Is it time for a MarTech assessment?

The recent, rapid advances in marketing technology (MarTech) have led to an ever-greater array of digital tools and applications that need to work together. As exciting new possibilities appear and new programs are incorporated, MarTech stacks have grown into complex systems that require regular review.

We spoke with Allant’s SVP of Development and Database Services, Matt Edmondson, to run us through what to consider when assessing your MarTech stack.

What is a MarTech assessment?

Are you getting full value and impact from your MarTech stack? Do you need to upgrade or are there better options out there? Is your current setup still working towards your current business goals? These are all fundamental questions that should be checked regularly.

A MarTech assessment is a review of your marketing technology stack – all the digital marketing tools, applications, and programs that you use and how they fit together. The goal is to make sure that your current setup is working well and delivering ROI.

Why is a regular MarTech assessment so important?

Marketing technology took up a quarter of the average marketing budget in 2022 – and that doesn’t include the paychecks of the staff that run it. As with any sizable investment, ensuring you are getting bang for your buck is essential to delivering strong ROI.

A poorly performing MarTech stack can cost you considerable time and money, contribute to poor decision-making, and negatively impact the customer experience. All of which puts you at a competitive disadvantage. An annual assessment is an important opportunity to identify weaknesses and gaps, and understand if there are better options out there.

The warning signs: when a MarTech assessment is needed

If you spot any of these major red flags, it’s time to conduct a MarTech assessment sooner rather than later:

“A martech assessment becomes imperative when any of the warning signs start negatively affecting customer journeys and satisfaction,” Matt says. But what are those warning signs?

Accommodating new marketing strategies or regulations is a challenge

The marketing landscape is constantly shifting and evolving. Your MarTech stack must be able to adapt and keep up with new marketing approaches and strategies to maintain a competitive edge. This also applied to incoming legislation around customer data. MarTech stacks must remain compliant with local legislation, identifying and addressing gaps and vulnerabilities.

Falling quality of customer experience

It should go without saying that regular negative customer feedback around marketing technology issues should trigger a swift evaluation. If marketing teams are seeing decreased performance metrics (or, perhaps worse, they can’t easily obtain the necessary metrics), there could be underlying issues with the existing MarTech stack.

Executing a simple process takes a long time

It should be an easy process to get the right message in front of the right customer. Fragmented systems and siloed data can hinder the best marketing teams. If it takes blood, sweat and tears to integrate data and close the feedback loop in a timely manner, you’ll be hindering effective decision-making.

Core goals of a MarTech assessment

A successful MarTech assessment can be a game-changer for your marketing team. In Matt’s words: “a thorough MarTech assessment can help identify weaknesses, streamline processes, and ensure the marketing team has the right tools to drive success”. To provide the marketing leadership team with a comprehensive evaluation of your MarTech stack, these should be the key aims:

Identify pain points and gaps

Pinpoint current challenges within the MarTech stack, looking closely at how well data is integrated and accessible across various platforms. Take a holistic view of customer interactions and overall experience to review performance.

Reveal improvement opportunities

Evaluate how successfully the current MarTech stack aligns with marketing strategies and assess whether any adjustments are required to better meet business goals. Identify opportunities to optimize marketing processes and enhance efficiency, providing insights to improve overall performance.

Review adaptability and scalability

Evaluate the flexibility of your MarTech stack to respond to changes in legislation, security protocols, or marketing strategies. Ensure that current processes can accommodate future growth and incoming regulations that will affect compliance.

Create an action plan

After assessing these elements, it’s time to review findings and pull out insights, address issues, and seize opportunities. While the marketing leadership team should be spearheading these efforts; Matt highlights the importance of bringing in other departments. “Involve a diverse group of stakeholders with different perspectives from IT, data operations, marketing operations and analytics to conduct a comprehensive MarTech review.”

Finally, an achievable action plan should be created to provide marketers with a focus. A successful MarTech assessment will enable marketing teams to make informed decisions, improve performance and get a better return on investment.

Think you need a MarTech assessment? We can help…

Allant Group has in-depth experience and a proven track record in designing, integrating, and servicing successful MarTech stacks. With a fresh perspective and wider knowledge of the marketing technology landscape, Allant can quickly identify the main pain points and recommend achievable and impactful solutions. In addition, our powerful audience orchestration tool, AMP+, will accelerate the implementation of the resulting action plan and help incorporate any additional marketing tools.