The Martech industry is an up-and-coming sector that has made a significant impact in the business world. Marketing is a business process that is hugely dependent on technology. Its various tasks and workflows all work smoothly when there is sufficient technology to support them. As such, marketing technology has been picking up pace. But what exactly is MarTech? Let’s find out!
Table of contents
What is MarTech?Â
MarTech is the culmination of all the tools and software marketers use to plan, execute, manage, and track their campaigns. In simple words, it’s a term used to describe the tech stack of marketers.
When a marketer uses specific tools for their campaigns, it’s called their marketing technology stack. MarTech has become a staple in every company as we move on to the digital world.
Marketers use these tools and software for a number of reasons. These tools help them streamline processes, save time and resources, design customer journeys and experiences, and analyze data.
Why is MarTech Essential?
We’re living in the digital age now, and technology has advanced so far. Every business process is now imbued with tech tools and software. And marketing is just one of them. Without MarTech, it would be near impossible to execute modern marketing techniques and strategies.
These technologies are essential because they allow businesses to streamline their processes to work more efficiently. Marketing consists of so many repetitive tasks, e.g., collecting and sifting through data. MarTech enables businesses to automate these processes to free up manpower and save both time and money.Â
Benefits of Martech
Save Time: With the latest MarTech tools, businesses can automate processes that usually take up too much time. With AI and machine learning technology, marketers can save time that was spent on these repetitive tasks.
Manage Relationships: MarTech allows marketers to study customer preferences on a more personal level. With these insights, they can serve customers better. Better interactions lead to deeper relationships and more loyalty.
Data-Driven Content: By analyzing customer data, marketers can create content that is bound to perform well. Such content connects with customers better to give them a more personalized experience. They’re able to get the right content to the right people at the right time.
Improved Efficiency: The better tools you have, the more seamless your processes will be. These MarTech tools allow your marketers to work faster and in more efficient ways. This improves their productivity and the overall functionality of the department.
Better Communication: Marketers work across teams, and a lot of information and content gets passed around. MarTech tools create a streamlined channel for the flow of information, thus enhancing communication and removing silos in the department.
Difference Between MarTech and AdTech
There has always been quite a bit of confusion between marketing and advertising. A lot of amateurs use these two terms interchangeably. But the thing is that they’re quite different. This confusion is also present between MarTech and AdTech. It’s important for marketers to understand this fundamental difference.
MarTech refers to the tools and technologies that allow marketers to plan, create, and communicate offerings to their audience. These tools let marketers create content, plan schedules, and manage their relationships with customers.
On the other hand, AdTech is the collection of technologies that let advertisers promote these offerings. By promoting these offerings through paid ads, advertisers aim to influence consumer behavior.
MarTech Stack: Categories
The MarTech industry is a vast one. Since marketing consists of a wide range of activities and processes, there is a need for tools that can handle all of them. Most tools will cater to multiple processes, but there are specialized tools as well that work for one category only. These marketing tools can be divided into eight categories.
Sales
Marketing and sales go hand in hand. For a marketing strategy to perform excellently, it’s important that sales be aligned to handle the influx of customers and leads. And vice versa. This is why a lot of MarTech tools also include sales features and processes. This category includes tools that can help bridge the gap between these two interconnected departments. Some popular MarTech tools for sales include SalesForce and Brandify.
Content
Content is at the heart of marketing. Without any content to push toward leads and audiences, brands won’t have anything to promote their products with. MarTech tools help marketers create, review, optimize, and share content with their audience. The most common type of tool here is a Content Management System (CMS). A CMS allows marketers to create, edit, store, and publish digital content on their website.
A Digital Asset Management (DAM) tool is more of the same, but its primary function is to store and share digital assets. These two types allow marketers to run websites, which is at the core of digital marketing and businesses in general.
Data
Data-driven marketing is the latest trend in the business world and has taken the world by storm. Marketers use all kinds of data to plan, execute, optimize, and analyze their campaigns. And so they need powerful tools that can collect and analyze customer data. MarTech tools allow them to seamlessly collect customer and market data from multiple sources, compile it, and derive insights.
Web analytics platforms are an important part of this category. Websites are integral to digital marketing. This is why marketers are constantly on the lookout for ways to improve their website. For this, they need insights on how their current website is performing. A web analytics tool will give them precisely this information. With the help of data-focused MarTech tools, they’re able to make better-informed decisions.
Management
Management is a broad category in itself, and the tools therein are a collection of technologies that aid in the overall business process. The primary tool here is a project management tool. This is software that helps plan and execute entire projects—marketing campaigns in this case.
Most brands use a Kanban-style tool like Trello to visualize their campaigns. Such tools break down an entire project into bits and pieces, making it much easier to execute. You can add team members, assign roles, schedule work, and set deadlines with these tools. With the help of these MarTech tools, marketing campaigns can be quickly planned and executed without hiccups.
Relationships
A marketer’s primary network is their customers. Hence, they’re always looking to grow their customer base and deepen their relationships. A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software is vital for this. This tool allows marketers to connect with their leads and customers seamlessly. It helps keep track of how far along a lead is in the funnel and where they need to be pushed. Some popular CRMs include Zoho, HubSpot, and Pipedrive.
Email marketing is one of the most common channels for marketers to reach their customers. Two out of every three marketers use email marketing to distribute content. This figure alone shows how widespread the use of email is. It’s become one of the two primary sources of communication for both B2B and B2C businesses.
MarTech email tools simplify this category by bringing all email processes to one platform. These tools let marketers segment their audiences, schedule emails, send bulk emails, and so much more.
Social Media
The other primary channel for communication is social media. This technology has taken over the digital world and shows no signs of slowing down. With the advent of platforms like TikTok, social media marketing has changed and become a critical part of marketing. The average user spends at least two and a half hours on social media every day.
With such a big campaign to cater to, marketers need many tools to carry out their work. Every marketer uses multiple social media management tools for their campaigns. There’s a long list of processes these tools cater to, and each is crucial for success. Some common tools in this category include social media analytics tools, scheduling tools, listening tools, reporting tools, chatbots, and monitoring tools.
Marketing Attribution
These are tools that both marketers and advertisers use. Marketing attribution refers to determining which campaigns, strategies, or tactics lead to sales and customer interactions. It’s an important process because companies need to figure out which tactics are performing well and which are just a waste of resources. It’s one process that is crucial for determining marketing budgets.
A marketing attribution software is an analytical tool that uses attribution models to solve this problem for marketers. Doing all this manually is a very tedious task that can take too much time. It’s advantageous for marketers to choose the right attribution software to get accurate insights about their offline and online campaigns.
Dive Into the MarTech Industry
The landscape of MarTech industry is vast and far-reaching, and the industry has great potential. The industry has seen a surge in recent years as the demand for technology has increased in the business world. We now have hundreds of MarTech tools catering to eight different categories. These tools simplify marketing processes and automate them to provide marketers with greater time and cost savings.Â
Are you a part of the MarTech industry? Let us know in the comments below!
Featured Image: Be The Bean
