Five Metrics for Building a Marketing Tech Stack

A major challenge for any marketer is deciding how to complete work effectively and efficiently. This has been intensified by the sheer number of marketing channels that marketing teams now have to oversee, as well as the increasing prominence of data to make decisions.

One of the ways that marketers can minimise these concerns and gain an edge is by keeping on top of the latest digital marketing tools and services. Yet, these are also evolving at a rapid rate, with new players entering the market all the time.

This can lead to a CMO or Head of Marketing stepping beyond their day-to-day responsibilities to new tools suggested by members of their team may have suggested, or that competitors are using. This can be particularly inefficient, as they may invest time evaluating tools they subsequently decide not to use.

We investigated how marketers can reduce these concerns by identifying five metrics that they can use to evaluate every tool within a marketing tech stack. We then created a database of industry-leading tools based on them.

Focus

Focus refers to the channel or marketing specialism. We previously defined eight growth areas and over 30 channels that a business can consider, and often tools straddle more than one discipline, which can often lead to a blurring of activities. For example, an SEO tool, may also broaden out into content marketing or PR.

In some cases, the tools may be perfectly appropriate for multiple disciplines. In others, the tools may be market-leading in one area, but be lesser equipped in others.

Costs

SaaS costs can vary significantly depending on many variables, including the degree of expertise required or the size of the business. This frequently makes comparative assessment of costs difficult. However, it can also lead to an increased focus on cost as the main factor. This can lead to marketers opting for lengthy contracts to gain cheaper subscription fees before fully assessing their value to the business.

A CMO would therefore be wise to look beyond headline figures by considering costs in context with all the other metrics in this list.

Usability

How easy a tool is to use affects the skills and teams required to use it. Specialist tools often require dedicated teams with specialist skills that may take time to develop. This investment in time can also be appraised differently, depending on the nature of the business and the speed at which success is demanded.

These risks can be minimised by evaluating the complexity of each tool against their value to the business in the short-medium-long term. Furthermore, the complexity can be considered against the alternative ways that the task can be completed.

Scaleability

Once a team is familiar with a particular tool or service, it becomes difficult to switch to another. This switching cost can become a concern for a CMO or Head of Marketing, who may need considerable time to validate the requirement of new tools with senior management.

This emphasises the importance of considering a SaaS provider’s plans for growth, diversification, and product roadmap. It is also more pressing for the most valuable tools that often underpin the selection of other tools.

Value

The value of each tool depends on the regularity with which it is used, how must it contributes to the company’s marketing objectives, and how easily it can be used to evaluate return on investment.

It is therefore separate to cost, as the same subscription package may have a very different value to different businesses. Furthermore, many free tools can add significant value, highlighting the value of being familiar with all the available free tools and services.

Continue your interest

We hope this unique perspective helps you to improve the creation of a marketing tech stack. If you’d like to continue your interest, then perhaps check out our blogs, guides, and research. Alternatively, if you’d like to discuss this challenge with us, then please select a time for a call.