Let’s be honest with ourselves for a second - there’s nothing more challenging than launching a startup. A huge part of that is managing its MarTech stack.
The founder stories you come across usually consist of a pile of fluff and far-fetched, dreamy notions, however, the reality is usually a world of a difference.
One of the main challenges of kickstarting your young company’s marketing activities is finding the appropriate infrastructure. In many cases, the marketing manager will face three major roadblocks:
- A limited budget
- A finite amount of time to scope out alternatives
- Restricted manpower
In this article, we’ll outline effective tips for building your new marketing technology stack in order to achieve that solid foundation you need to thrive.
What Is a Marketing Technology Stack?
Before going any further, let’s just make sure we’re all on the same page. What exactly is a marketing technology stack?
Put simply, a marketing technology stack is a select group of tech tools that marketers use to conduct their marketing efforts over a range of different channels. For example, a typical martech stack may consist of:
- An email marketing platform like Mailchimp or Campaign Monitor.
- A social media scheduler like Hootsuite or Buffer.
- A content management system (CMS) that hosts your company website and blog.
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software like HubSpot or Salesforce.
- Data analytics tools like Google Analytics.
It’s clear to see how difficult mastering a start-up right off the bat can be. Typically, when you’re in the beginning stages, you’re able to take on heaps of random activities on a number of platforms, switching from one to another fairly easily.
But as your operations grow, so too do the challenges. That’s why you need to be prepared.
5 Tips For Your MarTech Stack
Alright, so you have a startup, and you are ready to begin assembling a kickass marketing tech stack. Kudos. We feel your drive.
As exciting as this time is, it’s also crucial you have a great strategy to get off on the right foot - that’s why we’re here.
By researching the best marketing stack solutions taken on by reputable companies, we’ve compiled some actionable tips for you to follow.
1. Customized CMS Focus
Your CMS is a core component of your marketing efforts. With that in mind, ask yourself how customizable is your CMS?
In other words, how important is your website to your overall strategy?
Typically, if you’re involved in the digital marketing world in any way, CMS focus is a pretty big deal. CMS selection enables you to take a step beyond online A/B testing tools while maintaining a self-customizable platform.
This ease of use saves you from costly developer fees and provides an opportunity to make a greater impact by keeping your priorities in check, and at the tips of your own fingers.
Remember:
Your responsibility as a marketer is to guide your development team. By focusing on a customized CMS platform, you’ll be able to take charge and make the changes and additions you need to bring your vision to fruition.
2. Automation All the Way
While preparing for your Beta launch, you’ll want to include more sophisticated automation tools.
For this part of the game, you should look towards these prominent full-stack automation platforms for marketing:
While you can create a custom full-stack automation stack from separate point solutions for cheaper, if you have the budget, choosing a platform is always a lot more straightforward.
Being able to bring your marketing, sales, and service teams together on one unified platform makes management and communications a lot easier.
There are pros and cons for each platform, depending on what you’re looking for, so choose wisely!
3. Turbocharge Your Traffic with Google
Driving traffic is always going to be a top priority, regardless of what your marketing strategy entails.
When it comes to marketing tech stacks, this statement is even truer, and therefore, you should keep that in mind when you’re putting your stack together.
If you want fast results, it’s hard to look past Google Ads. Considering that 93% of internet visits begin with a search engine, backing the world’s dominant search engine seems like a pretty safe bet!
With Google Ads, you’ll not only be targeting people who display a specific interest in something you’re selling, but it also acts as a primary point of contact for lead generation tactics such as email marketing, remarketing and conversion optimization.
4. Integration is Key
One of the most important factors for success when developing a MarTech stack is integration.
It is vital that the various technologies within an organization are able to work in tandem and communicate with one another. When data is easily shareable, a marketing technology stack really shines.
Despite this, disjointed MarTech stacks continue to play havoc with the hopes of many marketing teams. A report from eConsultancy found that 56% of marketers cite misaligned marketing technology as the culprit for their ailing campaign efforts.
Your marketing technology stack is only as effective as the sum of its parts, however, it goes a long way when all those parts collaborate together. Making sure your software and technology collaborate effectively will make your usage smarter and your life easier.
5. MarTech Stack Simplification
There are more than 6,800 MarTech solutions available today, which leaves companies spoiled for choice when it comes to building a MarTech stack.
Interestingly though, there’s a trend happening in the marketing technology industry that is essentially revolting against the growth. Can you guess what it is?
It’s simple - simplification.
Customers are demanding fewer solutions and more consolidated stacks — and for good reason. Life and business are complex enough. While there still isn’t a single solution that covers every marketing need, the key is to evaluate each technology carefully before adding it to your set-up.
Ask straightforward questions such as, “how does this technology affect our long-term strategy?”
If the path doesn’t seem clear, that tool may need to be cut.
What’s Next?
Keep it up.
While strategy, connection, integration, and simplification are all vital aspects of modern marketing, the future doesn’t stop there.
You must continue to optimize your MarTech stack by regularly testing tools and finding more effective combinations. Seek to generate greater flexibility throughout your team, and stay curious about exciting new technologies.
The key to maintaining a solid MarTech stack is constant monitoring and tweaking. By staying on top of the latest MarTech news, and refining your arsenal to stay ahead, you’ll be flying high and fully prepared for the digital future.
