Forrester Research, Inc. (FORR): Marketing Mix Analysis [Dec-2025 Updated]

You're digging into Forrester Research, Inc. right now, trying to figure out if their big pivot away from legacy research is finally paying off in this tight 2025 market. Honestly, the story isn't about explosive growth; it's about stabilization through a massive shift: making the Forrester Decisions platform, which already drives 80% of their contract value, even stickier while launching new AI tools like Izola. We see the pressure points clearly-full-year revenue guidance is set between $395 million and $405 million, and while they managed to hold client retention at 74% in Q3 2025, that number definitely needs to move up for comfort. Below, I break down exactly how their Product, Place, Promotion, and Price strategies are set up to defend that base and try to grow from here.

Forrester Research, Inc. (FORR) - Marketing Mix: Product

You're looking at the core of what Forrester Research, Inc. sells right now. The primary product structure centers on Forrester Decisions (FD), which you should know represents about 80% of the total contract value (CV). This focus on the FD portfolio is a deliberate shift, as management emphasized its completion in early 2025. It's the main vehicle for their research and advisory services.

The product development roadmap is heavily leaning into artificial intelligence. Forrester launched AI Access, a new self-service AI offering, which has already built a sales pipeline valued in the multimillion dollar range as of late 2025. This new offering extends the reach of proprietary data to more stakeholders. Also, the generative AI tool, Izola, which recently marked its two-year anniversary, continues to see expanded functionality and usage, offering interactive features to clients.

The firm's revenue generation is broken down into three main buckets, and honestly, they've all seen a dip in 2025 performance compared to prior periods. Here's a look at the segment performance based on the third quarter of 2025 results:

Forrester is also rolling out new intellectual property to keep the content fresh. They introduced research streams focused on buying networks, which frame the new reality for how B2B buyers operate, relying more on third parties and AI agents. Furthermore, they launched the Total Experience Score, a new metric designed to quantify the combined effect of brand and customer experience. This score is calculated by integrating data from the Brand Experience Index (BX Index™) and the Customer Experience Index (CX Index™), based on perceptions from over 360,000 consumers across 413 brands in 13 countries.

You can see the product strategy is about shifting the delivery model and the content focus. The firm is also tracking other key metrics that relate directly to product adoption and client satisfaction:

• Client retention remained at 74% as of Q3 2025.
• Wallet retention improved by 1 point to 86% in Q3 2025.
• Contract value (CV) stood at $288.1 million as of September 30, 2025, down 7% year-over-year.
• The percentage of CV in multi-year contracts reached an all-time high of 73% in Q1 2025.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

Forrester Research, Inc. (FORR) - Marketing Mix: Place

You're looking at how Forrester Research, Inc. gets its insights and guidance into the hands of its clients. The primary distribution channel is definitely the digital Forrester Decisions platform. This platform is the core delivery mechanism, and as of 2024, about 80% of the firm's contract value was already housed there, showing its central role in the current distribution strategy.

The sales engine is undergoing a shift, focusing on efficiency. The direct sales force is transforming with the implementation of the Forrester Agile Sales Technique. For instance, management noted in Q3 2025 that the average time to hire new representatives was running at 55 days, which is an improvement on their internal goal of 60 days. This focus on sales process optimization is key to serving the core research product better.

Forrester maintains a global footprint, but the distribution mix is clearly leaning digital. The firm has approximately 1,500 employees across North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific, supporting its worldwide reach. While digital channels are paramount, regional in-person Events, like the Summits, still play a role, though they faced headwinds; Q2 2025 event revenue was $10.2 million, down 23% year-over-year. This suggests a continued prioritization of scalable digital delivery over high-touch physical gatherings.

The focus on digital self-serve is a major trend, driven by evolving buyer behavior. Forrester itself predicted that by 2025, more than 50% of large B2B transactions, specifically those valued at $1 million or greater, would be processed through digital self-serve channels, like the vendor's own marketplace or website. To meet this, Forrester launched its own self-service offering, AI Access, which by Q3 2025 had already generated a 'multimillion dollar fast-growing sales pipeline.'

For those clients needing deeper engagement, the high-touch delivery remains through Consulting and analyst guidance sessions. These personalized interactions contrast with the self-serve model. Consulting revenue for Q2 2025 was $23.5 million, representing a 5% decline from the prior year, which shows the relative size and current market pressure on this segment. Client engagement metrics show where the focus is landing:

• Wallet retention improved to 86% in Q3 2025.
• Client retention was reported at 74% in Q3 2025.
• 73% of contract value was in multi-year contracts as of Q1 2025.
• The firm's proprietary AI tool, Izola, is used to enhance client access to trusted research.

Here's a quick look at the revenue contribution by segment for Q2 2025, showing the relative scale of the distribution channels:

The overall headcount reduction of 8% as of Q3 2025 reflects the ongoing operational streamlining supporting this distribution strategy. Still, the digital platform is where the majority of the business value resides.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

Forrester Research, Inc. (FORR) - Marketing Mix: Promotion

You're looking at how Forrester Research, Inc. gets its message out to the market, which is all about driving engagement and securing those valuable research contracts. Honestly, the promotion strategy right now is tightly linked to their core business health metrics.

