You’ve spent countless hours and dollars (well, the dollars aren’t countless to the finance team) to build the marketing technology stack that perfectly fits your organization’s needs. You researched all the available technologies, how they integrate with one another, and the effort needed to implement new systems. You talked with both Marketing and Sales to see how these platforms would improve their day-to-day lives and bring the two teams closer together.
But have you thought about how your marketing technology stack aligns to your buyer’s journey? In the end, all of these platforms should be serving the ultimate purpose of helping you understand your buyers and meet their needs. However, many organizations can lose sight of this end goal when going through the process of building their marketing technology stack. With all of the attention focused on upgrading processes, integrating systems, and training users, the most important piece of the puzzle—the buyer—can get lost in the shuffle.
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Today’s buyer is more well-informed and knowledgeable about their needs and the solutions that exist to meet those needs than ever before. And they don’t trust that sellers know how to speak their language. According to SiriusDecisions, 82% of decision-makers don’t think sellers are prepared when they meet. Being unprepared can be the result of a handful of things: improper training, difficult-to-find content, no quick access to important industry and organization news, and an inability to truly understand the buyer’s needs before meeting with them. The best solution to this problem is to leverage technological solutions that prepare sellers to interact with buyers at every stage of their journey.
From the first interaction to the last (hopefully the signing of the dotted line) a piece of your marketing technology stack will be instrumental in ensuring your buyer feels like you understand their needs. Syncing those solutions up with the buyer’s journey will position your team for success and prevent them from falling through the cracks.
A marketing technology stack that is aligned to the buyer’s journey will follow a logical progression of capturing the right information about the buyer and funneling that information to the right teams at the right time. Important information such as what content resonated with the buyer will reveal insights that help sellers begin conversations on a deeper level and immediately get to the heart of the matter.
On the flip side, a properly aligned marketing technology stack will provide Sales with all the tools they need to prepare for their interactions with buyers. The technology stack should be properly integrated to provide sellers with all of the relevant information they need in the systems they work in the most. Product updates, industry changes, competitor info, and anything else that would help a seller do their job should be available at all stages of the buyer’s journey.
When you are thinking about how your marketing technology stack is structured, don’t just consider internal implications. Take the time to think about how each solution within your marketing technology stack is positioned to help you meet your buyers’ needs.
