In the first part of this series we covered looking inward and auditing your own martech stack to understand what each tool does and how your team uses them. Once you have a good feel for what your stack is made of and where the gaps are, the next step in martech consolidation is looking outward—selecting tools to optimize your stack.
Now, you might be thinking, “I thought we were consolidating? Why would I need more tools?” While this is a great point, the tools that exist may be able to replace existing capabilities in your tech stack that are currently spread across multiple tools. Selecting new tools could involve removing others. Enter: the all-in-one marketing platform.
But, before we dive into what features to look for in an all-in-one marketing platform, let’s first do a quick recap of what evaluating your stack involves.
A Refresh on Looking Inward: MarTech Stack Architecture
A large chunk of the first article in this series was dedicated specifically to auditing your own martech stack—hence, looking inward.
As part of that section we explored martech stack architecture, which covers how you could think of the structure of your stack. We broke architecture down into four sections: data, design, delivery and optimization, where data is the foundation that every other aspect of your stack should be built on.
An example of how to think about martech stack architecture. Data is the foundation and the rest of the stack is layered on.
After understanding your martech stack architecture you can find the overlapping capabilities. Maybe you have data tools that also have campaign creation capabilities, for example. So, rather than having to layer on additional tools, you could aim to find all-in-one solutions that can fill the gaps in your stack without adding multiple “onboarding” tasks to your team’s already-full to-dos.
What is an All-in-One Marketing Platform, Really?
Because enterprise brands use an average of 120 martech tools, having a tool that magically performs all 120 necessary tasks sounds too good to be true. And honestly, that’s because it is. While one martech tool can’t replace all other tools in your stack, the right tool can perform a majority of necessary tasks and seamlessly integrate with other tools to create an all-in-one effect.
So, without further ado, here are three features to keep in mind when looking for your next all-in-one marketing platform.
1. Partner Ecosystem
When searching for a tool to help streamline your martech stack, make sure the options you’re considering have an established network of partners. These can be technology partners or solutions partners that help your marketing team achieve their goals.
Iterable’s partner ecosystem, for example, has over 190 partners—including technology partners like Hightouch, mParticle, Snowflake, and Talon.One, and solutions partners like, Indicia Worldwide, Mammoth Growth, Ragnarok, and Tinuiti. These partners integrate with and have deep knowledge of our platform, enabling Iterable customers to deliver the best experiences to their customers.
2. New Feature Releases
When a martech tool doesn’t evolve, that’s a big red flag. Expectations change, the marketing landscape changes, business needs change so, with all of that, martech tools should change. While no one tool can do truly everything, tools can evolve to include new capabilities to align with the needs of marketers.
AI, for example, is a relatively new technology that has gained a lot of attention as of late. In one of Iterable’s recent releases, we introduced our AI Suite which includes Frequency Optimization, Copy Assist and Next Best Action. All of these features were created to help marketers deliver individualized experiences, at scale.
3. Customized Customer Support
All-in-one goes beyond the technological capabilities and partnerships, it also includes the support you get from the team behind the platform. Each brand is different and what your brand needs or what your platform instance looks like may be very different from another brand. Therefore, the support you receive needs to be personalized to how your team uses the technology.
Our customers have praised Iterable’s support on multiple review sites. One quote from an Iterable customer on G2 reads, “Iterable has a top notch customer support system, they truly feel like an extension of our internal team. They go above and beyond to make sure our problems are solved and that our needs and wishes are met. We feel like our opinions can truly make an impact on the roadmap of the product. They help finesse our customer journeys and even give us new ideas and ways to optimize, too.”
Explore Your Options
Obviously when we share the features to look for in an all-in-one marketing platform—surprise—Iterable has all of these features. But in all seriousness, removing our biases, it’s important to consider your options when consolidating your martech stack. Think about what tools you already have in your stack and how any new tools can help both consolidate and integrate into your existing stack.
At the end of the day, consolidating your martech stack is supposed to help your team improve efficiency and save you time and money. Once you develop your shortlist of potential technology solutions, consider how easy it will be to learn, how scalable it is, how customizable it is, and what the reporting and analytics looks like. Set yourself up so you don’t need to reconsolidate further in the future.
For a quick guide through the initial steps of consolidation and maximizing your martech stack value, be sure to check out our downloadable checklist.
