Forrester Releases Q1 2026 Tech Tide for B2C Marketing Technology to Guide Investment Planning

Forrester has published "The Forrester Tech Tide™: B2C Marketing Technology, Q1 2026," providing a comprehensive assessment of the current marketing technology ecosystem. This report evaluates the maturity and business value of various martech categories to help B2C marketing leaders optimize their investment strategies. As the first update since 2020, the research addresses significant shifts in consumer behavior and technological capabilities that have emerged over the last six years.

Forrester’s latest research, "The Forrester Tech Tide™: B2C Marketing Technology, Q1 2026," serves as a strategic framework for understanding the diverse categories within the modern martech landscape. The report defines the categories that comprise the ecosystem and assesses their relative maturity and business value, offering a roadmap for B2C marketing leaders. By analyzing these trajectories, the research aims to help organizations determine which specific capabilities are essential for their current operations and which require future resource commitments.

This update marks a significant milestone, as the previous iteration of the B2C martech Tech Tide was released in 2020 during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the intervening six years, the marketing technology sector has undergone dramatic evolution driven by changing consumer expectations and rapid technological advancements. Forrester emphasizes that while all martech components are important, individual categories deliver varying degrees of efficiency and return on investment (ROI), necessitating a fresh evaluation of the ecosystem's many capabilities.

For the marketing technology sector, this report provides critical guidance on stack optimization and gap identification. Forrester highlights that effective martech adoption is fundamental to executing broader marketing strategies, requiring a deep understanding of how disparate tools and categories fit together. The Tech Tide is designed to assist leaders in planning the timing and scale of their investments, ensuring that new or differentiated capabilities are introduced in a way that maximizes business impact. Analysts are also available for guidance sessions to discuss specific category impacts and broader ecosystem shifts.