Sort Out Your Stack for Good
After spending the best part of the past two years confined to the same four walls, it was a pleasure to be able to attend The Martech Alliance’s #MarTechFest in-person at London’s Magazine back in October.
With over 20 hours of content, and an agenda designed to address the challenges faced by everyone who uses, sells or manages martech, I was looking forward to seeing what the industry’s leading thinkers had to say about the current state of play.
Arguably the fastest moving and progressive subsector of the marketing world, the global martech market is now worth somewhere in the region of $344.8bn. I know firsthand that many of our clients find their martech stacks overwhelming and impossible to navigate, so it was no surprise that customer experience was the hottest topic discussed during #MarTechFest 2021.
According to a recent study, 60% of marketers are using over 20 different tools to do their jobs every day. No wonder you’re feeling overwhelmed. The way I see it, a clunky process behind the scenes equals a clunky experience all-round. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Martech is designed to make your life easier and to optimise the experience of your customers. If it’s not currently doing it for you, it certainly won’t be doing it for them.
So, before you sign up to another tool, you need to sort out your current stack and make sure it's doing what it's supposed to do. I’ve seen too many marketers using tech like bandaids to try and fix problems caused by their existing set-up.
Here are my tips on how you can start 2022 off on the right track.
Three new year’s resolutions for sorting out your stack
- Think customer-first
Start the new year by mapping out your current customer journey and identifying every touchpoint. Your martech ecosystem should be built around this journey, and you don’t need me to tell you it's not a linear one. Nevertheless, by completing this exercise you should be able to quickly identify any redundant/ duplicate tools in your stack. A good place to start at least. - Consolidate
Next, consider the providers that can support you for more than one stage of the customer journey, or for multiple use-cases. For example, HubSpot offers tools for inbound marketing, sales and customer service. At Punch!, we have consolidated our own martech stack around HubSpot sales and marketing solutions, which has in turn allowed us to retire martech that doesn’t integrate seamlessly. Our partnership with HubSpot also allows us to implement and manage solutions on behalf of Punch! clients (a value-add if you’re one of those struggling with a monster stack!). - Stop paying for stuff you aren’t using
My third tip sounds like common sense but I’ve seen so many marketers forking out for tools they do not use. I just have to call it out. If you don’t need it now, you probably never will. I’d recommend this as a good end-of-year activity. It’s rewarding and it will win you bonus points with your finance team. Plus - who wouldn’t want that extra bit of budget back to spend on a campaign or a nice piece of content?
Getting these foundations right will put you in a good position to start leveraging martech to really optimise your marketing efforts and provide a seamless experience for your customers and prospects.
And, if you’re really stuck, we’d be more than happy to help. To arrange a martech audit, contact your Punch! team or reach out to me directly - jack.mercer@punchabm.com
Further Reading
Some food for thought from Punch!’s industry’s-leading technology partners.
The science that busts the myth about content engagement - Turtl
Discover how Lumen and 3M research is putting content and engagement in a new light. Happily, you don’t need to hire your own team of attention scientists. Simply follow the research and you’ll give yourself an edge over many of your peers.
How to make marketing more human - Drift
Potential buyers are looking for a unique experience, but true personalisation takes time and effort that many teams just don’t have. Companies like Drift are making it possible for sales and marketing teams to create individually personalised experiences at scale, allowing you to unlock the rewards of personalisation without sacrificing your ability to get your message to a wider audience.
The 2021 state of modern marketing - Terminus
Learn how teams plan to revolutionise their traditional marketing approaches to tackle the demise of third-party data and the journey towards ABM maturity. This report is not to be missed.
