If you're a marketer, there's a 65% chance your #1 goal withmartech is to grow ROI. (Honestly, we're a little surprised the number's nothigher).
However, we all know how difficult it can be to measure theresults of your martech investments — if you don't go beyond baseline numbers,you could miss out on dozens of implicit benefits.
Luckily, we've put together this deep dive on modeling gainsfrom your investments into martech. We'll cover some of the improvements youshould observe, track, and quantify as you model out your ROI. Let's go!
Operational vs. Performance Improvements
We'll divide our ideas into two categories: operational andperformance. What's the difference between operational and performanceimprovement? For this analysis:
- We can label operational improvements as day-to-daycompany-side benefits with lasting results.
- We'll call performance improvements the wider-scale benefitswith top-line results.
As you model out the gains from investments in new marketingtechnology, you want to account for the benefits you get on the operational andperformance side.
Types of Operational Improvements from Marketing Technology
Enhanced productivity
Take stock of the benefits your marketing team gets fromyour martech investments. Often, these translate into quicker workflows orenhanced collaboration capabilities.
For example, your current digital marketing tool mightrequire manual input for content marketing direction. A new martech tool mightuse artificial intelligence to automate this process, freeing up time in themarketer's workflow.
Alternatively, your organization may have data silos thatsequester information between your IT and marketing departments. This leads tocommunication difficulties that delay social media campaigns by two weeks onaverage. Investment in a new CDP, on the other hand, centralizes customerinformation so that inter-department collaboration becomes more seamless.
Cost reductions
Measuring cost reductions might sound counter-intuitive —after all, martech typically costs extra. But making suitable investments canactually reduce your spending overall.
As we'll discuss later, a martech stack-turned-suite couldeliminate the need for a management position that integrates every tool. (28%of martech professionals want to lower the number of vendors they buy from).
Switching to a suite model could also earn you gains fromvendor consolidation — fewer brands you have to pay, fewer profit margins youhave to pad. If you operate on a credit model, you could also see gains fromconsolidation in the form of bulk orders or special deals.
Types of Performance Improvements from Marketing Technology
Incremental sales and leads
It might seem obvious, but you must account for the extrasales and leads you get from new martech solutions.
New sales can come from anywhere:
- New analytics platform? You may see improved responsivenessacross your eCommerce channels.
- New customer data platform? You could expect bettertargeting and improved campaign effectiveness.
- New email marketing platform? Look forward to more salesfrom an emerging channel for your brand.
New sales and leads are easier to track because they havetop-line benefits you can easily quantify. As you calculate a return oninvestment, these figures are going to be extraordinarily helpful.
Martech stack integration
Every marketing team must make a crucial decision: suite orbest-of-breed marketing tech stack? If your martech investment turns your stackinto a suite, you'll see noticeable benefits from a cohesive family ofmarketing products.
A marketing suite offers the best of everything you need tocreate, manage, and measure great marketing. They consolidate all yourmarketing technology into one easy-to-use platform. And because your suite ishosted in the cloud, it's accessible anytime, anywhere — all you need is aninternet connection.
Imagine you're trying to build a website. You could eitherhire a back-end AND front-end developer or hire one full-stack dev instead. Inthe first scenario, you have to handle communications between the twodevelopers, maybe get a new project management software, handle disagreements,etc. In the latter case, you only need to worry about one employee.
Martech solutions aren't that different. If your customerdata platform, analytics platform, and CRM all come from Adobe, for example, youdon't have to spend time, labour, and resources trying to integrate differenttools.
Get the Most out Of Your Martech Stack Today
It's hard to quantify the gains from your marketing efforts.But when you know what you're looking for, things get a little bit easier. Keepan eye on:
- Workflow speed increases
- Data silo breakdowns
- Fewer collaboration roadblocks
- Increased leads and sales
- Better feedback on the customer journey
- Suite/integration synergies
This is just the surface; you can go much deeper intojustifying your martech ROI if you need. Want to make sure you're using yourmartech stack to its full potential? Portage Labs can help — contact us todayto get started!
Frequently Asked Questions
How much do companies spend on martech?
In 2021, an average of 26.6% of marketing budgets wenttowards martech. This is probably unsurprising, given that marketing technologyis a global industry worth more than $120 billion.
What types of tools are in the marketing technology stack?
Marketing stacks vary between companies — after all, theirspecific collection of tools depends on their business objectives and marketingstrategy. However, most firms have the following tools:
- A customer relationship management (CRM) program
- A CDP
- Marketing automation (for email, social media, etc.)
- An analytics platform
What is a martech strategy?
Your martech strategy outlines how you use marketingtechnology to achieve business goals. These include content, analytics, andadvertising platforms, among others.
It might sound simple to say that a martech strategy isabout technology. But in practice, there are many types of tech for marketersto choose from — and they must consider their options carefully before decidingwhich ones will provide the best value for their brand.
