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State of Marketing Technology 2017
Closing the Gap Between Martech
Innovation and Adoption
State of Marketing Technology 2 017
Contents
01
03
05
11
Executive
Summary
Key Findings
The State of
Martech 2017
Marketing
Technology
Stacks
16
20
22
23
Martech Stack
Management
Martech
Investment
in 2017
Conclusion
About the Study
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State of Marketing Technology 2 017
Executive Summary
It’s impossible for any single marketer or company to keep up with the rapid pace of change in
marketing technology these days. Since the first Walker Sands State of Marketing Technology study
was published a year ago, the number of martech vendors has nearly doubled, more than
$1 billion in venture capital investment has flowed into the space, and marketing technology
budgets surpassed advertising budgets. It’s no wonder that this year’s report finds that most
marketers admit the marketing technology landscape is evolving faster than their companies’
use of martech.
Yet the Walker Sands State of Marketing Technology 2017 study does show impressive progress
in the use of technology within marketing departments across the United States over the same
period, even if the ever-expanding Marketing Technology Landscape supergraphic developed
by chiefmartec.com leaves marketers’ heads spinning. With 3,874 solutions and counting (an
84-percent increase year-over-year) there’s bound to be a disconnect between innovation
and adoption; however, that gap appears to be shrinking as companies catch up with the
fast-moving martech ecosystem.
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State of Marketing Technology 2 017
This year’s study, co-sponsored by
Walker Sands Communications and
chiefmartec.com, finds that it’s a best-ofbreed world for today’s marketers. Based
on a survey of more than 300 professional
marketers, the report highlights how the
explosion of martech tools has re-shaped
the industry, including:
——
How better integration capabilities
have moved marketers away from
single-vendor suites toward best-ofbreed architecture
——
How the democratization of marketing
technology has shifted ownership of
the stack away from IT and toward end
business users, giving rise to the role of
marketing technologist
——
Why the most successful companies will
develop a holistic marketing technology
strategy and train marketers how to get
the most value from their tools
The title of the Walker Sands State of
Marketing Technology 2017 report, “Closing
the Gap Between Martech Innovation and
Adoption,” reflects the strides companies
have made in their use of marketing
technology and the challenges that still
lie ahead. Most marketers feel this healthy
tension as they try to navigate an evershifting technology landscape.
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State of Marketing Technology 2 017
Key Findings
The State of Martech 2017
More than double the number of marketers now call their companies
innovators or early adopters in marketing technology adoption compared
to a year ago (48 percent vs. 20 percent).
Marketing Technology Stacks
Almost half of marketers (48 percent) have built best
-of-breed marketing technology stacks made up of
multiple point solutions, while only 21 percent use
single-vendor suite).
Two-thirds of marketers (70 percent) expect their companies’
marketing technology budgets to increase in 2017, and only
2 percent expect a decrease.
While 27 percent of marketers have integrated best-of-breed stacks,
42 percent admit their technology is “fragmented” or “piecemeal.”
Seven percent have no technology in place at all.
Seven out of 10 marketers (71 percent) believe their companies invest
the right amount in martech, up from 50 percent a year ago.
Integrated best-of-breed marketers get the most value from their
technology stacks, with 83 percent rating their companies’ ability to
leverage the full power of their tools as “excellent” or “good.”
The number of marketers who feel their companies’ current marketing
technology helps them better do their jobs increased from 58 percent
to 69 percent year-over-year.
Only 3 percent of marketers get full value out of their tools, but they say
better technology strategy (39 percent), analytics (36 percent) and training
(33 percent) would help them better leverage their martech stacks.
More than half of marketers (56 percent) think
the martech industry is evolving faster than
their companies’ use of marketing technology.
Nine out of 10 marketers (88 percent) use more than one martech tool
on a regular basis—including single-vendor suite users. Only 16 percent
of suite users say it’s the only tool they use.
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State of Marketing Technology 2 017
Martech Investment in 2017
A third of marketers (32 percent) plan to purchase a
social media marketing tool in 2017, the most popular
pick, followed by ad tech (28 percent), email marketing
(27 percent) and analytics (24 percent).
At least half of marketers who plan to purchase social media marketing
(62 percent), email marketing (61 percent) and analytics (50 percent) tools
in 2017 have already done so in the past three years.
Martech Stack Management
Information technology (IT) manages marketing
technology solutions only 13 percent of the time; in
most cases, business users are responsible for the
martech stack.
Seven out of 10 marketers (71 percent) have led a purchase decision for
at least one tool in the past three years, up from 62 percent a year ago.
