Tough martech decisions only get harder with less marketing budget… – MarTech
In “The Art of Choose,” Sheena Iyengar, a professor at Columbia University Business School, wrote about the potential paralysis of analysis in the face of too many choices and the dilemmas we face when making decisions. “We are often called upon to make decisions for which there is no clear ‘right’ or ‘best’ choice… What should we do when we are unable to act, or that all the answers are wrong…”
A few weeks ago, after having a delicious meal at a highly rated Disney restaurant in Orlando, it was time to settle on a dessert. There were so many choices, it was hard to come to a decision. Should I opt for Tiramisu or Crème Brûlée or both? Eventually, I eased my little worry by reminding myself that I could see the buffet dessert area again (hidden of course) without it continuing to be a source of consternation.
And while I add a bit of hyperbole to the decision about my holiday dessert, I realized that what I experienced was something that we as humans have the potential to face. every time we are faced with a plethora of choices – some degree of analysis paralysis.
The complexity of the modern martech stack threatens us with a similar level of paralysis. A smaller marketing budget doesn’t mean a digital marketing leader has to make fewer choices when deciding which areas of a martech stack to invest in. Gartner CMO Spend Survey showed that marketing budgets are shrinking across industries in 2021. And yet, with shrinking marketing budgets, how does a leader ensure that (among a sea of choices) not all of their choices are wrong when deciding what to do next?
One approach is to use a framework to identify desired capabilities rather than trying to achieve functional parity with competitors or peers. For marketing technology, three areas are essential to consider:
- Capacity: Do you have the resources to effectively leverage the technology today and are you building those resources for your future needs?
- Data: Do you have the data martech needs to operate and can you access it?
- Usage: Are you buying and using technology to achieve defined business outcomes, and are those goals aligned with the broader business?
For details, see “Identify the most critical components of your MarTech stack”, (Gartner subscription required) for recommendations on creating a structured approach to defining the success of new features. It also provides a recommended plan for how your organization can develop new or advanced features.
Did you know that only half of martech survey respondents do an audit before updating their martech roadmap? This unique process has an impact – those who regularly (always or most of the time) audit before updating their roadmap were much more likely to report that their martech stack was effective in achieving business goals and that the technology is aligned with the desired capabilities.
This is not something that should be a daily activity, although the precise cadence of auditing your martech stack is up to you. Our experts advise organizations to aim for 2-4 times per year as a “sweet spot”. Beyond the value your audit will bring to maintaining your martech roadmap, it can help streamline vendor selection and identify areas to target for cost optimization.
Gartner’s toolkit for audit your martech stack (Gartner subscription required) provides a template that you and your team can complete to perform such an audit. Once you have completed your audit (using our toolkit or your own format) and have an inventory of your martech tools, a Gartner expert can review this artifact and provide feedback in as part of a document review request. Contact your service partner to arrange such a discussion.
Budgets can rise and fall based on the vicissitudes of an economy, industry outlook, and individual organizational performance. A pressure-tested martech strategy that “stands the test of time” requires embracing the current martech setup, along with its respective strengths and weaknesses. And yet, it’s equally important to take a forward-looking perspective that recognizes a continued focus on data discovery, analysis, and integration so that one can scale and drive ROI.
By Jeff Goldberg
Article republished with permission from Gartner Blog Network.
