Martech Mishaps: Why Martech Implementations Often Fail

I did everything right.  What went wrong? 

The pressure for Marketers to demonstrate agility in digital marketing is intense.  The Board, the C-Suite, clients and business partners expect every firm to manage Marketing in a modern, digital-first way.  That include Asset Management firms.  It doesn’t matter that you’re not selling t-shirts – a world-class digital ecosystem has to be setup, supported, and evolved with the latest evolution in technology.  Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the latest of many innovations that Marketing “must” adapt to.

So what is a marketer to do?  Layout a modern martech roadmap, license all the requisite solutions from the well-known vendors, and launch.  Stand up a headless Content Management System (CMS).  Get your Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution.  Add in a social media management console, a marketing automation platform or Email Service Provider (ESP), and sprinkle in a workflow manager and a digital content management application and you’re done.  Right?

Start with: What am I trying to achieve?

It sounds simple, but the biggest mistake marketers make is not knowing first what they are trying to accomplish.  What are the business and marketing goals?  Are you trying to constrain costs?  Drive leads? Build brand awareness? Move faster?  All of the above?  Knowing what you’re trying to accomplish is the first step.  But next, step back and look at your organization.  Not knowing your goals sets you up for failure from the get-go.

Culture and Workflow Matter

No two firms are the same.  How you get your work done is as important as what you do.  For some firms, the nature of the culture is fairly siloed.  In others, it’s highly collaborative.  Marketing may be more of a “sales support function” or it may be a key driver in growth.  Just because your competitor operates in particular way, doesn’t mean that way will fly in your firm, given your remit and culture.  Some asset management firms – and they are often highly profitable and growing – do not see great value in a digital ecosystem that enables online purchase or lead generation.  The funds are on the client platforms already, so the real work is getting wholesalers and specialists to the home office to promote the offering.  Marketing focuses on getting support materials to the home offices for distribution to the advisor network.  This example illustrates why martech solutions like ecommerce engines can be unsuccessful within the wrong firm.

But I chose a martech solution that Sales wanted.  And no one is using it!

You talked to the Head of Distribution and they wanted a new gizmo.  The gizmo aligned with your martech roadmap (and let’s be honest – no one really challenged your roadmap in part because they didn’t understand it), so you did an RFP and licensed a new solution for $500k for the first year.  All good, right? 

Well a couple of issues came up almost immediately.  Your data hygiene is poor, and the solution doesn’t work as sold.  Fixing the data issues will take years, and senior management is not going to give you additional funds (didn’t you just spend half a million dollars?!)  Second, while you are now able to serve up content (for example) to advisors, it is in the form of a link to a Digital Content Platform (DCP) and advisors like PDFs that they can print out to read later.  Third, the workflow of your firm doesn’t lend itself – without major changes – to updating, approving, and disseminating content using the new martech platform.  And so, no one is using the new solution and Marketing has egg on its face.

What to do now?  What to do next time?

Two different questions but with similar answers.  Here’s what you do:

1)      Start with defining goals, objectives, KPIs and ultimately ROI for the solution.  If any of these are murky, perhaps you don’t really need the solution – or an existing solution may be able to support the need without an additional new license and implementation cost.

2)      Assess your data needs.  Data is the fuel for the martech engine.  You don’t need every possible data point updated real-time – just figure out what the minimum requirement is and work to get a copy/extract regularly if necessary in order to run your engine.

3)      Engage with your business partners!  Hold discovery sessions to understand how the users perform their work now, and how current workflow could be amended to support use of the new solution.  Take the time to do this properly!  Skipping this critical step will ensure ultimate failure.

4)      Be practical.  Asset Managers are not online consumer retailers.  You don’t have to be Amazon – you have to be delivering value to your clients and partners in ways that they expect and appreciate. 

5)      Don’t be hoodwinked.  Just because your firm doesn’t use a (name your martech solution) doesn’t mean you’re behind, antiquated or missing the boat.  Vendors are in business to make money.  You don’t need to buy everything out there.

Conclusion

Martech mishaps happen.  The technology is evolving quickly and there is pressure from above to be up-to-date and demonstrate digital savviness.  But before you pull out your checkbook, focus on what you are trying to achieve, how your business partners work, assess your data hygiene and needs, and understand your firm culture.  Do these correctly and you won’t have the proverbial Edsel in your driveway.

