Streamlining success: The power of marketing tech stack consolidation

In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, brands are increasingly reliant on technology to drive their marketing efforts and achieve desired results. As the number of marketing tools and platforms continues to grow, marketers face the challenge of managing a complex array of technologies, each serving a different purpose. This has given rise to a new trend: marketing tech stack consolidation. We will explore the benefits and strategies behind consolidating your marketing tech stack, and how it can help you save money and streamline your workflow.

The challenges of a fragmented tech stack

Complexity and fragmentation

A fragmented tech stack often leads to complexity, making it difficult for marketers to efficiently manage and integrate different systems. This can result in data silos, inconsistent reporting, and increased manual effort in transferring data between platforms. For example, imagine a company that uses one platform for email marketing, another for SMS marketing, and another for managing customer data. Marketers would need to navigate between these different tools to execute and monitor their campaigns. This complexity can lead to confusion, errors, and inefficiencies in coordinating marketing efforts across channels.

What marketers are saying:

“We were working with an overlapping tech stack. We had multiple email senders and multiple text messaging senders, depending on if we were sending a transactional or promotional message. We had no data flexibility because these systems were more templatized and more tabular in their data structures, and we couldn’t orchestrate a journey outside of what touch points that single provider was sending for.” – Sr. VP of Digital Transformation at Household Goods Retailer

Increased costs 

Maintaining multiple tools and platforms incurs significant costs, not just in terms of subscription fees but also in training, onboarding, and managing the various systems. Reducing the number of tools can result in significant cost savings.

The costs associated with maintaining a fragmented tech stack can extend beyond subscription fees. Consider a scenario where a company utilizes various marketing tools that perform similar functions but are operated by different vendors. This redundancy not only results in unnecessary expenses but also requires additional resources for training employees on multiple systems. Furthermore, managing and integrating data from different platforms can be costly in terms of time and effort. By consolidating and rationalizing the tech stack, companies can reduce costs and allocate resources more efficiently.

What marketers are saying:

“It’s cost prohibitive to have so many overlapping systems in a stack. We had three email vendors and two text vendors. If you add up the account management professional services and platform cost across all those vendors, you’re basically quintuple paying.” – Sr. VP of Digital Transformation at household goods retailer

Lack of efficiency

A fragmented tech stack can slow down marketing operations and hinder collaboration. Marketers may spend excessive time navigating between systems, duplicating efforts, or struggling with data discrepancies, leading to inefficiencies in decision-making and campaign execution.

Efficiency is crucial in marketing, as it directly impacts productivity and the ability to deliver timely campaigns to meet customers where they are. With a fragmented tech stack, marketers may face challenges in sharing data, collaborating with team members, and accessing real-time insights. For instance, imagine a marketing team that uses separate tools for SMS marketing, email automation, and analytics. This fragmentation can lead to delays in decision-making, as marketers struggle to gather and consolidate data from different sources. It also makes it harder to measure the effectiveness of campaigns accurately. A unified tech stack that integrates various marketing functions can greatly improve efficiency by streamlining processes and enabling seamless collaboration.

What marketers are saying:

“The challenge was we didn’t have some of the solutions, and there was no way to have it all under one roof, which was important to me. If I was to stitch together an MMS and SMS solution, an app push notification solution, a separate customer data platform, and have an email provider, then I have four vendors trying to make them all communicate. It would be nearly impossible and require a lot of integration — and it still wouldn’t be ideal.” – Executive GO of Digital at Furniture Retailer

Benefits of consolidating your marketing tech stack

Enhanced data integration and insights

Consolidating your tech stack allows for better integration and a seamless flow of data across platforms. By centralizing your marketing tools and systems, you can break down data silos and establish a unified data ecosystem. With unified data, you gain a comprehensive view of your marketing performance, enabling you to derive valuable insights and make data-driven decisions. According to recent studies, 35% of marketers need three or more platforms to create and send email and text messages, highlighting the complexity and fragmentation that exists in many marketing tech stacks. By consolidating these functionalities into a single platform, you can eliminate the need for multiple systems, streamline data integration, and unlock deeper insights into your customer engagement strategies.

What marketers are saying:

“One of the benefits is we decided to move all the different channels to Cordial. It was better to manage all users in one platform instead of going across different platforms trying to connect different channels’ performances together. Now we know the user better, and we can do some cross-channel analysis.” – Director of Retention Marketing, Clothing Retailer

Improved efficiency and productivity 

A consolidated tech stack simplifies processes, reducing manual effort and streamlining workflows. Marketers can save time by accessing all necessary tools and data from a centralized platform, leading to improved productivity and faster execution of marketing campaigns. Research shows that a significant percentage of companies use multiple platforms to create and send messages via email, SMS, and/or mobile app. A survey reveals that 61% of companies rely on two to three platforms for these purposes. By consolidating these communication channels within a single platform, marketers can streamline their message creation and delivery processes, reducing time spent on managing multiple tools and improving overall efficiency.

