Today technology is moving at lightning speed, and sometimes it introduces new terms that one might not have heard of before. One such term is MadTech, for many might confuse it with AdTech.
AdTech is a more familiar term; however, for many, MadTech may instead draw a blank – MadTech is used to describe the “meeting” or the bridging between online marketing technologies and advertising technologies – hence the term MadTech.
The credit for the term goes to marketer consultant David Raab, who introduced the word to the world in 2015. In a Twitter post, he shared a MadTech chart, remarking that it united marketing and advertising technology.
The need for MadTech
In the earlier stage, before the term was introduced, Marketing and Advertising Businesses operated parallelly. Yet, their existence was in separate categories, so to speak, and each offered its own set of exclusive tools and results.
So what does MadTech do? It brings in sync the bespoke, individual reach of MarTech along with the massive data pools of AdTech; hence it gives a unique perspective of both put together.
However, as the business got competitive, there was a need to come up with something extra, as even a fully cohesive MarTech stack is not enough to bring a reliable customer experience.
At the same time, Advertising too plays a vital role in customers’ brand experience. Additionally, advertising has, in the present, become both further bespoke and interactive. Moreover, in the minds of consumers, there is no difference between either advertising or marketing interactions; both seem similar to a consumer, and there should be no distinction in the minds of marketers.
Solution – MadTech
In order to achieve the above objective, MadTech is the optimal solution. It assists companies in providing a combined, constant and a more personalized experience across essential touchpoints.
MadTech smoothly synergizes marketing and advertising; companies can take advantage of this tech for optimal resource usage and efficiency.
As technology advances, A.I. has also stepped in to ensure the extra punch – an A.I. – based technology makes any and all processes faster and, at the same time, ensures that the methods also keep evolving.
At the same time, content production becomes much more accessible. It is easy to deliver the content through targeted yet personalized content/messages at the right platform and at the right time.
Definition Of MadTech
MadTech is the confluence of Marketing, Advertising and Technology. It’s possibly the most vital space in business right now because the successful deployment of the right tools and strategies can smash your competition and disrupt a whole marketplace.
Thanks to technology, big brands have warehouses filled with data – demographic and geographic information, order history, buying preferences, and even product research and purchase intent.
When this data is combined, marketers can form a much richer picture of the audiences to target – what offers would be most relevant to them, when they are most likely to buy, and the optimal combination of marketing tactics required for success.
Technology never stands still. It’s gobbling up traditional media. YouTube today has over 1 billion active users. In the U.S., it reaches more adults than any cable network. For many, YouTube is television, but it’s non-linear and so offers more viewing than a whole country could watch in a lifetime. Last Year, brands virtually doubled the amount of money spent on online video – the bulk of which was bought programmatically.
In other words, they are using algorithms and ‘bots’ to target audiences with much more precision than by buying spots on broadcast television.
Why is MadTech relevant?
MadTech is relevant today as technology is rapidly advancing, and effective online marketing and advertising innovations have come by. Thanks to technology, notable brands have massive amounts of stored data which allows them to form a much better picture of the audiences to keep in mind– which offers would be most attractive when customers are most likely to purchase and the best combination of marketing tactics that may be needed for success.
MadTech marketers are already creating systems to provide a unique and hyper-personalized experience at the right time and in the proper context for every customer. Even new technologies such as machine learning and artificial intelligence are enabling us to step ahead and predict what customers may want to buy before they may even have decided to do so.
- According to statistics – 35% of firms at present have adopted bridging MarTech and AdTech.
- Most firms are in the planning stage for MadTech.
- While only 7% haven’t planned for MadTech yet.
With the rise of investing in both technology and automation, companies will have to transition from a more traditional approach to a more digital one; hence, MadTech will be the new approach. Accordingly, technology is a priority for 26% of marketing managers, and companies will therefore invest more in training on the platforms and tools that bring together marketing, advertising and technology.
Why Should Business use MadTech?
Over the years, businesses have reached to operate in multiple geographies, and the complexities both for brands and companies have grown manifold during these times. Today the best way to get any option is to have contact with potential customers/buyers directly. Hence almost all prefer to have a direct chat option.
A new kind of customer engagement
A recent survey by Deloitte uncovered that video-streaming services, such as Netflix, are now used by more than 42% of American households, overtaking live television as the viewing method of choice. If you’re a millennial (born after 1980), the chances are you now watch more T.V. shows (not just YouTube) on a mobile device than on an old-school television. 57% of all millennials’ viewing is confined to the small screen.
While you’re out and about, a slew of proximity and geolocation technologies (BLE, NFC, RFID) and mobile/smartphone advances mean it’s increasingly easy to track your activity in the physical world. Where you go, what you do, and who you do it with. By overlaying this data on your social media history, personal preferences and buying history, it’s possible to build a behavioural profile of staggering granularity.
MadTech marketers are already building systems to automate customer engagements derived from this kind of insight. They’re serving up unique experiences and hyper-personalization at the right time and in the proper context for every customer.
Today Machine learning and artificial intelligence are helping you go further still and predict what you might want to buy before you’ve even decided to go shopping.
