Member Article

Square pegs and round holes: five reasons why being technology agnostic is critical for the customer experience.

All too often we hear stories about marketing activity that has not performed as well as had been promised. There are of course a variety of reasons why this might be the case. But our observation is that there is regularly a common denominator in under-performing activity – the underlying technology.

Constrained by tech Technology is meant to be an enabler. But contrary to the sales patter, it’s rarely a fix-all solution and can quickly become the proverbial millstone. Whilst we should always try to work with the technology we have, when it comes to designing an effective 1:1 customer journey the majority of campaigns are restricted by capability. Governed by an organisation’s existing marketing technology stack, activity is retrofitted (often unconsciously) to operate within its constraints, rather consciously designed to solve the problem at hand.

It is all in the diagnosis We believe that the key to successful 1:1 customer journey delivery is in identifying what you want and need to achieve and then designing a solution that will deliver. You would never start building a house without first considering what rooms you want, or how big they should be. The same is true of marketing activity. Only once you have understood what it is you want to achieve can you start to fit the jigsaw pieces together to transform the theoretical into a reality.

Sounds expensive doesn’t it?

But it doesn’t need to be.

The additive approach The underlying principle of MarTech Agnosticism is to become free of the limitations of the existing stack.

First, understand the gaps - what are you missing based on your understanding of the intended journey? What can’t you do that you need to do?

Once you’ve collected these requirements and identified gaps, you can start to look at an additive approach. You may need some help here to translate requirements between Marketing teams, IT and other stakeholders. But once requirements and outcomes are clear, boosting capability by layering software will enable you to carry out the necessary actions to deliver the desired results. The Additive approach means your business doesn’t need to commit to expensive and risky ‘rip and replace’ tactics. Taking the Additive approach means that you can buy-in best of breed software solutions (negotiating favourable terms) and literally layer them on to what already exists - without the heavy capex burden.

This change in mindset unlocks how we view technology, giving us an impartial eye and meaning we’re incentivised purely by the return on our marketing investment! Crazy idea.

Finally, very important this one, you’re going to need to work across the business - depending on the size of the organisation there will be different stakeholders with different objectives. Working cross function and taking stakeholders and partners on the journey with you is as critical as knowing what you need in your technology stack.

5 reasons why technology agnosticism matters

1. You can focus on the big picture strategy and develop solutions based on your priorities, becoming problem solvers rather than retrofitters
2. You aren’t anchored to one partner meaning that you can work with multiple solutions that are right for you and you can better navigate the levels and tiers of the software offering
3. You can be as tech-forward or backward-compatible as needed
4. You don’t pay for anything you don’t need and you have strong negotiating power
5. You put the customer first, boosting the customer experience which is proven to bolster the bottom line

By Carolyn Bondi, co-Founder, The Thread Team

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by The Thread Team .