Tariffs are on! Tariffs are off! The economic confusion has marketers feeling like long-tailed cats trapped in a room full of rocking chairs. A Gartner survey out yesterday found CMOs waiting on mid-year budget cuts. 

Will the cease-fire in the US-China trade war change that? Or will consumer confidence continue to plunge? Does a long-term marketing strategy now mean “the next few weeks”? Let’s hope this all-too-exciting roller coaster has a nice, dull finish.

Speaking of things we don’t know: Do you know what your attribution model isn’t telling you? Nick Yang explains how to create a measurement system to uncover what you don’t know you’re missing. 

Constantine von Hoffman
Managing Editor

Ecommerce

Ad costs are soaring and retailers are panicking — here’s the fix

Dealing with rising ad costs and flat results? See how affiliate programs deliver cost-effective growth across every retail touchpoint.

Marketing attribution

What your attribution model isn’t telling you

The best marketers don’t just track – they test, model and optimize. Learn tips for building a future-ready measurement framework.

Marketing management

CMOs brace for cuts as marketing budgets stay flat

Gartner survey finds CMOs trying to squeeze more out of their budgets by having fewer employees rely more on AI.

Marketing analytics

Acxiom’s exclusive event for acquisition marketers

Discover what’s working now to drive real customer growth.

Benchmark report

23.9% more email sends, 50% higher engagement—what’s going on?

Marketers sent nearly 24% more emails last year—and guess what? Engagement soared. CTRs doubled. Unsubscribes? Still just 0.13%. Surprised? So were we.

Customer data platform (CDP)

Why does composability get so much attention in the CDP space?

Composability is a big part of the story as the CDP space evolves.

Performance marketing

5 suggestions for moving beyond MQLs

MQL is more disinformation than data. Uncover why it fails and how to build smarter, more accurate go-to-market strategies.

Marketing artificial intelligence (AI)

5 ways marketers are actually using AI to get more done

This guide covers five grounded, real-world ways marketers are using AI right now to improve efficiency without sacrificing quality.

Marketing attribution

Why don’t martech vendors provide a tool for the metric that matters?

We keep optimizing based on attribution, not impact. It’s time martech tools let us test what really drives incremental results.

On-demand marketing training

The complete MarTech spring season is now available!

Unlock 45+ on-demand discussions on marketing strategy and solutions to overcome your biggest AI, GTM, ABM, and influencer marketing challenges – yours for free.

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What else we're reading

• Tariffs are haunting TV’s upfront ad-sales season
• The flight to marketing “safety”
• Some questioning your B2B brand investments? Send them this.
• Under-rated marketing strategies in 2025
• The Generalist vs. Specialist war rages on.
• How Mailchimp is optimizing for AI.

MarTech research

• NEW! Get the 2025 State of Your Stack Survey report by downloading the PDF, flipping through a carousel, listening to a discussion of the results or watching the keynote session from the Spring 2025 MarTech Conference — all without registration.

MarTech Intelligence Reports are in-depth, independent and indispensable. They’re designed to help marketers navigate the martech landscape with questions to ask during the buying process, vendor profiles and more.

Download your Intelligence Report today:

• NEW: Generative AI for Content Creation
• B2B Data Enrichment and Hygiene
• Email Marketing Platforms
• Identity Resolution Platforms
• Marketing Work Management Platforms
• Marketing Automation Platforms
• Customer Data Platforms.
• Call Analytics and Conversational Intelligence

What they're saying

• “If you think traditional advertising methods, such as Google Ads alone, still suffice, then it’s time for a reality check. The retail market is more competitive than ever, so it’s essential to consider that the more touchpoints you have with consumers, the better.” – Adam Weiss in Ad costs are soaring and retailers are panicking — here’s the fix.

• “MTA, MMM and incrementality testing — should be central to a brand’s strategy.  However, their actual value comes from using them in a coordinated, complementary way, with alignment across teams on what tool is best for each type of decision.” – Nick Yang in What your attribution model isn’t telling you.

From Search Engine Land