Martech investments need to be optimized says Gartner. Source: Shutterstock

Martech investments need to be optimized says Gartner. Source: Shutterstock

Gartner’s advice for marketing professionals struggling to optimize martech

SCREENS are everywhere — on the streets, inside malls and shops, and in every hand. As a result, marketers have a phenomenal opportunity to grab the customer’s attention in the right place and at the right time.

However, to make the most of the opportunity, they need to leverage their martech (or marketing technology) stack to ensure that the variety of devices, from smartphones and tablets to infotainment systems in connected cars to display units inside malls and condos, are managed effectively, across geographies, using a coherent customer-focused strategy.

According to a recent Gartner study, that isn’t currently the case.

Marketers, the analyst firm’s study recently found, only use 58 percent of their martech stack’s potential, despite spending 26 percent of their marketing budget on the technology solutions and tools.

“Marketing teams are leaving martech’s potential untapped, imperiling both their credibility and impact,” said Gartner Senior Director Analyst Benjamin Bloom.

“But the answer isn’t necessarily more technology. Translating marketing technology into business effectiveness is correlated with martech utilization. With looming economic uncertainty, marketing teams need to focus on becoming more agile — putting extra emphasis on training, talent and system integration.”

As a result of the findings of the study, Bloom and other analysts at Gartner believe that marketing teams need to adopt a two-pronged approach if they want to overcome existing challenges and make better use of their investments in their martech stack:

# 1 | Invest in a best-of-breed stack

According to Gartner, companies need to adopt a best-of-breed strategy that capitalizes on the strengths of multiple solutions, instead of going with a single product suite that offers a “complete solution” — which might not be an all-rounder overall.

Further, businesses must ensure that the organization’s use of various solutions from multiple vendors remains aligned with overall business goals by formalizing a technology sourcing, procurement, and vendor management discipline within the organization.

# 2 | Make time for training

Gartner’s analysts believe that the best way to ensure martech investments are optimized is to provide training to the team to acquire the skills and capabilities they need.

“Give team members time to learn and master the technologies in the martech stack, and invest in workshops, training courses or conferences that can add a new perspective.”

The company’s analysts also recommend that marketing leaders develop a business case for these activities based on improved efficiencies to ensure continued optimization of investments in the martech stack.