How To Get Started With Marketing Technology (MarTech) 2022
Last Updated on December 29, 2022 by Valerie Jennings
Nelson Mandela said, “Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world.” He was right.
Education is everything, and it continues to change the world. Furthermore, it doesn’t stop after you graduate from school. In fact, it should never stop. Ever.
We’re always learning, and we want to use that information to help you — which leads us to an important question we’d like for you to ponder for a moment:
For the sake of your future success, are you on the cutting edge of marketing technology (martech)?
If not, you’re going to lose footing and eventually stumble. But we don’t want that for you. We want to use our ever-increasing knowledge to help you. So, allow us to share some of the latest information when it comes to martech.
This information was presented by our CEO, Valerie Jennings, who spoke about this at Digital Summit Miami/Fort Lauderdale 2022. JSMM is always looking ahead.
What is MarTech?
Let’s get more granular than just “marketing technology.” Martech refers to “software solutions used by marketing leaders to support mission-critical business objectives and drive innovation within their organizations.”
That definition is from Gartner for Marketing Leaders. They also stated that these solutions are all about “content and customer experience, advertising, direct marketing, marketing management and marketing data and analytics.”
Yep, that’s a lot! And it’s all very exciting! But it also leads us to another question…
Why Is MarTech Important for Business Growth?
It’s important because this marketing technology is constantly evolving and being implemented to serve consumers around the globe. That’s why you need to be on the cutting edge or lose your footing.
In fact, the martech industry has exploded in size with an astounding 9,932 solutions now available. That’s the eye-opening figure as revealed by Chiefmartec and MartechTribe’s 2022 marketing technology landscape.
The 9,932 solutions are the result of a 24% increase from just two years ago. Want a more stunning figure? That’s a 6,521% increase from 2011. Who knows where that number will be in another 10 years from now?
As you’re reading this, the importance of marketing technology is hopefully dawning on you in a powerful way. And you’re probably wondering…
How Do I Get Started with MarTech?
Glad you asked! We recommend four steps:
- Identify mutual sales and marketing strategies, goals, prospects and channels.
- Review existing marketing technology, functionality and capabilities.
- Determine best macro or micro martech platforms.
- Test the platform(s), implement, scale, automate and report.
If you want more information on how to take those steps, send us a quick note, and we’ll be happy to expand on it for you.
If you’ve poked around our site, you’ve probably seen how we shine a spotlight on artificial intelligence. Let’s explore that topic more.
Will Artificial Intelligence Play a Role in Marketing Technology?
Absolutely — AI is here to stay. It’s even been referred to as “the fourth industrial revolution.”
René Kulk, an email marketing evangelist, said, “The martech future will be about campaign orchestration, insight and relevance in the age of artificial intelligence. A number of Marketing Tech providers will try to grab the spotlight by offering machine learning services, surfing the peak Hype-cycle wave.”
Artificial intelligence is already a major player when it comes to growth in marketing. Think about everything from chatbots who greet website visitors to your own digital assistants, such as Siri and Alexa, whom you probably talk to every day.
Of course, that’s just the tip of the iceberg as it relates to machine learning, algorithms, data analysis and more.
Next, let’s talk about marketing stacks.
How Do I Develop a Marketing Stack?
Do you currently have a stack? (If you’re newer to the game, a stack is a grouping of different technologies marketers use to both conduct and improve their marketing efforts.)
Anna Murphy, an editor at customer-communications platform Intercom, said something incredibly insightful about martech stacks, “These modern martech stacks are empowering marketers to do more with less, which is ideal for teams that are trying to boost efficiency and business resilience.”
We couldn’t agree more. And if you’re looking to develop your own stack, we have some critical advice on how to begin the process. Start by collecting the right information.
How? Review the following:
- qualified marketing and qualified sales lead goals
- digital channels driving current customers or clients who convert
- opportunities to increase the volume of MQLs and SQLs on those channels
- underutilized platforms or advertising programs to reach new prospects
After you’ve completed those, it’s time to start designing your stack.
One of the biggest rules in the process is to avoid chasing shiny objects. It’s so easy to become distracted and pulled off course. But we can help. First decide whether you want a micro or macro martech stack.
If that seems complicated, it’s not.
- A micro stack targets a specific goal.
- A macro stack will scale and accomplish many goals for your organization.
Once you’ve determined whether you’re going micro or macro, you can begin putting the pieces together.
Now, on to another related question.
Can I Grow My MarTech Stack for Sales and Marketing?
Yes. Did you know that most companies are only using approximately 25-35% of their marketing technology?
Look at your own company. Is this true for you? If you’re utilizing only a portion of your martech, consider outsourcing social media content creation to a white-label social media management partner. (Looking for guidance on that? Shoot us an email!)
But it’s not just about using what you have right now. The hard truth is that if you want to stay current, you’ll need to both leverage existing marketing technology and identify new martech tools to scale marketing and sales activities.
Then you can integrate and automate your stack, which beats using a bunch of singular solutions that are disjointed, costly and labor-intensive.
“That’s great,” we can almost hear you say. “But can you point me in some specific directions when it comes to tools I should be using?”
We can … and we will! Here you go:
If you’d like further opinions on the impacts of these, our team has experience and would be happy to chat with you.
By the way, you use social media, right? Of course you do. Let’s talk about LinkedIn for a moment as it relates to marketing technology.
Can I Use MarTech to Automate LinkedIn?
Your organization likely has a presence of Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
LinkedIn is another great resource. You probably already have a personal account, and you may already use it to create professional relationships, generate sales prospects and find new clients. But there’s a problem: It takes a lot of time and energy to research specific connections and then make appropriate connection requests.
But what if you didn’t have to expend all that energy? What if you could automate targeted connection requests?
Great news, you can! Here are two tools we recommend:
- LinkedIn Sales Navigator for list building
- PhantomBuster for automated connections
All of this marketing technology is exciting, for sure. But if things are so hot right now, that leads to another common question:
What is the Future of Marketing Technology?
Crystal balls that accurately predict the future don’t exist, but many people can see where we’re headed.
We know that labor shortages are impacting us all. And where humans are absent, technology steps in. That’s (in part) why automation will likely grow.
And it’s not just related to labor shortages. As you know, leaders always want to become more efficient and do more with less. Marketing technology is going to be a part of that.
How? Through artificial intelligence, robotics and machine learning. As that happens, the day-to-day life of marketers is going to change.
More and more, marketers will need to become technologists — though luckily, minimal to no coding will be required. And the quality and integrity of data will drive both business and marketing decisions even more.
This leads us to the big prediction: Over the next five to seven years, most marketing and advertising will be automated.
Does the idea of removing the human component from growth in marketing alarm you? Be honest.
Marketers, businesses and consumers will need to evaluate the ethical application of using marketing technology like this.
With that in mind, we’d like to share a quote from Sri Amit Ray, a pioneer of the compassionate AI movement:
“The ethical integration of artificial intelligence with human values and emotions will form the foundation of future artificial intelligence. Intelligence, emotions, ethics and values are part of human intelligence: without those, we are far away from human-level AI.”
Whether you like it or not, the use of AI in marketing technology is only going to increase. So, it’s important to be educated about it.
Remember what Nelson Mandela said: “Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world.”
And change the world, we shall.
Interested in learning more about how MarTech can improve your company?
JSMM is at the forefront of martech and is an ideal resource to guide you to the information and services you need. We can also assist you with a wide variety of services, including social media marketing, content creation, public relations & influencer marketing, SEO/SEM, digital advertising, growth in marketing, digital and competitor audits, reputation management, branding and more.
Feel free to contact us with any questions.
