Have you ever taken a look at the usage data and metrics in your recently rolled out MarTech solution and realized that your shiny new tool isn’t being used? And, if people aren’t using it, why did you just go through a six-month implementation, integration, and user roll-out?
Many companies are adopting new technologies to address the changes in work and buying cycles. A Gartner study, however, revealed that marketers only use 58 percent of their MarTech stack’s full capabilities. Since marketing leaders spend just over a quarter or their budget on MarTech, this doesn’t seem like an acceptable return on investment.
Whether it’s a brand-new point solution or a migration, analyzing engagement is critical in order to assess whether your system is benefiting your user community (and, as a result, your business). Are they using the features you’d expect? How frequently do they use the technology? Are there any issues you’re hearing from them? Have you asked?
While it’s easy to blame poor engagement on software features or usability, successful adoption starts at the onset of needs identification — before you ever even begin to evaluate different product features and capabilities.
I’ve talked about things you can do to help counteract low user adoption after the fact, but it’s always best when you can get it right from the very beginning. To ensure a successful implementation from the onset, follow these five tips and watch your new MarTech solution become an invaluable part of your business:
1. Procure the appropriate tool for your business needs.
This sounds easy enough, but so many marketers get it wrong — and pay the price for the next three to five years. You can’t just purchase a MarTech solution and call it a day. Different tools have different capabilities, workflows, and the ability to scale with your organization. Before you do anything else, understand your users’ needs and what they are hoping to achieve with a new solution. What business or technology challenges are you hoping to solve? Also, when you’re assessing your options, consider each vendor’s history and solution roadmap. You want to ensure you partner with a technology provider that is going to be around in five years and will continue to invest in their (i.e. your) product.
2. Involve stakeholders early.
Both user and management buy-in are critical to success. Your project won’t get off the ground without executive support, and your intended end users won’t use the new product if their own leadership doesn’t see any value in it. Don’t wait until you’ve chosen the solution to involve the people who will actually be using it. Establish your core and extended stakeholder team early. Determine who needs to be involved in the decision-making or approval process and who simply needs to be updated as the project progresses.
3. Create effective change management and communication plans.
Create a consistent communication plan with all of your stakeholders about the expected outcomes, the improvements to their daily work, and the plan for release and transition. Ensure there is enough time for your users to not only process the changes, but also accept the changes to their current routine. Keep in mind that research shows that people forget about 70% of new information within 24 hours, so it’s crucial to consider the timing and frequency of your communication.
4. Promote the tool from the top down, prioritizing its usage.
Find champions at multiple levels of the organization and involve them in your communication plan. When end users receive an email from senior management explaining how this new technology is going to support the bigger strategy, they’re more likely to get on board from the very beginning. When they receive an email from their manager supporting the new direction, they’re more likely to use it. Yes, you’ll still be sending the majority of the communications, but the ones that come from leadership will really grab your key stakeholders’ attention. Also, consider capturing and reporting engagement metrics — and let everyone know you’ll be sharing them with the larger team after roll-out.
5. Train, monitor, and iterate.
If your new solution replaces an existing one, training must include how users will perform their tasks differently in the new system. With a net-new solution, focusing on integrations into current workstream should be a priority. Start with basic training on the tasks performed most frequently, then offer regular injections for additional, less common functions. Check in with your champions; they likely have some top tips and tricks to share. Monitor usage and perform surveys to gather input. Iterate on training or functional “highlights” and deliver information in multiple ways (including virtual, if not face to face) to accommodate different learning preferences.
Don’t forget your users
If you don’t take steps to bring your users with you on the first part of the journey, even the best MarTech tool can turn into shelfware. Following these five tips will help you increase software adoption and engagement, which will in turn support your marketing and business objectives.
Need a hand? We’ve helped hundreds of clients successfully implement, integrate, and roll-out new MarTech solutions. In addition to solution deployment, our MarTech Services team can help you optimize your integrations, including those between CRM and marketing automation systems (Eloqua, Marketo, Pardot, HubSpot, Salesforce), as well as MarTech apps, APIs, Webhooks, and more.
Let us know how we can help your team’s next big project be successful.
As a Senior Client Engagement Manager, Linnea Alvord helps clients meet their strategic objectives through the use of marketing technology and services. Linnea’s passion for client success has been honed over 20+ years in technology consulting and marketing. She believes that marketing and sales alignment is possible and wants to help all of her clients become marketing superheroes.
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