Why martech integration needs more than technical skills

When building and enhancing your marketing stack, integration is key. It develops a more effective and efficient digital ecosystem, giving advertisers real-time insights into the success of their campaigns and a comprehensive picture of their target market.

Technical requirements for integration

It can be difficult and time-consuming to integrate your marketing technology stack into a cohesive digital environment. Without the proper martech experts to guide strategic and tactical road mapping and execution, it may also be expensive and frustrating.

However, failing to launch integration activities now poses a number of difficulties, including technical debt. Similar to software development projects, marketing technology projects have technical debt.

In both cases, the primary motivator is the expense of rework incurred as a result of choosing the quick fix over a more cautious strategy that would take longer.

Martech integration is a difficult task requiring a high level of technical aptitude. Furthermore, the foundation of effective integration initiatives is in organizational and martech skills as well as a culture of innovation.

Let’s explore a little more into each of these topics.

Organizational skills

Cross-departmental collaboration is the most important organizational trait when it comes to martech. It is crucial to establish a partnership between marketing and IT.

Ten years ago, the CMO and CTO hardly ever interacted. Because of the cloud, data-driven marketing, mobile, e-commerce, cybersecurity, and untethered consumers who move faster than any brand they deal with today, CMOs frequently spend more on technology than their CTO colleagues.

Marketing technology accounts for about 25% of marketing budgets. That’s a large investment that requires some risk control. In other words, it is imperative that you acquire the organizational abilities required to create this connection.

Martech skills

“74.18% of our participants indicated having someone explicitly in charge of marketing technology or intending to have someone within the next 12 months.”

Five years later, a Linkedin search for professionals in senior marketing technology roles yielded over 5,000 results worldwide, with over 3,000 in the United States alone. Some employees held various titles and were not entirely committed to the martech role. Nonetheless, there is no doubt that the martech lead has grown critical in organizations all around the world.

The martech leader is a vital resource for the CMO in helping to create the previously mentioned marketing/IT partnership. Martech executives must be well-versed in business, marketing, and technology.

Culture of experimentation

Many businesses value team experimentation, particularly in software development. Team experiments aid in the discovery of new methods as well as the validation of existing ones. Google suggests the following practices to promote team experimentation:

• Delegate control to teams. Allow teams to collaborate on breakthrough ideas and achieve business objectives that address major obstacles by getting out of the way.

• Supply context and information. Measuring organizational outcomes provides critical information for making the best decisions, helping teams to meet goals and address problems. Giving teams information and context enables them to make informed decisions about what work to perform.

• Assign details to your team. The highest-performing organizations and teams enable their teams to make educated decisions about the tools and technologies they use. Recognize and appreciate their expertise, and give them the authority to change stories, specifications, and technology as they see fit.