Email systems are the most effective types of martech being used by brands, according to Marketing Technology Utilization, a study published on Monday by Ascend2.
Of the marketers polled, 53% rate marketing automation/email/CRM systems as effective, making them the leader. Only 27% say they are difficult to implement.
In contrast, 43% report that marketing data/dashboard/analytics are effective. And 39% feel they are difficult.
Optimization, personalization and testing technologies are seen as effective by 35%, and 50% believe they are difficult.
There’s no question that martech budgets are going up to some extent: 63% plan to moderately increase their budgets, and 26% plan to significantly add to them. In comparison, 11% will decrease their spending, and 3% plan to increase them significantly.
The study also shows that firms will add to their martech stacks quarterly, 28% monthly, 22% semi-annually and 12% annually or more.
Companies turn to martech to achieve the following goals:
But they face several critical challenges:
Of the firms represented, 43% rate themselves as successful or best-in-class, and 52% rate themselves as somewhat successful. Only 5% say they are unsuccessful.
Ascend 2 and its Research Partners surveyed 245 marketing influencers. Of those, 24% work at companies with more than 500 employees, 34% in firms with 50 to 500 staffers and 42% with fewer than 50. The sample was split between B2B (40%) B2C (41'% and B2B and B2C equally.