Martech sales gimmicks pt.1: how CMOs can separate myth from reality

Earlier this year, the man behind many bedtime reads for data-driven marketers - Gartner’s Martin Kihn - compiled a list of martech myths, which vendors in this vast landscape typically conjure up to try and win over their prospects.

I work for a martech vendor, so thought I might use my years of pitching to make a biased, but well-versed attempt in suggesting responses to the big sales pitch, so C-level marketers can choose the real deal from the pretenders.

Read the next five martech myths and how to ask the right questions here.

1. What they tell you: ‘we are your “single view of the customer”’

What they really mean: or at least, we have some information about some of your customers, sometimes

Cutting through the BS: so with their Data Management software they can connect to first, second and third-party data sources – from any of the best-in-class brands – Adobe analytics, Oracle CRM, Google Tag Manager, Facebook; and across any channel your consumers prefer interacting with – from offline legacy CRM systems to bleeding-edge IoT such as smart watches, cars and fridges; and can integrate all of this to form a Single Customer View?

That’s great, but nice views are only screen-deep.

Your golden question: “Okay, but marketers don’t want to restrict themselves to a one-size-fits-all solution; can you connect every single channel and device, and make the data - CRM data and online behaviour captured through your Tag Management System - actionable in real-time?”

2. What they tell you: "accurate attribution is possible"

What they mean: if you have all the information, time and money in the world.

Cutting through the BS: hang on a minute; is it? Sure, they might be able to tell you that this SEA channel yields the most on a last touch basis, but humans are not that simplistic in their buying habits.

What about word of mouth, glimpsing a PoS banner, a man wearing a branded t-shirt burned onto your customer’s memory?

Fixing the ROI on marketing channels right now, when there are so many to choose from, is not necessarily helpful – nor accurate. The more touchpoints become available, from smart watches to thermostat nests, the more statistical limitations emerge in defining the yield of each and every one of them. Hopefully, their product can help you focus on humans rather than channels.

Guide humans in their customer journey, not in your customer journey.

Your golden question: can your Data Management solution help determine which platform is best for the individual, at the right moment? And how?

3. What they tell you: “we can solve your siloed data problem”

What they really mean: if you only have one or two (small) silos

Cutting through the BS: Amazing, so what’s the cost to create an end-to-end solution, where the ownership of your customer data is not the compromising factor or the barter piece?

You may have heard that consultancy fees, and implementation timelines, can magically increase tenfold if you try to use a product from someone else’s branded ecosystem. Marketers don’t want a portfolio of tools; this is the 21st century and you have – and want to keep - a heterogeneous marketing stack.

The golden question: we want an end-to-end solution which can integrate with any database and channel, and we don’t want the data to end up in another silo, or walled garden: can you still help?

4. What they tell you: “our processing and decisions are real-time”

What they really mean: if you define ‘real time’ as some-day soon

Cutting through the BS: of course, if we use a century-old legacy system which can only send reports via carrier pigeon on a bi-weekly basis, real-time processing isn’t possible even with the greatest technical integrations.

What is possible, though, is integrating these slower systems with my high-frequency media – for example, virtual assistants or mobile app: in this case, I should be able not only to process, but activate data in the heartbeat it becomes available – and yes, that means sending relevant messages to consumers in virtual and literal real-time (OK, well milliseconds if you want to get specific).

The golden question: for real-time data activation, do you need to replace my household systems with new versions?

5. What they tell you: “we take fraud and privacy very seriously”

What they mean: as a philosophical point, although we don’t let it affect our product.

How to cut through the BS: let’s pull our heads out of the Marketing Cloud for a second: would their product need to be compromised on compliance and security? A Data Management Platform should give you the means to set up the right security infrastructure you need.

A good indicator could be whether Adblockers love, or hate them.

The golden question: we’re based in the UK, so can all your data be hosted within Europe, according to our privacy legislation and directives?

Read more: 5 MORE martech myths and the right questions to ask...

____

Encountered any more pitch cliches? Please share.