Think about this: you’re elbow deep in a critical advertising and marketing marketing campaign, your tech stack scattered throughout ten completely different tabs. There are client analysis instruments, technique docs, your CRM, analytics… the checklist goes on. Every device guarantees the world, however all you’re feeling is a rising sense of overwhelm. Sound acquainted? In the event you’re nodding alongside, you’re not alone.
Regardless of their guarantees of effectivity, these instruments can create an ‘app lure’, the place too many choices find yourself being extra of a hindrance than a assist. With workers spending about 9% of their time simply switching between apps, it’s no surprise productiveness takes successful. After which there’s the fee. Managing a large number of subscriptions can put a pressure in your assets, particularly in the event you’re not utilizing the instruments successfully.
Fortunately, there’s a easy method to clear up the muddle: tech stack consolidation. On this article, we’ll present you the way to strip again your setup and make your tech stack work tougher. Right here’s what we’ll cowl:
What’s a tech stack?
A tech stack is a group of instruments, applied sciences and SaaS functions that workers use to do their jobs.
This contains all the pieces from client analysis platforms like GWI, to CRM methods like Salesforce, to mission administration instruments like Asana. As of 2024, the typical group has greater than 125 completely different SaaS apps of their tech stack. Yikes.
What are the advantages of consolidating your tech stack?
Decluttering your digital workspace does greater than you may assume. On high of simplifying your day by day actions, it additionally:
Will increase effectivity
We’ve already touched on the time wasted switching between completely different instruments, and because the outdated saying goes, time is cash. With fewer instruments to ping-pong between, your crew can spend extra time specializing in what actually issues; delivering outcomes. This enhance in effectivity results in higher efficiency and a more healthy backside line for your corporation.
Reduces prices
With out realizing it, you may be spending a giant portion of your price range on instruments that your crew doesn’t use. Our information exhibits that 28% of firms sometimes spend $10K-20K per yr on their tech stack, whereas over 1 / 4 spend $20K-50K. That’s a considerable funding for instruments which may not be pulling their weight.
A key step in consolidating your tech stack is performing an audit to pinpoint the methods you may be losing invaluable price range on – however extra on this later.
Improves information safety
Every new device you add to your tech stack will increase the chance of a knowledge breach, particularly if it handles delicate info like buyer information. By consolidating your tech stack, you narrow down the variety of platforms with entry to this information, making it tougher for breaches to occur.
Streamlines workflows
Making massive groups work collectively in concord isn’t any straightforward feat. Suppose again to the instance in the beginning of this text. To drag off a showstopper of a advertising and marketing marketing campaign, you’ve obtained to get your content material crew, design crew, demand gen crew, social crew, and PR crew all on the identical web page. When every crew has its personal set of instruments and workflows, issues can shortly develop into chaotic. However by consolidating your tech stack, you’ll be able to guarantee everybody makes use of the identical platforms, streamlining workflows and making collaboration a breeze.
Tech stack examples in follow
Once we discuss a tech stack, it’s necessary to visualise how all of the instruments work collectively to attain an finish consequence. To convey this to life, we’ve crafted an instance of a tech stack in motion:
Meet Rochelle, a senior advertising and marketing supervisor working in-house at a journey firm. Her purpose? Attracting luxurious vacation makers. She’s obtained some fairly steep targets to hit and must squeeze each little bit of effectivity out of her day.
As soon as sufficiently caffeinated, Rochelle begins the morning by syncing up together with her mission supervisor and content material supervisor on Slack. They’re brainstorming potential campaigns however maintain going spherical in circles, so that they hop on a Google Meet name to work issues out extra successfully. On the decision, they decide to operating a collection of paid adverts alongside a compelling weblog submit to seize their viewers’s consideration.
The mission supervisor schedules the adverts and weblog submit in Asana, assigning duties to the copywriters and design crew. In the meantime, Rochelle dives into GWI to determine probably the most related social media channels for his or her adverts and to know the kind of content material that’ll greatest interact their viewers.
By means of GWI’s client analysis platform, she learns that luxurious vacation goers are 11% extra seemingly than the typical client to make use of the web to search out new concepts and inspiration. They’re additionally 35% extra seemingly than the typical social media person to observe journey writers and corporations. Digging a bit deeper, she finds that Instagram is the popular social media platform for his or her viewers (excluding China, the place it’s unavailable) and decides to tailor nearly all of the adverts to that platform.
In terms of the content material itself, Rochelle learns from GWI’s client analysis that luxurious holiday-goers have clear preferences. They need manufacturers to be unique (157% extra so than the typical client), daring (125% extra), and younger (124% extra), leaving Rochelle with a a lot clearer path of the way to tailor her messaging. She now is aware of precisely the way to seize her viewers’s consideration, specializing in daring adverts that create a way of FOMO (hi there exclusivity) and are completely optimized for Instagram.
