Digital marketers live and die by their stacks.
What is a Martech Stack?
A “stack” is the total collection of apps, tools, plug-ins, and other platform technologies digital marketers use to streamline, optimize, analyze, and compartmentalize the marketing process across the entire customer lifecycle.
Whoa, that’s a mouthful.
The stack as a whole addresses the entire marketing process, from strategy to outreach and follow-up. The components that comprise these stacks address specific issues that digital marketers face.
There are thousands of individual platforms, apps, programs, CMCs, and CRMs that businesses have access to. There is much overlap in utility among them, as well as potential synergy between them.
How can businesses avoid the paradox of choice and settle on the best marketing stack for their needs?
That’s what this article will address.
Having Tech Comes Second To Marketing Strategy
Before rushing to purchase the latest shiny martech gadget, you need to figure out your marketing strategy. Just because you bought the newest email marketing tool or purchased the latest WordPress plugin doesn’t mean you have a good marketing strategy.
For example, having a computer is useless if there isn’t electricity to power it.
Just because you have something doesn’t mean you’re set to succeed.
Before spending thousands of dollars of your marketing budget on a shiny new tool, make sure that the tool is necessary or even relevant to your marketing strategy.
According to a marketing technology survey run by Gartner Marketing in 2020, most businesses were using about 58% of the total amount of martech they purchased.
This leads us to the next tip.
Bloated Stacks Will Suck Up Budget Unnecessarily
Just over 40% of all martech in a business’s martech stack goes unused. How much money could businesses save if they trimmed their stacks down to the essentials they were actually using?
How can businesses decide which martech to keep?
You need to run regular audits of your martech stack to see which tools are working in the interest of your business and which tools are working against your business’s bank account.
Best-of-Breed vs. Best-of-Suite is Largely A Problem of the Past
Your software solution doesn’t have to come down to best-of-breed vs. best-of-suite. Integration, communication, and interoperability between platforms are only increasing due to the market demand for better stacks.
Instead of feeling compelled to pick a camp, go with the solutions that serve your marketing strategy, not some techie philosophy.
What Does The Average (Useful) Marketing Stack Look Like?
Though what follows will hardly cover every business, it’s an excellent example of a solid martech stack for general B2B and B2C businesses. But remember, each business has unique needs and will ultimately require a unique martech stack to meet them.
Your martech stack should be segmented into three separate categories that each have a unique purpose.
- Attract
- Engage
- Assess/Improve
Your martech stack should address these three key goals. Let’s dive into each a bit deeper.
Attract
Generating leads is the most critical aspect of marketing. If the phones aren’t ringing, then you aren’t making money.
To even have a chance of generating leads, you’ll need first to drive traffic to your site.
Essential Tech For Driving Traffic:
- Google Ads
- Demandbase
- Ahrefs
- Moz
- Unbounce
Engage
Once they land on your site, you’ll need to engage them to convert them. With engagement, you also want to think long-term—how can you get them back after visiting or converting?
You’ll need excellent content and a friendly UX to keep them coming back for more.
Essential Tech for Engagement:
- Wistia
- Uberflip
- WordPress
- Wix
- Sprout Social
- Intercom
- Marketo
Assess/Improve
In order to fully optimize your conversion rate, you’ll need to constantly assess weak points and find areas where you can improve performance.
Essential Tech For Analysis
- Google Analytics
- Tableau
- LeanData
- Segment
- Heap
- Hotjar
Are You Ready To Optimize Your Martech Stack?
About the Author
Roni Davis is a writer, blogger, and legal assistant operating out of the greater Philadelphia area. She writes for CMOX, which connects fractional CMOs with small businesses that need marketing leadership.