The strategic priority is definitely improving client retention, which held at 74% in Q3 2025. That number is flat from the prior quarter, so you know they are pushing hard on the communication front to keep existing clients happy and engaged. Wallet retention, which is a good measure of expansion, was up to 86% in Q3 2025, so there's some success there in getting more value from the clients they keep.

Targeted sales strategies are focused on larger enterprise and government clients. You saw the headwinds in Q3 2025 with a rolling U.S. federal government pullback from consulting, even though Q3 is historically their biggest bookings quarter for that segment. To support this, the total sales pipeline did show a 15% quarter-over-quarter increase coming out of Q2 2025.

Major content promotion centers around the annual 'Predictions 2025' reports and companion webinars. These are the tentpole moments for their thought leadership. For example, the B2C Marketing & CX Predictions 2025 highlighted that rising prices would prompt brand loyalty to decline by 25% in 2025. Also, the B2B predictions noted that more than 50% of younger buyers will rely on external sources for buying decisions in 2025. A key promotional vehicle supporting this is the continued push of their generative AI tool, Izola; clients using it increased 22% quarter-over-quarter, and prompts were up 44% in the same timeframe (as of Q2 2025). They also launched Forrester AI Access, a new self-service offering using that AI capability.

Investing in Events to boost client participation and contract value growth remains a focus, though the segment faced challenges. The full-year 2025 outlook for the events business is a decline in the high 20% range. Still, they hosted major events like the Technology & Innovation Summit EMEA 2025 on 8-10 October. Here's a look at how the revenue from the Events segment has tracked recently:

Improved demand marketing alignment is meant to support the transformed sales engine. The entire promotional push is geared toward driving Contract Value (CV), which stood at $288.1 million at the end of Q3 2025, down 7% year-over-year. On a positive note, the average CV per client was up 5% year-to-date, hitting $162,000 per client.

You can see the key promotion-related metrics side-by-side here:

• Client Retention (Q3 2025): 74%
• Wallet Retention (Q3 2025): 86%
• Average Contract Value per Client (Year-to-Date 2025): $162,000
• Izola Client Usage Growth (QoQ as of Q2 2025): 22% increase
• Full-Year 2025 Events Revenue Outlook: Decline in the high 20% range
• B2C Loyalty Decline Prediction for 2025: 25%

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

Forrester Research, Inc. (FORR) - Marketing Mix: Price

You're looking at how Forrester Research, Inc. prices its high-value research and advisory services in late 2025. The pricing element here is fundamentally tied to the value captured from its subscription base, which is the core of its revenue engine.

Forrester Research, Inc. is projecting its financial performance for the full year 2025, which sets the top-line context for its pricing power. Full-year 2025 revenue guidance is set between $395 million and $405 million. To support this revenue target, operating margins for 2025 are projected in the 7.5% to 8.5% range on an adjusted basis. The company is guiding for an adjusted earnings per share (EPS) for 2025 to be $1.15 to $1.25.

The subscription model remains key to achieving this financial stability. At year-end 2024, the contract value per client stood at $158,000, which represented a 10% increase from the $143,000 seen at year-end 2023. This focus on increasing the value captured from each client is a direct reflection of the pricing strategy's success in migrating clients to the Forrester Decisions platform. By the end of 2024, 69% of the total contract value (CV) was locked into multi-year contracts, up from 62% the prior year.

Here's a look at the recent performance metrics that inform current pricing decisions:

The introduction of new offerings requires corresponding pricing adjustments. The launch of Forrester AI Access, a new self-service offering built on generative AI capabilities, is positioned as a differentiator. This product is available in three versions-Technology, Consumer & Digital, and B2B-for all regions, accounts, and new clients. While the traditional model is seat-based subscription, the evolution of AI-driven value delivery suggests a shift in how value is perceived and priced. For instance, general industry trends show usage-based pricing gaining momentum as an alternative to traditional flat-fee models, reflecting that value doesn't always scale with user count. Forrester Research, Inc. itself offers its research reports for individual purchase at $1495, which shows a clear a la carte price point for non-subscribers.

Financing and payment terms are also part of the accessibility strategy. For example, within the industry, some multi-year commitments have successfully negotiated Net45 payment terms, structured with 50% upon signature and the remaining 50% on the subscription anniversary. You should analyze which specific functionalities your team uses most, and if newer releases aren't being utilized, that can typically be leveraged to maintain discounts on renewals.

The current pricing structure is supported by the following key elements:

• Subscription model is the primary revenue driver.
• Contract value per client was $158,000 at year-end 2024.
• Forrester AI Access is available in three distinct versions.
• A single research report can be purchased for $1495.
• Wallet retention was 85% in Q2 2025, down from 88% a year prior.

If onboarding takes 14+ days, churn risk rises. Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.