A thoughtfully created marketing technology (MarTech) stack can get companies closer to their goals. However, some professionals feel compelled to invest in these products without doing appropriate research first. That can cause enterprises to waste money and time.
Here are eight guidelines for businesses to consider as they assess an existing MarTech strategy and decide whether to update it.
1. Calculate How Often the Company Uses the Tools
There are thousands of MarTech tools on the market. As marketing experts see messaging and case studies about the respective products, they may feel tempted to use them without a well-defined reason. This approach can lead to an overbuilt stack and poor outcomes.
A good starting point is to see if there are any products the company has not used in at least six months. An enterprise may primarily invest in a tool because of a short-term requirement. For example, it may have collaborated with another business on a single project. In cases like that one, the ideal approach is to stop using the products that the company does not depend on regularly.
2. Consider How to Achieve Better Visibility
When companies assess how they currently use MarTech tools, it may become clear that they have identified shortcomings. That was the case with telecommunications brand Sprint — which had historically relied on external vendors to manage its technology platforms. It recently changed its MarTech strategy to an in-house approach. This alteration allowed the brand to cut its cost per acquisition by 30% year over year on a flat spend.
That occurred because the company could see the relationships between online and offline activities. It made smarter decisions about how to appeal to customers and which campaigns were most likely to pay off. Companies should use that case study as motivation to explore whether the current ways of working with MarTech allow sufficient visibility. If they do not, it may be time to make proactive changes.
3. Set the Right Parameters to Measure Success
Another practical way to learn if an existing marketing tech stack works well is to create and measure parameters that reflect goals. Time-to-market is a popular metric to track, as is revenue. However, success is not always immediate. Suppose a company uses marketing tech to increase brand awareness. In that case, its representatives should set a benchmark at the start of a process and see how the results compare to it after a campaign's conclusion.
Perhaps a team only started using some tools in its MarTech strategy recently. If so, marketing professionals should bear in mind that it typically takes a while for users to fully understand a product's features and work through any initial challenges they face. That means total time spent working with a tool should factor into the parameters that gauge success.
4. Track How Often Team Members Experience MarTech Tool Issues
Technology is great until it malfunctions. The tools used for a MarTech strategy should not contribute to an unhealthy IT environment. If each marketing team member complains about experiencing at least one tool-related issue a month, it's time to get to the root of the problem. When people encounter only a couple of tech troubles per year, that's a sign of things running smoothly.
If a company has a strong technological foundation, team members benefit from solutions that boost their productivity. However, tools that are not user-friendly or continually display error messages can stifle the workflow and cause ongoing frustrations. Marketing leaders should get feedback from team members about their average experiences using the tools in a MarTech stack. It's also useful to measure the number of instances with each product over a given period.
5. Categorize the Current Programs
Carrying out an effective evaluation of a MarTech strategy also means checking that a company has the best options for products that serve their intended purposes. The first step is to assign each tool to a category associated with its use or how it supports a business. Doing that makes it easier for company representatives to determine if there are too many tools in a certain category or at least one group characterized by an apparent lack.
Marketing representatives should also get feedback from stakeholders about the types of problems users want to overcome with the tools. They should review the choices currently on the market. The idea is to see if other products could meet requirements better than whatever a company has now. When people get accustomed to using a tool, they often believe it's the best option, even if improved products are available.
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6. Think About How to Implement Artificial Intelligence
Company decision-makers should also figure out whether there are ways to bring artificial intelligence (AI) into the current marketing technology approach. Doing that could predict the outcome of an upcoming campaign or analyze historical customer reactions to dynamic price adjustments. AI can also help organize a company's digital assets, making them easier to locate and utilize later.
However, marketers should not invest in AI-based MarTech tools just because those options exist. They should pinpoint the most impactful issues or unresolved weak areas in an organization, then explore how artificial intelligence might make them less problematic. Additionally, marketers must have enough time to learn the AI-based features. Teams may need to get outside help from AI specialists, particularly when relying on the technology for the first time.
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7. See How Long It Takes to Move From Insight to Action
Another useful aspect to examine when evaluating a MarTech strategy is the amount of time and effort required to act on the insights received. If marketers get out-of-date information in a cumbersome format, they'll waste valuable time trying to extract useful material.
However, some marketing technology products give up-to-the-minute statistics in the most useful formats for the professionals who use them. The availability of hard data means people can make more concrete decisions with confidence. However, if they waste time obtaining the data or putting it to use, the current MarTech stack is falling short and needs tweaking.
8. Examine How a Better MarTech Strategy Could Minimize Costs
Expense is often a primary driver of the desire to assess a MarTech stack. Do the results achieved justify the money spent? If not, or if it's difficult to say for sure, it's a good time to conduct an audit. The findings could illuminate how and when cost-cutting measures should occur. In one example, an internet advertising company shaved 15% off its budget by reducing the number of tech platforms used from 27 to eight.
The main approach used to do that involved seeing where tool functionality overlapped. The company also kept one subscription to lesser-used tools to check what those resources recommended compared to the main product. Many items incorporated into a MarTech strategy are so multifunctional they may meet more needs than several other less-capable tools. In those cases, trimming down can save money and offer higher-quality results.
Maximizing MarTech Output
It's not realistic for marketers to expect their MarTech tools to remain maximally effective forever. Business goals change, and the products used to meet them might, too. Many of the suggestions here also help marketing professionals discover the best ways to rely on their tools.
These eight guidelines for looking at a MarTech strategy can help decision-makers understand when and why they should make changes. Then, they can avoid making judgments based on assumptions and instead look at relevant statistics.
Devin Partida writes about topics concerning tech and the internet. She is also the Editor-in-Chief of ReHack.com.
