How to Maximize Your Martech Stack

Stop letting tech silos slow your customers down. That’s right. You’re not just handicapping your business. You’re slowing down your customers too. Your apps store treasure, yet the app owners guard it in separate vaults. Data spreads across CRM, ERP, and support tools, so teams argue over whose numbers are right instead of fixing real problems. That gap costs speed, trust, and revenue every day. Every day. The fix is a single data fabric that pulls every feed into one live view. APIs and event streams stitch systems together, so leaders see orders, tickets, and sentiment in one place. With shared truth, marketing stops guessing, ops cuts waste, and service solves issues before they snowball. One CX leader I know cut churn 12 percent in six months by wiring their martech and contact center stacks into a unified view they could drive outcomes from. Alerts would fire the moment a VIP signals risk, and an agent-assist bot pulls every interaction thread so responses land in minutes, not days. When data flows freely, outcomes follow quickly. CX leaders: audit your stack this week. Map every data hop from source to screen. Where the journey breaks, build a bridge or retire the tool. Your customer-led growth depends on it. #cx #dataintegration #martech #digitaltransformation

This week, I was speaking with some MarTech founders. We all shared examples of vendors that have shared with us in the past that most of their customers only use 10-20% of the features available in the product. That's pretty sad. Many people believe the reason is that products have to build features to support the most complex (highest spending) customers who have unique use cases that the average company doesn't have. That reason makes sense, but it's wrong. Here are the real reasons behind this 10-20% feature utilization rate: - Lack of internal Marketing Enablement MOps teams aren't skilled in marketing enablement. This includes documentation, training, certifications, etc. Marketers aren't using the features because they don't know what they don't know! Companies invest in Sales Enablement, but rarely in Marketing Enablement. Why?!?! - MOps teams aren't afforded the time to become SMEs I've always encouraged my MOps teams to spend at least 10% of their week on education/training. This means watching venor videos or demos, working toward certifications, or literally just reading through vendor documentation. The investment is well worth it in the short and long run for them and the company. Anecdote: When I started at LogMeIn, they had just implemented Acoustic (FKA Silverpop). I had never even heard of it. I learned by doing, but then I started consuming EVERY PAGE of documentation and every post on the community forums. I practically memorized everything that was written about Silverpop. I found a lot of innovative ways to improve our usage and ROI. New team members were always surprised at how knowledgeable I was in a tool I rarely used! - Lack of development/technical resources Many of the advanced features included in MarTech tools require some level of development skills. API calls, integrations, javascript, etc. As companies reduce investment in MOps professionals and hand over MarTech ownership to demand gen, or PMM, or digital, or even more junior MOps people, it becomes less likely the teams will utilize the advanced features because they don't have development skills. So how can companies remedy this problem? 1. Prioritize training/enablement programs and documentation. Make it part of the department goals. 2. Empower your MOps team members to prioritize time spent on becoming experts in the MarTech tools. Not just experts in the current use-cases, but in general. 3. Keep track of who is able to do what in which tools and what skills each marketer has. Know that Jen can update emails in Marketo, but doesnt know HTML. Know that James knows HTML and Javascript and is an expert in Wordpress, but has never used Hubspot. Know that Alex knows how to upload content to the DAM, but can't use Photoshop. If you are struggling with feature utilization or ROI of your current MarTech stack, and want to improve, I know lots of people (including myself) who are passionate about this problem, and would be willing to help!

𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗲? 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻. At the #GartnerMarketingSymposium last week, guest speaker Rahaf Harfoush shared a slide during her keynote on “Thriving in Times of Disruptive Change” that stopped everyone in their tracks. A massive landscape of machine learning, AI, and data technologies across industries. And in the top right corner? A small box labeled 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵. Not that bad, right? 𝗭𝗼𝗼𝗺 𝗶𝗻. That little box? Packed. An overwhelming swarm of logos, platforms, and tools. So of course, the question hit me: 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝘂𝗽 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀? The truth? 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻’𝘁. But that doesn’t mean you give up. Here’s what I come back to: I know my strengths. I know my team’s strengths. We’re clear on what we’re here to deliver. We don’t need to master every tool out there. We need a focused, practical plan. One that helps us stay sharp, not distracted. 𝗦𝗼 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗱? Here are a few suggestions: ✅ 𝗔𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀. Ask: What are we solving for? Let your goals, not the hype, guide your decisions. ✅ 𝗠𝗮𝗽 𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀. Look at where your team needs to grow. What’s slowing you down? What would help you deliver better? The tool comes after the need. ✅ 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗮 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗱𝗺𝗮𝗽. Not a five-year plan, but a clear, evolving view of what you use, what’s underused, and what you’re exploring next. ✅ 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝗱𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗰𝗾𝘂𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. New tech only works if people know how to use it. Make space for training, testing, and real application. ✅ 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗿, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲. One person keeps an eye on what’s out there, so the whole team doesn’t have to. Make room for curiosity, without chaos. There will always be more tech. More AI. More tools. You will miss things. That’s inevitable. But 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘀 𝗙𝗢𝗠𝗢. 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲.

