How to Optimise Your Martech Stack for the Future of B2B Marketing

Read any of the reports on the top priorities and challenges of CMOs in 2024 and you’ll find grappling with a complex marketing technology (martech) stack is high on their agenda.

B2B marketing is undergoing a seismic shift. It feels like challenges are coming from every direction. Marketers face squeezed budgets, disruptive technologies, new privacy regulations, evolving buyer behaviours, and ever changing search and social algorithms.

B2B brands need a sophisticated stack that covers a wide range of functionalities to effectively generate high-quality leads and increase customer engagement. However, they also need to prioritise fine-tuning their tech ecosystem, consolidating their stack, eliminating waste, and improving integration to enable greater efficiencies and effectiveness. 

Because while LXA reports that 83% of organisations expect to increase technology spending in 2024, the picture is more mixed. Gartner reports that marketers are only using one third of their stack’s capabilities. And that 61% of marketing professionals have regretted the purchase of one or more types of technology in the last 12 to 18 months.

So the question becomes, what tools do you need to adapt successfully? And how can you integrate these tools to create a cohesive and effective martech stack?

In a previous article, we discussed the strategies that B2B companies need to adopt to future-proof their inbound marketing. Here, we'll explore the technology necessary to execute those strategies. 

Components of a Comprehensive Martech Stack

B2B marketers have access to a huge variety of martech solutions. The right ones enable them to achieve their core goals, from optimising lead nurturing processes to improving their return on investment (ROI). 

Here are some of the most critical components of your stack and what they can help you accomplish. 

Project Collaboration and Management Software

Project management tools such as Asana, Click Up, and Notion aren't intended specifically for marketing. However, they're fundamental tools for B2B companies dealing with increasingly complex marketing projects. Marketing specific platforms are also available, including platforms like CoSchedule and Storychief. 

This type of software allows marketers to plan, coordinate, and track their projects. It enhances team communication by giving team members a central location where they can access and share information and work together on tasks.

Project management platforms often include robust task management features, such as task assignment, prioritisation, dependencies, and workflow automation, which are crucial for efficient project execution and team coordination.

In addition to task management, these tools often offer resource management capabilities. This allows teams to allocate and manage resources across multiple projects, ensuring optimal use and preventing over or under allocation. Reporting and analytics features are also essential for tracking project progress and identifying bottlenecks.

Many project management solutions offer integrations with other tools and platforms, such as communication apps, file-sharing services, and marketing automation software, enabling a more seamless and collaborative workflow.

When selecting a project management solution, businesses should also consider factors such as security features, access control mechanisms, and the need for proper training and adoption strategies to ensure successful implementation and effective use of the software.

Content Management System (CMS)

A CMS is a user-friendly tool that allows even non-technical users to create, edit, and publish various types of website content, such as service pages, blog posts, and case studies. It serves as a centralised platform for publishing digital content, eliminating the need for extensive technical or coding knowledge.

By using a CMS, marketers can significantly reduce the cost of content publishing and eliminate the need to rely on external coders or developers for every post and update. This allows for greater flexibility and control over the content creation process.

In addition to content creation, a CMS can play a crucial role in organising and managing the content workflow, including scheduling, versioning, and approval processes.

Many CMS options integrate with other systems, including CRM and marketing automation solutions, enabling users to track content performance and identify opportunities for optimisation. Additionally, most CMS platforms include built-in SEO features or integrations to optimise content for search engines and improve organic traffic.

Some of the most popular CMS options on the market today include WordPress, HubSpot, Drupal, and Webflow. When choosing which solution to use, it's important to consider factors such as scalability, extensibility, security, and hosting options to ensure the platform can accommodate future requirements and protect sensitive information.

Email Marketing Software

A 2023 survey by HubSpot found that 33% of marketers currently use email marketing, in part because it’s one of the most reliable and consistent channels available. With a well-produced email campaign, businesses can improve their conversion rates, make customers feel seen and valued, and establish stronger, more lasting relationships. 

Platforms such as Mailchimp and Constant Contact simplify email marketing with capabilities such as segmenting audiences, sending automated campaigns, and tracking engagement. Platforms often include advanced personalisation features, allowing for highly targeted campaigns based on user behaviour and preferences. These tools are indispensable for companies that want to both nurture leads and stay top-of-mind with existing customers.

As well as offering platform analytics, many email marketing solutions also offer integrations with CRMs and analytics tools. This enables a more seamless and data-driven approach to email campaigns. Robust analytics and reporting features are essential for measuring performance, identifying areas for optimisation, and making informed decisions.

