Why everyone has an internet marketing stack - is yours inefficient?
Welcome to the wonderful age in which every organisation, on some level, has tried their hand at internet marketing. Some successfully, others not so. Tackling and playing in the internet marketing space can be overwhelming and if you’re a marketing professional who’s looked into this area (which of course you have), there’s no doubt you would’ve come across the term, internet ‘marketing stack.’ So, what is it?
When marketers leverage a group of technologies to execute, analyse and improve their marketing activities, this is what pros in the digital marketing space call a marketing stack.
From that definition there, you can easily see and understand how every company actually has an internet marketing stack… they might just not realise they do. More damagingly, their stack or collection of services the marketing team is using on a day-to-day basis, may not be very efficient.
We know internet marketing is a space that is of particular interest to small businesses. While the internet has exploded in recent years, we’re all aware that digital engagement will continue to be a vital factor to business success moving forward. As such, it’s imperative that small businesses are taking advantage of the tools available to them - we’re talking about everything from search engine optimisation (SEO), search engine marketing (SEM) and ensuring their websites are mobile-friendly.
More and more these days, internet marketing involves technical skills. That said, there is such a thing as a marketing stack that’s too complex, leaving your marketing team with little hope of maximising its efficiency. There are two vital factors to consider in relation to your internet marketing stack:
- Understanding which technologies you’re actually using
- Knowing how your data flows between each of them
The most sophisticated of marketers actually visualise their marketing stacks and while their process does differ greatly, having this on-hand effectively shows how an organisation uses different technologies and how the data actually flows between systems.
What should a marketing stack look like?
This is almost like asking how long a piece of string should be… depending on your organisation, your marketing stack will be made up of a number of different types and number of technologies. We’ve worked with companies in the past who have around 50 technologies in their marketing stack. Sure, that’s a lot and not every organisation has such a hefty requirement, but everything included in your marketing stack needs to help you to solve critical problems.
While it’s impossible for us to outline every single technology organisations are using, we did want to share some of the most common and identify how they’re helping companies to solve critical problems on a daily basis.
SEO (website)
You may have heard some horror stories about SEO sucking up massive amounts of money. When working with an SEO expert who’s exceptional at what they do, SEO plays a huge role in successful internet marketing. Webmaster tools and other handy tools such as Moz and Screaming Frog, ensure your site is performing as it should be.
CRMs (data management)
We’ve written extensively about CRMs in the past (click here to read more) and for good reason. There are numerous quality solutions and the most appropriate one for your organisation will depend on the complexity of your requirements. However, having a quality CRM is the lifeblood of any good sales team. Some of our favourites include Insightly, Salesforce and Zoho (for very small businesses).
Internal communication
We can’t go past Slack when it comes to an easy to use system that ensures your whole team is on the same page and can communicate and react to pressing situations immediately. Others such as Trello also have their role to play in streamlining internal communication.
As mentioned, this is just a snapshot as to the kind of technologies forming the foundation of a solid marketing stack. As you’ve read here, having an inefficient marketing stack has the capacity to cripple your internet marketing efforts. With the above information on-hand, ask yourself this question: is my organisation’s marketing stack as efficient as it can be?
If you need help with your marketing stack or with anything else related to digital marketing, be sure to contact us for an obligation free meeting. The team at Pronto Woven will take the time to learn more about your organisation’s needs so that we can understand how digital marketing can assist you in surpassing your long-term goals.
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