There is a whole lot of marketing technology in the market place. It would not be surprising to find that you are overwhelmed and over extended by it all.

What are your marketing technology goals? Do you have strategies that support the goals? Are your people capable of implementing the strategy or are they overwhelmed by it all as well?

It is time to be holistic and to stop chasing the holy grail of shiny new objects.

So … what should we do?

1. Start with clear business goals and then agree on the strategies to reach the goals.
2. Audit and assess your existing technology.
3. Create a road map and plan out your marketing technology strategy.
4. Define the metrics for real results and implement your plan.
5. Remain agile and make course corrections regularly.

During a recent onsite visit in San Francisco, I asked the CMO for a major tech company how many separate marketing technologies her company was using to generate results.

The executive’s response: “I’m not sure.” She checked with some of her staffers, who began ticking off one random solution after another. The end result: no one knew for sure.

The CMO and her team are likely not alone, given the tidal wave of new marketing technology over the last decade. Depending on whom you ask, there are anywhere from 1,000 to 3,000 digital solutions currently on the market — everything from marketing automation and retargeting to analytics and testing and personalization.

The executive’s honest answer — and the reaction of her team — raises an interesting question: have we become so inundated with technology, and applied it in such haphazard fashion, that we can no longer keep track of it?

via Why You Need A Marketing Technology Strategy.