner we all embrace that, the easier it will become,” said Colleen Harris, director and product manager at Ansira. And yet, less than half (47%) of marketers worldwide are working on a plan to approach cookie-free targeting, according to September 2023 data from HubSpot. With under nine months to go until the death of the third-party cookie, marketers need to make and execute plans quickly.

Google Analytics 4 (GA4), which launched at the start of July, introduced ecommerce dimensions and metrics, improved audience insights, and better app measurement.

Content marketers are facing pressure to integrate generative AI (genAI) tools to improve productivity and ROI, but diving in haphazardly could backfire. The best approach to adoption is “thoughtful and strategic,” our analyst Kelsey Voss said on a recent Meet the Analyst Webinar. “Brands must carefully navigate the pros and cons of genAI and leverage it judiciously to maximize its benefits and mitigate potential drawbacks,” Voss said. Here are four ways to use generative AI holistically in daily workflows.