Marketing technology (martech) has entered a new era defined by AI agents, composable architectures, and the rise of buyer-side AI assistants that are fundamentally changing how customers discover brands and B2B vendors.

The news: Many marketers and salespeople doubt AI’s ability to boost company revenues or customer satisfaction. Some even believe it adds to their workload, signaling a disconnect between AI adoption and employee confidence. Only 39% of marketers and sales professionals in the US and UK are confident that their departments’ use of AI drives revenues, per General Assembly’s AI in Marketing & Sales report. Nearly half (46%) believe AI only somewhat improves the customer experience or doesn’t at all. Our take: Organizations that prioritize tailored training and tie outcomes to KPIs like team efficiency and customer satisfaction could help employees feel empowered and translate AI investments into measurable impact.

AI is rapidly becoming foundational to marketing strategy, with 63% of teams now using it for planning—up from 28% in 2023, per Boathouse. Customer service and analytics have seen similarly sharp increases, supported by rising investments in CRM systems, CDPs, and automation tools, according to Twilio. As AI’s footprint grows, marketers are reallocating spend toward digital formats like social, CTV, and video, where AI can optimize targeting and performance. This trend reflects a broader shift: the most successful marketers are embedding AI into the fabric of their decision-making, not treating it as a plug-in. The gap is widening fast.

B2B marketers are under pressure to prove event ROI. B2B events are a key channel for driving engagement and building pipeline—but the pressure to prove ROI is increasing. Event participation must be strategic and aligned with clear business outcomes. This report reveals 10 data-backed best practices to help sponsors and exhibitors boost engagement, generate pipeline, and turn event participation into measurable business results.

B2B marketers are embracing genAI-powered tools to enhance the effectiveness of their marketing initiatives. Marketing teams can use this technology in six valuable ways to drive better outcomes.

GenAI could help boost the efficiency of customer service teams and give shoppers access to fast, personalized, 24/7 support. To make the most of the technology, retailers and brands need to understand the key use cases in a customer service setting—and stay mindful of the risks.

Google Contemplates HubSpot deal: A move that could redefine the martech sector, blending CRM prowess with advertising innovation.

B2B marketers must be aligned with sales to drive revenue and business growth. This might seem a herculean task, but there are ways leaders can surmount relationship, communication, and data challenges and successfully align on shifts in B2B buying.

B2B martech spending will continue to grow—largely due to the pandemic. Martech will remain a key investment for B2B marketers, as they rely on it to engage with audiences and drive revenues.

Advertising on Facebook has become more challenging due to Apple’s AppTrackingTransparency framework in iOS 14.5. Here’s how advertisers are adapting their strategies in the post-IDFA reality.

eMarketer principal analyst Mark Dolliver, junior analyst Blake Droesch, and vice president of content studio at Insider Intelligence Paul Verna discuss whether WarnerMedia just killed movie theaters, why Salesforce is buying Slack, why Facebook's buying Kustomer, the first few cases of Facebook's Oversight Board, Nielsen readies to change its TV ratings, shopping carts on WhatsApp, how much cash can fit in your pocket at once, and more.

Most companies prioritize customer experience efforts, but few have mastered them. This report looks at ongoing customer experience challenges and highlights success with select elements.

Consumer privacy concerns affect marketing practices and will continue to alter the digital advertising landscape. Here’s what digital marketers and their companies need to know.

To deliver an effective customer experience, marketers must first identify their customers and audiences. This report focuses on how marketers identify audience segments and target groups today.

This report will guide marketers through a customer journey mapping exercise and explore why and how different content can be implemented throughout the life cycle.

Marketing and IT executives in Canada confirm that spending on marketing technology has increased dramatically, raising opportunities and concerns.

With spend on marketing technology increasing, many marketers are investing more dollars into data management products.

Marketers rely heavily on third parties for analytics and technology building. Many are looking to trim their overall vendor counts when it comes to demand-side platforms and supply-side platforms, but are looking for new partners for customer data platforms, while others are building their own tech in-house.

Companies should have a rubric in place to evaluate and essentially score or rank their current customer set. Such a framework allows marketers and all customer-facing teams to align on how to best serve and grow each individual account in a profitable manner.