MarTech Stack
Auditing what you own, cancelling what overlaps, and designing a set of tools that actually connect. The finding is usually fewer tools, better joined.
Overview
Marketing stacks accumulate. A tool is bought for a campaign, another during a reorganisation, a third because a platform's built-in version was inadequate at the time. Nobody removes anything, and after a few years there are overlapping subscriptions, several partial customer records and an integration map nobody can draw.
An audit almost always finds duplicated capability, tools nobody logs into, and data that would be far more useful joined up. The recommendation is usually to own fewer things and connect them properly.
Who this is for
- Companies with a growing marketing software bill and no map of it
- Teams whose data is split across tools that do not talk
- Businesses about to buy another platform to solve an integration problem
How we approach martech stack
The specific pieces of work a typical engagement covers. Scope is agreed up front — nothing here is a surprise line item later.
Stack inventory
Every tool, its cost, renewal date, owner and actual usage. The usage figures are usually the uncomfortable part.
Capability mapping
What each tool does against what you need, which is where the duplication becomes obvious.
Integration assessment
What connects to what, where data is re-keyed, and where records diverge between systems.
Consolidation plan
What to keep, cancel and replace, sequenced around renewal dates so savings are realised rather than theoretical.
Selection support
Requirements, shortlisting and evaluation for genuine gaps, tested against your own use cases.
Governance
Who can buy tools, who owns each one, and a review point at renewal, which is what stops the sprawl returning.
From first call to measured result
The same sequence every time, so you always know what happens next.
Inventory
Assemble the full list including the subscriptions on someone's card that finance has not connected to marketing.
Assess
Map capability, usage and integration, and identify the overlaps and orphans.
Plan
A consolidation plan sequenced around renewals, with the migration effort for each change stated honestly.
Execute and govern
Support the changes, then put governance in place so the stack does not quietly regrow.
Outcomes, not deliverables
A pile of artefacts isn't progress. These are the changes the work is meant to produce — and what we report against.
A smaller bill
Cancelling unused and duplicated tools usually funds the rest of the work several times over.
Data that joins up
Fewer, better-connected tools produce a more complete customer picture than more tools ever will.
Less to maintain
Every tool carries administration, training and integration cost that is rarely counted at purchase.
Sprawl that stays gone
Ownership and renewal review are what prevent the same accumulation happening again.
Common questions about MarTech Stack
The things people ask before they get in touch. If yours is not here, ask us directly.
How many marketing tools should we have?
Fewer than you have, almost certainly. There is no correct number, but the useful test is whether each tool has a named owner who logs in weekly and whether its data reaches the rest of the stack. Tools failing both are candidates for cancellation.
Should we buy an all-in-one platform or best-of-breed?
All-in-one for most mid-sized companies: the integration is done, the data is joined, and the individual components are usually adequate. Best-of-breed when a specific capability is genuinely central to how you compete, and then only for that capability.
How much will an audit save us?
It varies, but unused and duplicated subscriptions are almost always present, and the audit typically pays for itself within the first renewal cycle. The larger benefit is usually the integration work it makes possible.
We are about to buy another tool. Should we wait?
If the problem you are solving is that your existing tools do not talk to each other, then yes. Adding another system to a fragmented stack reliably makes the fragmentation worse.
Thinking about MarTech Stack?
Tell us what you are trying to change. If we are not the right fit we will say so, and point you somewhere better.
Looking at the wider picture?
MarTech Stack usually sits alongside other work in Automation, MarTech & AI. Browse the full area to see what it connects to.