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State of Marketing Technology 2 017
The State of Martech 2017
When we last checked in with marketers about the state of marketing technology at their companies
a year ago, they were frustrated with the lack of progress in martech adoption. Not only did the
majority of marketers view their companies as lagging behind the rest of the industry, but many also
felt that insufficient and outdated tools made their jobs more difficult. Especially when compared to
how quickly marketers were adopting technology in their personal lives, their organizations seemed
woefully behind the times. The 2016 study left marketers with much to be desired on the tech front.
What a difference a year makes. The Walker
Sands State of Marketing Technology 2017
study finds that companies have closed
the gap significantly with their marketing
employees when it comes to tech
adoption. They are also increasing martech
budgets and putting up fewer roadblocks
to adoption, causing more marketers
to give their companies high marks for
innovation and investment. That’s quite an
accomplishment in one year, given the high
expectations for technology that marketers
bring to the office.
Companies catching up with
marketers in tech adoption
More than half of marketers (55 percent)
call themselves innovators or early adopters
when it comes to personal tech adoption,
compared to 43 percent a year ago, so
it’s an increasingly tech-savvy crowd. But
their companies are starting to catch up;
more than double the number of marketers
now call their employers innovators or
early adopters in martech compared to a
year ago (48 percent vs. 20 percent). This
is a drastic increase that speaks to the
rapid adoption of tools happening across
marketing departments today.
The fact that companies have made up so
much ground in a year could be attributed
to innovative marketers driving martech
adoption within their organizations. The
data shows a very strong correlation
between how marketers rate themselves
in personal tech adoption and how they
rate their companies in martech adoption.
This suggests that the marketers who are
5
If marketers are innovators,
State of Marketing Technology 2 017
they are more likely to rank
their companies as innovators.
Part of that could just be
perception; how they see
technology adoption in their
lives is a lens by which they
either see or don’t see what’s
happening at their companies.
Or maybe people just
most comfortable being the first to try new
technology in their own lives are also the
ones most willing to experiment with new
tools in their professional lives.
that don’t employ tech-savvy marketers
are much less likely to be on the forefront
of martech adoption.
In addition to innovative marketers driving
adoption in their companies, the findings
could also suggest that marketers tend to
work for companies that mirror their own
tech preferences. This means that the rate
of martech adoption could directly impact
recruiting and retention.
This is particularly true of marketers who
call themselves innovators; among that
group, more than half (60 percent) also say
their companies are innovators in martech
adoption. This trend is consistent all the
way down the line to laggards, meaning
the opposite is true as well—companies
gravitate toward companies
that match their preferences
in technology. The correlation
is very strong.
— Scott Brinker, Editor, chiefmartec.com
Personal vs. Company Tech Adoption
Personal technology
37%
29%
18%19
Company’s marketing technology
33%
27%
19%
%
10%
2
Innovator
First
Early adopter
Early majority
Late majority
Figure 1: How would you describe yourself when it comes to adopting personal technology?
How would you describe your company when it comes to adopting marketing technology?
Source: Walker Sands State of Marketing Technology 2017
%
6%
Laggard
Last
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State of Marketing Technology 2 017
PERSONAL
Tech-Savvy Marketers Work at Tech-Savvy Companies
C O M PA N Y
Innovator
Early adopter
Early majority
Late majority
Laggard
Innovator
60%
22%
8%
8%
2%
Early adopter
10%
46%
22%
18%
5%
Early majority
10%
17%
41%
23%
8%
Late majority
13%
19%
34%
31%
3%
Laggard
0%
14%
29%
14%
43%
Figure 2 Source: Walker Sands State of Marketing Technology 2017
Companies increasing martech budgets, putting
up fewer roadblocks
The vast majority of
marketers are planning to put
more money into marketing
tech. I’m sure many martech
vendors will be happy to
hear that.
— Scott Brinker, Editor, chiefmartec.com
The marketing technology adoption
rate progress can be attributed to a
combination of factors, including growing
martech budgets, less internal resistance
and more marketers recognizing the
need for new tools. The implementation
and integration of new technology is
also getting easier. This is a trend that
has the potential to shape the marketing
technology landscape in a dramatic way,
which we address later in this report.
The majority of marketers (70 percent)
expect their companies’ marketing
technology budgets to increase in 2017,
and only 2 percent expect a decrease.
While budget remains the largest single
obstacle to adoption, that number
dropped significantly since last year, when
69 percent of marketers felt constrained by
budget. Today, only half of marketers (50
percent) cite spending restraints as a factor
holding them back from implementing
new martech.
