Both B2B and B2C brands know just how vital the right marketing tools can be. Unfortunately, many companies don’t know how to choose the right tools for their needs, or they fall under the impression that they need access to “all the things” to do a good job. If you’re considering investing in a new stack or revamping your current one, then you’ll want to take the time to research what quality martech stack examples look like.
What Goes into a Good Martech Stack?
Currently, the martech industry is worth approximately $121.5 billion worldwide, with more options and tools available to marketing teams than ever before.
With such a wealth of options to choose from, you would think it would be easy to find the perfect solution. Unfortunately, when it comes to technology, there is such a thing as too much of a good thing.
Source: Chiefmartec
With so many options to choose from, brands often find themselves with bloated martech stacks that do nothing but slow them down.
This is why approximately 86% of marketers are investing in martech optimization. A martech optimization strategy is a strategic framework that enables marketers to effectively leverage all of the valuable martech tools and platforms available. It involves developing an optimal balance between the right tools and the right team.
Choosing the Right Martech Stack for Your Needs
If you are getting started with martech or have been using it for a while, you may be wondering what to choose and how to make sure you are getting the most out of what you have.
When it comes time to make the investment in the right martech stack, some essential pieces of technology you’ll want to consider include:
- A content management system
- An email marketing platform
- An SEO tool to help you maximize your content potential
- An analytics tool to help you monitor your activities, etc.
By no means is this an exhaustive list, but it’s a good checklist to get you started.
2 Martech Stack Examples Worth Reviewing
When it comes time to start building an effective martech stack, you can take many different approaches. If you are just starting out with martech, it might be good to start with one or two of the most popular tools and then expand your toolset as you grow. Not quite sure where to begin? Here are two martech stack examples worth considering before you start making your investment:
1. The Three-Stage Stack
This approach to building a successful martech stack involves you breaking down your martech stack needs into three key stages:
- Attract
- Engage
- Analyze/Optimize
This approach aims to help you develop a stack that meets your most basic marketing needs.
Depending on your brand’s needs, you’ll want to make sure you have a tool that helps you attract new customers, such as an advertising tool. From there, you need a way to engage with the audience you are attracting, such as a blog or a social media platform. From there, you need a way to analyze the success of your actions so that you can continue optimizing and improving your marketing efforts.
Let’s say you already have a website and a social media profile on Facebook. An example of a three-stage martech approach may include:
- Facebook Advertisements – Sponsored posts are used to help put your brand in front of your desired audience.
- Hushly – a content management/optimization software that helps B2B brands get the right content in front of the right audience.
- Google Analytics/Facebook Analytics – both can be used in this instance to provide valuable insights to brands to help them determine whether their efforts are working or if they need to be tweaked.
Source: Google
2. A Multi-Step Approach
For larger, more established brands, it may be worth investing in building upon the initial three-stage approach. An outstanding example is the six-stage approach from the geographic information system brand, ESRI. Their martech stack involves the following approach:
- Productivity
- Communication
- Acquisition
- Nurturing
- Retention
- Insights/Analytics
Source: Martech
For brands who are just starting to scale up, it’s crucial that you don’t allow yourself to become caught up in all your options. While ESRI has developed an entire suite of options, your B2B brand may want to start simple, with an approach such as:
- Productivity tool: Microsoft 365 to help you collaborate on projects and share knowledge across teams via Microsoft Word and Excel programs.
- Communication tool: Microsoft Teams allow you to communicate between team members and departments with ease.
- Acquisition tool: Hootsuite to help you schedule posts to share your content across your platforms in an attempt to share your knowledge/expertise with your audience.
- Nurturing tool: Hushly’s lead management system not only gives you valuable insights into your audience, allowing you to get to know their audience better and make more informed decisions to further your marketing efforts.
- Retention tools: WordPress/Blogging platforms are a great retention tool because your audience craves informative content. The more information you can provide them, the more they’ll keep coming back for more.
- Insights/Analytics: Google Analytics can give you a wealth of information regarding who’s viewing your website or your other content.
Of course, these are only a few examples of tools that could be put together to form a winning martech stack. There are many other approaches out there, and the right approach will depend on the needs of each company.
Create a Winning Martech Stack with Help from Hushly
Choosing the right tool for your needs is just as important as knowing how to use it. What’s important is that you take the time to research all your options thoroughly before you make any investments. Remember, you don’t want to invest in dozens of tools that you’ll rarely if ever use.
For those looking for an all-in-one solution, Hushly’s platform can help you with all your marketing needs, from brand strategy and acquisition to optimization and lead management.
Curious how Hushly can help your brand build a martech stack that performs? Contact us today for a free, personalized demo!
