Pub. 10 2021 Issue 4

12 J ust in case you stepped away from your computer for a few minutes, marketing technology — or martech — describes the software and technology used to attract and retain customers. There’s been a lot of talk about it, and rightfully so. According to HubSpot’s recent article, “What Marketing Leaders are Investing in This Year,” 60% of marketers indicated that they are set to increase their marketing technology spending in the next 12 months. The reason, of course, is that investments in marketing technology are the solution du jour when it comes to a financial institution’s ability to, as HubSpot puts it, “retain and delight their audiences and react at speed when necessary. And the options are vast. As of 2020, there were 8,000 different martech tools to choose from, ranging from data analytics platforms to CRMs, to internal team collaboration tools.” Now, the need for better data analytics, automated processes and collaboration tools has been around for quite some time. With the changes we’re seeing from COVID-19, and the trend toward virtual officing, that need has increased significantly. The processes, and the personnel, that facilitated the conception and execution of marketing messaging no longer live under one roof. With stakeholders scattered – the usual players such as product development, sales, brand and creative – it’s just no longer possible to simply get together in a conference room and “hammer things out.” By Neal Reynolds, President , BankMarket ingCenter.com Introducing Martech Without the Migraine What’s the solution? Marketing technology. Well, unfortunately, it’s not quite as simple as that. As Laurie Busby pointed out in her Financial Brand article, “Marketing Automation Doesn’t Have to End in Costly Failure,” marketing automation can, unfortunately, end in costly failure. “Some financial institutions are so eager to enter the martech world that they let themselves be sold deluxe software packages and empty promises. Many such teams sign on with tech-giant platforms that charge monstrous upfront costs and require exhaustive training. Months later — sometimes longer — these institutions still won’t have the software up and running. Without the right support, these once enthusiastic folks find themselves stuck wading through massive “bloatware” platforms. No one on their teams has the bandwidth to train new users properly, let alone manage. Worst of all, they find themselves no closer to their goals and can’t demonstrate any ROI to their key stakeholders.” First Interstate, a community bank headquartered in Billings, Montana with more than 150 offices across Idaho, Montana, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington and Wyoming, solved this challenge with a private label portal from BankMarketingCenter.com.