By Teresa Leno
In today’s competitive business landscape, having a comprehensive and well-executed marketing strategy is essential for success. That’s why choosing the right enterprise marketing technology (MarTech) for your organization is essential.
For regulated industries, selecting marketing technology can be more complex due to compliance oversight and others in the broader organization that may need access to the marketing assets and tools. Here’s a quick guide on how you can do this effectively.
First, clearly define your goals and objectives to determine which type of technology will best help you achieve them. Start by asking the following questions:
- What do you want to accomplish with your marketing strategy?
- Are you trying to increase customer reach?
- Are you working toward attracting new clients and improving conversions?
- Do you intend to increase advisor engagement using social media?
Second, research and evaluate the available Martech solutions that will help you meet your goals:
- Check out product reviews and customer reviews.
- Talk to other organizations like yours that have used similar technology.
- Demo the marketing tools you’re interested in using.
The above actions will help you determine a technology’s capabilities, strengths, and weaknesses. Don’t forget to ask the provider about onboarding and what they will do if problems arise—is there a customer success team willing to help? Ensure you understand if you will be stuck in a contract or have an out if the technology doesn’t meet your expectations.
Third, understand the cost and returns. Ensuring that any enterprise marketing technology is worth the cost is key. Calculate each solution’s return on investment (ROI) and compare it to the cost to help you make the most informed decision.
When understanding the cost and return, consider the cost of human capital to use the technology and if there is ‘self-service’ features for others in your organization to use the technology or access the marketing assets. Also, the technology should make marketing processes easier and more efficient; if it doesn’t and is only “nice to have,” it may not be worth the cost.
Finally, select the technology that best fits your needs, goals, and budget. Consider how easily it integrates with other MarTech tools you already use and if it reduces swivel chair actions. The technology should address the marketing needs of the marketing team and the broader organization—the corporation, advisors, and other employees that will use it.
Evaluate the budget on a per-user basis and a ‘who-will-benefit’ basis to determine your true enterprise technology cost. Enterprise technology should be affordable and decrease the price per user as the user count grows.
It’s vital to seek affordable MarTech solutions that make marketing processes easier. Once you’ve done these four steps, you’ll be ready to implement new marketing technology, show value, and reap the rewards of your marketing efforts.
Teresa Leno worked as a financial advisor and experienced firsthand the importance of financial education to help clients make more informed decisions before a crisis. Through her experience, Fresh Finance was started as a financial content marketing solution to help advisors validate their expertise through sharing content.
