Forrester Crowns Cordial and Zeta as Email Marketing Leaders

Forrester Research released its Q1 2026 Wave evaluation for Email Marketing Service Providers on March 23, and the results will reshape vendor shortlists across enterprise marketing. Three vendors earned Leader status out of 12 evaluated: Cordial, Zeta Global, and a third vendor not yet publicly identified by the two named Leaders.

For marketing operations managers and CMOs currently evaluating or renegotiating ESP contracts, this report arrives at an inflection point. The email marketing platform category has been consolidating around AI capabilities, data architecture, and cross-channel integration for the past 18 months. Forrester's evaluation codifies which vendors have made the transition and which are still catching up.

The big story isn't just who won. It's what Forrester valued. The criteria that earned the highest scores point toward a clear direction: platforms that unify customer data, AI decisioning, and message execution in a single architecture are pulling ahead of those that bolt AI onto legacy systems.

Cordial, the enterprise marketing platform used by brands including Levi's, L.L.Bean, and Boot Barn, received the highest possible scores in 10 evaluation criteria, per its press release. Those criteria span the full stack: identity resolution, queries and segmentation, dynamic messaging, content management, data governance, consumer privacy, regulatory compliance, agency services, pricing flexibility and transparency, and roadmap.

The Forrester report describes Cordial as "a great fit for cross-channel retailers that are reasonably comfortable with marketing technology and want to activate large, disparate data sets into highly customized communications."

What sets Cordial apart, according to the evaluation, is its architecture. Most marketing stacks separate customer data, decision logic, and message execution across different systems. Every handoff between those systems fragments context.

Cordial's platform keeps those layers together. Customer signals translate directly into real-time messaging decisions without passing through intermediate systems. That's why it scored highest on both identity resolution and dynamic messaging: the data and the execution live in the same environment.

Forrester's evaluation included customer references, and the feedback was notably positive. The report states that "references relish the fact that they can Slack and text not just with their client support team but also with Cordial executives." One customer reportedly called Cordial "an extension of our team."

Jeremy Swift, CEO and Co-Founder of Cordial, emphasized the partnership model: "Enterprise brands don't just need software. They need a partner that understands the complexity of their customers, their data and their business."

Cordial was also one of only two vendors to receive the highest possible score in the Roadmap criterion. Forrester noted that Cordial customers collaborate directly with product developers on the platform's roadmap and that AI accounts for 30% of Cordial's R&D spend.

Zeta Global (NYSE: ZETA) received the highest score of any evaluated vendor in the Strategy category and the highest possible score (5.0) in 11 criteria, per its announcement. Those criteria included identity resolution, data management, data governance, skills improvement, AI approach and perspective, regulatory compliance, agency services, vision, innovation, roadmap, and partner ecosystem.

Forrester's evaluation noted that "Zeta's approach to AI, data management, and data governance stand out."

Zeta's differentiation centers on being an AI-native platform rather than an email platform with AI features added. The Zeta Marketing Platform integrates identity resolution, customer data management, predictive intelligence, and omnichannel activation into a single connected system. Forrester specifically called out the platform's AI approach and perspective as a strength.

Forrester also noted that Zeta "will work well for marketers of all industries and capability levels, particularly those who want to maximize their customer insights by experimenting with AI" and that customers "specifically praise Zeta's accessibility."

As a publicly traded company (market cap approximately $4.7 billion), Zeta brings financial stability and R&D investment scale that smaller competitors can't match. Its investor relations team distributed the Forrester results through BusinessWire, signaling the importance of the recognition for Zeta's market positioning and potentially its stock narrative.

Looking at what Forrester evaluated, a clear pattern emerges. Traditional ESP criteria like deliverability, template management, and basic segmentation have been table stakes for years. The differentiating criteria in Q1 2026 are AI approach, identity resolution, data governance, and dynamic messaging. In other words: how smart is your AI, how well do you know the customer, and can you act on that knowledge in real time.

This shift disadvantages legacy ESPs that were built primarily as email-sending engines and have been retrofitting AI capabilities. It advantages platforms that were designed from the ground up around data and intelligence.

The Wave evaluated 12 vendors total. While the full list isn't publicly available from the two Leaders' announcements alone, the email marketing landscape includes major players like Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Adobe Campaign, HubSpot, Mailchimp (Intuit), Braze, Klaviyo, Iterable, and Customer.io. Strong Performer and Contender designations are visible from other vendor announcements: Netcore was named a Strong Performer, per reports in industry trade press.

For marketing teams evaluating vendors, the positions of the non-Leaders matter as much as the Leaders. A Strong Performer with a strong Roadmap score may be a better fit than a Leader if the team's current needs align with the vendor's trajectory.

Analyst reports like the Forrester Wave are influential but imperfect. They evaluate vendors at a point in time using weighted criteria that may not match every buyer's priorities. A CMO at a $50 million D2C brand has different requirements than an enterprise retailer managing 20 million email subscribers across 15 countries.

Forrester's methodology also relies partly on vendor self-reported information and curated reference customers. The customers who participate in Wave evaluations are typically satisfied customers, not the ones who churned. Take the glowing customer quotes with appropriate context.

Still, the Wave remains one of the most rigorous and comprehensive evaluations in the category. Its influence on enterprise shortlists and RFP criteria is real and measurable.

One surprising detail: Cordial allocates 30% of its R&D budget specifically to AI. For a mid-market ESP competing against well-funded public companies, that's an aggressive investment ratio that suggests conviction about AI's role in the platform's future.

Three dynamics to monitor in the months following this report.

First, vendor responses. Vendors that landed in Strong Performer or Contender positions will likely accelerate their product roadmaps around AI, identity resolution, and data architecture to improve their positions before the next evaluation cycle. Watch for a flurry of AI-focused announcements from ESPs in Q2 and Q3 2026.

Second, enterprise buying decisions. Large email marketing contracts often span multiple years and involve significant migration costs. The Wave's influence on new deals is immediate, but its effect on existing contracts is slower. Expect contract renewals through the end of 2026 to be heavily influenced by these results, with some enterprises using the Wave as leverage in renegotiations.

Third, category convergence. Both Cordial and Zeta position themselves as broader marketing platforms, not just email providers. As ESPs expand into SMS, push notifications, and cross-channel orchestration, the distinction between "email marketing platform" and "customer engagement platform" continues to blur. The next Wave may need to redefine the category entirely.

For marketing leaders building or rebuilding their email stack in 2026: this Wave should be one input, not the only input, in your evaluation. But it's a strong signal about where the market is heading and which vendors are building for that future.