B2C Marketing

B2C marketing is navigating choppy waters. The tactics that drive short-term gains are alienating customers over the long-term, eroding loyalty and affinity. Read our insights to learn more about how B2C marketing teams can thrive in the midst of this tension.

Discover how Forrester supports B2C marketing leaders.

Insights

Blog

Everything Is A Marketing Operating System

Emily Collins 5 days ago
Why Does Everyone Want To Be An Operating System? The appeal of the operating system concept is straightforward. It meets marketers’ need for technology and service ecosystems that can manage and coordinate workflows across people, processes, tools, and AI agents, rather than simply execute isolated tasks. It also gives providers facing the SaaS-pocalypse a stronger […]
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Predictions 2027: ​​CMOs Reckon With An AI Reality Check

Mike Proulx 5 days ago
AI’s blank check is about to expire. In 2027, CMOs will face a tougher test: proving that AI delivers enough value to justify its growing costs and risks. Discover why the next phase of AI adoption will demand sharper choices, stronger governance, and greater accountability.

Who Controls AI In 2027?

As AI transforms B2B go-to-market strategy, technology, security, and customer experience leaders must balance control with adaptation. Forrester’s Predictions 2027 guides, blogs, and webinars reveal what that requires.

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Predictions 2027: The Pursuit And Peril Of Control

Sharyn Leaver 5 days ago
More control won’t always mean better outcomes. Leaders who know where to set guardrails and how to deftly blend AI with human judgment will have a clear advantage in the year ahead.
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The More Advertising Automates, The More Creative Matters

Nikhil Lai October 2, 2026
Automation is eating advertisers’ workflows. Media buying — once dependent on traders’ skills of budget allocation and bid management — has become the push of a button, where self-attributing platforms auto-optimize for advertisers’ desired outcomes. And customer understanding is increasingly cultivated by walled gardens like Amazon, Google, and Meta, which turn media planning into conversations […]
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Five Questions Ahead Of Accenture’s Earnings Report For Q4 2026

Jay Pattisall September 30, 2026
As Accenture prepares to report its fourth-quarter and full-year fiscal 2026 financial results this Thursday, October 1, the tech consultancy has several market factors to lean on, including durable managed services growth, healthy bookings, and AI becoming commercially viable. Another interesting dynamic is that Accenture Song’s strategic importance is growing even as reporting visibility for […]
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Elite B2C Marketing Processes Operate Like Spain’s National Soccer (Football) Teams

Jessica Liu September 21, 2026
When Spain’s women’s and men’s national soccer teams won consecutive FIFA World Cup titles in 2023 and 2026, their victories were not just the result of a single brilliant goal over England and Argentina, respectively. La Roja’s historic back-to-back World Cup wins reflect a disciplined system ingrained early in Spain’s youth soccer academies: a clear […]
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Back To The (Contextual) Future: It’s Still A Core Component In Consumer Personalization

Jessica Liu September 14, 2026
First, for some context: AI is creating a resurgence for “context” in the industry lexicon. Large language models rely on context to understand intent, resolve ambiguity, and generate accurate responses. As consumers and organizations adopt new AI technology, context plays a key role in creating relevant customer-brand interactions. Organizations don’t need to know the most about […]

A Third Of Consumers Will Reject Content They Can't Verify

Explore Forrester's 2027 Predictions guide for B2C, CX, and digital leaders to uncover the five shifts putting new pressure on brands to earn trust and regain control.

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If Everyone Has AI, Where Will Advantage Come From?

Sharyn Leaver September 14, 2026
The organizations that thrive won’t be those with the most AI. They’ll be the ones that best combine AI-generated insight with human experience and judgment to create customer value.
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AI Agents For Marketing Are Here: Are You Ready?