When selecting an email marketing platform, it's important to consider factors such as compliance with regulations (e.g., GDPR, CAN-SPAM), deliverability features, scalability, and pricing models to ensure the software meets your business's specific needs and requirements.

Social Media Marketing Tools

According to one survey, 60% of B2B marketers said that social media was the most effective channel for increasing revenues in 2023. 

However, while B2B marketers find a lot of value in social media, challenging trends and a perceived decline in audience enthusiasm have many of them on edge. You might continually perform well on some platforms while maintaining the bare minimum on others. Either way, managing your social channels shouldn’t monopolise your team’s energy. 

Tools like SproutSocial and Hootsuite facilitate critical social media marketing responsibilities, including scheduling content, managing your brand's presence across platforms, and analysing social media performance. This addresses the need for robust social media engagement and marketing while also reducing the amount of time that marketers have to spend on straightforward but repetitive tasks, such as posting regular updates.

Social media tools often include features for social media monitoring and listening, which are essential for tracking brand mentions, identifying trends, and engaging with customers and prospects. For larger teams, many social media marketing platforms include collaboration and workflow management features, such as content approval processes and team member permissions.

Integrating your social media marketing with automation and CRM simplifies and strengthens tracking and lead management. When choosing a social media marketing tool, it's important to consider the specific platforms, as well as the analytics and reporting capabilities offered.

Ad Management

Experts project that the global ad management software market will exceed $39 billion by 2027, more than double its valuation in 2019. That level of growth reflects the growing need for improved performance and speed in the B2B marketing sphere. 

Quality ad management software is essential for managing and optimising online advertising campaigns. It can automate essential tasks such as ad creation, bidding, and targeting, ensuring the right content meets the right people at the right time. This makes ad management a crucial component in account-based marketing (ABM) strategies.

These tools often integrate with other marketing platforms like CRMs and analytics tools, providing a seamless, data-driven approach to advertising.

By streamlining your processes, software like HubSpot Ad Management and RollWorks can boost your marketing ROI and campaign effectiveness. This is especially important in a time when it can be difficult to keep up with the intimidating amount of content that's published online each day. 

SEO Insights

Although search engine algorithms have changed and sometimes struggle to keep up with the massive influx of spam content, search engine optimisation (SEO) remains a cornerstone for driving website traffic. To achieve high rankings without making direct payments to Google and other search engines, businesses need access to a powerful SEO tool. 

Some of the most widely used SEO solutions include Ahrefs, Moz, and Semrush. These solutions allow for keyword research, site audits, content optimisation, and link building, all of which are essential to driving organic traffic.

Many SEO platforms also offer competitive analysis features, enabling businesses to analyse their competitors' SEO and SEM strategies, keyword rankings, and backlink profiles, providing valuable insights for developing more effective campaigns.

In addition to these core features, SEO tools often include capabilities for technical SEO analysis, such as site crawling, identifying and fixing technical issues, and monitoring site speed and performance. These factors are crucial for improving the overall user experience and search engine visibility. Rank tracking and reporting features are also essential for monitoring the performance of SEO efforts and tracking keyword rankings over time.

When selecting an SEO tool, businesses should evaluate pricing plans and scalability options to ensure the chosen solution can accommodate their specific needs and requirements.

Customer Intent Insights

It’s always been important to focus on commercial and transaction intent to meet in-market buyers. However, with AI able to answer their informational needs, it’s more important than ever. Your inbound marketing strategy has to focus on buyers, not browsers. 

Intent data software tools like Demandbase and Leadfeeder offer insights into buyer intentions and behaviours by capturing online activities. 

Having access to this information empowers marketing professionals to perform more personalised targeting and increase customer engagement​​. Businesses can use intent data to prioritise companies that seem most likely to make a purchase decision in the near future and to identify companies that have interest in your products or services but have flown under the radar.

Many intent data software solutions offer integrations with other marketing tools, CRMs and marketing automation platforms, enabling a more seamless and data-driven approach to marketing campaigns. Some tools also incorporate predictive analytics and scoring models to help identify and prioritise the most promising leads or accounts based on their intent signals and behaviours.

As intent data software deals with collecting and processing customer data, it's crucial to consider privacy and compliance aspects, such as adhering to data protection regulations like GDPR and ensuring proper data handling practices.  

Analytics and Reporting Tools

Data analysis is the linchpin of many marketing activities, which is why so many B2B businesses rely on digital analytics software like Google Analytics and HubSpot Marketing Hub. 

