You're evaluating new digital platforms for marketing operations. How do you decide where to invest?

I look for what systems or features will address upstream root causes of many downstream issues. This may or may not always be perceived as the most urgent area of focus. But it is often most impactful in terms of increasing business value, efficiencies, and removing obstacles cross-functionally. If you can make a case that shows cross-functional benefits, you are more likely to get lateral support for this focus, and also for your main project that might have other perceived priorities. Often opportunities along these lines are discoverable by going the extra mile in holistic process analysis and avoiding the feature-fragment and task-myopia when 'MVP' (Minimum Viable Product) REALLY means MEP, Minimally Excusable Productitivity.

Evaluate and select the best suited Digital Platforms basis your market segment and product/service segments-B2B/B2C/D2C. Remember your digital goals are primarily to get more brand visibility and to generate leads,so ensure that you are present at the right place where your Target Audience usually hang out and spend more time on and you are present at the right time when your audience are usually active. Almost all Google and social platforms are free except that you need to add budgets to run campaigns. Integration challenges are only limited to few of the analytics and automation platforms which may not impact your selections. Like you can evaluate email automation costs basis the volumes you intend to target on monthly or annual basis.

There are two things that should always inform your purchasing decisions - your business goals, and your customers. If a tool doesn't serve both of those, it's not something you should be investing in. There are more tools and platforms available than ever before, and it's easy to fall into the "shiny-object" trap. Make sure you understand exactly what you hope to gain from the addition of a new tool, and how to measure the outcome. Goals like "productivity increase" are rarely as beneficially as concrete goals such as "ability to serve 20% more customers." Of course, serving more customers is only beneficial if the customer experience can stay the same or get better at the same time!

Before you start looking for a platform, doing a full marketing operations audit will help you pull requirements together, as well as understanding what systems need to talk together, be replaced or be upgraded. The key to success with any new platform is not to put technology in place in a silo - all platforms should seamless talk together and don't use 8 when 3 will do.

Establish Business Objectives: Choose the objectives you want to accomplish with the new platform. This might be increasing client engagement, generating more leads, optimizing productivity, or obtaining better data. Recognize the Pain Points of Today: Examine the drawbacks and difficulties with your existing systems. Determine what is lacking, ineffective, and needs to be improved. Describe the Particular Needs: Make a list of the functions and features you require. Think about features like content management, social media management, analytics, automation, CRM connection, and personalization.

In the current digital landscape, there are two main features to think about when evaluating a new tool: 1) Will this tool/platform provide new data or automate actions that tools you already have can't? 2) Will this tool easily integrate with the rest of the tech stack? The future of marketing operations (and broader revenue operations) is about composability. If a new tool doesn't add specific value and/or if it can't play nicely with the rest of the stack, it doesn't belong.

Imagine your marketing toolbox. It's got the essentials – a hammer for driving brand awareness, a screwdriver for tightening up lead nurturing, and a whole lot of duct tape for those unexpected campaign fixes. But what if you needed to build a whole new house? That toolbox wouldn't cut it. The same goes for marketing platforms. Picking the right one is like choosing the perfect toolbox for your specific needs. Don't get bogged down by fancy features you'll never use. If you're a content king, focus on platforms with a CMS that lets you build a content castle. Data whizzes? Sharp analytics and reporting are your knight in shining armor.

I would also add, does the tool have the capability to scale. As the organization grows, it is necessary to believe your stack can handle for new challenges and achieve new goals.

Think of UX as the secret sauce that makes a platform feel less like work and more like a natural extension of yourself. Imagine this: you need to learn a new program at work, but instead of staring at a mountain of manuals, you can jump right in and start getting things done. That's the magic of a great UX. It should be like putting on a comfortable pair of shoes – familiar, intuitive, and ready to take you wherever you need to go. So, ditch the platforms that feel like trying to untangle a ball of yarn – your time and sanity are too precious for that! Focus on finding one that lets you navigate with ease, find the features you need in a flash, and even bend it a little to fit your own way of working.

I truly believe that the integration scope is the most crucial before finalising on a particular tool as it will be the backbone of a smoothly functioning output. Not considering this leads to frustration for all teams. It goes without saying that the cost may not justify the output and the man hours behind a poorly considered decision.

Look for platforms with robust customer support and comprehensive training resources. Accessible support ensures smooth adoption and troubleshooting.