Marketing teams are hemorrhaging money through tactical bloat and misguided spending. I'm not talking about overall budget size. I'm talking about the inefficiency of how those dollars are being deployed. Here's what we see across the industry: Marketing teams are: - Running 12 different tactical programs when 4 would deliver better results - Spreading budgets so thin that no single channel gets enough investment to generate meaningful impact - Chasing every new platform and trend without proving the value of existing channels - Maintaining expensive martech stacks where 70% of the features go unused The root cause is not incompetence. It's the pressure to appear innovative and the fear of missing out on the next "big" thing. Let's talk about what actually works: First, strip everything back to the fundamentals. I mean everything. Look at where you're spending money and ask three questions: 1. Does this directly drive revenue? 2. Can we measure its specific impact? 3. Would our performance materially suffer if we cut it? Be ruthless. You'll be shocked at how many tactics and tools fail this basic test. Next, take all those savings and double down on your proven channels. I recently spoke with a friend who owns a large B2B company. They reduced their marketing programs from 15 to 6, and the results were remarkable: revenue increased by 30% in six months while spending decreased by 20%. The reason? By concentrating their budget on their most effective channels, they were finally able to achieve real scale. Should you test new channels and technologies? Of course. But do it with 10% of your budget, not 40%. And for god's sake, make sure your foundation is solid first. Most marketing teams aren't suffering from underspending. They're suffering from underspending on the right things and overspending on everything else. The winners in today's market aren't the ones with the biggest budgets or the most tactics. They're the ones who have the discipline to say no to distractions and the courage to go all-in on what actually works. Time to make some tough choices. Your P&L will thank you. At KORTX, we help brands and agencies spend their marketing dollars effectively. Let's connect. #MarketingStrategy #MarketingROI #DigitalMarketing #MarketingLeadership #KORTX

Here’s the pattern. Leadership buys the platform. IT plugs it in. Marketing runs a few campaigns.   And everyone waits for transformation that never comes.   In over two decades of experience, there's a pattern I've seen across all industries. Organizations know that they need to modernize marketing, but they underestimate what's truly required. They think the hard part is tooling. It's not.   Because what most leaders miss is this. Martech is a governance and talent challenge disguised as a tech upgrade.   The tools are necessary, sure. But they’re not the unlock. The unlock is what happens around the tools: 🔸 The need to define entirely new job archetypes like journey engineers, Martech PMs, agent orchestrators, and AI compliance leads 🔸 The shift from campaign logic to system logic, where ops doesn’t just support marketers, it enables entire teams to operate more intelligently 🔸 The fact that agent orchestration isn't magic. It needs consistent prompts, rules, fallback conditions, and business alignment   AI agents can spin up content, adjust experiences, and trigger actions in milliseconds. But without orchestration, all you have is speed without direction.   This is the shift most companies are still unprepared for.   Because if you don’t have a framework for: 🔸 How signals flow 🔸 When agents act 🔸 Where governance lives 🔸 And who owns the connective logic...   You haven’t actually operationalized your Martech stack. You’ve just automated parts of it. The companies that get this are investing in more than tools.   They’re investing in Martech Ops as a strategic function, one that enables coordination, scale, and trust across the entire customer journey.   The ones that don’t? And unfortunately this is the vast majority.   They’ll spend millions on tech and still wonder why the experience feels fragmented.   Who am I kidding. That would just be SNAFU. #MartechOps #MarketingTransformation #GrowthOps #AgentOrchestration #MarketingOps #DigitalStrategy #CX #OrgDesign #MarketingLeadership #CMO #MarketingTechnology

After analyzing many B2B tech stacks at some of the fastest growing private companies. Here's what I can say actually works in 2025: For list building: - Segment your list to rank-order your TAM using lookalike lists - Custom agents for tech stack enrichment - Cascading enrichments for email validation and mobile lines - Site de-anonymization tool to identify visitors For messaging: - Email sequencer for email campaigns - Human assistant for LinkedIn outreach - Loom for video personalization - AI-enabled agents for reply handling For tracking: - QA tool for call analysis + proposal personalization - Software for deal rooms instead of a PDF prorposal - Low/no-code tools for workflow automation - Unified database for all documentation  Critical workflow points: 1. Run enrichment in stages Don't enrich 10k contacts at once. Start with 100 in a narrow segment, verify data quality, then scale up. 2. Segment before sending Build micro-segments of 50-100 prospects with identical pain points. Your messaging will resonate much more. 3. Test copy variations Run 3-5 variants per segment. Scrap the bottom performers every 2 weeks. 4. Document everything Track which segments convert best and why. This data becomes your competitive advantage. The tools matter less than the process. Get the workflow right first, then optimize your stack.

