enterprises are doing today to integrate martech and tech.

Large companies have seen marketing technology platforms and advertising stacks aligned into distinct teams and stacks. This can cause problems with goals such as accurate attribution or full-cycle optimization. This separation is made more difficult by the demise of third party cookies.

A peer group session was organized for OmnichannelStack owners. Two large B2C firms and one B2B company shared case studies that had contrasting but similar points. These are the key takeaways from each presentation worth keeping track of.

Today’s B2C, B2B martech and Adtech systems are exemplary

B2C firms had made significant investments in and adtech. Their systems, from content to data to decision logic, had existed before their martech stack. This is due to pre-digital business models (especially pre-pandemic), where the firm went to market through retailers and distributors. The B2C stack leader pointed out that in this era of direct-to-consumer growth, “It’s all Martech” is the current mantra.

However, their initial engagement strategy shifted from transactional selling to building multichannel customer relationships. The firm had to consider their media buying efforts in the context customer journeys.

The conversation revealed that leading companies are structuring their marketing and adtech into ” madtech” groups. Even though they are not actually restructuring, it is possible to see that almost all the major companies are doing so.

• Assembling data and marketing teams, and making measurement a part of each activity.
• It is important to focus on metadata at both the campaign and asset levels, as it is impossible to draw any analytic conclusions without it.
• To continue building on early learnings, we will be developing more AI capabilities within our company.

Similar insights were found in the B2B case study, but more emphasis was placed on journey optimization as an initial driver. The company optimized its ad spend to support longer, more complex buyer journeys and not just lead generation. It was difficult to integrate media buying and account based marketing. The process was simplified by creating a single DAM which fueled both media channels as well as messaging via owned and operated properties.

Get deeper: Customer Journey Orchestration: What is it and why marketers should take care

Closing the loop: Trying to achieve martech and tech alignment

The theory is that better martech and advertising technology integration and alignment will bring companies closer to the “closed loop” goal of one motion — from media purchase to loyal repeat customers. However, the goal of a closed loop is still attainable by all martech leaders.

You must be realistic about your expectations. You may find yourself in a world that is still struggling to align adtech with martech at a basic level. One leader said, “You will have to work with a 180-degree closed loop.” This will take time to consolidate the appropriate technologies, data flows, and teams.

It is becoming increasingly difficult to have the necessary skills needed to work in an adtech or blended martech world. The lines between technical, data, and content people are becoming blurred. Add the right level legal counsel and you have the ingredients for modern madtech teams.

All of this uncertainty and change makes it more compelling to put the emphasis on core data, content, and process capabilities which can be used underneath your adtech or martech stacks as foundational building blocks. This is the most important objective in overall architecture for this decade. It is a good time to get started.

MarTech : How Enterprises are pursuing martech, adtech integration today was first published on MarTech .