ABOUT AUGMENT MARKETING L.L.C.

Providing Marketing Solutions to Help You Succeed

At Augment Marketing, we bring decades of marketing leadership experience in the financial services industry to help you achieve your goals—no matter the size or nature of the project. We provide an “extra set of hands” – ones that understand the unique challenges you face because we have been there. As your trusted partner, we offer practical, tailored solutions that fill gaps, solve problems, and drive results. It is all about you, our client. With our flexible, hands-on approach, we provide the expertise you need, exactly when you need it, ensuring your marketing initiatives succeed.

Contact Us

  617-331-6189 

  www.augment-marketing.com

Account-based Marketing: the Arrow for Every Marketer’s Quiver

Why another arrow? 

Every modern Marketing organization is familiar with the challenges of traditional “blast email” and broad placement digital advertising campaigns.  Even when using a marketing automation engine, there are myriad challenges.  These include: delivering personalized messaging (to a person or to an organization); reaching high-value prospects not in your Customer Relationship Management solution (CRM); and capturing and serving up high-value leads to Sales.  As a result, most traditional campaigns result in a middling impact on awareness or “top of the funnel” metrics, but fail to deliver full-funnel/later stage impact which is so critical to achieving positive ROI.  The result?  Sales engagement is lagging and Marketing finds itself increasing outreach through email and other programs but netting disappointing results.

A better arrow. – Account-based Marketing. 

But this doesn’t have to be the case.  Account-based Marketing (ABM for short) enables hyper personalization (at role/title level, firm level or geography) to reach Ideal Customer Profiles (ICPs) – and is the single best way to reach contacts NOT in your CRM.  You don’t need to have someone’s email address or social media handle to reach them.  Better yet, when mapped and executed effectively, marketers can easily re-target and nurture contacts into high quality leads with relevant, targeted messaging, calls-to-action (CTA) and offers – delivering positive ROI and serving as true partners to Sales.

What is Account-based Marketing? 

Broadly, ABM is a strategy and program in B2B marketing where an entire entity, company or account (hence Account-based) - and all the constituent potential end customers, both known and unknown – can be the target of marketing efforts.  Rather than a broad effort to reach all advisors, for example, ABM starts with a firm-specific marketing plan – one tailored to the needs and insights you have about the target firm.  ABM is delivered through a combination of email (for contacts that are known) and any of a variety of SaaS solutions available on the market for those contacts you don’t know.  These martech solutions include: DemandBase, 6sense, Hubspot, Terminus, Adobe and others. 

ABM is an intentional, multi-faceted marketing program that is predicated on knowing the needs of a specific targeted firm and building well-honed customized journeys for high-value prospects, executed in tight partnership with Sales.  What does that mean?  It means that every targeted contact or ICP is served up customized creative with messaging, a CTA and an offer that propels them to move easily from awareness to consideration to engagement and ultimately a sale.

How do ABM solutions work? 

Most marketers have traditionally been limited and only able to market to “known” contacts using email addresses, social media handles, physical addresses and third-party lists.  While segmentation and personalization is possible with direct mail and email, it is nearly impossible with display advertisements, CTV, paid social media ads, and paid social links. Every Marketer knows that email servers are blocking “spam” – making outreach even harder.  And, If the Marketer doesn’t have the contact record, they can’t market to them. 

ABM solutions ”find targets where they are at” by mapping target firm names with Internet Protocol (IP) addresses of anyone associated with the firm.  This way, display advertisements, paid social media posts, CTV advertisements, etc. can be served up to the target when the target user is online.  No matter what content the target user is consuming (e.g. weather or sports content), - the marketer can present an advertisement where paid advertising is served up.  And, marketers can place relevant ads with hyper targeted messaging and CTAs ensuring that paid advertising reaches the right audience at the right time and gets traction.

So what impact can ABM have on Marketing?

1. More effective use of advertising dollars.  Because you are targeting a specific firm and all individuals associated with that firm, you can truly target and segment your messaging, call-to-action, offer, and creative.  Several studies have shown ROI improvement of as much as 97%.

2. Faster pipeline development/build a contact pipeline faster.  Reach target individuals or ICPs with whom you could not otherwise connect easily - and build a sales pipeline for sales with actionable journeys to conduct follow-up outreach quickly.

