In April, Chiefmartech.com’s Scott Brinker published the much-awaited 2018 edition of his Marketing Technology Landscape Supergraphic. Among other things, the chart showed a vibrant but dizzying rate of growth for the field of MarTech:

6,829 solutions (up 27% from 2017)

6,242 different MarTech vendors

49 MarTech software categories

For marketers looking to build or maintain their tech stacks, those figures can seem very daunting. In fact, more than a quarter (26%) of organizations rank choosing the right MarTech solution as a key challenge.

So, how do you find the right MarTech tools for you underneath all the mountain of possible options?

The secret, says Mary Wallace at MarTech Today, is to understand that putting together or optimizing a MarTech stack is an evolution, not a revolution. You start out with a core set of capabilities that support your current strategy, and then gradually expand your stack as the need arises.

That’s what we explore in this short video. We take a look at seven essential categories of MarTech tools that you need to seriously consider as part of your stack:

Digital Marketing Tools Direct Outreach Tools Content Experience Platforms Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Marketing Automation Platform (MAP) Analytics Software Collaboration Tools

A marketer can include any number of specific technologies under each category based on the complexity and requirements of their marketing process.

The crucial thing to keep in mind is that all the parts of a MarTech stack need to be seamlessly integrated with one another. Data must flow uninterrupted from one tool to the next. Otherwise, you’ll simply end up with a stack of disparate solutions, instead of a fine-tuned MarTech stack.

In short, each tool must be able to talk and listen to the rest of the components.

Still, identifying the MarTech building blocks for your own specific use case can be a difficult challenge to overcome. Adestra’s Ryan Phelan gives out five helpful tips to help you make sense of today’s bewildering MarTech landscape:

Stick with what you need to have, not what’s nice to have Make sure all stakeholders give the greenlight Ask industry advisors and consult independent sources Develop a methodology for evaluating potential tools Know the specific outcomes and assign the right KPIs to measure it

At Callbox, we run marketing campaigns powered by our marketing automation and CRM tools which can easily integrate with your MarTech stack and workflow. Give us a call today, and let’s find out how we can work together.