Marketing Software

For years, martech was divided into systems of record and systems of engagement. Systems of record stored the “master” versions of data. CRMs and CDPs for customer data. PIM for product data. DAM for brand assets. ERP for inventory data. (I know, there’s a ton of acronyms in this piece, almost to the point of parody. Click on the image above for a larger-scale version to read the Acronymn Decoder Ring on the right.) Systems …

Meet the new martech stack: systems of context and systems of truth Continue Reading »

It’s 2025, and martech stacks are going through all kinds of changes. From unified data to agentic workflows, from consolidating vendors to proliferating gen AI, and from commercially-packaged platforms to custom-developed apps, martech stacks — and the marketing ops heroes who manage them — are experiencing a Renaissance of new ideas and new technologies. The 2025 Stackie Awards are your opportunity to contribute to that Renaissance. “What are the Stackie Awards?” you say. They’re a fun …

What’s in your stack? The 2025 Stackie Awards are open for entries, and we’re donating $100 for each one Continue Reading »

If you predicted that tech stacks would shrink in 2024, it was probably a good bet. After all, the trend line had been headed in that direction. The average number of apps in companies’ stacks shrank in both 2022 and 2023, albeit by only a modest amount, less than 10% on average. But economic times were tight last year, and CFOs were on the warpath to cut SaaS waste. And, of course, there’s the ongoing …

Despite financial pressure — or because of it? — tech stacks are actually expanding again Continue Reading »

Welcome to 2025! It’ll be the Year of AI Agents in martech, in word and deed. Here’s what I think that means… From the moment there was more than one software product in a company’s tech stack, there’s been jockeying to determine who was boss. If the tech stack were an orchestra, which product would be the conductor? Whichever one directed the flow of data among apps and determined which function in which app was …

AI agents are the new iPaaS and the next frontier of intense competition in digital ops orchestration Continue Reading »

I have two surveys for you that I think you’ll love. The first is one that I’m asking you to take: a cut-through-the-BS survey on the real ways in which you’re seeing gen AI used in your organization — or not. This data will contribute to the “Martech for 2025” report and virtual event Frans Riemersma and I will be sharing on December 3. More details to follow. Both of us and thousands of your …

Companies are replacing more martech, focused on integrations and APIs, and still expanding their stacks Continue Reading »

If you’re reading this blog, it’s a safe bet that you’ve been involved in buying — or selling — martech software. Probably quite a bit of martech software. So I greatly appreciate that a number of you responded to my survey over LinkedIn asking what you loved and hated about that experience and which resources you found helpful and trustworthy (or not!) in that process. Here’s what you, at least the collective “you,” had to …

Buying martech: what you love, what you hate, and who you trust (or not) Continue Reading »

For 13 years of the ever-expanding martech landscape, conventional wisdom has predicted that our industry would consolidate. That conventional wisdom has failed spectacularly. Or more accurately, the conventional wisdom of the software industry from 10, 20, 30 years ago has been disrupted by new dynamics, in a new environment. The barriers to creating software are a fraction of what they once were — and are rapidly shrinking further with AI. The barriers to distributing software …

Blueprint for a hypothetical martech “holding company” for a world where aggregation beats consolidation Continue Reading »

In our recent State of Martech 2024 report — which is free and now fully ungated — Frans Riemersma and I analyzed a ton of transformation happening across the martech industry, from the AI-powered explosion of the martech landscape to three counterintuitive truths of “composability” in martech stacks. Two of our most important findings, however, were the prioritization and adoption of foundational capabilities that are necessary for marketing to harness the full power of AI: …

The new data layer in martech has taken hold as the foundation upon which marketing AI will be built Continue Reading »

Take a guess at filling in the blank here: _______ is to AI Agents as Data is to AI Models The answer, as you likely surmised from my headline, is APIs. Let’s discuss why… Data is the differentiation in AI models For the past year and a half, the hyper hype cycle of AI madness has agreed on only one clear truth: data will be your most strategic asset in the Age of AI. LLM …

APIs are “very important” to martech buyers today, but they’ll be crucial for the coming wave of AI agents Continue Reading »

For years, the conventional wisdom in martech has been: the fewer apps in your stack, the better. It’s obvious, right? By reducing the number of apps, you will save money, have a better user experience, and improve your governance control. The CFO’s default answer to optimizing martech costs? Cut apps. The CIO’s default answer to optimizing martech governance? Cut apps. Seems rational. But what if it wasn’t necessarily true? Last week, on #MartechDay (May 7), …

3 counterintuitive surprises about composable martech stacks in The State of Martech 2024 report Continue Reading »