3. Personalize by firm and role/title – and even geography.  Many ABM tools not only allow targeting of specific firms or regions but also enable targeting by job role/title. This feature provides for hyper-targeting, ensuring that content, offers, and the overall creative are relevant to both the company and the individual decision-maker, increasing engagement and effectiveness.

4. Deeper partnership with Sales.  ABM can help marketers identify prospects who have traditionally been difficult to reach because of gatekeepers or other logistical barriers.  Leveraging ABM to identify these prospects allows marketers to bypass these obstacles, better align with sales and reach decision-makers more effectively. 

But what about Financial Services? 

Do you mean Compliance?  ABM workflow can easily allow for whatever review and approval process is necessary.  Creative is only served up if approved.  Opt-in measures can be required.  Personally identifiable information (PII) can be restricted.  While additional care is required, ABM can seamlessly be incorporated in any highly regulated business, and in fact can ensure that content and offers are ONLY served to approved audiences (think firm-specific offers).  ABM workflow is adaptable and can allow for whatever review and approval process is necessary.  

How does ABM impact workflow and Marketing processes?  

ABM can materially impact your workflow given how it can reach unaddressed audiences with highly targeted messaging.  While marketers can leverage existing processes to review and approve creative, any Marketing organization using ABM needs to map the best workflow using whatever SaaS solution is selected to make ABM work for them.   ABM solutions cannot simply be “bolted on” with no workflow impact.  Timely lead disposition is an example: reaching heretofore unreachable contacts requires quick handoff to the next best action, and leads should not be left to ”pile up” with no scoring or handoff.

Conclusion

Account-based Marketing is an ideal practice for reaching specific, high-value firms and their financial advisors, agents or account managers.  A key benefit is reaching individuals who are hard to identify and reach.  ABM works best when focusing on an Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) and in close partnership with Sales and it is less intrusive than email “spam”.  However, like any marketing program, followup is key to success, as ignored leads will become stale and may ultimately hurt your brand.

ABOUT AUGMENT MARKETING L.L.C.

Providing Marketing Solutions to Help You Succeed

At Augment Marketing, we bring decades of marketing leadership experience in the financial services industry to help you achieve your goals—no matter the size or nature of the project. We provide an “extra set of hands” – ones that understand the unique challenges you face because we have been there. As your trusted partner, we offer practical, tailored solutions that fill gaps, solve problems, and drive results. It is all about you, our client. With our flexible, hands-on approach, we provide the expertise you need, exactly when you need it, ensuring your marketing initiatives succeed.

Contact Us

  617-331-6189 

  www.augment-marketing.com

Marketing Technology Roadmap Building: Goals First

A Marketing Technology Stack Roadmap is a strategic plan that outlines the pathway for how your organization will leverage marketing technology to achieve its business objectives. It serves as a blueprint for aligning technology investments with your business and marketing goals, ensuring that every tool and platform you implement serves a specific purpose to achieve a specific end.

The Importance of Goals and Objectives

To build an effective Martech roadmap, it is crucial to start with clear, well-articulated goals and objectives. Without a defined destination, creating a roadmap becomes futile—just as a traveler cannot navigate without knowing why they are on a trip in the first place. Identifying your goals allows you to measure progress and assess what you want to achieve, whether that be increasing customer engagement, improving lead conversion rates, reducing cost, or streamlining your marketing operations.

A focused approach enables you to determine the specific challenges you face and the outcomes you aim for to achieve your goals. This clarity not only guides your technological selections but also informs you how you will measure success. Technology should be viewed as a tool to facilitate and enhance your marketing strategy—not as a magical solution that will resolve all your issues.

Technology as an Enabler, not a Fix-All

It’s essential to recognize that technology alone will not solve your marketing challenges. Many organizations fall into the trap of believing that simply adopting new tools will yield immediate results. However, without understanding the issues at hand and articulating the desired outcomes, investments in technology can lead to wasted resources and unmet expectations.

A successful Martech stack should not be “technology for technology’s sake.” Instead, you must first identify what challenges you are addressing. Are you struggling with data management, customer engagement, or campaign tracking? By pinpointing these issues, you can select the right technology that aligns with your specific needs.

