PPC is a complex job. That’s why effective PPC marketers need professional-grade tools to keep us organized, optimize campaigns, and demonstrate ROI.
Technology is plentiful and cheap in the marketing space—and that’s a problem. There are over 6,800 martech (marketing technology) tools on the market right now, and that number is growing.
For marketers, that means we’re overwhelmed with options. There’s no straightforward, go-to provider for our technology any more, which often leads to analysis paralysis.
Plentiful martech is great because it keeps prices low, encourages innovation, and gives us more choices. However, it can also lead to a lack of understanding, tool overwhelm, and disparate tools that don’t interact with each other.
The result is a bloated martech stack that drains our marketing budgets while offering little in return.
We have a lot of tools, but little understanding.
Martech is critical to PPC success, but we have to choose our tools wisely. It’s not about the number of tools we have, but how much these tools give back to our brand through campaign performance.
Learn how to use smarter tools for your PPC marketing so you can save time without the overwhelm.
The Dangers of Martech Stack Bloat
A martech stack is your collection of martech tools. The problem is that many brands have too many martech tools in their stack, which is called martech bloat.
Martech bloat presents a lot of dangers to PPC marketers:
1. It costs a lot of money
Martech bloat means that you’re paying for a lot of tools that you don’t even use. This is a huge problem for PPC marketers, who constantly have to prove the ROI of their campaigns.
The higher your operating costs, the lower your ROI. When you streamline your costs and overhead, you’re a better steward of the company budget, getting more results for less spend.
2. Tools don’t speak to each other
When you have tons of separate tools for your PPC campaigns, it’s likely that they weren’t designed to speak with each other.
Tools like IFTTT and Zapier help a little, but generally, martech tools don’t play nicely together. The more tools in your stack, the higher the likelihood that something will break and a connection will fall through.
3. Confusion is everywhere
PPC strategists don’t want to use ten different tools to create a campaign. They want their workflow to be as streamlined as possible.
In fact, when you have tons of tools in your PPC process, it’s likely that your team will drop the ball somewhere along the way. When it comes to tools and processes, simple is best.
Put your time to its best use. Streamline your martech stack to only what your team needs to reduce the overhead and overwhelm.
Building Your Martech Stack
It’s tempting to give into the overwhelm and not seek out new tools or solutions.
However, you can’t avoid shopping for tools because, as a PPC marketer, you need to make the most of your data on competitive platforms. Sometimes that means you need to upgrade to the latest and greatest software.
Instead of becoming a SaaS pariah, optimize your dollars and your time by building the best martech stack for your brand.
1. Have the bare minimum
You don’t want to start off slashing tools left and right. Instead, evaluate your current martech stack and make sure it covers all of your essentials.
As a PPC marketer, you’ll likely need tools that address:
- Communication
- Time tracking
- Project management
- Customer relationship management (CRM)
- Analytics
- Marketing automation
- Adtech
- SEO
There are many tools on the market that offer solutions on one platform. When in doubt, go for these consolidated solutions.
You won’t have to train your team as much, and consolidation means one less step the PPC strategists have to take to set up a campaign.
Next, talk to your team about these tools. Do they have any needs or wants? Are there issues with the current software they’re using? Is there a cheaper or better option?
Don’t make this decision alone. Involve the people who use martech the most to make the best decision.
2. Spend wisely
Martech bloat is a big problem if you want ROI on your investment. You need to prove that every cent spent on martech is affecting the bottom line; it must be quantifiable in dollar signs.
As a rule of thumb, you want a martech tool that returns at least triple its value in returns for your business.
If you don’t know how much you’re spending on martech, or how it’s affecting your bottom line, run the calculations now.
Add up the costs for software access for every employee and how those costs either save time (converted into money using an employee’s hourly wage) or money.
Not sure if a tool is right for your team? Enlist in a free trial. Most martech tools offer a 2 – 4 week free trial period. Test it out with your team to see if it’s right for you. Just remember to cancel before they charge you.
3. Processes and people first
Even if you have the best martech on the market, you can’t succeed unless you have solid procedures and talent first. Tech is only as good as the human behind it, after all.
Before you plug your workflow into Asana, make sure that workflow makes sense. Ensure that the team understands the workflow, why it’s set up this way, and how it functions.
Don’t be afraid to give regular training and refreshers to the team. You don’t want to pay for a tool that people use incorrectly!
The Bottom Line
There’s an overwhelming amount of martech available to PPC marketers. While it’s great to have options, it can quickly lead to harmful stack bloat and analysis paralysis.
Take stock of what you have today, evaluate new tools, and do what’s best for your brand. At the end of the day, choose a martech stack that works for you, not against you.
Need help evaluating your PPC teams martech? You’re in the right place. Logical Media Group specializes in optimizing PPC campaigns for ROI. Let’s chat now about your next campaign.
