Your 2019 MarTech Stack: Three Strategies for Success

Faced with daunting 2019 revenue and lead generation objectives, some marketers may be losing sleep this month as they think about the year ahead. However, my recommendation is to keep calm and carry on. Most successful marketers these days don’t do everything on their own. Instead they turn to experienced outside resources to fill in gaps where they need support, especially when it comes to data and technology.

 

A recent B2B Marketing Technology Trends report by Click Dimensions verifies how marketers are faring with their technology implementations. A majority said that “working on it” best describes their current situation: they qualify their technology efforts as being “somewhat successful.” A confident one third of marketers classify themselves as “very successful,” but there is also a small percentage who are clamoring for much-needed support.

 

It’s no surprise to me that email scores well in the report: it is rated the easiest technology to implement, with just 17% of respondents saying they had difficulties. In addition, 47% rated email among the most effective marketing technology, surpassed only by marketing analytics and content marketing, which were both rated among the most difficult to implement. Data management was also found to be challenging from an implementation standpoint.

 

It’s clear that it takes a village to put in place – and maintain -- a strong martech stack these days. So, according to the report, how are marketers getting the most out of the technologies they implement? Here are three takeaways that I recommend keeping in mind as you begin to launch into your initiatives in the New Year:

 

• Collecting internal alignment: Marketing, sales and IT must work together to agree on technology selection and implementation, as well as desired outcomes and measurement of success. Be sure to collaborate with these groups early and often to get the best results.

 

• Access to data: The ability to access and unify data from myriad sources will be needed to provide insight into what’s working and what should be improved, and for measuring results and communicating system ROI. Many companies simply won’t have (or be able to access) the data they need to accomplish this, and should consider augmenting, improving or procuring data and data expertise before implementing marketing technologies.

 

• Partnering with the right resources: As mentioned above, most organizations don’t possess the right skills and competencies to plan and execute complicated technology implementations on their own. Turning to accomplished and experienced outside resources can ensure you achieve the maximum benefit out of your technology investments.

 

How do you plan to make your martech dreams come true in 2019? When it comes to B2B and B2C email data, database cleansing and email campaign strategy, OMI has quite a track record including work with Fortune 10 firms. I hope you’ll get in touch with us to find out how we can support you in the New Year.

 

Outward Media’s accurate, targeted email data can enable you to achieve better email marketing ROI by targeting your best prospects – including top-level executives -- and, ultimately, converting more prospects into customers. Take a look at our case studies to find out more.