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State of Marketing Technology 2 017
Obstacles to Martech Adoption
2017
Martech Budgets in 2017
2016
Budget
50%
69%
–
0
%
2
28%
50%
20%
Stay the same
Increase slightly
Increase greatly
%
+
Internal resistance to change
25%
33%
Decrease greatly Decrease slightly
Difficulty of implementation/integration
24%
35%
Figure 3: How do you expect your company’s marketing technology budget and investment to change in 2017? Source: Walker Sands State of Marketing Technology 2017
Lack of information
13%
10%
Lack of executive buy-in
12%
22%
We don’t need new marketing technology
10
%
In addition to budget, other major
roadblocks to marketing technology
implementation are falling:
——
20%
Lack of interest
10%
10%
Nothing meets our needs
7
7%
%
Figure 4: What’s holding your company back from implementing
new marketing technology?
Source: Walker Sands State of Marketing Technology 2017
——
There’s less internal resistance
A quarter of marketers (25 percent)
say they’re facing internal resistance
to change at their organizations,
down from 33 percent a year ago.
Integration is getting easier
Only 24 percent of marketers
currently see implementation or
integration as an obstacle, compared
to more than a third last year.
——
Executives are coming around
The number of marketers who don’t
have executive buy-in for martech
investment dropped by half, from
22 percent to 12 percent.
——
Marketers see a greater need
Only 10 percent of marketers
say they don’t need new martech
tools, half the number of a year
ago (20 percent).
Most marketers devote less than 25
percent of their overall marketing
budgets to technology tools or vendors,
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State of Marketing Technology 2 017
Percentage of Marketing Budget Devoted to Martech
8%
None
34
36
%
9%
26 – 50%
More than 50%
%
11 – 25%
1 – 10%
14%
with about a third allocating between
1 and 10 percent (34 percent) and another
third allocating between 11 and 25 percent
(36 percent). Spending jumps significantly
when marketing budgets hit $500,000
a year; above that threshold, two-thirds
of companies (68 percent) devote more
than 10 percent of their budgets to
marketing technology.
Figure 5: Approximately what percentage of your marketing budget goes to marketing technology tools or vendors? Source: Walker Sands State of Marketing Technology 2017
“My company invests the right amount in
marketing technology.”
9% 4%
42% 25%
2016
2017
41% 47%
9% 24%
–
+
Strongly disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly agree
Figure 6: Do you agree or disagree with this statement? My company invests the right amount in marketing technology. Source: Walker Sands State of Marketing Technology 2017
“The marketing technology at my company is up
to date and sufficient for helping me do my job.”
12% 5%
30% 25%
46% 47%
2016
Martech evolving faster than
companies can keep up
2017
12% 22%
–
+
Strongly disagree
Disagree
Agree
Figure 7: Do you agree or disagree with this statement? The marketing technology at my company is up to date
and sufficient for helping me do my job. Source: Walker Sands State of Marketing Technology 2017
Strongly agree
As a result of this growing support
for marketing technology within their
organizations, marketers aren’t nearly
as frustrated as they were a year ago.
Seven out of 10 marketers (71 percent)
now believe their companies invest the
right amount in martech, up from 50
percent, and the number of marketers
who “strongly agree” jumped from
9 percent to 24 percent. About the
same number (69 percent) now say the
technology in place at their companies
is sufficient and up-to-date for helping
them do their jobs more effectively,
compared to 58 percent last year.
Given the improved state of marketing
technology heading into 2017, there are
plenty of reasons to be optimistic about
where the industry is headed this year. But
despite progress with martech investments,
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State of Marketing Technology 2 017
budgets and buy-in, the study also shows
that marketing technology is evolving
faster than companies can keep up. This
finding isn’t that surprising considering
the chiefmartec.com Marketing Technology
Landscape has exploded from 150
companies in 2011 to more than 3,800 in
2016, and nearly doubled year-over-year.
With so many new martech solutions hitting
the market every day, it’s nearly impossible
to keep pace.
Marketers acknowledge the martech space
is moving at a dizzying speed that often
leaves their companies in the dust. Almost
three-quarters (72 percent) of marketers
say the martech landscape is evolving at
light speed or rapidly, compared to a third
(33 percent) who say their companies’ use
of marketing technology is evolving at the
same pace. Almost a third of marketers
(30 percent) think their companies’ use of
marketing technology has barely evolved
or hasn’t grown at all.
Overall, 56 percent of marketers think
the martech industry is evolving faster
than their companies’ use of marketing
technology. Only 9 percent say their
companies are outpacing the industry.
With the industry evolving at a phenomenal
rate that exceeds most companies’ ability
to keep up, how does that shape the
marketing technology stacks industrywide? Based on this year’s findings, it
appears marketers are gravitating toward
integrated best-of-breed architecture
that gives them the agility, flexibility
and diversity of technology that they
can’t find in single-vendor suites. In other
words, the rapid evolution of martech is
starting to dictate how marketers build
their tech stacks.
