What is MarTech and Marketing Technology?

Martech (also known as marketing technology, marketing software and marketing platforms) is the technology associated with marketing. Online and offline content, campaigns and experiences are created, executed, managed, coordinated and measured through marketing technology tools.” Marketing technology” and “marketing software” are other phrases that are often used.

It’s hard to imagine what marketing would look like without the use of technology. With little apparent distinction between marketing activities and the tools used to perform them, the conclusion that “marketing technology is marketing” is not far-fetched.

Others define marketing technology in a broader sense. Some definitions include sales applications (sales technology) and customer success.

What is a MarTech stack?

The marketing technology “stack” refers to all the software tools used to generate, execute, manage, orchestrate and evaluate the effectiveness of marketing operations. Stacks can consist of commercial, off-the-shelf programs as well as home-grown software.

The number of applications in any one company’s stack varies widely; however, it is not unusual for companies to have more than 100 applications.

Number of technology software solutions in the market is continuing to grow

The Marketing Technology Landscape, edited by Scott Brinker of chiefmartec.com, is the most frequently acknowledged source on the rapid growth of marketing technology. In the 2022 edition, nearly 10,000 applications are listed in 49 categories.

Rapid expansion has occurred. About 2,000 new marketing software applications are found in the 2022 edition compared to the 2021 edition. In the first year, 2011, only 150 solutions were included in the landscape.

Market Technology Software Growth, 2011-2022

What’s the history of MarTech?

Given that only 150 marketing software titles were recognized in the first version of Brinker’s Landscape in 2011, it’s easy to believe that Martech originated around the time of Brinker’s Landscape’s release.

David Raab, another marketing technology pioneer and founder of the CDP Institute, expands on this period in this marketing technology perspective. Raab traces marketing technology back to about 37,000 years ago, when the earliest signs appeared.

The Marketing Technology Timeline tracks key advances in three areas: marketing channels, marketing channel management tools, and the data available to marketers. The amount of technology available for each time period is highlighted in yellow.

Marketing technology and the use of data to improve campaign success did not evolve in any substantial way until computers were used for list management in the 1970s, and then grew dramatically in the 1990s and 21st century with the adoption of the Internet.

Raab’s key point

Throughout the industrial and computer era, the number of marketing outlets continued to grow. With the introduction of the Internet, proliferation also proliferated. The yellow areas show the amount of technology available in each particular time period.

Are MarTech and AdTech the same thing? 

Advertising technology, often referred to as adtech, is a marketing technology that allows marketers to acquire, deliver and track digital advertising campaigns.

Demand-side and supply-side platforms, ad servers, rating and measurement tools, and brand security assurance providers are examples of ad tech uses.

MarTech Market Size

MarTech is as much an industry as it is a collection of platforms or applications. Thousands of organizations, large and small, offer a wide range of marketing software solutions that help marketers target new consumers, close sales, and provide customer care.

According to a recent study, spending on marketing software is forecast to reach $20 billion in 2022, a 14.3% increase from 2021.

In 2022, B2C will account for two-thirds of marketing technology spending. They will spend $13.4 billion, while B2B companies will spend $6.6 billion.

Most Popular MarTech Applications

The following is a summary of popular MarTech applications being adopted today:

To advertise more successfully across many channels, marketing automation uses software and web-based services to perform, manage and automate repetitive marketing operations and processes (i.e., email, mobile, social media and websites). Marketing automation focuses on campaign definition, scheduling, segmentation and tracking, enabling marketing and sales teams to nurture customers with highly targeted content to attract and retain customers.

A CDP, or Customer Data Platform, is a system managed by marketers that collects customer data from all sources, normalizes it, and creates unique, unified individual consumer profiles. As a result, there is a single, persistent customer database that exchanges data with other marketing technology platforms.

Customer journey analysis and customer journey orchestration tools enable marketers to integrate real-time data points from several channels, touch points and systems, allowing users to gain insight into the customer journey across time. This enables marketers to use data to investigate the customer journey.

The Marketing Performance Management (MPM) platform uses statistical modeling and machine learning to assess the impact of a company’s marketing activities on its bottom line. Its goal is to assist marketers in allocating future spending and aligning it with corporate goals.

The SEO solution includes a wide range of features, including keyword research and ranking checks, backlink analysis and acquisition, competitive intelligence, social signals integration, and workflow rights and responsibilities.

Enterprise-level tools may also offer more comprehensive link and site audits, as well as analytics with predictive scoring algorithms to highlight the potential for improving page performance or link entitlement. Vendors differentiate themselves by offering more regular or extensive data updates, as well as content marketing services that may require more spending.

By providing a comprehensive and holistic view of an organization’s behavior across all customer touchpoints and channels, identity resolution solutions can help marketers “close the loop” of customer marketing, analytics and compliance. Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) can and should include data signals and quality from both online (device, email, cookie or mobile ad ID) and offline (name, address, phone number).

Email marketing systems include email production and delivery capabilities, but integration and consolidation have added to what was previously expected. These platforms share the following features:

• Message design and creation
• Workflow automation and collaboration
• Message previewing
• Email sending
• Deliverability management
• Data management
• Ecommerce capabilities
• Analytics and reporting
• Third-party integrations
• Automation and landing pages

DAM, or digital asset management software, stores, organizes and leverages an organization’s collection of digital assets. DAM is the “single source of truth” where marketers can access every relevant version of a brand’s media assets (also known as marketing asset management) – images, PDFs, photos, audio, video, and even virtual reality or other cutting-edge forms.

The Digital Experience Platform, or DXP, allows for the design, management, distribution and optimization of digital experiences across many channels and contexts. DXP differs from a Content Management System (CMS) in that it provides, among other things, commerce and scalability across many digital channels.

Call analytics systems are one of the few marketing technology products capable of monitoring online and offline leads. Call tracking – tracking a call from its origin (i.e., website, click-to-call search or display ad) to its destination (i.e., based on geographic area or product line) – has long been a popular use case.

Account-based marketing software, or ABM, enables the implementation of a B2B marketing strategy that aligns sales and marketing efforts on high-value customers. This customer acquisition strategy focuses on delivering promotions – advertising, direct mail, content syndication, etc. – to targeted customers. Individuals who may be involved in buying decisions are targeted in various ways to soften the earth for the sales organization.

Digital event platforms enable event marketers and organizers to plan, deliver and measure the results of digital event experiences, providing live or on-demand presentations to geographically distributed audiences.