Tech debt in Marketing Ops isn't just annoying—it's a hidden revenue leak and a significant barrier to effective strategy. From outdated CRM structures to manual integration workarounds, our latest research reveals 70% of MOps pros still juggle admin tasks alongside strategic roles. It's like asking your pit crew to drive the car—unsustainable and risky. Here's how to start cleaning your digital house: 1. Audit Your Stack: Tag each tool by owner, use-case, and value. 2. Document Processes: Visualize your workflows clearly. 3. Eliminate Redundancies: Consolidate tools doing the same job. 4. Prioritize Integrations: 81% say integrations matter most—make this your guiding principle. 5. Plan for Change: Prepare your team with onboarding and training—no more "figure it out later." Reducing tech debt might not be glamorous, but it's essential for clear data, trusted insights, and strategic success. How are you tackling tech debt? Share your experiences below! #MarTech #RevenueOps #MarketingOps #TechDebt #DigitalTransformation

Before you waste money on more tools you don’t need, try my 3-step tech stack audit: 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟭: 𝗗𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 • Interviews with key decision-makers • Map the current state by defining core user needs • Document critical business requirements through User Stories • Identify where manual processes create risk 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟮: 𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝘀 𝗔𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘀𝗶𝘀 • Review GTM infrastructure and data flows. • Map tools against actual business capabilities • Grade each system's automation level (1-10) • Identify integration gaps and duplicates 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟯: 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 • Build implementation roadmap by quarter. • Prioritize highest-impact changes first. • Create a clear ownership structure. • Design process documentation framework The key isn't counting tools—it's matching capabilities to needs. Series A companies might need 10-20 tools, and scale-ups might need 30-50. What matters is how they work together. Your tech stack audit shouldn't just list tools. It should reveal how your systems support (or hinder) revenue growth. #hubspot #techstack #martech  

After speaking to 600+ marketers, CMOs, and Ecommerce leaders, the biggest insight that SHOCKED me is this. Over 25% of marketers are STILL WILLING to allocate over 50% of their budgets to paid ads to acquire customers, even with dwindling ROAS and unprofitable spends. Everyone knows that Ecommerce marketers are struggling with the rising CAC. The status quo is going against their desire to earn profits, yet they continue to pump more money to acquire customers. This model will run you out of business in the long run. And the truth is most marketers don’t know what to do to increase their profits. There are 3 options to do something about it. 1. Somehow rebrand your product/company and target another set of broad audience (HARD) 2. Dominate the retail landscape with an aggressive, lightning-fast approach. (HARD) 3. Focus on your best customers. Use a combination of the best marketing tech out there that can take all the customer data you’ve gathered and tell you the best-performing ones, least-performing ones, and what communication channels they use so you can reach out and get them back to your store. (PRACTICAL & EASY) When you have a marketing tech-stack with capabilities like email marketing, cross-channel communication like WhatsApp, SMS, push notifications and more, and UNITE that capability with understanding your customer behavior,  the dynamics of your marketing trajectory change. Let’s take a simple example. 70% of shoppers today abandon their carts while shopping. With a MarTech stack, you can setup campaigns to send reminders on multiple channels (e.g., email and WhatsApp) to complete the transaction. Even if 10% of these customers complete the transaction, think about how much that will boost your business’s bottom line. Bonus: They can complete the transaction inside the channel—no redirecting. Today, every channel is shoppable. That’s way better than spending on ads to acquire the same customers again. REACTIVATE them instead of REACQUIRING them. Result? - More profits - Higher growth with the same CAC - Business growth - More revenue TAKEAWAY 🔸 No ad platform can help you boost your revenue today. The focus has shifted. Rising CAC will affect your business operations & quest for profitability if you don’t control your spending. 🔸 Marketers need to invest in marketing tools that understand their business goals to improve profits, growth, and revenue. 🔸 Paid channels will get outshined by other marketing channels. Today, channels like email, SMS, WhatsApp, web messages will eventually start delivering higher ROI than paid ads. Don’t sleep on the importance of having an all-around MarTech tool. It's become the table stakes already.

MarTech isn't just a cost center. It can actually be a profit generator. Had a convo with a customer recently about MarTech budgets that completely flipped my perspective on ROI. 💡 Most brands see tech investments as pure expenses. Big mistake. There's a real opportunity to completely balance these costs through strategic revenue channels. Let me break this down with a REAL example: 👇🏼 Smart brands are now making money from their post-purchase experience by teaming up with complementary brands. We're talking $75-100K in monthly profit ‼️ And zero negative impact on the customer experience. The secret? Stay true to your brand DNA and keep things personal. We're NOT talking random ads. We mean thoughtfully chosen recommendations based on what customers actually buy. Mind-blowing part: for many companies, this extra revenue stream could literally pay for their yearly MarTech contracts. ✅ One customer straight-up told me this approach would cover their ENTIRE tech stack costs. The bottom line? When eyeing new tech investments, don't stop at the price tag - think about creative ways to generate new revenue streams that actually help pay for your tech investments. ROI isn't just about direct returns. What revenue plays are you exploring to offset your MarTech spend? 💰