Mike Burton is co-founder and EVP of Strategic Partnerships at Bobora.
When designing your martech stack, the decision to rely on integrated off-the-shelf tools or build your own custom configuration is neither simple nor obvious. The optimal approach may differ even among similarly sized companies in the same industry.
When I meet with brands, I look for the solutions that best fit not only their goals but also their organizations and cultures. The best results come when marketers make informed decisions, and the best way to make them aware is to ask the right questions – and really think about the answers.
Questions to ask when evaluating your options
In our experience, marketing leaders should consider four macro questions when evaluating whether an off-the-shelf solution is the right one or whether it’s better to build their own:
1. What is your trading strategy?
• How central is data to your competitive advantage? Do you need full control over your data or would you be comfortable sharing it with a vendor?
• How complex is your buyer’s journey? What touchpoints do you need to hit to effectively engage your prospects?
2. What skills are already part of your organization?
3. Is data analysis core to your mandate or is it ancillary?
• What kind of data science and analytics skills do you have?
• How important is visibility and measurement internally?
• What role do quantitative, “verifiable” outcomes play in justifying investments—or building cross-functional support and credibility?
• How important is it internally to justify investments or build cross-functional support and credibility?
4. Does your existing tool and partner stack support your strategy?
• How complex is the existing martech/revtech stack?
• Do you have, or could you have, an agency that buys/executes media for you?
• What is your total budget?
• How much are you willing to pay for a company’s overhead?
• Are you willing and able to share your key data with your suppliers and vice versa? Or is this a non-starter for your company?
To give you an example of this framework in action, consider deciding whether to use an account-based marketing (ABM) platform for media activation or a demand-side platform (DSP)—or possibly both.
The extended, custom reach of a DSP
Imagine a huge market filled with custom audiences and a wide variety of channels. This is the world of a DSP. These platforms offer advertisers an extensive inventory across display, audio, connected television (CTV) and digital out-of-home (DOOH). This scope allows for highly targeted campaigns to specific industries, giving you granular control over who sees your ads. Plus, with DSPs, you have more control over media costs and campaign budgets.
However, specific data analytics and metrics may be required to deeply understand the links between your media and the actions of your targeted accounts. You may need third-party data sets to measure which accounts saw your ad and how often. Additionally, integrating campaign results with CRM can be a manual process, creating a “measurement gap.” Your staff’s data proficiency has big implications for how your company feels about that data.
Finally, many DSPs have high minimum spends, making them less accessible for smaller marketing budgets.
The convenience of an ABM platform
ABM platforms are an “out-of-the-box” tool that enables marketing teams at companies of any size and level of sophistication to respond to targeted advertising focused on their key accounts. Within a single platform, marketers can segment accounts, customize creatives and messaging, and execute media. Some platforms easily integrate with enterprise CRMs, boosting real-time insights into campaign performance and enabling quick adjustments.
The downside? ABM platforms do not have the reach of a DSP. Inventory may be limited to display ads. Many ABM platforms have added CTV inventory, but they don’t have access to the breadth and level of premium inventory found in a DSP.
Additionally, ABM campaign fees can be opaque, with a single fixed cost that may not clearly indicate where your budget is going. Additionally, integrating some ABM platforms into your systems can be complex, requiring significant InfoSec and compliance work to maximize benefits.
The CEO of one of our partners often ponders these questions when advising clients. He has highlighted the relevance of ABM platforms for highly targeted campaigns targeting specific audiences, such as Global 2000. However, he has pointed out that ABM platforms may offer higher costs, inflated CPMs and less customization compared to DSPs. For one-to-many campaigns, he suggests going with a DSP.
Using DSPs, advertisers can take advantage of extended reach, allowing access to vast, high-quality, premium inventory. These platforms also offer the ability to improve targeting through third-party B2B data sources, which gives B2B marketers a more comprehensive choice of media, including audio, video, digital and connected TV content.”
Choosing the right platform
Which platform is right for you? The answer depends on your specific marketing goals and resources. Ultimately, all B2B advertisers need to solve three things:
• Data recipes for prioritization: That is, who exactly to call, email and target with paid marketing programs on an annual, quarterly or even weekly basis.
• Orchestrating this data recipe: How will you execute this recipe?
• Measurement
Brands must address these needs through a conscious decision that will allow all three to work together as elegantly as possible. Very often, a company will arrive at a decision with only one or two of these three factors in mind. Lacking the other factor (or two!) leads to waste and frustration.
Ultimately, the best platform depends on your company-specific marketing goals and resources. Carefully consider your budget, target audience, and desired level of customization of your campaign before making your decision.
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