It’s no longer just about the martech stack. It’s all about the CX stack: proven ways to attract customers you don’t want to forget.
In challenging economic times, marketers are forced to assess which technologies will really impact their business and revenue goals.
We have identified 6 martech categories (3 legacy and 3 emerging markets). However, in today’s evolving landscape, using them in the same or limited way can be counterproductive. These six martech categories are both ‘must have’ and ‘must change’.
1. Email marketing
Email — The primary “own marketing” pillar is more important than ever in the world of first-party data. It has stood the test of time, even though a new and complex ecosystem of marketing tech has grown around it.
This created two challenges. First, MessageGears’ vice president of marketing, Will Devlin, has made sure that he understands email’s place in his overall marketing mix and works in tandem with all other CX touchpoints. Said it was confirmed. Second, its legacy status often misleads marketers into making the classic mistake of not investing enough in upgrading their email marketing tech capabilities or doing it the right way. Not invested.
Eyal Manor, Twilio’s chief product officer, also warned against sticking to large lists full of inactive or unresponsive customers. Not only will your overall engagement rate drop, which will annoy your customers, but you’ll also experience higher spam complaint rates and risk violating privacy laws.
what to change
Upgrade your email strategy and technology!
For the former, we will focus on smoother integration into new and complex CX workflows, data, privacy, compliance, and evolved metrics.
Techies, explore how to take advantage of the visual benefits of email. Interactivity with mobile-optimized emails, videos in emails, seamless social media connections, click-to-share, click-to-chat links, polls, quizzes, and gamification are all considered Worth doing. “It would be foolish to overlook upgrading that component of the tech stack,” he says.
2. Marketing analysis
A 2022 Twilio report found that 63% of consumers are happy with personalization, but say they want brands to use first-party data rather than data provided by third parties. increase. A marketing analytics stack that collects and analyzes first-party data helps brands to be both consumer first and privacy first.
So, rather than collecting siled data across all channels, next-generation marketing analytics will focus on digging deeper into each customer’s life. The goal is to create a connected (de-fragmented) view of each customer’s life across all the channels they use, using prescriptive, predictive, and real-time marketing analytics to support smarter decision-making. not) is to analyze the view.
what to change
Find out how to reframe your marketing analytics around the customer, not the channel or campaign. This approach not only supports your CX goals, but also increases customer lifetime value and reduces customer acquisition costs.
Also, take time to explore the hidden parts of the customer journey, the invisible interactions that marketing attribution systems can’t track, but that influence customer decisions at each stage of the customer journey. .
Related article: Eliminate vanity metrics from your analytics portfolio
3. Search engine optimization
Arguably the biggest evolution in search engine optimization (SEO) is in the area of voice-enabled search. This will be a new skill for marketers to master, as consumer voice search behavior differs from text searches, with longer sentences and more nuance provided by tone and suggestion. Coupled with search engines increasingly powered by artificial intelligence, search results are not only becoming more powerful, but also more detailed and predictive.
what to change
Without delay, start preparing your content for video and audio search, image optimization, and an overall improvement in content credibility and authenticity.
4. VIDEO AND VIRTUAL EVENT EXPERIENCES
Video seemed to be the next big thing when the pandemic hit, but the challenge now is to sustain the use of video and virtual events to keep viewers engaged.
With 66% of consumers willing to pay for virtual events with better production and content quality, the hurdles are already high when it comes to creating customized virtual event experiences, Manor said. I’m here. “By 2026, it is estimated that his 20% of all online conversions will be driven by short and live videos, but content quality is everything to win,” he said of Barry’s Bootcamp. I gave an example. At Barry’s Bootcamp, membership grew 6x as much as he did by investing in videos that faithfully mirrored the interactive class experience at the brick-and-mortar store.
There is no doubt that consumers are watching relevant video content. But relevance isn’t just a message, it’s also channel, timing and context. Combine these elements to derive a winning formula. This means video content is found, clicked on, consumed and hopefully shared.
what to change
Optimizing video search, setting the right captions to effectively watch videos without sound, and ensuring contextual relevance between text and video content are all important tactics to tackle now. is.
5. Chatbots and Conversational AI
Instant messengers, texts, SMS, or voice chatbots are evolving rapidly to really help brands provide 24/7 access and customer service. Consumer retail spending using chatbots has increased by nearly 400%, from $2.8 billion in 2019 to $142 billion in 2024, according to a Juniper Research study. .
For marketers, chatbots improve CX. Pieter Buteneers, director of engineering for machine learning (ML) and AI at Sinch, a conversational AI and CX platform, supports the growing sophistication of chatbots and other conversational AI assistants. No more tripping over typos, regional slang, or topic changes. “Thanks to NLP, today’s chatbots can match and even exceed human performance on tasks such as language understanding and image recognition.”
Applications in marketing and sales, payments, order fulfillment, and customer service are key opportunities for brands to explore now. Consumers say he spends 20% more on companies that offer conversational messaging, so marketers need to focus on new entry points, data-centric approaches, and constant iteration. he said Manor.
For example, provide a more engaging experience than a static landing page, provide an early entry point to a conversation, build higher trust in the funnel, increase conversions and loyalty, click to start I suggested that we consider message advertising. With zero- and first-party customer data, you can continuously surface insights and iterate messages to help agents complete consumer purchases. “
what to change
Customers want to start chatting on their favorite platforms like Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, WeChat, Slack, text messaging, or on social media or location marketing apps like Maps and Search. Beyond your own website or app. Explore all conversational AI channels to find what works best for your business and your customers.
Related article: How will conversational AI change the customer experience?
6. Podcasts
All major publishers have a head of audio and a growing team. Brands, publishers, personal influencers, and almost everyone else owns one or more podcasts, and the podcast production and distribution ecosystem is more accessible than ever, making podcasts his Competition among platforms is intensifying. There is no denying that this channel is now mainstream.
New formats are also emerging. Trends to watch include live streaming podcasts to social platforms, “immersive” podcasts using the latest sound production technology, crowdsourced content and exclusive branded content for Inner Circle customers.
what to change
Assuming your brand already produces podcasts, dig deeper into ways to monetize your audio content to better track or measure the results you get from your podcast advertising investments. Audience growth strategies designed to attract a younger, learning-focused audience should be a central focus area this year.
Find your way through Martech madness
The martech stack is rapidly giving way to a “CX stack” built around a strong data foundation that better balances data privacy and activation. Renewing your use of key martech helps you stay aligned with your larger business goals and get the best out of your technology investments.