For many businesses, digital transformation was fast-tracked by the COVID-19 pandemic and brands were forced to accelerate the use of technology in their operations. Technology continues to enable increased efficiencies in the world of marketing.

As brands continuously seek to disrupt their markets and create increased value for customers, marketers are increasingly leveraging technology to improve the way they get and interact with customers in a more targeted way.

Marketing technology, also known as MarTech, refers to tools and software that help to drive the achievement of marketing goals or objectives. This group or mix of marketing technologies used by marketers is referred to as their marketing technology stack. As aptly put by Hubspot, “Marketing technology impacts the way you reach your audience, how they consume your content, and how they interact with your brand”.

Take a look at these marketing technology-related statistics:

– 37 per cent of organidations have implemented AI in some form. Gartner (2019)

– Nearly 4.6 billion people were active Internet users as of January 2021, which is 59 per cent of the global population. (Statista, 2021)

– As of 2020, there are 3.5 billion smartphone users worldwide. (Statista, 2020)

– Chatbots fuelled by AI are predicted to handle 85 per cent of customer service by 2020. (Innovation Enterprise, 2019)

Like other aspects of the marketing landscape, marketing technology is constantly evolving, making it difficult for marketers to be confused or unsure of the best options to use in their tech stack. It is therefore really important for marketers to be clear on their objectives and what they want the marketing technology solutions to achieve.

Some common marketing technology solutions include marketing automation platforms, chatbots, e-mail marketing software, retargeting software and customer relationship management (CRM) tracking tools. There are many suppliers in the market offering solutions to support you with your MarTech needs. Be sure to compare the solutions and ensure that you are selecting the ones that will meet your needs. Regardless of the tools you choose for your MarTech stack, just remember that what you choose must be aligned with your strategy and help you to achieve the outcomes your business needs.

Here are six recommendations for you to consider when digitising your marketing and building your MarTech stack:

1. Understand what is available and the technologies being used. Be sure to research and keep up with trends in the market.

2. Define your needs and be honest about what you can manage to take on given where your business is today. All brands don’t have access to the same resources and so it is important that you are mindful of what you can afford to implement.

3. Develop a plan and timeline for implementation/roll out. Set clear timelines based on your resources.

4. Start small and then build out a more sophisticated stack as you grow. The most important part is to start.

5. Invest in training to drive capability building to ensure that you and/or your team master the technologies in your MarTech stack. The good news is that since the novel coronavirus pandemic, there has been an increase in online learning opportunities.

6. Evaluate your tech stack periodically to ensure that it is delivering value for your business.

As the marketing technology landscape continues to evolve, marketers must keep up with the changes and ensure that they are evaluating their solutions to ensure that value is being created for their business. MarTech stacks must be built with solutions that drive return on investment for the company. Though not easy to implement, manage, maintain, and optimise, marketing technology presents multiple benefits and can drive great value for your company and brand.

Nichole Brackett Walters is a professional certified marketer (PCM®) with over 20 years’ experience in strategic marketing development and application. Brackett Walters is a member of the American Marketing Association (AMA). Follow her blog at marketingmoves.net or on LinkedIn.