Customization Over One-Size-Fits-All Solutions

Every organization is unique, and there is no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to technology. Factors such as your team’s skill set, budget, and overall marketing goals play a critical role in determining what technology will work best for you. A comprehensive Martech Roadmap takes these variables into account, ensuring that your technology choices complement your existing capabilities while being scalable to accommodate growth.

Agility in a Changing Landscape

In today’s fast-paced market, agility is paramount. The marketplace is constantly evolving, and your marketing strategies must adapt accordingly. Therefore, your technology stack should be flexible enough

to accommodate changes in strategy, team dynamics, and market conditions. Implementing agile technology solutions allows your organization to pivot as necessary, ensuring that you remain competitive and responsive to emerging opportunities.

Critical Components of the Martech Stack Roadmap

1. Assessment of Current State: Evaluate your existing marketing tools and processes to identify gaps and opportunities.

2. Goal Articulation: Clearly define your marketing objectives, challenges, and the outcomes you wish to achieve.

3. Technology Selection: Research and select technologies that align with your goals, team capabilities, and budget.

4. Integration Strategy: Ensure that chosen technologies can work together seamlessly, creating a cohesive marketing ecosystem.

5. Training and Support: Develop a plan for team training and ongoing support to maximize the effectiveness of your tech stack.

6. Measurement and Optimization: Implement metrics to assess the effectiveness of your marketing technologies and be prepared to adjust as needed.

7. Agility and Future Planning: Incorporate a strategy for regularly reviewing and adapting your Martech stack to respond to changes in the marketplace and your organization’s needs.

Conclusion

In conclusion, a well-structured Martech Roadmap is vital for any organization seeking to leverage technology effectively in their marketing efforts. By focusing on your goals, understanding the role of technology, and maintaining flexibility, you can create a roadmap that not only meets current needs but also positions your organization for future success. Remember, technology is an enabler—choose wisely, invest thoughtfully, and watch your marketing efforts thrive.

Fractional Marketing: A Flexible Solution

What Are Fractional Marketers?

Fractional marketers are experienced marketing professionals who work with businesses on a flexible, part-time basis. Unlike traditional full-time hires, fractional marketers provide specialized expertise without the overhead costs associated with a permanent position. Fractional marketers can be embedded in your team or work independently to fulfill specific marketing needs.

The Rise of Fractional Marketing

The concept of fractional marketing has gained traction in recent years due to the evolving business landscape. Companies face increasing pressure to adapt quickly to changing market conditions, consumer preferences, and technological advancements. Fractional marketers offer an agile solution that allows organizations to access high-level marketing talent without the commitment of a full-time hire. This model has become particularly popular among small to mid-sized businesses and startups that may not have the resources for a full in-house marketing team.

Benefits of Fractional Marketing

1.   Cost-Effectiveness: Hiring a fractional marketer allows businesses to access experienced talent at a fraction of the cost of a full-time hire.

2.  Flexible Expertise: Fractional marketers bring specialized skills that they can tap into for various initiatives. This flexibility enables businesses to scale their marketing efforts based on immediate needs.

3.  Rapid Integration: Experienced fractional marketers can quickly integrate seamlessly into your team. They can hit the ground running, with minimal disruption.

4.  Focus on Results: With a purposeful mindset, fractional marketers are motivated to deliver value and meet client goals. They often bring experience in helping to drive impactful outcomes.

5. Tailored Solutions: Unlike a one-size-fits-all approach, fractional marketers collaborate closely with clients to understand their unique challenges and customize strategies that align with their clients’ goals.

When to Consider Leveraging Fractional Marketers

·       Resource Constraints: When your team is short-staffed or overextended, fractional marketers can fill the gaps, ensuring that critical projects do not fall behind.

·       Specialized Skills Needed: If you need specific skills (e.g., content strategy, analytics) that your current team lacks, fractional marketers can bring that knowledge without long-term commitment.

·       Short-Term Projects: For companies focusing on a campaign or product launch, fractional marketers can provide the necessary expertise without the need for permanent hires.

·       Strategic Initiatives: When launching new products or entering new markets, fractional marketers can help develop and execute the strategies needed to succeed.

When you find yourself, resource constrained, consider fractional marketers as a practical, cost- effective solution.