OpenMarket – January 17, 2017
For many marketers, the New Year signals a time for reflection, planning and change. Evaluating your marketing technology stack is no exception. The set of technologies that marketers choose to support their marketing activities is critical for streamlining processes, measuring results, driving more efficient spending, and delivering a better customer experience.
The explosion of MarTech companies has made it extremely challenging to keep up with all of the technologies available today. With over 2,000 companies across 40 different categories (Source: MarTech Today), the trick is finding which marketing tools you should adopt and how they’re connected.
Build It or Buy It….or Both
With so many choices, it’s essential for marketers to understand which technologies will help them achieve their business goals. Whether you’re a B2B or B2C marketer, the stack could be substantially different based on how you acquire customers.
At OpenMarket, we strive to reach companies interested in using SMS to deliver a better customer experience. Some of our tools are built internally and others are major platforms like Salesforce and Marketo for CRM and email marketing, Google AdWords and Google Analytics for paid search and web metrics, and WordPress to manage our website. We’ve also added tools like Lead Forensics and LinkedIn Sales Navigator for additional insights. I’ve discovered that the ‘buy it’ or ‘build it’ approach is not mutually exclusive – finding the right blend for your business is essential.
The SMS Effect
Folks at OpenMarket often get asked whether and how SMS, or text messaging, can help marketers interact with their customers better. The easy answer is Yes. Why? Because SMS is the #1 feature used on mobile phones today. Also, over 80% of text messages are read within 90 seconds, which far surpasses email and voice. Another point is that the growing millennial generation prefers texting with businesses for real-time notifications over any other communications channel – even social media!
SMS offers a huge opportunity for marketers to connect and engage with consumers in new ways, using a channel and device that everyone’s already familiar with. In addition, research shows that nearly 80% of business apps are abandoned after the first use. This means you need a better way to reach and engage all mobile users – and that means using SMS. The more you know about your customers’ habits and how they like to communicate, the better bottom line results and long-term satisfaction you will see in the long run.
Summary
The marketing technology landscape is rapidly changing, with different tools and technologies emerging each day. Ensuring that your stack supports the right data, campaigns and business objectives is critical for success. Whether you implement a buy or build approach, or a mix of the two, the goal should be to adopt tools that complement each other. With SMS, marketers have an opportunity to interact with customers in more personal and relevant ways. Whatever communication and technology solutions we choose should help improve the customer experience and marketing ROI now and in the future.