Guide with the Entire Marketing Technology Stack for a CMO – Nowadays, it is almost impossible to do marketing without technology. The set of tools that the marketing department uses to carry out its tasks is known as a “stack”, and creating and maintaining it is the responsibility of the CMO.
Managing the marketing technology stack presents many challenges. You have to identify which problems require technological solutions, find the right tool at the correct cost, integrate it with existing solutions, and ensure the team uses it correctly.
Furthermore, this is a never-ending process: as the digital transformation progresses and customer needs evolve, it is necessary to continue to fill out the stack with new tools. 61.9% of CMOs believe they have unmet needs in their current stacks.
To help you build and maintain your marketing stack, we’re sharing recommendations from the CMO Alliance based on the experiences of international CMOS.
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What Tools Should the Marketing Technology Stack Include?
According to the recent Growth CMO Report from the CMO Alliance, 50% of CMOs believe that the essential tool in their stack to meet growth objectives is a CRM system.It follows data analysis tools (mentioned by 28.13%). Other popular solutions include data modelling tools, email platforms, and LinkedIn Sales Navigator.
But even if there are priority tools, the most important thing is that the marketing technology stack forms a cohesive “whole” so that the different components are connected and work together.
The most important thing is to think about your marketing goals when selecting tools. It will allow you to focus on what you want to achieve with the technology rather than the modern features. If a device is not helping you achieve your goals, it is not essential, and it may even be counterproductive.
To specify a little more, we are going to see five categories of tools recommended by Master Marketing:
CRM Software.
A CRM is essential to manage all contacts and sales opportunities in a centralized and collaborative way. One of the most general on the market is Hubspot, which has a free solution.
Collaboration and Communication Tools.
Essential for assigning tasks and coordinating the entire marketing team. Some examples of this type of solution are Trello, Asana and Evernote.
Email Marketing Tools.
Email marketing is one of the most flexible marketing strategies, as it can adapt to all types of brands and different moments in the customer’s life cycle. Correspondence marketing tools allow you to manage the database and send mail automated. MailChimp and Active Campaign are two of the best-known solutions in this sector.
Social Networking Tools.
Hootsuite, Buffer, and Buzz Sumo are some of the most popular. They manage posts and conversations on different social channels more efficiently.
Analysis Tools.
Analytics solutions allow you to measure the results of different marketing campaigns to make informed decisions, so they are a vital piece of the marketing technology stack. Google Analytics is the star tool for measuring website performance.
The Marketing Tech Stack for Remote Teams
With the rise of teleworking, there is a need to consider adopting the technological stack to work remotely.
In reality, the solutions to be used are pretty similar to those we would use in an office. Still, some things must be taken into account at the operational level so that your team can work smoothly from different locations.
According to experts in remote team management, it is essential to have a project management system, asynchronous collaboration tools and reporting solutions that allow us to have a clear vision of what is happening.
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Solutions
Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly present in marketing technology tools, so that you may consider including these solutions in your technology stack.
AI benefits virtually every facet of marketing, but it can’t work independently. You have to provide AI applications with excellent quality data to get the most out of them. In addition, it is also necessary to adapt your processes to AI to put the insights obtained into practice. Therefore, these tools are more suitable for companies that have been in operation for some time and have a continuous data flow.
Integrating AI and machine learning into your marketing allows you to gain valuable insights about your audience, tailor your actions to the needs of your potential customers, and make informed decisions about all aspects of your marketing. But to take advantage of all this potential, we cannot forget the importance of the human factor. Your team’s strategic and creative skills cannot replace by machine learning.
How to Evaluate New Marketing Stack Tools
When it comes to growing your marketing tech stack. You can go for a more experimental approach and incorporate the latest tools in your industry, go for proven solutions, or find a balance between the two. Before mixing a new device, it is always a good idea to reflect on the role and function of technology in your marketing department.
Once you’ve added a new tool to the stack. You’ll need to assess how effective it is in helping you achieve your primary goals. The most advisable things is to set a deadline and a series of KPIs to analyze if the new component is giving good results.
Many marketing technology solutions have annual payment models. So you want to give it a try and try to figure out what’s going wrong. If the figures are not what you expect, you may consider abandoning the new tool. But before rushing in, find out why this tool is not having the results you expected.
The First Step in this Investigation
The first step in this investigation should be talking to your team to learn how they use the new tool. It may not be using it correctly, not using key features, or don’t understand it.
In this case, the solution is to offer training to your team to encourage the correct use of the tool. Many marketing technology providers offer in-depth training programs. Whether through materials on their website, webinars, or even hands-on demos with a sales rep.
Communication with the team is also essential. It needs to understand why you are implementing this tool and know that it will make the job more accessible in the medium term instead of a constant nuisance. Sometimes it may not be the right tool for your team’s needs. But that doesn’t mean it’s a failure: take the lessons you’ve learned and apply them to select the following tool.
The Role of the CMO in the Evolution of the Marketing Technology Stack
Ultimately, the CMO is responsible for selecting the different tools in the marketing stack and maintaining them. Still, the amount of experience and first-hand knowledge you’ll need to do so depends largely on the company’s size.
In start-ups and start-ups, CMOs start by creating marketing technology stacks for their use, as they handle many of the company’s marketing activities themselves.
As the team grows, the stack is developed based on the group’s needs. And the CMO uses the tools less and less. Tasks delegated to responsible for different areas of marketing, and the CMO relies upon opinions to know parts of the stack are working are not requirements to consider selecting new tools.
Therefore, in start-ups, CMOs are likely to understand stack tools and be the go-to expert on how they work in start-ups. Instead, as the stack and the team grow, the CMO focuses on supervision tasks. And the practical knowledge of the tools falls to the experts in different areas of marketing. It does not mean that the CMO completely ignores the operation of the stack. But his vision will focus more on the global objectives that the tool fulfils and less on its specific functionalities.
Regardless of the size and situation of the company, the CMO has a responsibility to justify the cost of
tools and explain its value to other members of the management team, such as the CEO and CFO. Therefore, you must stay up to date on the team’s needs and how they can solve them technologically.