e ways to make martech more simple
Recently, many discussions have focused on how complicated the martech stack is. In my previous article I referenced a survey that found more than 60% of B2B marketers thought their martech stack was too complicated. One in five said it’s “more complicated than a black hole.”
Martech is a tool.
One argument is that the complexity of the martech stack means it does not serve the marketing organization and the business. This view is supported by me because I have seen numerous proofs of its truth in nature.
We must also remember that these complicated martech stacks were not created by themselves. An Pew Research Center report that focused on digital innovation with the goal of enhancing democracy made an excellent point.
“Many of these experts said that technology is neither intrinsically beneficial nor harmful. It is a tool. They stated that technology’s true impact depends on how it is used.
Marketing technology is no different. The effectiveness of marketing technology is greatly dependent on how it is implemented.
For those who believe that success in martech is dependent on subjective measures of digital maturity, martech maturity, customer experiences maturity or any other type, I disagree.
The maturity model trap
Since many years, Maturity models are still in use. The U.S. used the Capability Maturity Model in the 1980s. Department of Defense (DoD), to assess the ability of its vendors to deliver software development projects on time.
Martech vendors and consulting firms have recently adopted and created self-serving maturity models to help sell more software and services. You’ll find what I mean by searching “digital maturity” with or without quotes.
You might think it would look something like this.
“If your company isn’t engaging customers with the right experiences, personalized experiences, at the right place, and at the correct time, then your low level of digital maturity could hinder your company’s ability to thrive or even survive [commence hand-wringing]. The digital maturity assessment will reveal …”.
Leaders of immature organizations should ask “As compared with what?”
Your approach and business are innovative. There are some KPIs that we can measure. However, comparing the maturity of your marketing or business to others leaves too much room for subjective opinions.
A website that attracts 100 people per month and converts them by its messaging and offer is worth more than a site with 100,000 visitors who are not interested in the same products or services. They can be compared as if they were identical.
“A maturity model by itself does not guarantee organizational improvement. It’s a measure of progress, a indicator of progress. The maturity model is not a way to fix weaknesses.
Making martech easy again
Let’s agree that building a useful Martech stack is more than just taking a maturity assessment, whipping out credit cards, and trying to make some magic with SaaS-based point solutions.
Let’s agree, however, that we don’t need a disjointed collection of marketing technology tools to provide value to our customers or businesses and compete with our competition.
Okay, so now let’s discuss three ways that martech can be made simple again.
1. It is the hole and not the drill that matters.
My long-time CMO friend is a frequent speaker on the topic of martech failures. He is constantly looking for new points solutions to his martech stack, and is shocked when they fail to deliver the results he expects.
He shared his insights from Harvard Business School marketing professor Theodore Levitt, who suggested that customers would like to hire a product to perform a job. Knowing what job your customer is looking for will help you design a better product or solution. People don’t want a drill that is quarter inch in diameter. Levitt stated that they want a quarter inch hole.
According to an HBS Working Knowledge article, it is rare that you can understand the customer without understanding the job. According to the authors, this focus on customers causes marketers not to target phantom requirements. This was the main reason my friend kept falling apart with his martech stack, I asked him.
As a martech vendor, having dealt with several customers and partners, and as a sales rep for martech vendors, I can tell you that I didn’t spend too much time trying to understand why, size, depth, or how the hole was made. It was all about the drill features.
In many cases, even if the vendor understands the job, the product doesn’t work well enough to complete the task. Problem is, the customer often doesn’t realize this until they have signed the contract.
Focus on the task at hand and not on the features of the martech tool. Although you might need to spend a few bucks, it is a sure way to avoid disappointment or worse, lose your job.
This approach will save you time, money, frustration, and make your martech stack simpler.
Get to the bottom of 6 things that martech vendors won’t tell you
2. No overbuying
It makes us feel good to buy stuff. It’s a dopamine effect. Although I don’t think you need 22 connected devices to feel good, this is not a judgment zone. We’re all aware of the overwhelming number of martech tools available to you in 2022.
But just because you could purchase doesn’t necessarily mean that you should purchase. Martech stack bloat can be real. It creates complexity and waste which is not what you want.
If you don’t have a plan and focus too much on the drill, you could end up with a Frankenstack that is expensive, complicated, and doesn’t provide the value you were expecting.
Solution? The solution?
Get deeper: 3 steps to protect yourself from martech buyer’s regret
3. Continuous improvement
According to the American Society for Quality, continuous improvement is sometimes called continuous improvement.
“… Continuous improvement of products, services, or processes through incremental and major improvements. These efforts can be “incremental” over time, or “breakthroughs” all at once.
Many marketers believe that technology will make their marketing more effective. This is not magic, it’s martech.
Marketing is a ” learn” discipline. It takes time to create marketing strategies and other activations that will drive retention, conversions, and acquisition (or loyalty).
Once you reach that point, it’s hard to go back. You, your business, marketing, and technology ecosystem are constantly changing. So is your customer base.
While I’ve learned to trust that what works once will work again, it has also served me well over the years. However, that doesn’t mean that I haven’t strived to improve my skills constantly. I am currently running Gene v6.0 with an upgrade to Gene v6.5 on the product roadmap.
Continuous improvement can be embraced by a more agile and flexible marketing organization. Instead of looking at marketing as a linear, waterfall campaign (i.e. make the plan, execute the plan), I see a series smaller initiatives that are driven by an agile continuous improvement process.
Instead of a single, long-lasting macro campaign, we provide value to the target audience via small, incremental micro-campaigns. These can be optimized over a shorter time period to maximize value. This is a great example of the “test-and-learn” concept I just mentioned.
Your martech stack can also be improved continuously. Consider a composable strategy instead of buying large monolithic platforms that are expensive and inflexible (“macromartech”).
As you learn and test, the micro approach will prove to be an logical and practical choice. The ability to insert and remove components will allow you to be more flexible, scaleable, and faster to meet the needs of your marketing organization.
It’s worth it.
You will make better martech procurement decisions if you focus on the task at hand instead of the drill. By becoming a martech hyperconsumer, you’ll save money and resist the urge to solve every marketing problem.
With a focus on continuous improvement you will learn how to optimize your martech stack and create new opportunities. You’ll also be able to achieve exceptional productivity levels. This will make martech easy again.
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3 ways that martech can be made simple again was first published on MarTech.