6 Tips to Create a Powerful Marketing Stack (Martech Stack) for your Business
Technology is everywhere around us! Over the past couple of decades, technology has transformed various aspects of our lives. Besides, it has made a great impact on a myriad of industries.
Today, it is hard to imagine a world free from technology. In the current scenario, it has infused into marketing in more ways than one could ever imagine a few years ago.
Technological innovations have played an important role in turning around marketing strategies by making them more personalized and immersive for users. Right from the main interface between people and brands to the tech solutions on which companies are built, we are seeing a rapid change in all regards.
Since marketing budgets continue to grow each year, we expect more and more companies to invest in new tech solutions that enable them to execute their marketing strategies effectively. Organizations are also expected to rely on marketing technologies to cater to their business and data requirements at various stages of the customer journey.
The integration between marketing and technology is generally referred to as Martech stack. However, with the introduction of a plethora of technologies each year, it could get a bit challenging to pick the right solution for your business.
This article will provide you with valuable insights into the different points to consider when you are building your martech stack.
Let’s dive straight in!
SEE ALSO: 5 E-commerce Marketing Automation Strategies to Remember in 2021
What is a Martech Stack?
As mentioned earlier, a martech stack is a group of technologies and business tools that are used to create and build customer relationships at different phases of their customer journey across various digital channels.
To stay relevant and gain a competitive edge over their rivals, marketers should primarily focus on choosing technologies that offer value to their users.
Remember that some tools may offer great value as standalone solutions as well. However, the entire idea behind building a martech stack is to improve marketing operation efficiency and user experience. As a marketer, you are responsible for ensuring that all these tools can work together and provide greater value to your business.
How Can You Design your Martech Stack?
Now that you have a better understanding of what a martech stack means, it is time to get into the design side of things.
Here are the key points to keep in mind:
- Identify your needs
- Run an audit
- Define your requirements
- Highlight your technical requirements
- Carry out a gap analysis
- Implementation
When you are laying the building blocks of your martech stack, remember these two fundamental points. One, the stack should be intuitive, and the other that it should improve customer experiences.
Now, let’s get started and create a martech stack of your dreams!
1. Identify your Business Needs
This is the first major step you need to take. You should be able to pinpoint and identify what your business needs.
Your marketing team will use different data points to segment your customers across their customer lifecycle.
Here is the most basic framework to highlight your needs when it comes to user/customer data:
- Stranger = N/A
- Visitor = Google Analytics (GA) ID
- User = GA cookie ID + email address
- Customer = GA cookie ID + email address + CRM records/customer ID number
- Referrer = GA cookie ID + email address + CRM records/customer ID number + number of new visitors referred by a specific referrer
- Evangelist = GA cookie ID + email address + CRM records/customer ID number + number of new visitors referred by a specific referrer + branding
2. Run an Audit
Before you start, it is a good idea to run an audit to evaluate your existing martech solutions. When you are making a list, do not miss out on a single piece of software that is used by your team members. These could include a bunch of email applications, a CRM platform, social media scheduling software, and more.
At this stage, do not worry about the duplication of technology, but rather focus on the problems they are solving.
Ensure that your stakeholders are using tech solutions that align with their marketing requirements.
3. Define your Requirements
It is important to define your end goals and requirements to create and organize your martech list. Take into account the current status of your business and also where you would like to see it in the next few years.
Is the gap between your current and the future state big? If yes, what are the tools you will require to bridge this gap? You will have to find answers to these questions to find tools with compatible features, services, and a vendor that can tweak its products in accordance with your needs.
4. Strategize your Tech Requirements
You cannot build a one-size-fits-all martech stack. You will need to spend some time on research and determine the various technologies that can add value to your business.
For example, B2C and B2B companies are most likely to use different marketing and growth strategies to attract customers. Calculate the level of growth you are expecting over the next few years. After that, you need to identify the technologies you will require or stop using to attain your goals in the stipulated timeframe.
5. Gap analysis
When you are looking for different marketing automation tools, CRMs, email marketing software, and more, you will find that there are many technologies that are underutilized or overlapping.
In addition, you will also find there are some gaps in your existing martech stack. For example, you may have different email marketing tools, but none of them provide A/B testing.
Every business tool should be tied to a marketing goal. If you are unable to identify how a specific solution is adding value to your business, you may want to replace it.
6. Implementation
You should have a martech list ready by now. The vendor offers you have decided to retain and the new ones that you have added should be able to help you reach your long-term as well as short-term goals. Now, once your new and improved martech plan is approved, it is time to implement it.
Tealium and other tag management tools such as Google Tag Manager will make the implementation easier for you.
Build a Martech Stack that Makes an Impact
The creation of a successful martech stack depends on various tech solutions that work in sync with each other. Thus, it is important to layer your software solutions coherently to achieve your business goals.
SEE ALSO: 5 New Technologies Small Businesses Should Adopt in 2021
Feature Image Source: Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
Image 1 Source: Image by rawpixel.com
Image 2 Source: Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
