How to Optimize for Agile Methods with the Right B2B Martech Investments

    How to Optimize for Agile Methods with the Right B2B Martech Investments

    When considering B2B martech investments, it’s critical to keep Agile in mind. No one knows how the pandemic will affect business operations in the long run, but it’s apparent that digital-first outreach is here to stay.

    Despite budget cuts in marketing, CMOs continued to invest in martech. In 2020 and 2021, martech spending wasn’t the only trend that accelerated: According to Agile Sherpa’s “Agile Acceleration: 4th Annual State of Agile Marketing Report,” more marketers than ever before have adopted Agile methodology, breaking the 50% threshold for the first time.

    Agile marketing, with its emphasis on sprints, is a strong fit for the B2B business environment, just like martech that helps B2B marketing teams manage digital outreach.

    However, if executives want to get the most out of their B2B martech investments and ensure that agile strategies pay off in terms of leads and revenue, they will need a plan to integrate data from disparate sources and align Marketing and Sales around a single source of truth. They will also require measurement tools that provide real-time data.

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    Building an Agile B2B Martech Stack

    The convergence of the two trends—the adoption of agile methodologies and the proliferation of martech stacks—creates a greater pressure for B2B marketers to focus on measurement.

    Agile focuses on frequent measurement to allow teams to make course corrections throughout sprints if they need to improve performance. Because agile sprints are generally short and B2B sales cycles are longer, measurement cannot wait until the end of a sales cycle in B2B. As a result, measurement tools should be capable of producing data that enables teams to track success throughout the sales cycle.

    For B2B marketing teams that use dozens of point solutions, this can be challenging. Data metrics relevant to marketing, like open rates and clicks are generated by Martech tools. However, that data isn’t especially useful to Sales, and because B2B Agile teams are cross-functional and sometimes involve sales ops, B2B marketers require more compelling data.

    That’s where a single source of truth comes in, and a CRM system makes the most sense for B2B businesses.

    As a result, marketing teams can use the CRM as the key data source to build an Agile marketing stack. It’s already in their stack and can handle large amounts of data.

    They can funnel data from lead gen and marketing automation technologies into the CRM utilizing a CRM-native measurement system to link marketing campaigns to leads and revenue. The best way is to track leads through the sales funnel and account for revenue using attribution models.

    The Measurement Sprint

    When the length of the sales cycle surpasses the duration of the marketing sprint—for example, a short, concentrated campaign lasting a few weeks vs. a months-long sales cycle—B2B marketers need to find out how to measure results.

    By tracking lead movement through the funnel and returning real-time data, an Agile marketing stack with measurement tools inside the CRM solves the problem for them. However, it’s worthwhile to do a parallel sprint that is exclusively focused on measurement.

    Cross-functional teams can evaluate campaign data and take action as needed during a measurement sprint to ensure campaigns are fulfilling their objectives.

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    Creating a Single Source of Truth

    Whether running a streamlined martech stack or one that includes dozens of point solutions that create massive amounts of data, it’s critical to set up a single source of truth about data for ultimate success if marketing teams are looking to invest more in B2B martech while increasing their focus on Agile methods.

    Teams can measure campaign impact in a meaningful way when all of the data from the martech stack is located in the CRM. They will generate analytics that make sense to the sales team, and they will be able to make smarter judgments on campaign iterations and investments with their cross-functional teammates.

    When in-person events are reinstated, that data must be integrated as well, and the CRM is the best location to do so alongside digital data. Businesses may maximize B2B martech investment returns by employing the right measuring tools and establishing a single source of truth.

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