Speed of Marketing Technology Evolution
Marketing technology landscape
Company’s marketing technology
56%
37%
26%
1%
4%
Not at all
23%
24%
4%
Slightly
Steadily
Rapidly
Figure 8: How do you feel the marketing technology landscape has evolved in the past three years?
How do you feel your company’s use of marketing technology has evolved in the past three years? Source: Walker Sands State of Marketing Technology 2017
16%
9%
Light speed
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State of Marketing Technology 2 017
Marketing Technology Stacks
As the martech landscape continues to evolve and the number of tools continues to explode,
marketers are choosing to keep their options open. Rather than using all-in-one suites from the likes
of Adobe and Oracle, marketers are largely purchasing multiple point solutions from different vendors
to build their marketing technology stacks. The rapid pace of change and the need for marketers to
respond quickly to that change are driving this trend toward best-of-breed architecture. Significant
improvements in integration between solutions are also facilitating adoption.
When marketing technology first emerged,
marketers who opted for best-of-breed
tech stacks had to live with the tradeoff of
a fragmented architecture and tools that
didn’t always play nice. Poor integration
made building an effective marketing stack
difficult, so single-vendor suites became an
attractive alternative. But the proliferation
of martech tools over the past six years
means that no single software product can
do it all anymore, and most of the large
enterprise software platforms still leave a
lot to be desired.
At the same time, hundreds of niche
marketing technology tools with open
APIs have surfaced, cross-channel
companies like Signal are connecting the
data dots between platforms and products,
and cloud technology is making integration
more efficient and seamless than ever. With
integration no longer the challenge it used
to be, and new marketing technology tools
popping up all the time, fewer marketers
see the need to get locked into a singlevendor suite.
Marketers gravitate toward bestof-breed integrated architecture
Almost half of marketers (48 percent)
describe their marketing technology
stacks as best-of-breed, with the majority
of those marketers (57 percent) calling
their architecture “integrated” rather
than “fragmented.” A fifth of marketers
say they’re primarily using single-vendor
suites (21 percent), and a small number are
developing their own proprietary marketing
technology, also known as “dark martech.”
11
Current Marketing Technology Stacks
State of Marketing Technology 2 017
Integrated best-of-breed architecture
That becomes one of the contributing factors to why
best-of-breed stacks are winning out in popularity over
27%
the suites. The space is changing too fast for any one
Fragmented best-of-breed architecture
vendor to keep up with the whole thing.
21%
Limited piecemeal solutions
This space is just changing at a phenomenal rate.
— Scott Brinker, Editor, chiefmartec.com
21%
Single-vendor suite
21%
Non-existent
7%
Proprietary technology (“dark martech”)
4%
While about half of marketers are using
integrated stacks or suites that bring
multiple solutions together in one
platform, 42 percent admit to building
fragmented or piecemeal marketing
technology stacks. Another 7 percent
don’t have any technology in place at all.
Figure 9: How would you describe your company’s current
marketing technology stack?
Source: Walker Sands State of Marketing Technology 2017
Company Size vs. Martech Stack
Integrated best-of-breed architecture
Single-vendor suite
32%
22% 20%
1 – 99
32%
23%
100 – 999
18%
1,000+
Number of employees
Figure 10: How would you describe your company’s current
marketing technology stack?
Source: Walker Sands State of Marketing Technology 2017
Despite the hefty price tag that comes
with enterprise single-vendor suites, it
turns out this simple approach to building
a marketing technology stack is most
popular with the smallest companies. This
trend is likely due to the limited staff and
resources these organizations have in place
to manage technology. With a low head
count, small marketing team and limited
marketing scope, an all-in-one solution
like Hubspot can be sufficient for basic
functions like CRM, email marketing and
marketing automation.
But as marketing budgets and ambitions
grow, so does the need for a more
diverse martech ecosystem—and singlevendor suites drop in popularity. While
23 percent of companies with less than
50 employees currently use suites as their
primary marketing tool, the number dips
to 18 percent for companies with more
than 1,000 employees. Similarly, larger
organizations are more likely to use bestof-breed architecture compared to the
smallest companies (54 percent vs. 44
percent), with companies growing in their
ability to build integrated best-of-breed
stacks when they reach 100 employees.
