Consumers are still buying. They’re just harder to convince.
Economic pressure hasn’t stopped online shopping, but it has made consumers more skeptical, more price-conscious, and more willing to check the offer.
MarTechCharts
Most marketers say AI works. Few can prove it.
AI can make work faster while leaving teams unable to prove the value. The problem starts before launch, with weak baselines and success metrics.
Personalization knows what customers want, not who they are
Useful offers are common. Meaningful recognition is not, and consumers are quick to walk when brands ask for too much without a clear reason.
Retail media budgets are growing. Advertisers’ patience isn’t.
Advertisers plan to spend more, but slow activation and weak measurement can still cost networks money.
AI budgets are growing faster than proof of ROI
Companies are spending heavily on AI, but most agent projects are still short of full scale and many marketing teams can’t show clear financial value.
AI is making customers expect more and tolerate less
Faster service is part of AI’s promise. Customers aren't impressed when speed comes with unresolved problems and no easy way to reach a person.
GTM teams are losing track of their AI agents
AI agents are spreading across the GTM stack, but many teams lack the visibility and ownership needed to keep track of what they do.
AI is telling consumers not to buy your product
Nearly 81% of consumers who use chatbots for online shopping have decided against a purchase based on AI guidance.
AI is changing media faster than marketers can measure it
IAB finds advertisers spending more and adapting to AI-driven discovery, but their ability to measure those new customer journeys is lagging.
Software buyers are moving faster than software sellers
AI is accelerating software decisions while quotes, approvals, and sales handoffs discourage buyers ready to spend.
Marketers know AI is using bad data to make decisions
Marketers are giving AI more authority even as bad CRM data undermines revenue measurement, reporting, and the decisions AI makes.
B2B marketers don’t trust the data used to shape budgets
Marketing data influences budgets, but only 49% fully trust its accuracy and completeness. Disconnected reporting is behind the confidence gap.
Is your martech stack costing more time than it saves?
Disconnected systems create missed work and hours of admin. The real measure of martech productivity is how much work the stack eliminates.
Here are the marketing skills AI is making more valuable
As AI takes on more execution, there is more need for marketers who bring judgment, strategy and the skills to direct the technology.
AI speeds marketing production, but measurement lags
AI is accelerating marketing production, but most teams still measure clicks instead of business outcomes, limiting their ability to prove AI's impact.
Time saved by using AI is being spent on managing its output
Any time savings from AI are getting eaten up by fixing output, managing fragmented tools, and building the governance needed to make it work.
Marketers know what improves paid media ROI, but underinvest in it
New research found marketers invest in targeting, AI, and creative while neglecting the post-click experiences they say drive paid media ROI.
AI adoption hits 90% as CX deployment paths diverge
AI adoption is nearly universal in CX, but organizations are divided on architecture, governance, and building customer trust while proving ROI.
Why AI is making DAM more important than ever
Rules-based automation is reaching its limits, making DAM a critical source of context for AI-powered content workflows.
The real martech problem is not technology
A new survey suggests operational bottlenecks, not software limitations, are preventing marketers from acting on insights.
Consumers are ready for AI, but many brands are not
New research shows buyers are ready for AI-powered experiences, while many organizations still struggle to deliver them.
Marketing measurement is breaking under its own complexity
More tools, more channels, and more data have left many marketers struggling to connect activity to outcomes.
AI is powering the loss of B2B marketing jobs
47% of B2B companies reduced marketing roles due to AI, often by quietly eliminating backfills rather than announcing layoffs.
Consumers want AI ads with a human touch
New research finds consumers accept AI in marketing when it adds value, but many reject ads that feel generic, intrusive, or emotionally hollow.
AI use and fatigue growing among consumers
New report shows consumers are using AI more, which likely explains growing skepticism about its accuracy, automation, and influence.
Email delivers ROI, but many teams still can’t prove it
Email is crucial to business success, but many marketers still struggle to measure ROI and make the case for more investment.
Why confidence, not performance, is shaping media spend
Marketing budgets are increasingly driven by what teams can defend, not just what performs, concentrating spend in a small set of trusted channels.
Most consumers use AI, but few fully trust it
New research shows AI is already shaping product discovery and purchases, but a large gap between usage and trust is creating new challenges for marketers.
AI ROI confidence is slipping, and that’s not a bad thing
As confidence in AI ROI slips, it’s a sign marketers are raising the bar — and getting serious about real business value.
US B2B marketers have the biggest budgets and the lowest confidence
55% of U.S. B2B marketers reported budget increases in 2026, while 37% were asked to make cuts — most of them under 10%.
The future of DAM is intelligent, integrated and essential
DAM is no longer a static archive — it’s evolving into a powerful engine for efficiency, collaboration, and go-to-market success.
Find out if AI-driven disruption is coming for your industry
Where your industry falls on the disruption curve will determine whether you gain ground or get left behind.
B2B marketers trust AI for execution but not strategy
Most B2B marketing leaders see AI as a productivity booster, but only a small fraction trust it with strategic decisions like positioning or long-term planning.
How inflation reshapes shopping habits and trust in private labels
Stable prices have consumers moving back toward quality and trust after several years of embracing less-expensive store brands.
Most ad agencies are planning for AI, but few are putting it to work
67% of agencies are still in an explorative phase with generative AI.
Marketers are drowning in data but starving for insight
Marketers are buried in dashboards and metrics but still struggling to answer the most important question — what’s actually working?
Marketers see big gains from content strategy overhaul
A majority of marketers report stronger results from their content strategies this year — and it’s not just because of new tech.
Most marketers think consumers like AI, few consumers agree.
Marketers may be bullish on AI’s customer experience benefits—but consumers aren’t feeling it, and the disconnect could cost brands their credibility.
Conversational AI is growing rapidly, but consumers have a few concerns
Conversational AI has gone mainstream, with more than 80% of consumers using it in the past three months.
Data accessibility continues to stall AI adoption
AI won't work if you can't feed it data, and it's going hungry at many organizations.