With these new insights, Rochelle briefs the copywriters to get began on the adverts, that are later designed in Figma. On the similar time, the search engine marketing supervisor makes a begin on the weblog submit temporary. He makes use of Ahrefs for key phrase analysis and performs round on ChatGPT+ to brainstorm just a few partaking weblog titles, selecting his high three after which including these choices to the briefing doc in Google Docs.
As soon as the copywriter finishes the weblog submit, she palms it over to the content material supervisor for an in depth proofreading. After it’s accredited, it’s uploaded to WordPress, the place a HubSpot type is embedded to encourage guests to subscribe to their journey publication.
Whereas this is happening, the adverts are finalized and launched via Meta Adverts Supervisor, making them seen on Instagram and Fb. With the marketing campaign now reside, the crew makes use of a variety of instruments to trace the way it’s performing, together with HubSpot, HotJar and Google Analytics.
This instance is only a glimpse of what a tech stack can appear like, with particular instruments various based mostly in your business, crew, and function. For instance, HubSpot information reveals that in relation to startup firms, the go-to instruments for information and analytics are Google Search Console, Typeform, and Stripe, whereas Intercom, Salesforce, and Zendesk are favorites for gross sales and customer support.
How you can consolidate your tech stack for streamlined groups and cost-effective workflows
As we’ve talked about, consolidating your tech stack could make your crew extra environment friendly and assist lower prices. Right here’s a easy step-by-step information that will help you create a extra streamlined setup:
1. Define your course of
Earlier than diving headfirst into consolidating your tech stack, take a step again and map out a plan. Consider it like constructing a home: you wouldn’t begin hammering nails with no blueprint (hopefully). By rigorously outlining your course of, you’ll make it possible for your tech stack correctly helps your corporation targets. Begin with the core parts, your basis, and step by step construct upon it. This methodical method will prevent time and frustration in the long term.
2. Conduct a tech stack audit
Understanding your tech panorama is step one to consolidating it.
A tech stack audit entails a radical evaluate of all of the instruments and software program your crew at present makes use of; consider it as taking stock.
As you perform your tech stack audit, contemplate your stack from two views: what your crew must do their jobs successfully, and the way nicely your present instruments are supporting these wants. As you do that, it’s useful to align your tech stack along with your buyer journey to determine any gaps or overlaps.
Whereas working your method via your audit, you may also discover you can categorize your tech stack into teams, for instance, instruments for insights (corresponding to GWI) and instruments for execution (like HubSpot or WordPress). Splitting up your tech stack this manner might help to determine overlapping instruments, providing you with a clearer view of the place to streamline your software program.
3. Survey your groups to find their challenges
To get an actual really feel for a way your tech stack is working, you must hear immediately from the folks utilizing it on daily basis: your colleagues. Ship out a survey to collect insights into their day by day challenges and frustrations.
And don’t restrict your survey to only one division. Involving everybody from advertising and marketing to gross sales to operations offers you a complete view of your tech stack’s strengths and weaknesses. By understanding the wants and preferences of your crew, you’ll be able to determine areas the place instruments simply may not be working.
4. Spotlight device redundancies
Your surveys and discussions are more likely to reveal the instruments which might be gathering digital mud. You may uncover software program that’s not getting used however nonetheless has an lively subscription, and even worse, instruments nobody ever knew about within the first place. These ‘ghost instruments’ are prime candidates for elimination.
5. Determine and prioritize cross-functional instruments
That is your alternative to determine multi-purpose instruments that can be utilized by completely different groups for various causes. Consider it like a Swiss Military knife on your tech stack. Not solely will this method make issues run smoother between groups, but it surely’ll additionally enable you to squeeze each final drop of worth out of your tech instruments.
An ideal instance of such a device is (drumroll please) GWI. Sure, after all we’re biased, however as a world client analysis platform, GWI can be utilized throughout a wide range of groups – from advertising and marketing to product growth to advert gross sales – for an enormous vary of functions. Listed below are completely different ways in which groups can leverage GWI:
Content material advertising and marketing: Content material entrepreneurs depend on viewers insights to develop content material advertising and marketing methods that really join with their target market. Utilizing information from GWI, they will create tailor-made content material for each stage of the shopper journey.
Product growth: Growing merchandise for people requires perception into mentioned people. Product builders flip to GWI to collect insights about particular areas, audiences, and classes. This info helps with the product growth course of as manufacturers can higher meet the wants of their goal market.
Model well being: With GWI, firms can maintain a detailed eye on their model’s well being. By monitoring issues like buy intent, buyer sentiment, and model loyalty, companies can perceive how their model is perceived out there.
Pitching: Gross sales groups use GWI to craft standout pitches which might be backed by strong information. This helps them impress new prospects, retain loyal purchasers, and shut extra offers.
