Since the beginning of 2020, we’ve experienced a rapid shift to digital transformation in everything from marketing to IT to hosting. As an executive leading marketing efforts, your ability to adopt a forward-thinking marketing technology strategy can mean the difference between leading your industry or falling behind competitors.
The truth is, most companies approach martech in an ad-hoc manner, building patchwork solutions that fail to deliver long-term value. This disjointed approach leads to a bloated tech stack, wasted resources, and unmanageable technical debt.
According to a Statista report, an overwhelming 14,000+ martech tools are expected to be available by 2024, which makes selecting, implementing, and optimizing the right stack an increasingly daunting task.
The good news?
With strategic foresight and clear evaluation criteria, you can build a streamlined, results-driven foundation for digital transformation in marketing that drives your growth objectives.
How Do You Evaluate Your Marketing Technology Strategy?
A successful marketing technology strategy begins with understanding the tools that align with your business goals, operational processes, and growth priorities. Deloitte‘s research highlights that organizations tracking digital initiatives effectively report a 20% increase in ROI compared to those that don’t. Based on our expertise, understanding the need for a strategic, data-driven approach when selecting tools to future-proof your marketing engine is key.
Key Evaluation Criteria:
- Value addition:
How will this tool improve your content operations or overall business performance?
Let’s focus on solutions that address specific gaps while offering scalability as your needs grow.
- Features and customizability:
Tools should not only fulfill current requirements but offer room for future adaptations. For example, can you easily integrate new functionalities over time?
We believe that digital transformation in marketing depends on adopting flexible systems that evolve with industry demands.
- Implementation and integration:
- Can the tool slot into your existing tech stack without overcomplicating workflows?
- How easy will the tool be to implement?
- How much customization might be needed to get it to fit your existing tech infrastructure and particular use case?
- Will API integrations be required? If so, can they be managed in-house, or do they need to be configured by the vendor?
When creating your tech stack strategy, take the time to research that the integration with APIs is seamless and supported, either in-house or through vendor assistance.
- Cost transparency:
Beyond the purchase price, calculate the total cost of ownership.
- How much does the system cost, and what’s included in that cost?
- What additional fees might emerge for onboarding, training, integration, storage, user growth, or advanced features?
- What would the add-on/incremental costs be if you need customization? Or do you want to scale your access up or down? E.g., add more storage space, increase the number of registered users, etc.
Take the time to budget each tool effectively to align tech investments with long-term objectives.
- Data migration:
Often time we underestimate the time and resources needed the data transfer process during the onboarding phase.
- How difficult will it be to transfer data from your current technology solution into the new system?
- Is the transfer of data something the vendor would help with during onboarding?
- Will the vendor provide support, or will it require additional fees?
Overall, smooth data handling ensures a faster, less disruptive transition.
- Customer references:
During the strategy and planning process, take the time to seek testimonials from similar industries or companies with comparable use cases.
- Can the vendor’s sales team provide you with positive reviews and ratings from their customers – particularly those who might be using the tech in an industry with a use case like yours?
- New Versions and Upgrades
- Are software upgrades frequent and easy to manage?
- Does the vendor have a product development roadmap showing their long-term vision for scaling their tech?
- How does the product development growth align with your prospective business needs?
Advanced Evaluation Metrics
Additional factors such as cybersecurity and data privacy, vendor reputation, and the availability of training or trial sessions can help distinguish potential long-term partners from short-term fixes.
When working with clients, Richard, our Chief Technology Officer emphasizes “Look at the forest instead of just at a piece of green grass.”
By taking a holistic, big-picture approach, companies in scale up mode ensure their martech stack isn’t just a quick solution but an integral part of scalable growth. These criteria are less essential to the decision-making process, but they can serve as valuable points of distinction once you’ve narrowed down your consideration set to a few likely candidates:
Measuring Martech ROI
Deloitte reports how leaders in business gain a 20% increase in value from digital initiatives when tracking metrics towards their marketing strategy. The ultimate goal of martech investments is to contribute measurable value to your marketing technology strategy. Deloitte data suggests that clear tracking of metrics such as Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC), Return on Investment (ROI), and Lifetime Value (LTV) ratios allows businesses to quantify the impact of their tools and optimize results continually.
- CAC: Understand the cost needed to acquire a new customer and compare it against marketing channel performance.
- ROI: Demonstrate financial returns tied directly to marketing efforts.
- LTV to CAC Ratio: Use insights to allocate resources toward segments driving the highest profitability.
Since 70% of companies plan to increase their Martech investments in next coming years, start tracking metrics that visualizes the impact of Martech tools onto your Marketing Technology strategy.
By arming your executive team with these actionable metrics, companies can demonstrate how digital transformation in marketing supports their goals and delivers a tangible competitive edge.
The Do’s and Don’ts of Martech Tool Selection
Certainly, don’t jump quickly into purchasing a new solution to address your current needs. Taking a more thoughtful, measured approach will help ensure your tools will deliver long-term value, too.
To help you on your corporate Martech strategy journey, we put together a list of Dos and Don’ts:
Do’s:
- Think Big Picture
How does marketing fit in with the overall picture of your business?
Thinking about the big picture first (the forest), then the specific aspects (the single blade of grass) will give you more flexibility to scale up (or down) as needed.
- Approach Incrementally
Technology implementation doesn’t need to happen all at once. In fact, we would suggest to prioritize your current needs while scaling toward long-term plans over 5 or 10 years.
Don’ts:
- Avoid Hasty Decisions
Technology evolves at a breakneck pace – you never know how our industry might shift over the course of the next several years and how that might affect your tech requirements. Remember, 10 years ago, there was no Snapchat, Oculus, Hootsuite, Slack, SemRush or MailChimp. These are platforms that today’s content marketers cannot do without and that even the most future-thinking strategists may not have accounted for a decade ago. Try to resist jumping to the latest tool simply because it’s trending.
- Look Beyond Surface-Level Recommendations
Ask yourself if the reason you’re considering a new tool is to address a persistent problem, a temporary one, or an outright anomaly. If it is temporary or an exception, implementing new tech may be unnecessary or even counterproductive. If it is persistent, look for its root cause. Ultimately, if it’s not due to a marketing issue or a technology shortcoming, switching tools is more likely to act as a band-aid than a cure.
- Don’t fall for tech hype
Do your homework, and don’t make emotional decisions based on seeing lots of rave reviews and product promotions. Whether endorsements come from peers, departments, or online reviews, verify provider claims with careful analysis and trial testing.
- Don’t rely on the recommendations of one person or one department:
There are many reasons a single voice might tout one product over others, and not all of them are based on first-hand experience or careful, strategic analysis of your needs. Furthermore, even if a recommendation comes from a reliable source with the best of intentions, it’s a good idea to gather additional opinions and see if they will support – or refute – the endorsement.
According to Gartner, businesses that approach martech implementation as part of a wider cultural shift toward digital transformation in marketing are better equipped to meet market demands, scale operations, and increase bottom-line growth.
The Impact of Martech Done Right
The right martech tools, implemented strategically, foster alignment between marketing and sales while empowering teams to execute high-performance campaigns across channels. Effective marketing technology strategy positions businesses to drive revenue growth in an era where digital adaptability is key.
At Pace Creative, we specialize in guiding company leaders wanting to drive revenue growth by aligning your marketing strategy with your martech journeys, from evaluation to execution. Our approach ensures every tool in your stack drives measurable value, simplifies operations, and contributes to your long-term vision.
Contact us today to explore how a strategic marketing technology roadmap can transform your business. Together, we’ll redefine what’s possible for your growth.
