What Is MarTech?

The term ‘marketing technology’, which is also known as MarTech, defines a range of software and tools which assist in achieving marketing goals or – alternatively – objectives. When a marketing team utilises a grouping of marketing technologies, this is termed as their marketing technology stack. MarTech has become key in digital marketing campaigns, however, can also be utilised in order to optimise marketing efforts across any marketing channel.

What Is The Distinction Between MarTech And AdTech?

MarTech may often be confused with AdTech. The difference between these programmes is similar to the distinction between marketing and advertising. While MarTech refers to technology which assists to create, communicate, and deliver offerings, AdTech is strictly used to influence buyer behaviour through promoting offerings. For instance, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software is MarTech, while social ad platforms are AdTech.

Positioning MarTech with the Enterprise Digital Marketing Architecture

The MarTech stack may be best identified in the context of the four tech layers in the enterprise digital marketing architecture. These layers incorporate (from the bottom to the top):

• Enterprise Data Foundation – This foundation comprises of business intelligence, analytics, as well as customer and product data.
• Major Marketing Technology Platforms – These technologies incorporate other foundational components, such as digital asset management, marketing automation, social media engagement, as well as web content management, that fuel higher-level technologies in addition to services.
• Prototypical Marketing As Well As Sales Services – These technologies are heavily reliant on the layers below in order to streamline the implementation of specific functions, such as e-commerce management, content delivery networks, online video platforms in addition to self-service portals. Note that these technologies all need content in some form or another.
• Major Channels – This top layer contains the many channels through which marketers are able carry out marketing strategies in order to engage their target audience, such as email, mobile, social, television, print, websites as well as even kiosks. Within the framework of the buyer’s journey, these specific channels are termed touchpoints.

The Importance Of Marketing Technology

In 2012, Gartner forecast that by 2017 CMOs would spend more on technology as opposed to CIOs. While this claim was firstly very divisive, the gap in spending between these parties has narrowed quite significantly over the years. This is as technology is playing an increasingly important role in marketing, particularly assisting with efforts such as attribution and assigning marketing spend.

With the MarTech landscape constantly evolving, marketers could be overwhelmed by which option to choose. With this reason in mind, marketers need to make sure that they are investing in marketing technology solutions which will facilitate greater growth in their organisation.

Get in touch with the Digital School of Marketing

In order to successfully implement MarTech in your organisation you need to understand the fundamentals of marketing. The absolute best way to do this is by studying our Marketing Fundamentals Course. Follow this link for more information and to book.