are 5 ways to extract more value from your tech stack

Companies are being pressured to reduce expenses and do more with less. Tech stacks have increased from a small part of the budget a decade back to a significant portion of the pie. They are often the first thing to be scrutinized.

Marketers need to get the most out of their current tech stack. This can be done through consolidation or strategic use of existing tools. It’s not difficult to find areas that can be improved, so why the fuss?

Why your tech stack ROI should be worse than it is

Over 500 calls have been made with HubSpot customers over the past three years to discuss their platform setup, spend, and optimization. We have identified the most common issues in martech stack — from redundant spending to underutilized capabilities.

What is the result? The average company spends 35% on SaaS and cloud tools.

Reason 1: You don’t know what it is that you don’t know

This overlap may not be intentional and could result from a product that was purchased to solve a particular problem. You won’t be able to make the most of existing tools or replace outdated apps if you don’t have a good understanding of your company’s tech stack.

Inefficient workflows and redundant tools can result from inexperience with stack capabilities. You must keep up with product updates, beta launches, and other information to understand how your tech stack functionality changes.

HubSpot unveiled a new tool in March that uses AI functionality from their platform. This tool is useful for market research, portal research, copywriting, and many other purposes. This tool combines additional content creation and research tools that you may not find with other vendors.

Deeper: Marketers are making fewer use of martech’s growing capabilities

Reason 2: Upgrades seem too costly

Although upgrading to a more functional stack may seem costly, the price of an upgrade is not always fixed, especially in enterprise deals. It is worth looking into other options and negotiating a better deal from your vendor. You might end up paying for features that you won’t use.

Providers often offer greater discounts for upgrading your account than it costs to renew at its current level. It could be worth it if you are able to identify ways that you can generate ROI from the upgrade.

HubSpot’s enterprise edition allows you to automatically enroll in sequences and team roles. This standardization of information and the ability to communicate 1-to-1, with leads who have gone silent or ghosted, can help you save time and increase your growth.

Reason 3: Unorganized purchasing processes and “grandfathered in” systems

This is a critical point that is often overlooked, but it is vital. It’s easy for larger companies (and smaller ones) to lose track of the software you pay for. This is especially true if there’s no consistent and organized process for purchasing new software.

When new leaders are brought in, they may not be aware of the full extent of the tools being used or why.

Get deeper: 3 steps for building an efficient martech stack

How to extract more value from your tech stack

1. Software contracts can be negotiated

Although this should seem obvious, there are many people who excel at it. Companies often lose money. Software companies will negotiate with you to keep your business and increase your use of their platform.

Consider working alongside a partner in order to navigate the negotiation process and get the best deal. Partner will be able to negotiate better deals because they have the experience and relationships.

2. Make investments in team training

With turnover, knowledge disappears. The newer members of the team may not be as familiar with a system as their predecessors and won’t be able to use it to its full extent. Training and development can be a great help. Individualized training can also help you to see the gaps that were not obvious.

Get deeper: CMOs should spend more on training than tech in this economy.

3. Combine tools

With the rapid growth of acquisitions and mergers , larger platforms have been buying smaller ones to increase their offering. Many of the more powerful tools (e.g. HubSpot), now allow for functionality that can be used to do other tasks once they were confined to a specific program.

Although not as advanced as some of the leading competitors, a unified system can provide convenience and cost savings. HubSpot Marketing Pro and Marketing Enterprise allow you to post and schedule social media within the platform.

Is it as functional as a Sprout Social? No. It might be enough to save money by removing another tool.

Perform a tech audit to identify areas that can be improved or eliminated.

Go deeper: Your stack is larger than yours, so what?

4. Not just tools, but cut seats

SaaS companies usually charge per user or “seat”. This means that costs rise with every additional employee who uses it, even if they aren’t using it. Take a look at your platforms to see where you could reduce the number of users.

It may seem obvious, but it is something that companies of all sizes overlook. Many companies mistakenly grant seats to employees who do not need to use the paid features of the platform, increasing costs unnecessarily. The seats may be assigned to X number paid users. However, the rest of the employees can access the system using a free view-only seat.

You can reduce the number of seats that you have to pay by taking a closer look at who has access to your SaaS platforms and tools. This can lead to significant cost savings, without compromising functionality or performance.

5. External resources

Although hiring a consultant or an external resource can reduce in-house training and recruitment costs for sales and marketing software, the benefits often extend beyond that.

You can leverage external expertise to tap into their deep knowledge about tools and platforms. This reduces the chance that you are underusing tools. These people often offer fresh perspectives and can help you upskill your team. They will also provide training and processes to ensure that your investments are being leveraged efficiently.

External resources are also useful for information transfer and continuity. External resources can help with information transfer and continuity.

Explore 5 Tips to Increase User Adoption of New Martech Tools

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