What marketers are saying: 

“One of the benefits is we moved all the different channels to Cordial. It was easier to manage all of our users in one platform instead of going across different platforms to connect different channel performances. The intel team spends 50% less time managing one platform vs. managing multiple platforms in the past.” -Director of retention marketing at clothing retailer

Cost optimization

By reducing the number of tools and platforms, you can eliminate redundant subscriptions and associated costs. Moreover, managing a smaller, optimized tech stack requires fewer resources, allowing you to allocate your budget effectively and invest in areas that drive better ROI. According to a survey, 45% of marketers agree that their marketing technology stack has become far too complex. This complexity often results in higher costs, both in terms of subscriptions and training efforts. By evaluating your current stack and consolidating to integrated platforms, you can significantly reduce these costs and streamline your marketing operations. Additionally, by reducing the number of vendors and systems to manage, you can optimize your IT resources and improve cost efficiency.

What marketers are saying: 

“Two things drove the cost savings: the savings we got from consolidating professional services and platforms, and Cordial’s lower subscription costs than that of our three prior email providers. For example, one solution charged on a cost-per-click basis, and their platform fees were higher.” – Sr. VP of DT at household goods

Seamless customer experience 

Consolidation enables a unified and consistent customer experience across different channels. By integrating customer data from various touchpoints, you can create personalized and targeted campaigns that resonate with your audience, fostering stronger customer connections. For example, with a consolidated tech stack, you can combine customer data, analytics, and marketing automation platform to build detailed customer profiles. These profiles can then be used to deliver highly personalized messages and offers to customers through email, SMS, and push notifications. By maintaining a cohesive brand experience throughout the customer journey, you can enhance customer satisfaction, improve engagement, and drive customer loyalty. Consolidating your tech stack enables you to leverage data-driven insights to deliver seamless, personalized experiences that exceed customer expectations.

Strategies for tech stack consolidation

Evaluate your current stack  

Assess your existing tech stack to identify redundancies, overlaps, and gaps. Determine which tools are delivering the most value and align with your business objectives. This evaluation will help you understand the complexity and fragmentation within your current stack and identify areas for consolidation.

Define your goals and requirements 

Clearly outline your marketing goals and identify the key functionalities you require from your tech stack. Consider factors like scalability, integration capabilities, data management, and ease of use. By defining your goals and requirements, you can narrow down your options and choose integrated platforms that address your specific needs.

Research and choose integrated platforms

Look for all-in-one marketing platforms that offer a comprehensive suite of tools. Seek solutions that provide seamless integration between different functionalities, reducing the need for manual data transfer and enhancing efficiency. By researching and selecting integrated platforms, you can simplify your tech stack, streamline data integration, and enhance collaboration among your marketing teams.

Plan your transition

Develop a transition plan to migrate data, onboard team members, and ensure a smooth integration process. Communicate the changes to your team, provide training, and establish clear processes to maximize adoption and minimize disruption. The process of consolidating your tech stack requires careful planning and execution. By leveraging effective transition strategies, you can minimize disruption to your marketing operations and ensure a successful consolidation.

Continuously monitor and optimize

Regularly review your consolidated tech stack to ensure it remains aligned with your evolving business objectives. As your business needs change, it is essential to monitor the performance and effectiveness of your tech stack. By continuously monitoring and optimizing your tech stack, you can ensure it remains efficient, cost-effective, and aligned with your marketing goals.

How Cordial can impact your business

Cordial commissioned Forrester Consulting to conduct a Total Economic Impact™ study based on a composite organization of clients to examine the potential return on investment for enterprise businesses moving to Cordial. The study found Cordial not only eased the pain of managing multiple solutions but also enabled marketers to be more productive and effective in orchestrating messaging campaigns for high levels of customer engagement.

The TEI study’s quantitative findings include:

• Increased revenue from email, SMS and mobile app marketing valued at $5 million.
• Reduced costs from retiring prior solutions valued at $1.7 million.
• Improved efficiencies from automating customer service valued at $980,400.
• Cost savings preparing data for decision-making valued at $626,400.
• Reduced time producing campaigns valued at $365,800.
• Cost savings creating customer segments valued at $101,600.

Download the full study.