These tools provide insights into marketing efforts and campaign results. More specifically, analytics and reporting tools allow marketers to access these types of data points:

• Top sources of user traffic 

• Goal completions, such as when customers make a purchase decision

• Patterns in user engagement 

• Demographic information for site visitors

Having this information readily available enables data-driven decision-making and strategy refinement.

To provide a 360º view of your marketing operations, analytics and reporting tools need to integrate easily with other marketing tools, such as your CMS, email marketing, social media marketing tools  and CRM. Without seamless connections you cannot enable a more seamless and data-driven approach to marketing campaigns.

Some analytics tools offer advanced capabilities like predictive analytics, machine learning-based insights, and attribution modelling. These can provide deeper insights and help optimise marketing strategies. The ability to make sense of data through customisable dashboards, reports, and data visualisation tools is also an essential feature, as it helps cut through complex data sets and communicate insights effectively.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

Customer relationships are at the heart of any B2B's operations. To thrive in spite of competition and market fluctuations, companies have to not only establish new relationships but also build strong, long-term connections with customers. 

CRM software like Salesforce Sales Cloud and HubSpot Sales Hub contribute to those efforts by enabling businesses to track interactions with prospects and customers. 

This type of software offers a unified view of customer activities across sales, marketing, and service teams. It also pulls together all forms of communication, so marketers can easily review previous interactions and ensure they know where each prospect or client is on their customer journey. 

CRM solutions often include lead management and nurturing capabilities, such as lead scoring, lead routing, and automated lead nurturing campaigns, which are essential for effective lead generation and conversion. This allows them to tailor their outreach and engagement to each customer's specific needs, ultimately creating customer loyalty.

Robust reporting and analytics capabilities are essential features of CRM software, allowing businesses to gain insights into customer behaviour, sales performance, and marketing effectiveness, and make data-driven decisions. Many CRM platforms also offer sales forecasting and pipeline management features, allowing businesses to track and manage their sales pipeline, forecast revenue, and make decisions about resource allocation and sales strategies.

Marketing Automation Platforms (MAPs)

In a recent survey, 53% of marketers reported that they're focusing on providing real-time experiences to customers. Unfortunately, reacting to customer questions and concerns in that way is virtually impossible. Even the most dedicated marketing professionals can't be available at all hours of the day, and getting bogged down with tedious tasks can make it especially difficult to respond quickly to customer needs.

Marketing automation software allows marketing teams to automate certain activities so they can operate more efficiently, focus on more pressing issues, and offer a better customer experience. MAPs offer a wide range of capabilities, including: 

• Email marketing 

• Social media management

• Lead generation 

• Analytics and reporting

Marketing automation tools can consolidate these various functions into one solution, which simultaneously cuts costs and enhances efficiency. Putting all these capabilities into a single interface allows for a more streamlined approach to managing marketing campaigns.

Although some marketers worry that automation will dehumanise their customer engagements, it often has the opposite effect. Marketing automation allows you to deliver highly relevant content experiences to your content audience depending on their actions, interests, demographics, and previous engagements. For example, if they read content on a particular topic or visit a related service page, you can send them webinar invitations on the same subject to deepen the conversation. This improves targeting and personalization while also offering comprehensive insights into marketing performance. 

The benefits of marketing automation are substantial and far-reaching. By leveraging a MAP, businesses can automate repetitive tasks, ensure consistent messaging across channels, and better alignmarketing and sales efforts.

Emerging Trends

Changes in martech can be disorienting, particularly for professionals who have grown used to certain systems and processes. However, the importance of protecting customer privacy and creating more sustainable marketing practices suggests that it's vital for B2B companies to add new solutions to their martech stacks. 

Hyper-Personalisation Powered by AI

Just over 60% of Chief Marketing Officers say personalising the customer experience is a high priority, more than any other loyalty activator. Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the most critical tools in developing that high level of personalization. 

Because it can rapidly analyse massive amounts of data related to customer behaviours, AI can predict what people are likely to buy and when they might be ready to make a purchase. As such, it allows businesses to create a customer experience that's unique to each individual rather than a blanket, one-size-fits-all approach. 

AI can also react quickly when a visitor's behaviour changes, and it's essential for businesses hoping to scale their marketing efforts. It allows them to continuously adapt customer experiences based on their present and future needs, interests, and pain points. 

Generative AI for Content Creation

Generative AI, such as Open AI’s ChatGPT, Anthropic’s Claude, and Google’s Gemini, is capable of producing enormous amounts of content in a matter of moments. From videos and graphics to text-based materials, marketers are starting to use AI to augment their marketing campaigns.