12
Company’s Ability to Fully Leverage Martech Stack
State of Marketing Technology 2 017
Best-of-breed marketers get the
most out of their martech tools
7%
Poor
27%
47%
19%
Fair
Good
Excellent
Figure 11: How would you rate your company’s ability to leverage the full power of the marketing technology tools currently in place? Source: Walker Sands State of Marketing Technology 2017
Martech Stack Type vs. Company’s Ability to Fully Leverage Stack
Poor
Fair
Good
Excellent
Integrated best-of-breed architecture
2%
14%
55%
Single vendor suite
28%
Fragmented best-of-breed architecture
3%
30%
53%
4%
20%
48%
28%
Limited piecemeal solutions
14%
17%
41%
32%
10%
Figure 12: How would you describe your company’s current marketing technology stack? How would you rate your company’s ability to
leverage the full power of the marketing technology tools currently in place? Source: Walker Sands State of Marketing Technology 2017
When it comes to getting the most
out of their marketing technology
stack, about two-thirds of marketers
(66 percent) rate their companies as
“excellent” or “good” in their ability
to leverage the full power of their tools.
That’s a fairly impressive number overall,
but it jumps even more dramatically to
83 percent among marketers who describe
their stacks as integrated best-of-breed
architecture—almost 10 percentage
points ahead of marketers who use
single-vendor suites. In addition to
offering flexibility and agility, the
best-of-breed approach also seems
to deliver superior results.
While most marketers are satisfied
with the value they’re getting from
their martech stacks, only 3 percent
say they’re getting full value. Marketers
most commonly cite a lack of technology
strategy (39 percent), analytics (36
percent) and training (33 percent)
as standing in the way of them fully
harnessing the power of their tools.
Only 20 percent of marketers think better
technology stack integration would provide
more value, which reinforces the finding
that integration is becoming less of a
13
State of Marketing Technology 2 017
Keys to Fully Leveraging
Martech Stack
Better strategy
39%
Better analytics
36%
More training
33%
More employees
23%
Better defined KPIs
challenge as best-of-breed architecture
rises in popularity. With integrated stacks
in place in many companies, the obstacles
to getting the most out of martech
investments are now less technical and
more human. The question now is how
to best use the tools in place rather than
what tools to use in the first place.
Most single-vendor suite marketers
still use other martech tools
With best-of-breed architecture the most
popular choice for marketing technology
stacks, it makes sense that 88 percent
of marketers use more than one martech
tool on a regular basis. The vast majority
of marketers (74 percent) fall into a range
of two to five tools, with only 5 percent
using more than 10 tools regularly.
As best-of-breed stacks become more
integrated, marketers feel comfortable
adding more tools to their ecosystem.
Almost a quarter of marketers with
integrated best-of-breed architecture use
six or more tools (23 percent), the largest
percentage of any group. This indicates
that an integrated approach provides
23%
More data
20%
Better stack integration
20%
Results displayed in more actionable ways
14%
More time to learn the tools
11%
Nothing; we are currently getting the full value
3%
Figure 13: What would help you better leverage the full
power of your current marketing technology stack?
Source: Walker Sands State of Marketing Technology 2017
The question of how much integration we are able
to productively take advantage of shifts the emphasis
back to the strategy level. There are all these tools
now; what do we actually do with them?
— Scott Brinker, Editor, chiefmartec.com
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State of Marketing Technology 2 017
Martech Stack Type vs. Number of
Martech Tools
1
2–3
4–5
6 – 10
10+
Single-vendor suite
16%
33%
36%
7%
Number of Martech Tools Used Regularly
4%
4%
8%
None
1
46%
28%
2–3
4–5
9%
5%
6 – 10
10+
Integrated best-of-breed architecture
Figure 14: How many different marketing technology tools or vendors does your company use on a regular basis?
Source: Walker Sands State of Marketing Technology 2017
4%
42%
29%
14%
9%
Fragmented best-of-breed architecture
6%
39%
36%
11%
6%
6%
1%
Limited piecemeal solutions
9%
65%
14%
Figure 15: How would you describe your company’s current marketing
technology stack? How many different marketing technology tools or
vendors does your company use on a regular basis?
Source: Walker Sands State of Marketing Technology 2017
It’s a best-of-breed landscape
for marketers today, and these
findings show us why.
— Scott Brinker, Editor, chiefmartec.com
the ability to expand a stack more easily,
as opposed to single-vendor suites or
fragmented stacks where marketers must
manage each tool separately at a greater
cost of time and resources. Only 14 percent
of all marketers use that many tools on a
regular basis.
Among the marketers who describe their
marketing technology stack as being
built around a single-vendor suite, only
16 percent say it’s the only tool they use.
Eight in 10 suite users still leverage other
tools on the side, another indication that
supposed all in-one solutions can’t do it all.
