There is no shortage of players in the martech universe these days. Have you seen the latest Lumascape? I work with adtech and martech vendors all day everyday, and could probably become fluent in Mandarin before understanding what all of these companies claim to do.
With ever increasing competition in the marketing technology landscape, it gets harder and harder for vendors to set themselves apart from the competition. If it’s confusing for people who work in this industry, imagine how brand marketers evaluating these solutions feel. To help rise above the masses, martech companies must put themselves in the shoes of the brands and companies they’re hoping to work with. Based on my experience helping martech vendors win business with advertisers, here are three key questions to keep in mind when developing your pitch.
Do you understand my problems?
Marketers are constantly inundated with offers for the latest and greatest technology that is going to make their lives complete and fulfilling. However, most companies will approach a brand without sufficient knowledge of exactly what they do. They assume that brand x is facing the same problems as brand y because they may be in the same industry category. Being able to have an intelligent conversation about a brand’s products, services and common challenges in their market is going to set you far above your competition. There is a wealth of knowledge to be gleaned from press releases, annual reports and earnings calls (public companies). Prospecting publication DailyVista scours available information to simplify martech prospect research, while resources like Crystal Knows can help you gain a better understanding of your prospect’s personality type. Take the time to do your research!
Is your technology easy to implement? And do your best practices include a standardized workflow?
All technology vendors claim to create efficiencies, reduce costs or increase revenue. However, the ramp up/installation period can often times be too time consuming and leave your customers with second thoughts. I think we have all been through those types of implementations that resulted in more agony than efficiency. While it is important that your martech solution provide the promised value, your long-term relationship is going to be stronger if the product is easy to use. Many brands are not as technologically savvy as we would like, so keep that in mind. Seamless integrations with current resources like Salesforce.com, Dynamics, Oracle, etc. are going to be preferred. After implementation, the product should have a standardized workflow that is easily managed.
Do you have detailed analytics that are easily translatable to executive leadership?
Yes, everything is all about analytics these days. All new technology platforms should include a thorough analytics dashboard that can show the ROI in real time. What many technology vendors do not include are dashboards that executive leadership outside of the marketing team can understand. Some simple, effective dashboards to check out are BriteVerify and GoodData.
If you’re a martech vendor, keeping these questions in mind shows that you understand your prospect’s frustrations, needs and pain points. And this can mean the difference between bringing a new client onboard, or losing out to your competition.
What other questions do you keep in mind when developing your pitch? Let us know on Twitter, we’d love to hear from you.