MarTech holds great promise helping marketers to optimise efforts and achieve their objectives. To help marketers navigate the technology, AAR Group and The Drum published The Marketing Ecosystem Blueprint earlier this year. IAS is an associate of the AAR Group and have a well-established relationship over more than 15 years.
Among the challenges AAR highlights for CMOs, keeping pace with digital and technological change tops the list. It shows that 67% are currently reviewing their platforms and 44% researching technology that will deal with critical skills gaps, namely digital, data and analytics.
One of the results of seeing these gaps has been a rush to buy the MarTech that will enable the marketer to retain their edge. So, how does today’s CMO keep up with these changes and who is guiding them through this high-tech maze?
What I’ve noticed is progressive agencies assisting marketers and taking some of the burden off their shoulders by finding ways to work with MarTech in combination with their own traditionally-used technology. As The Marketing Ecosystem Blueprint says,leading a marketing organisation is not about continually throwing more tools at the team, but finding the ones that bring value, while keeping the process as simple as possible.
It’s a huge task and solutions can only be found when the CMO, CFO and CTO get together outside of their silos to create real solutions. AAR notes that the hold ups in progress right now are lack of budget, poor planning, lack of skills, the need for process change and poor communications, in that order.
Unless marketer’s and their colleagues make the time to put in the long and difficult discussions and actions needed to create a product that will help overcome the gaps, the solutions will always be easily unravelled.
Ensuring digital compatibility in partnerships
Marketers generally have a picture of what their ideal software will look like, as well as an idea of what is digitally possible – but the real solutions will be found when company leaders invest their time in the framework that will provide their desired outcomes.
In working with marketers and agencies, it’s clear to me that not buying the available MarTech isn’t the answer. What will bring everyone closer to an outcome that pays dividends, however, is making the time to communicate needs and be an integral part of the build.
Already-stretched resources may have to be stretched a little further to develop the critical skills required for a proper understanding of the MarTech stack. The IAS is increasingly approached to assist both marketer and agency to understand the impact of the MarTech race on each of their organisations, and to ensure their needs in the digital arena are met alongside their need for the chemistry that brings successful campaigns.
This vital issue of technology compatibility requires a marketer taking a technology capability assessment journey. By bringing together the agency’s tech team and that of the marketer, areas of compatibility can be determined and that data used to assist in pitch processes and overall relationship management.
For real value from MarTech spend, AAR suggests a CMO really understands how their company plans to adapt capabilities and design processes before purchasing and implementing new technology.
With solid communication, skills and understanding between the teams, the chances of MarTech functioning effectively as part of their ecosystem are far greater than if marketers keep investing in the next big thing in the hopes that it is more valuable than a previous iteration.
Johanna McDowell is CEO of IAS and partner in SCOPEN South Africa and UK. The IAS (Independent Agency Search and Selection Company) in association with the AAR Group (UK) was founded in South Africa in 2006. IAS specializes in client/agency relationship management and helping clients find agencies. The Independent Agency Search & Selection Company is committed to the international and local pitch guidelines as defined by both the IPA (Institute of Practitioners in Advertising UK) and the ACA (The Association of Communications Agencies SA).