As the number of marketing technology
tools in place at companies continues
to grow, management of the stack is
becoming an increasingly important
responsibility. Especially as marketers
embrace best-of-breed architecture
rather than enterprise-level platforms,
the technology is becoming more
democratized than ever, putting marketers
in a role historically handled by IT. This
shift will only continue as more marketing
departments consider creating new roles
focused solely on managing marketing
technology stacks.
15
State of Marketing Technology 2 017
Martech Stack Management
While a decade ago IT likely would have owned a centralized technology stack that included an
all-in-one marketing solution, the ever-expanding martech landscape has pushed oversight of these
tools down to the masses. Not only are end business users now managing this technology most of the
time, but they are usually the ones making purchasing decisions in the first place. As marketers seek to
keep pace with a quickly growing landscape and meet the evolving needs within, martech itself has
become democratized.
This shift puts traditional marketers in the
unfamiliar position of managing software
and even thinking and acting like software
developers at times. Marketers are taking
on more responsibility for technology every
year—and the corresponding budgets
—and their stacks continue to grow in
complexity. As a result, more companies
are creating senior roles like Chief
Marketing Technologist who are charged
with creating a technology vision and
managing the stack in a holistic, integrated
way. The study shows that 40 percent of
companies already have a senior person
dedicated to overseeing their marketing
technology stacks, and another 13 percent
plan to hire for such a role.
With technology strategy, analytics and
training holding marketers back from
fully leveraging their tools more than
anything else, the time is right to bring
on marketing technologists capable of
building effective martech stacks and
providing leadership for marketing
teams on how to best use them.
16
The business users own this technology now. IT is
State of Marketing Technology 2 017
Ownership of Marketing Technology
often still involved, but ownership is weighted much
more strongly toward the business. It’s such a radical
Marketing
41%
Information Technology (IT)
inversion of what life was like 10 years ago.
— Scott Brinker, Editor, chiefmartec.com
13%
Marketing Operations
12%
Customer Experience
9%
Digital Strategy
8%
Demand Generation
5%
E-commerce
4%
Sales
4%
Figure 16: Which department and/or team is primarily
responsible for purchasing and managing marketing
technology within your organization? Source: Walker Sands State of Marketing Technology 2017
Martech becoming democratized,
not centralized
The study finds that marketing technology
is owned by the end business users—
not IT—87 percent of the time. Most
often, traditional marketing departments
own the tools (41 percent), but other
departments that fall under the marketing
umbrella also manage them, including
marketing operations (12 percent),
customer experience (9 percent) and
digital strategy (8 percent).
While the marketing department owns
the technology most often, the study
suggests that traditional marketers may
not be best suited to be technologists.
Among marketers who say the marketing
department owns martech, only 59
percent rate their companies’ abilities to
fully leverage their tools as “excellent”
or “good”—compared to 93 percent
for customer experience and 87 percent
for demand generation. The wide gap
indicates that a new breed of digital
marketers may be better equipped to
get the most value from marketing
technology solutions.
In addition to management of marketing
technology moving to end users, the
purchase decision-making process has
also become democratized. Seven out
of 10 marketers (71 percent) have led a
purchase decision for at least one tool in
17
State of Marketing Technology 2 017
Martech Ownership vs. Company’s Ability to Fully Leverage Stack
Poor
Fair
Good
Excellent
Customer Experience
0%
7%
E-commerce
41%
52%
Demand Generation
0%
13%
56%
31%
20%
40%
33%
23%
31%
23%
23%
29%
47%
16%
37%
47%
12%
Information Technology (IT)
19%
58%
19%
Marketing Operations
12%
7%
Sales
Digital Strategy
4%
the past three years, up from 62 percent
a year ago. This includes more than half
of entry-level marketers (55 percent) and
creatives (60 percent), indicating that
companies are empowering marketers of
all stripes to decide which tools they will
use to do their jobs every day.
15%
9%
Marketing
59%
15%
4%
Figure 17: Which department and/or team is primarily responsible for purchasing and managing marketing technology within your
organization? How would you rate your company’s ability to leverage the full power of the marketing technology tools currently in place?
Source: Walker Sands State of Marketing Technology 2017
Tools within the technology categories
used by the most people across an
organization involve the most decisionmakers, including social media marketing
(19 percent of marketers have led a
decision), email marketing (18 percent),
analytics (16 percent) and content
marketing (16 percent). On the other hand,
executives tend to make decisions about
technology like data management and
database marketing platforms that are
purchased less frequently at higher price
points. As a whole, however, most purchase
decisions are being made in the middle of
marketing departments, a growing trend
we first saw in last year’s study.
One downside of the democratization
of martech tools for vendors is that the
most commonly used tools also tend to
experience the most churn. With so many
options to choose from as the landscape
explodes, it’s much easier for marketers
to jump from one solution to another, as
the findings show for planned marketing
technology investments in 2017.
