Rule 4: Design Your Stack to Support Omnichannel Marketing
Welcome back to our six-part MarTech2020: 5 Rules for Managing Your Technology and Strategy series. So far, we discussed the following: marketing technology stacks of today, the average MarTech stack used by companies annually, the importance of having your marketing team having the final say in deciding which tools will be included in the stack, and the most used MarTech tools. In this blog, we’ll be taking a look at “Rule 4: Design Your Stack to Support Omnichannel Marketing”.
One of the dangers of focusing too much on your MarTech stack is that so many of the tools only integrate with digital marketing. Not only does this push half of your marketing out of the picture, it can unintentionally pull your marketing strategy more and more toward digital-only marketing.
In a world where even many Millennials prefer direct mail to email, this is a mistake. Your MarTech must empower your entire marketing strategy — online and offline — not skew it to digital.
Yet only 59% of our respondents are using their tech stacks for both online and offline marketing this year, and that’s a concern (Figure 8). You must deliver a consistent brand experience across channels with communication that hits the same notes whether delivered in an email, mobile ad or postcard. By including offline channels as a part of your data-driven, digitally empowered marketing toolset, you can connect with today’s consumers on the level they expect.
Of the 59% who are making offline marketing a priority in their tech stacks, about half are using it for direct mail, flyers and other kinds of print marketing initiatives. Print is important to building connections with a community because it’s a channel your target audience can smell and feel. Those tactile qualities give your brand a more permanent place in their minds and set you apart from online-only brands.
Your MarTech stack can apply the same targeting and personalization to direct mail that it does to digital. For example, one respondent said they intend to use “Direct mail to be customized for specific demographics, skewing toward older consumers that may not use as much technology.” Another planned to use MarTech to enable “specific direct mail campaigns for auto sales and service.”
Some respondents saw a role for MarTech-empowered direct mail as part of their in-person marketing, planning to use MarTech to enable “direct mail marketing, networking groups, seminar attendance and tradeshows.” Another was planning a “digital experience with print using direct mail [that] will play an important part in many industries.”
Keep this in mind as you build your tech stack and make sure the tools you assemble enable all your marketing efforts. This is how you can ensure that your communication is consistent from one channel to another and that you are reaching each customer with their preferred channel.
Check back next week for the conclusion of our series and Rule 5, “Pick Tools That Enable Your Strategy – Not the Other Way Around,” or click here to read the full report now. And, if you’re ready to see how we can help you strategize your MarTech stack, contact us today.