Joe Stanhope September 8, 2026
AI agents for marketing are no longer a future state — they have arrived. Eighty-three percent of B2C marketing decision makers report actively implementing agentic AI into their workflows, and 85% agree that it’s delivering meaningful business value in their marketing efforts. With the rise of AI platforms like Claude and ChatGPT, and the majority of […]
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Welcome Back, Peter Kim: Forrester’s VP, Principal Analyst Covering The AI-Enabled B2C Marketing Org

Mike Proulx September 3, 2026

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Microdramas: Three Surprisingly Wrong Stereotypes

Mike Proulx September 3, 2026
Microdramas — one of the fastest-growing new entertainment formats you’ve probably never heard of — are finding audiences in unexpected places. Built for feeds, powered by algorithms, and consumed in minutes, this serialized mobile-native storytelling is gaining traction … and quickly. Forrester’s newly published data overview report, Inside The Mainstreaming Of Microdramas, examines who watches […]
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AEO Will Be Won With Solutions That Provide Intelligence, Orchestration, And Outcomes

Nikhil Lai September 2, 2026
Answer engines such as ChatGPT, AI Mode, and Claude mediate brand growth. They institutionalize word of mouth, determine consideration sets, and increasingly monetize. Marketers eager to influence how answer engines perceive their brands are rushing to enact answer engine optimization (AEO) best practices, connect roles critical to AEO, and mature AEO competencies. As they do, […]

What Makes AI Recommend One Brand Over Another?

Answer engines are reshaping the ways consumers discover brands. Learn how to increase the likelihood that AI-powered search mentions, cites, and recommends your brand before shoppers ever visit your site.

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B2C CDPs Enter Their Utility Era: Data Is The Foundation, But Outcomes Drive Investment

Joe Stanhope September 1, 2026
The customer data platform (CDP) category is graduating to a new phase. Marketers have unprecedented expectations for data as AI utilization explodes and marketing demands sophisticated insights, personalization, cross-channel execution, and measurability. To power the next generation of tools and customer engagement, marketers expect CDPs to provide more than data transit; they expect data utility. […]
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Meta Settles For $17 Billion In Landmark Social Media Addiction Trial

Kate Winick August 26, 2026
Two weeks into a landmark case against Meta, a group of attorneys general have announced that they’ve reached a settlement laying the groundwork for significant changes to the way young users experience Meta platforms. Youth Access Will Take An Immediate Hit, But Adults Will See A Gradual Shift The financial penalty is meaningful and doesn’t […]
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Meet Digital Experience Tech’s New Interface: Agentic AI Systems Of Action

Joe Cicman August 17, 2026
User interfaces and workflows built with agentic AI are emerging as the next frontier of digital experience tech’s evolution. For two decades, digital teams accelerated business results by implementing better software. Monolithic digital experience and content management solutions gave way to composable architectures that allowed digital teams to assemble specialized capabilities faster and create better […]
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Is Your Marketing Function Capable Of Growth?

Eric Epstein August 17, 2026
I’m a very inexperienced gardener. I’m lucky that the annuals in the yard I inherited from a previous green-thumbed owner are fairly hearty and thrive despite my lackluster efforts. But even I know that if I manage to nurture a seed into a seedling, I wouldn’t then start to measure success by how many bunnies […]
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Meet Kate Winick: Forrester’s New Principal Analyst Covering Social Media

Mike Proulx August 7, 2026

Missed The Journey Mapping Webinar? Watch The Replay.

Discover how leading organizations use journey decision systems to guide planning, funding, design systems, and governance — without adding more complexity.

Blog

You Don’t Miss Myspace — You Just Miss 2005

Kate Winick August 6, 2026
A potential Myspace relaunch is dependent on social media nostalgia, but consumers aren’t interested in going back in time.
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Your Processes Are The Weakest Part Of Your AEO Strategy

Nikhil Lai August 6, 2026
Many marketers know the best practices they must implement to get mentioned and cited by ChatGPT, Google, and Claude but still struggle to implement answer engine optimization (AEO). Marketers sync with web developers about the technical prerequisites of visibility: server-side rendering, Bing’s IndexNow protocol, monitoring for indexation issues, and more. They’re well aware of the […]
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Answer Engines’ Next Act: From Visibility To Growth

Nikhil Lai July 17, 2026
Treating AEO as a visibility tactic misses the bigger opportunity. Learn how answer engines are redefining influence and creating new paths to growth.
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