18
Marketing technology is democratized
State of Marketing Technology 2 017
at this point. It’s no longer the high
priests in IT who control it.
— Scott Brinker, Editor, chiefmartec.com
Martech Purchase Decisions Made by Marketing Role
CMO
VP/Director
Manager
Coordinator/
Specialist
Creative
Consultant
Total
Ad Tech
30%
17%
17%
3%
11%
4%
14%
Analytics
35%
27%
16%
6%
9%
17%
16%
Competitive Analysis
22%
10%
12%
3%
0%
13%
8%
Content Marketing
30%
21%
17%
11%
8%
13%
16%
CRM/CRX
35%
8%
3%
5%
6%
4%
7%
Data Management
35%
15%
3%
6%
6%
13%
10%
Database Marketing
39%
8%
3%
3%
4%
4%
7%
Email Marketing
26%
38%
11%
12%
13%
29%
18%
Loyalty Marketing
13%
10%
5%
2%
2%
13%
6%
Marketing Automation
22%
10%
8%
3%
6%
13%
9%
Mobile Marketing
13%
15%
7%
2%
0%
8%
7%
Performance and Attribution
22%
4%
1%
2%
2%
13%
4%
Personalization
13%
8%
5%
5%
11%
4%
7%
Search Marketing/SEO
26%
8%
3%
8%
0%
8%
6%
Social Media Marketing
17%
25%
25%
18%
15%
8%
19%
I haven’t led any decisions
0%
13%
28%
45%
40%
13%
29%
Figure 18: In the past three years, have you led the decision-making process for marketing technology purchases in any of the following areas? Source: Walker Sands State of Marketing Technology 2017
19
State of Marketing Technology 2 017
Martech Investment in 2017
The democratization of marketing technology has put more power directly in the hands of marketers,
and they’re taking advantage of the opportunity by constantly evaluating their martech tools. With
new solutions coming to market all the time, IT no longer in control and companies not committing
to single-vendor suites, it’s easier than ever for marketers to add and subtract technology from
their stacks.
Nine out of 10 marketers predict their
companies will purchase at least one new
marketing technology tool in 2017, with
the most common priorities being tools
with the lowest switching costs. In many
cases, marketers will be making repeat
purchases—meaning they plan to purchase
a solution in 2017 that their companies
have already purchased sometime in the
past three years. In an era of martech
innovation and disruption, marketers are
always looking for the next big thing.
Social media tools: The most
popular martech for 2017
(27 percent), analytics (24 percent) and
content marketing (21 percent).
A third of marketers (32 percent) say
their companies plan to purchase a social
media marketing tool in 2017, the most
popular pick for the year ahead. The
next most-popular tools for 2017 are also
solutions used by multiple people within
an organization with relatively low up-front
investment and switching costs, including
ad tech (28 percent), email marketing
Those five technology categories are also
among the most commonly purchased
tools of the past three years. More than 50
percent of marketers who plan to purchase
social media marketing (62 percent), email
marketing (61 percent), content marketing
(58 percent), ad tech (56 percent) and
analytics (50 percent) tools in 2017 have
already done so in the past three years.
20
State of Marketing Technology 2 017
Planned Purchases vs. Previous Purchases
Planned purchase in 2017
Ad Tech
Purchased in past three years
Loyalty Marketing
10%
10%
28%
29%
Analytics
24%
29%
Mobile Marketing
15%
15%
Content Marketing
9%
Data Management
12%
21%
Performance Attribution
4%
6%
29%
Personalization
7%
8%
17%
Search Marketing/SEO
15%
19%
19%
Database Marketing
9%
16%
Email Marketing
While these findings could suggest high
churn rates for commonly used marketing
technologies, they could also reflect
the way companies purchase these
tools. While a hosted solution like a
CRM requires a significant up-front cost,
providers are likely to sell a social media
marketing solution as a cloud-based
subscription—necessitating a “repeat”
purchase every year. In fact, marketing
technology budgets are fairly evenly split
between hosted software and cloudbased software subscription (84 percent of
companies have some hosted software vs.
80 percent for cloud solutions). Either way,
the tools that companies most frequently
purchase are the most susceptible to churn,
especially as the marketing technology
landscape continues to double every
couple of years.
Marketing Automation
10%
10%
Competitive Analysis
11%
12%
CRM/CRX
The overlap could mean these solutions
are undergoing constant evaluation.
