Marketing technology (martech) shortens the path to a decision for buyers and helps you find and keep customers. Select your martech in three categories: sales tools, collaboration tools and management tools.
Learn this skill in the course Digital Marketing (MC-DM).
Why sales and marketing went digital first
Sales and marketing were among the first work areas to use digital workflows. Companies such as Yahoo and Amazon started it. Today, Google, Amazon, Meta and Alibaba lead sales and marketing automation. The main reason is data: online platforms make it easy to track and analyse how people buy.
Sales and marketing still use the AIDA principle to get buyers: Attention, Interest, Desire and Action. This principle works across the product life cycle, from early adopters to the end of the product’s life.
Signs that your tools do not work together
- Each team uses its own tools, and the data does not connect.
- Campaign plans travel by email attachments and chat messages.
- Managers wait for monthly spreadsheets to see results.
The three categories of martech
1. Sales tools: find and keep customers
- Sales funnels and funnel builders
- Marketing campaigns and marketing websites
- Chatbots and e-commerce websites
- CRM systems, sales tracking and e-commerce analytics
2. Collaboration tools: keep the teams in step
Sales and marketing teams need a clear communication plan with the internal and external teams that run each campaign. They use:
- Project management tools, for example Trello and Microsoft Planner
- Chat tools, for example Microsoft Teams and WhatsApp
- Email, for example Microsoft Exchange and Gmail
- Shared documents, for example Microsoft 365 with OneDrive, and Google Workspace with Google Drive
- Workflow tools that move work from one person to the next
3. Management tools: monitor and control
Sales and marketing leaders need to see if their teams are on track to meet the business goals. They use:
- Security and admin tools, for example the Google and Microsoft admin centres
- Productivity tools, for example Microsoft 365
- Performance dashboards from analytics, the CRM, the helpdesk and email marketing
What to do this week
- List each tool that your sales and marketing teams pay for. Put each one in one of the three categories.
- Find two tools that do the same job, and keep one.
- Ask your managers which one report they need each week, and from which tool.
