Has anyone seen this infographic of the MarTech landscape?
It's a dizzying eye chart, right? However, what is shows is how fragmented our marketing ecosystem has become. The digital age and the consumer itself has changed how we market products. So every aspect of promotion and communication is broken down into the minutiae and created silos of a marketers job. It can be so hard to figure out up from down or right from left. You want to grow you business, but the number of tools and platforms out there are overwhelming. To you all I say, BREATHE IN AND EXHALE.
While the MarTech landscape may continue to change and evolve further, our job is to only stay focused on acquiring and retaining customers. That's it. Then it is about how the tools can help us do our job better. I see too often marketing departments adding platforms or tools that don't have the resources to support it, requires too much integration or too difficult to use. Believe me. I've even been caught in this trap. I actually purchased an interactive content platform that had amazing features. I truly believed it would help engage customers and increase our lead funnel. Little did I know how hard it would be even for our own designers to use. We had to have a dedicated resource assigned to developing the content on this platform. It took forever to just get 1 piece of content out the door. Ultimately it's the brand and the customer that matter. The tools should only be a solution to help bridge the two effectively. This is why I say breathe.
It's important to get back to the basics of what your job is about and what you are trying to solve for before you purchase any new platform or tool--which is to acquire and retain customers. Forget about lead management, marketing automation, customer intelligence, etc. Don't worry about the buzz "tech" word of the day. None of that matters. Keep it simple and figure out what tools will help you acquire and retain customers for your business. Then, ask yourself these three questions when you are considering a new platform or tool.
1) What's my 1,2 and 3 year goals and how will this tool help me do my job better to reach those goals?
2) What's my ROI if I add this new tool?
3) What's the time and resources need to get it up and running so I can make an impact?
I guarantee just answering these 3 questions truthfully will prevent a lot of headache and pain. Stay focused on the real purpose of your role as a marketer and you will get the right tools in place to make you and your business successful.