When it comes to brand experiences, you’re not just up against your competitors. You’re being judged against the best in the business. And these days, customers expect brand engagements to be relevant, timely and personalized – as standard.
So, unless you’re doing what the customer experience winners do, you’re always going to be in second place.
It’s well understood that martech holds the key. These automation tools are the only way you can use your customer data to provide outstanding customer experiences at the scale you need.
The problem is, integrating and optimizing complex martech systems is often beyond the capabilities of a brand’s in-house teams. That means simply investing in these technologies doesn’t create the value that was promised. This is why many brands look for expert guidance in the form of external martech services partners.
The partner advantage
With the right partner onboarded at the right time, brands can get more value quickly from their marketing investment. They can make sure platforms are deployed, integrated, and optimized to deliver against business objectives. This begs the crucial question: when is the right time to engage a martech service partner?
We recently surveyed business decision-makers across the U.S. and the U.K. about their relationships with martech service partners. You can see the results for yourself here.
The study showed that over 60% of businesses brought in a service partner either at the implementation stage (36%) or shortly after realizing they needed help (27%). This latter figure rises to 34% for smaller businesses – a likely reflection of budget constraints driving attempts to embed technology without outside support.
But what do the brands who best deliver on their promises do? It turns out the optimum time for calling in reinforcements may well be much earlier. Here’s why.