Did you know only 3 percent of marketers get full value out of their marketing technology tools?
A recent report by Walker Sands Communication and Scott Brinker explored “The State of Marketing Technology: Closing the Gap Between Innovation and Adoption.” The report is based on a survey of more than 300 marketing professionals and highlights how the explosion of martech tools has re-shaped the industry.
There has been a disconnection between innovation and adoption of marketing technology, likely due to the explosive, 84 percent year over year growth of martech solutions. There are currently more than 3,874 options in the market. Fortunately, according to the report findings, that gap seems to be decreasing as companies catch up with the fast-moving martech ecosystem.
Check out a few highlights and interesting stats that caught my attention. You can download the full report here.
Fewer obstacles for Martech adoption, including integration
One of the most refreshing advancements in this year’s Marketing Technology report is the data indicating tool integration is becoming easier for organizations. When asked about the obstacles to martech adoption, only 24 percent of marketers indicate that difficulty of implementation/integration is an issue, which is down from 35 percent last year.
Tech-savvy marketers and innovative companies go hand in hand
If marketers are innovators, they are more likely to rank their companies as innovators. Part of that could just be perception; how they see technology adoption in their lives is a lens by which they either see or don’t see what’s happening at their companies. Or maybe people just gravitate toward companies that match their preferences in technology. The correlation is very strong. — Scott Brinker, chiefmartec.com
Martech budgets continue to increase — in some cases dramatically
Although 50 percent of marketers surveyed indicated that budget was the main obstacle to marketing technology adoption, martech budgets are growing. Only 2 percent indicated a slight decrease in budget while an astounding 70 percent indicated an increase — 20 percent of which expect a significant increase in martech investment.
Marketing is the chief decision maker for marketing technology
While the CMO and VP make the majority of martech decisions, 7 out of 10 marketers have led a purchase decision for at least one tool in the past three years.
A special type of marketer is needed to leverage technology
A new breed of digital marketers may be better equipped to get the most value from marketing technology solutions.
Marketing owns technology — but is that really a good thing?
Among marketers who say the marketing department owns martech, only 59 percent rate their companies’ abilities to fully leverage their tools as “excellent” or “good”. Compare this to the 93 percent rating of “excellent” or “good” when Customer Experience owns martech, the data suggests that traditional marketers may not be best suited to be technologists.
It’s important to remember adopting technology doesn’t drive innovation — it’s the organizational changes ignited by the technology adoption that drives innovation.
The report notes that “most marketers feel this healthy tension as they try to navigate an ever-shifting technology landscape.” Creative tension is a behavioral adaptation that magnifies creativity and facilitates transformational change. This can be a very productive and good form of stress or eustress. As marketers, when we are faced with an unresolved issue or a big challenge, this triggers us to perform at our peak and release more energy into dealing with the problem, and generating solutions for better results.
By understanding and identifying the ways to use Marketing Technology to generate creative tension, you have a great opportunity to magnify organizational creativity and facilitate the transformational changes your brand needs to stay relevant today.