As I wrap up my organizational design series, it should be obvious that getting your org right, and finding your ‘perfect’ design is multidimensional. Org designs represent much more than boxes and lines. An organizational design represents identity, team affinity, reporting authority, budgeting authority, work style, scope, responsibility, and more.
That said, I can not ignore the last significant piece to this puzzle, marketing technology (martech).
Martech, which now accounts for almost one-third of marketing’s budget (29%), is changing what marketers can do, how they do it, and what they will do.
- Create new products and services
- Enter new markets
- Efficiently and effectively target, acquire and retain customers
- Improve the processes needed to engage in a dynamic conversation with people who are influencers and buyers
Basic martech solutions, such as email platforms, enjoy widespread adoption among marketing teams. But, as organizations focus on customer growth and retention, they seek out more advanced capabilities such as dynamic orchestration of marketing interactions across multiple touchpoints and algorithmic attribution to pinpoint and optimize effectiveness.
The array of martech vendor choices available, use cases, and the overlapping solutions many of them provide, can seem overwhelming. For instance, personalization capabilities can be found in many categories, such as web content management, email marketing services, digital commerce platforms, and mobile marketing solutions. You may already have one or more of these solutions. But, do you have sufficient personalization capabilities, or does it make sense to invest in a personalization platform with a decision engine that can plug into all of your execution channels? The answer can be found in understanding your business goals. Keep these goals top of mind as you consider potential martech providers by evaluating each solution:
- Scale versus agility: Weigh the benefits of using a large provider, which can provide a greater depth of expertise and more scalable service and support, against the flexibility and potential cost savings of smaller point solutions.
- Upfront simplicity versus long-term complexity: Factor in the potential cost, complexity or need for implementation and integration services that go well beyond software-as-a-service licensing fees, even when sourcing from a single vendor. For example, multichannel marketing hubs typically involve some degree of customization to meet particular needs and data structures.
- Martech capability versus organizational maturity: When evaluating any martech solution, consider its features, functions and overall fit with your organization’s maturity. Check that your marketing data and content can support the solution’s minimum requirements to deliver maximum value.
For a detailed view into the martech landscape and vendor ecosystem, see “The Gartner Marketing Technology Vendor Guide, 2018 (Gartner subscription required).” Identify martech solutions and vendors capable of enhancing your customer insights and improving marketing operations, performance and outcomes.
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