Media planning: Companies use GWI to take advantage of their digital promoting budgets. By tapping into GWI’s insights, they will pinpoint the perfect platforms and techniques for his or her adverts, guaranteeing they attain the appropriate folks in the simplest method.
Partnerships and sponsorships: Partnerships groups use GWI to determine potential model companions, each domestically and globally, who might help develop their attain. With GWI’s insights, they will determine companions or sponsors that match their target market and enterprise targets.
Market sizing: Corporations flip to GWI after they wish to break into new markets. By understanding client numbers and spending patterns in particular areas, companies could make knowledgeable selections about the place to focus their efforts.
6. Perceive how doable integrations might work
Understanding how your instruments work collectively (or don’t) is a key think about optimizing your tech stack. Take a step again and visualize the way you need all the pieces to attach. Which instruments are already speaking to one another? Which of them have the potential to combine, however don’t at present? Are there any ‘lonely islands’ in your tech stack that may very well be changed by cross-functional choices as an alternative? By mapping out these connections, you’ll determine alternatives to streamline workflows and remove redundant instruments.
7. Map out your tech stack consolidation plan
That is the place the true enjoyable begins. Now that you simply’ve obtained a transparent image of your tech stack, it’s time to determine what to maintain, what to toss out, and the way to join the dots. There are alternative ways you’ll be able to sort out this, and quite a lot of it would rely in your price range and wider enterprise targets, however listed here are the choices companies have a tendency to contemplate:
Get rid of non-essential instruments: One method is to strip your tech stack all the way down to solely probably the most essential instruments. This might imply utilizing primary spreadsheets as an alternative of a CRM, or counting on guide processes relatively than automation. Whereas this may lower your expenses upfront, it’s in all probability not the best choice on your crew’s productiveness.
Lower single-purpose instruments: An alternative choice is to take away all single-purpose instruments and solely spend money on complete platforms that may deal with a number of duties, for instance, HubSpot, which lets you create touchdown pages, ship emails, and section your viewers, vs a device that may solely carry out one among these duties. Whereas this method can simplify issues and prevent cash, you may find yourself sacrificing specialised options that solely sure single-purpose instruments supply.
Spend money on multi-function instruments: A preferred go-to technique is to spend money on just a few versatile instruments that may carry out a number of capabilities, then combine them so that they function as one system. This balanced method lets you retain important options whereas benefiting from streamlined workflows, and also you’ll seemingly save sufficient cash to afford any single-purpose specialised instruments you may nonetheless want.
Whichever method you select, our greatest piece of recommendation is to get visible. Don’t be afraid to go old fashioned; seize a whiteboard, some sticky notes, or perhaps a massive sheet of paper and begin mapping out your new tech stack. Seeing your plan laid out like this might help you see potential issues and discover artistic options.
8. Get worker suggestions in your tech stack consolidation plan
When you’ve mapped out your superb new tech stack, share it along with your colleagues to get their opinions. They’re those who’ll be utilizing it on the day by day, so their buy-in is important. Encourage suggestions, and be open to creating changes based mostly on their insights.
9. Put your plan into motion
With everybody on board and your plan now finalized, it’s time to begin making modifications. Cancel these unused subscriptions, be cautious of any auto-renews looming within the not-so-distant future, kickstart conversations with new suppliers (the place wanted), and implement every other changes you’ve selected. As you do that, make sure that to doc all the pieces. This will probably be a lifesaver on your crew as they get used to the brand new methods of working.
As soon as all the pieces is up and operating, schedule common check-ins along with your crew. It is a probability to see how issues are going, deal with any points, and make any vital tweaks.
Tech stack consolidation FAQs
What’s a advertising and marketing tech stack?
A advertising and marketing tech stack (or martech stack) is a group of instruments and platforms utilized by advertising and marketing groups to plan, execute, and measure their campaigns. It sometimes contains instruments for e mail advertising and marketing, social media administration, content material creation, search engine marketing, analytics, and buyer relationship administration.
How do you select the appropriate advertising and marketing tech stack?
Constructing the proper advertising and marketing tech stack begins with understanding your targets and viewers. Think about what you wish to obtain, who you’re making an attempt to achieve, and the way a lot you’ll be able to spend. Search for instruments that work collectively seamlessly and supply sturdy information safety.
What are the advantages of operating common tech stack audits?
Common tech stack audits prevent money and time by surfacing pointless instruments and highlighting alternatives for higher collaboration.
Ultimate ideas
A cluttered tech stack is a productiveness killer. Overlook the times of limitless tab toggling, it’s time to optimize your tech stack. By consolidating your instruments, you’ll be able to streamline your workflows, enhance effectivity inside the crew, and – right here’s the biggie – save more cash.
A client analysis device (like GWI) is the proper method to maximize your tech stack by offering actionable insights to tell each facet of your corporation, from advertising and marketing and product growth to gross sales and customer support.