Social Media Marketing
27%
32%
37%
39%
Figure 19: What marketing technology does your company plan to purchase in 2017? Which of these marketing technology tools has your
company purchased in the past three years? Source: Walker Sands State of Marketing Technology 2017
21
State of Marketing Technology 2 017
Conclusion
In the fast-moving world of marketing technology, it’s impossible for companies to keep up with
almost 4,000 vendors and counting. In the past couple of years, however, marketers have made
significant progress in getting their companies to make greater investments in martech and keep
better pace with the rapidly evolving landscape. As we head into 2017, here are four lessons from
this year’s Walker Sands State of Marketing Technology study for marketers who want to continue
to push the envelope on martech adoption.
Hire tech-savvy marketers
Build an integrated best-of-breed martech stack
Companies that hire marketers who call themselves personal
technology innovators or early adopters end up taking on the
same characteristics when it comes to marketing technology
adoption. Whether those marketers drive adoption within their
organizations or simply gravitate toward tech-savvy companies,
there’s a strong correlation between a company’s employees
and its technology culture.
In a martech landscape made up increasingly of solutions that
integrate well with other tools, marketers get the most value out
of integrated, best-of-breed marketing stacks rather than singlevendor suites. Because integration has become easier, there’s little
reason these days to have fragmented stacks that don’t connect
the dots between platforms and channels.
Involve end users in the decision-making process
Consider a Chief Marketing Technologist
Both the purchase and management of marketing technology have
become democratized, with end business users making decisions
about martech more often than a centralized IT department. More
marketers at all levels have led or are influencing buying decisions,
a positive trend that better aligns marketing technology stacks with
real-world marketing needs.
While companies benefit from listening to the technology needs of
front-line marketers, more organizations are recognizing the need
for a senior marketing technologist who can make decisions based
on a high-level view of the martech stack. With implementation and
integration posing less of a challenge than ever before, the most
successful companies will focus on getting the most out of their
martech tools through a holistic technology strategy, more training
and better-defined KPIs.
22
State of Marketing Technology 2 017
About the Study
The State of Marketing Technology 2017 study was researched and written by the Walker Sands
marketing technology public relations team, which works with a diverse group of martech clients
that offer solutions in data-driven marketing, ad tech, social media marketing, email marketing,
customer experience, mobile marketing and a number of other technology categories. Similar
research is often conducted for Walker Sands’ marketing technology clients to increase brand
awareness, build credibility and generate leads.
Authors
Contributors
Dave Parro
Sarah Hale
Scott Brinker
Dave Parro is a Partner and Vice President
at Walker Sands who oversees the agency’s
marketing technology practice. He has almost
15 years of experience in public relations
and journalism, and leads strategic planning
efforts for clients, blending traditional PR
with digital marketing to achieve measurable
business results.
Sarah Hale is an Account Director at
Walker Sands, where she leads the marketing
technology public relations team. An expert
at telling stories about how marketers can
use technology and tools to execute better
strategies, she has helped dozens of martech
companies identify and reach their key
audiences and generate leads.
Scott Brinker is the editor of the Chief Marketing
Technologist blog (chiefmartec.com), where
he covers topics at the intersection of marketing
and technology. He is also the cofounder
and CTO of Ion Interactive, a marketing
software company.
[email protected]
[email protected]
Partner
Walker Sands Communications
Account Director
Walker Sands Communications
Editor
chiefmartec.com
23
The Walker Sands State of Marketing Technology 2017 study is based on a survey of 335 U.S. marketers conducted online between
Sept. 15 and Oct. 11, 2 016. Respondents were limited to professionals who currently work in the marketing department of a company
or organization. The survey has a 5.5 percent margin of error at a 95 percent confidence level.
7%
6%
Vice President/
Director
Manager
Coordinator/
Specialist
Creative
Consultant
Other
14%
24%
9%
11%
10%
20%
10%
16%
8%
10%
6%
9%
23%
13%
18%
20%
9%
8%
500,000 –
$
999,999
1M – $4.9M
5M – $9.9M
1
2–3
4–5
6 – 10
11 – 50
51 – 99
100+
$
$
10M – $99M
100M+
$
$
$
29%
100,000 –
$
499,999
Marketing Employees
$
Marketing Budget
32%
5,000+
16%
1,000 – 4,999
20%
500 – 999
22%
100 – 499
14%
51 – 99
7%
1 – 50
8%
CMO
Company Size
Owner
Marketing Role
Less than
$
100,000
State of Marketing Technology 2 017
Methodology
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State of Marketing Technology 2 017
Marketing technology is evolving at an incredibly
fast pace. Read our case studies and view our client
list to see how we can help you keep up.
To learn more about how Walker Sands Communications helps B2B technology companies increase
brand awareness, build market credibility and generate leads through integrated public relations and
digital marketing programs, visit us at walkersands.com/marketing-solutions.
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