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April 8, 2019 Content Chat Recap—Community Conversation: Keeping Up With The Expanding MarTech Landscape

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The marketing technology landscape is full of awe-inspiring newcomers and tried-and-true incumbents all promising to be the best for your organization. But with tight budgets and the need to quickly demonstrate ROI on any tech investments, marketers need to be strategic with their investments.

There are only so many hours in a day to demo new vendors, so in this #ContentChat community conversation we share our MarTech must-haves and trade tips on how to cut through the buzzwords and stop chasing the shiny new objects to find solutions that will actually help your company.

To kick things off, we started by sharing one piece of MarTech we can’t do our job without.

Check out some of the community’s favorites below, there’s suggestions for tasks like keyword planning, graphic design, email marketing, social media, and more!

Q1: The good news is, this year’s graphic only showed a 3% increase in new vendors, versus last year’s 23% increase. That said, it’s still a pretty overwhelmingly large pool. Are there any categories you see that are new to you/your MarTech stack?

20 years ago, the list was a mere fraction of its current size.

Some categories and solutions will be tailored toward specific business functions, so as pros switch roles (or their companies invest in new spaces), more of the vendors will become relevant.

Digital asset management is one area not all companies will be involved with.

Personalization is an interesting space to watch, considering how impersonal so many marketing messages can feel.

Conversational Marketing & Chat vendors continue to grow, and may signal the power of chatbots in buyer enablement.

Content & Experience vendors help to illustrate the critical role that a content can have on business success.

The sheer volume of vendors helps justify companies that assist with integrations to piece all your solutions together.

Q2: When I see this graphic each year, I almost always end up reaching out to a new vendor or two. What are your first questions or consideration points when you do the same?

Integration is an important consideration. You’ll need vendors that play well with your existing investments and tools.

Ask how new solutions can improve on your current work and take you to the next level. This could be solutions that offer a new capability that provide a certain capability better than your current vendor.

Ask professional connections about their experiences with any vendors you’re exploring. Also, make sure the solution you need is something you currently don’t have access to (your existing product portfolio may have the capability tucked away without you realizing it is there).

Explore multiple potential vendors to compare/contrast, and ask how they are using their own product.

Q3: OK, let’s talk integration. How much integration is enough? And what platforms are you primarily looking for tools to integrate with or into?

Specific integrations will vary by the tech purchase you’re making. Start with your must haves as essentials for any new purchases to integrate with.

Stay forward thinking with your integrations. You’ll need integrations that not only support your needs today, but supports your needs as you continue to grow or if you change direction.

Be critical when assessing integrations. Not all solutions deliver on their promises, so it’s best to do your research and talk to existing customers of a product (if possible) to see where the sales team may be overselling the product.

Start small with your product suite and build as you go.

Q4: While this image is comprehensive, is there anything you expected to see here but didn’t? Or a specific piece of MarTech that you need but can’t find/doesn’t exist?

If you need an easier way to search the graphic, Tod has you covered:

Erika is looking for a solopreneur-friendly marketing automation tool. Any suggestions?

The rest of the community weighs in. Highlights: strong omni-channel representation, growth in print, and the wish for a way to opt out of irrelevant “personalized” ads.

About Alek Irvin

Alek Irvin is a content marketing professional with a rich history in social media management, executive thought leadership development, and media relations. As a consultant at Erika Heald Marketing Consulting, he creates human-focused content and thought leadership platforms that help brand leaders connect and engage with their communities. Alek has worked with a range of startups and Fortune 500 companies across the B2B technology and consumer spaces, including IBM, Dell Technologies, Hitch Works, Emtrain, Integrate, and Frameable. Connect with him on Twitter @AlekIrvin.

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