Customizing a martech stack to meet business needs
Despite what some vendors may claim, cloud marketing automation platforms don't set themselves up with a couple mouse clicks nor do they run on their own without adult supervision -- not even the ones that are loaded with cutting-edge AI features.
All companies are different in size, vertical, regulatory compliance load, region and, of course, customer communication preference. But a few commonalities emerge when talking with marketing automation platform users and technology experts.
Most companies, regardless of B2B or B2C focus, need to connect marketing automation to CRM. That typically happens with a leading platform such as Salesforce Pardot, Oracle Eloqua, Marketo or HubSpot. And sometimes those platforms cross party lines. For example, many Salesforce customers prefer Marketo to the native Pardot. Marketo and Eloqua both have devotees among Microsoft Dynamics CRM shops.
The fun starts when a company selects a marketing automation platform. Up to 7,000 more marketing automation tools are available to add to the martech stack. How you customize your stack can be the difference between success and a failed, sometimes expensive, implementation.
Then comes the hard part: aggregating the customer data and running marketing campaigns that draw in customers. And be sure not to pester those customers so much that they flee to the competition.
This handbook explains how to customize your stack to your business needs and how marketing departments can go about choosing the initial marketing automation platform from which to branch out.
