• MarTech Today
  • Sections
    • Ads
    • Marketing
    • Content
    • Sales
    • Analytics
    • Management
    • Resources
    • More
    • Home
  • MarTech Today
  • Ads
  • Marketing
  • Content
  • Sales
  • Analytics
  • Mgmt
  • Resources
  • More
  • Events
  • SUBSCRIBE

MarTech Today

MarTech Today
  • Ads
  • Marketing
  • Content
  • Sales
  • Analytics
  • Management
  • Resources
  • More
  • Events
  • Newsletters
  • Home
Martech: Management

Tackling the martech integration challenge

With myriad solutions available today, integrating your marketing technology tools can be a daunting task. Columnist Mary Wallace offers four ways to make it easier.

Mary Wallace on November 8, 2016 at 9:40 am
  • More

female-puzzle-pieces-ss-1920The number one B2B challenge for marketers is the inability to successfully integrate disparate technologies into a unified platform, according to Morgan Stanley’s “Software Eats the CMO Suite” survey (conducted by Digital Ascendant).

What prevails is a disjointed customer experience and an inability to accurately identify which marketing tactics are truly driving sales and business results. In fact, 56 percent of marketers point to fragmented technology as a top barrier to marketing success.

With an ever-increasing number of tools and services available in the marketing technology stack, how does a chief marketing officer solve this complex integration situation? Below are four key ways to help CMOs and marketing organizations make sense of the spiraling-out-of-control land of confusion.

Start with the end in mind

Determine what you are hoping to accomplish, Jon Russo, founder of B2B Fusion, told me. Focus on the business problems you’re solving: increased leads, faster conversions, better user experience, return customers. Then translate that business need into marketing terms (e.g., outbound engagement, website conversions, reporting to the C-suite) that can be used in the technology selection process.

Think through the user experience of the marketing organization and others using the tools. How can you mitigate redundant steps, process confusion and uncertainty? Don’t overburden your organization with processes that create confusion or tools they can only dabble with.

Pay attention to your customers’ user experience as they interface with you. The goal, Russo said, is a seamless customer journey so that the interaction is one experience, not several disjointed automated experiences.

Select the initial automation platform wisely

Marketing automation is the bedrock from which all other martech purchases extend. As such, the marketing automation platform you choose dictates a significant part of your go-to-market strategy and your ability to integrate with partners to drive a seamless customer experience.

Consider not only the functional capability of the marketing automation platform, but the ease with which the tool is used. To harness the power of the tool, suit the functionality of the tool to your business needs and the user interface.

Take into account the existing ecosystem partnerships — e.g., what other services you will need that already have an existing relationship and integration with the marketing automation platform you’re selecting. For instance, Eloqua has a high number of integrated partners, while Act-On has far fewer.

Don’t forget the technical implications

Your purchase will impact your existing technology stack. Remember, success can only occur with a clear understanding and alignment of the processes, activities, interdependencies, data and outcomes the technology supports.

Non-reportable, non-actionable data siloed between platforms is a time suck and can produce inaccurate results. This can impact segmentation, marketing attribution or user experience.

A sharp pain point for any CMO trying to attribute performance to revenue is not being able to correctly answer the question of which demand generation/online sales techniques are most effective with disparate islands of data.

APIs (application programming interfaces), the “mortar between the data bricks,” are what allow disparate systems to integrate. Keep in mind that there are radical functional differences across the REST (REpresentational State Transfer) APIs of automation platforms, and some platforms charge extra for use of their APIs. Understand the API capabilities of your chosen marketing automation platform and all the tools in your stack.

Partner with your peers

Many times, the marketing technology stack spans across multiple teams. For example, internal IT “owns” the data warehouse; sales owns the CRM (customer relationship management); and marketing owns marketing automation.

An ownership rift can complicate the challenge of bringing disparate systems together, with no one owning the integration or agreeing to the data source that is the system of record.

Work with your internal IT team early and often to surface key concerns on technical items such as data normalization and security. According to Russo, “It’s important to hear out any technical or security concerns early in the process, else marketers risk trying to implement systems that will not see the light of day.”

Every CMO knows that sales and marketing alignment is crucial to the success of their organization. Marketing’s lead management processes must align closely with how sales handles outreach and tracks customer insights.

If sales and marketing are out of alignment, deals can be lost and prospects left rotting on the vine. The integration between the two teams’ underlying systems in the marketing technology stack must provide bi-directional visibility and help foster the relationship.

Full visibility into the sales process and the status and disposition of leads empowers marketers to optimize what they are doing, while sales needs access to customer insights when interacting with prospects, Integrate Chief Marketing Officer Scott Vaughan says in a blog post.

Every martech solution out there was built to increase the efficiency of marketing and optimize the user experience. But the tools can’t do it alone. The way marketers use and integrate those tools will empower them to reach their full potential. And it’s up to the CMO to get smarter about technology and ensure the integration of tools in the martech stack.


Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily MarTech Today. Staff authors are listed here.



About The Author

Mary Wallace
Mary Wallace is a modern marketer with the skills and ability to increase revenue and optimize campaign performance by leveraging technical, business, management, content, and marketing expertise. With over 25 years of industry experience, Mary has a diverse background in marketing, technology, media, consulting, and leadership that enables her to help clients implement solutions that produces optimal results. A leader in marketing automation and marketing technology, Mary provides thought leadership for a variety of publications.

Related Topics

Channel: Martech: ManagementHow To Guides: Marketing StrategyMarketing ToolsMartech Column

Subscribe to receive daily martech news and expert insights. See terms.


We're listening.

Have something to say about this article? Share it with us on Facebook and Twitter.

Get the daily newsletter digital marketers rely on.
See terms.

ATTEND OUR EVENTS

MarTech 2021: March 16-17

MarTech 2021: Sept. 14-15

MarTech 2020: Watch On-Demand

×

Attend MarTech - Click Here


Learn More About Our MarTech Events

White Papers

  • The 7 Phases of a Website Redesign
  • Rearchitecting Revenue: Accelerating Demand Through Data
  • Save Your Marketing by Fixing Bad Data, First
  • Precision Demand Generation: Create Meaningful Connections With Your Buyer
  • The Media-First Approach Why visual media must be a primary consideration for e-commerce businesses
See More Whitepapers

Webinars

  • The AI Revolution Is Coming to Every Stage of Your Buyer’s Journey
  • The Fundamentals of Link Building for E-Commerce & Affiliate Sites in 2021
  • Your Customer is Calling: Make the Most of Your Marketing Spend with Call Tracking
See More Webinars

Research Reports

  • Local Marketing Solutions for Multi-Location Businesses
  • Enterprise Digital Asset Management Platforms
  • Identity Resolution Platforms
  • Customer Data Platforms
  • B2B Marketing Automation Platforms
  • Call Analytics Platforms
See More Research

Register For MarTech - Free

Receive daily martech news and analysis.

Channels

  • Advertising
  • Marketing
  • Content
  • Social
  • Commerce
  • Sales
  • Analytics
  • Management
  • Home

Our Events

  • MarTech
  • SMX

Resources

  • White Papers
  • Research
  • Webinars

About

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Marketing Opportunities
  • Staff

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Newsletters
  • RSS

© 2021 Third Door Media, Inc. All rights reserved.