Marketing has evolved dramatically over the past few decades and has become highly technology-driven. The deluge of technology platforms — from marketing automation software to performance analytics to marketing cloud and beyond — tech is reshaping marketing and giving rise to a new discipline. Marketing technology or Martech is now the single most significant area of investment for marketing resources and programs, with CMOs spending nearly a third of their overall marketing’s budget on marketing technology platforms.
Understanding Martech
Simply, marketing technology (Martech) is the technology — that is, the software or the suite of software applications — that enables marketing teams to effectively perform their activities in the modern digital age. Martech isn’t just about helping marketers to send emails from a CRM or tracking their website visitors, it is much more dynamic. Martech enables marketers to understand who their ideal buyers are, what they’re looking for, when they’re likely to buy, what time, channel or method is best to reach out to them and so on. The beauty of Martech is that it is making marketing more expansive, agile, predictable and measurable.
Martech is indispensable to modern day marketing
Marketers today rely on a variety of technology platforms and software applications to plan and execute their marketing programs. Whether it’s planning your email or social media marketing campaigns, or orchestrating larger Account-based Marketing initiatives, technology is key. Your marketing technology stack is going to help you to automate, refine, track, measure and improve the impact of marketing activities, and ultimately optimize your spending and drive more efficiency.
So what does a typical Martech stack look like?
There is no one-size-fits all Martech stack and you shouldn’t be looking for one. There are many different components that make up a marketing technology stack. As a marketer, you have plenty of choices to pick from to get the right mix of platforms to help you best achieve your organization’s marketing goals.
Now, if you’re curious to know how many different Martech tools there are out there, take a look below. Chiefmartec.com first published their marketing technology landscape in 2011 featuring around 150 companies on their list. Here’s the updated, 2019 version of their popular supergraphic, now featuring over 7,000 companies!
That, above, is overwhelming!
There are many different factors that will determine what tools work best for you, for example, whether your business sells products or services, whether it serves consumers (B2C) or businesses (B2B), your target demographic and so on.
There are foundational technologies that every organization is going to need, for example:
- Content Management System (CMS)
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
- Email automation
- Adtech
- Marketing analytics
- Social media broadcasting
And there are more advance, organization specific platforms for more complex, personalized and goal-driven marketing initiatives, for example:
- Data intelligence
- Mobile platforms
- App analytics
- Experience optimization
- Advanced analytics platforms
And much more.
With so many choices, it’s ideal to use a combination of platforms that best drive performance for your organization-wide marketing programs, or even specific campaigns.
The impact of technology on marketing is profound
In today’s digital world, buyers do not merely buy products and services. Instead, they buy experiences. Customer experience is the single most critical factor that enables marketers to get close and personal with their buyers. And Martech is empowering marketers to better understand their key customer personas, map their customer journeys, and align their marketing programs with their customers’ expectations.