This means that generative AI is cropping up across tools through the martech stack. The relative newness of the technology, however, makes it difficult to determine exactly how far B2B companies can go with it. Relying solely on generative AI to produce digital content will result in low-quality, undifferentiated content that alienates customers rather than drawing them in.  

Customer Data Platforms (CDPs) for Unified Data Management

Only 23% of B2B marketers have fully integrated martech stacks where data flows smoothly between systems without any manual input. In practical terms, that means their systems are working much less efficiently than they could be. 

A CDP brings together customer data from multiple sources to create unified profiles. 

Compiling all this information in one location creates a more comprehensive picture of your customers so you can work more quickly and ensure your marketing is relevant to their circumstances. That's part of the reason why a team of experts at Forrester expects that half of CMOs will use tools like CDPs to integrate their martech ecosystems in 2024.

Privacy-Centred Solutions 

To meet regulatory requirements and maintain customer trust without sacrificing the quality of their marketing campaigns, businesses also have to look for martech solutions that focus on privacy. Privacy management software such as DataGuard allows businesses to conduct privacy audits and manage cookies and other marketing preferences and consents.

Steps to Take to Perfect Your MarTech Stack

Building a streamlined and integrated martech stack doesn't happen overnight. It's a process that requires ample research, discussion, and buy-in from stakeholders throughout your business. 

Whether you’re a startup building your martech stack from scratch or an established company with a stack of siloed software that you want to condense and unify, these are generally the steps you can expect to take. 

1. Define Your Marketing Strategies and Goals

Begin by deciding what you want to achieve with your marketing technology. Are you hoping to drive conversions, improve lead generation, build brand awareness, or something else? Your answers to these questions will help you decide which tools will provide the most value to your marketing team.  

2. Assess Existing Tools

Most B2B companies already have at least one martech tool already in place. Before deciding what new solutions to add to your existing system, it's important to take a closer look at the technology you already have. Make a list of what works and what doesn't, which tools have fallen short of your expectations, and how difficult it will be to integrate additional components into your current stack. 

3. Consult With Your Team to Identify Needs

You might already have a strong sense of what martech would be best for your business, but other members of your team should have a voice in this decision. Ask for their input about their struggles, what types of solutions would make their work easier, and which tools they can already access that don’t make the grade. Even if they can't identify solutions by name, they can provide a general idea of what aspects of their workflows have the most room for improvement.

4. Set a Budget

As we’ve seen, the majority of businesses surveyed plan to increase their spending on marketing technology in the coming year. However, no-one has unlimited funds to spend on every enticing solution available on the market. As you research different martech options, consider the cost and establish a budget. This will help you keep your expectations in line with reality and make your pitch to executives more convincing. 

5. Shortlist Tools 

At this point, you should have a lot of knowledge about the cost, functionality, and quality of different martech solutions. With that in mind, narrow down your options to the tools that you think would offer the greatest advantages to your team.

To make your stack more cohesive, research whether different tools can be integrated, and consider marketing automation solutions that can handle multiple types of tasks. 

With that information in mind, rank each tool by how much it could contribute to your marketing efforts and evaluate what you have to gain compared to the financial investment you'll have to make. Don't forget to consider how much training a particular solution might require and build that into the overall cost. 

6. Implement Solutions 

Once you've found the right solutions, the next step is to put them to work. Connect the solutions you’ve chosen to create an automated system and a 360 degree view of your marketing strategy and customers. 

Finally, provide your team with necessary resources and training sessions so that they can use their updated martech stack to its full potential. Encourage them to share feedback about how each solution is influencing their marketing efforts in a positive or negative way. 

7. Adjust Based on Performance

In a perfect world, every component of your martech stack would upgrade your business performance and allow you to reach the goals you've set for your marketing team. In reality, some solutions will work well while others will create more problems than they solve. 

As a result, it's important to continuously assess whether your martech is boosting your company's productivity, ROI, revenue, and lead generation. 

In some cases, you may need to adjust the ways in which you're implementing a particular solution. In others, it might be time to go back to the drawing board and look for an alternative that better suits the structure, size, and needs of your company. 

Expand and Enhance Your Martech Stack

Marketing software is a top priority investment for 28% of all software buyers in 2024. That's no surprise given how important it is to have a cohesive martech stack that aligns with your company's strategic goals. 

As the industry continues to evolve, B2B marketers need to continuously evaluate and adapt their stack to keep pace with technological advancements and market changes. 

At 1827 Marketing, we understand that broadening your martech horizons can be challenging. We offer campaign management, content creation, and marketing automation expertise so you can upgrade your marketing campaigns and expand your reach. Book a demo to learn more.