In many ways, COVID-19 was the spark that brands across Southeast Asia needed for a wholehearted embrace of digital marketing. The events of 2020 led to a surge in the adoption of marketing technology, or MarTech, in what looks to be a permanent move up the innovation curve.
Yet a jarring disconnect remains. Marketing teams are estimated to lose around US$222 billion and shed 30% of their staff by the end of 2021. Only 19% of businesses have a MarTech strategy, while 60% are working on it. Marketing leaders were utilising just 58% of their MarTech stack’s potential in 2020 – unchanged since 2019. The same survey said almost two-thirds of MarTech leaders expected moderate to severe budget cuts in 2021, with 35% of respondents starting to overhaul their MarTech stack. The reality is adoption of new technologies alone will not bring about the much-hoped for digital transformation – what marketers need is an overhaul in their approach to MarTech.
MarTech comprises the various software solutions used to achieve marketing goals. Businesses acquire point solutions from MarTech vendors to build a “stack” of tools that help them optimise the customer experience on owned media and platforms such as a website or app. Thanks to ongoing digitalisation and events such as the global pandemic, marketers are set to lean more heavily into MarTech in the years to come.
Some of the trends driving MarTech adoption include:
A proficient MarTech stack will enable marketing teams to understand customer interactions at every touchpoint and use those insights to iteratively improve engagement. To encompass the entire customer journey, a stack needs to cover the following:
The right tools, coupled with the right strategy, can help marketers boost customer acquisition, enhance customer lifetime value, improve marketing efficiency, increase productivity and automation, create single view of customer, and empower in-house talent. With only 18% of brands having mastered their extensive MarTech stack to produce a “gifted” or “genius-level” performance in 2020, brands are still trying to experiment across websites, mobile and social platforms. But rather than adding on to their MarTech stack, marketers should take stock of existing inventory and work towards optimising across people, process, technology, and data.
Our MarTech team is ready to partner with you to drive outcome-based growth with a clear ROI.