As in human partnerships, successful brands of the future will ‘converse’ with us at moments that matter using a rich repertoire of emotions. This new, caring relationship means that brands will belong to their customers, not the other way around. But the relationships will be crafted, nurtured and valued thanks to the innovation and ingenuity we refer to as MadTech. It’s here to stay.
Top 10 MadTech companies in India – FY23
1. Konnect Insights – is a social listening and analytics platform. It provides all-in-one offers all in one tools for Listening + Analytics + Social CRM + Publishing.
It is easy to use and provides excellent coverage from 100s of millions of sources. It offers beautiful dashboards, and real-time data are some of the critical strengths of Konnect Insights. Since tons of data are captured, its Konnect Insights, built on big-data technology, ensures no data is missed.
Features –
Create a Search Query
Geo-Targeting
Workflow Definitions
Team Performance Evaluation
Online Reputation Management
User/Enthusiast Community
Customer Profile Creation and Management
Social CRM
Real-Time Dashboard
Social Media Scheduling and Publishing
Social Analytics
2. LeadSquared – is a marketing automation platform that also provides sales Customer Relationship Management (CRM) services. LeadSquared was founded in 2012, and this organization has its headquarters in India. In the starting, LeadSquared started as a marketing automation tool. But gradually, as the people working behind LeadSquared began to add more features to make the entire platform more innovative and efficient, this platform has become much more than it initially was.
Features-
Marketing Automation
Marketing Analytics
Lead Management
Drip Marketing
Email Marketing
Landing Pages
Lead Scoring
Website Tracking
List Segmentation
Integrations
Drag-and-Drop Builder
Website Widgets
Personalization
3. WebEngage – is a customer data platform and marketing automation suite. It makes user engagement and retention streamlined and highly efficient for consumer tech enterprises and SMBs. The platform enables brands to drive more earnings from their existing customers as well as anonymous users through highly contextual, hyper-personalized engagement campaigns across ten communication channels.
Features –
Dynamic personalization
Segmentation
Cross-Channel Engagement
Push Notifications
In-App Message
Web Message
SMS Message
Web Push
Journey Designer
4.CleverTap – a mobile marketing solution that allows marketers to create differentiated customer engagement processes at scale. The platform offers features such as flows, pivots, A/B testing, user segmentation, funnels, marketing cross-channel tools and more.
CleverTap contains visitor user profiles that present the whole demographic data, event interactions, responses, usage history, and usage activity. Marketers can compare user behaviour and also analyze how users move through the sales funnel. App uninstalls can also be analyzed to personalize win-back campaigns. CleverTap can send messages through multiple engagement channels, including push, in-app, SMS and email.
Features –
Audience Analytics
Automated Segmentation
Omnichannel Engagement
Campaign Optimization
Data Privacy and Security
Customer Data Platform
5. Simplify360 – Simplify360 is one of the leading social customer service platforms. The company has a physical presence in India and U.S. and has partners in APAC. The product is sold in over 100 countries directly or through partners. Simplify360 provides integrated enterprise solutions; their latest offerings are Social CRM and Social Media Command Center. Simplify360 Social CRM enables customer support teams to serve their customers across social media. It offers a balanced view of customer engagement across social media and a 360-degree view of customers through deep integration with Enterprise CRM.
Features –
· Content Management System
· Social Media Integration
· Analytics
· Social Media Monitoring
· Automated Publishing
· Brand Tracking
· Posts Scheduling
6. Netcore – Formally known as Netcore Smartech, Netcore Cloud’s Customer Engagement & Experience platform is a one-stop growth platform for marketers and product and growth managers. It helps them to drive powerful customer experiences and conversations across multiple touchpoints – emails, push notifications, web messages, web push, WhatsApp and in-app communications like nudges & walkthroughs.
Features –
Analytics / ROI tracking
360-degree customer profile
Customer journey mapping
Multi-channel campaigns
Subject line/notification title optimization
7. Zoho Marketing Suite – MarketHub is an all-in-one marketing automation software that gives brands a complete overview of their marketing activities before and after-sales. Part of Zoho One Zoho MarketingHub is a part of Zoho One and is the brand’s integrated business platform.
The Salesforce One marketing platform offers marketing teams all the necessary tools to build on the company’s presence, send the right messages, and also maximize their marketing budgets. Adding to building and optimizing websites and engaging prospects through channels helps automate marketing processes and boost ROI; Zoho One offers a variety of tools.
Features –
Insights & Reports
Sales Performance Gamification
Remote Troubleshooting
Expense Tracking & Reports
Billing & Invoicing
Social Media Tools
8. Freshmarketer Software – Fresh Market is a full-featured marketing automation solution for fast-paced marketing teams. Organizations can engage users in an intelligent manner throughout the customer lifecycle, both from pre-acquisition to post-acquisition.
A marketer can use Freshmarketer to execute lifecycle campaigns and build nurturing workflows. Also, to understand user behaviour as well as to personalize their content at scale.
Features –
Heatmaps
Session Replay
A/B Testing
Split Testing
Form Analytics
Funnel Analytics
Polls and Feedback
9. Scatter
A marketing solution built for enterprises. By organizing the content creation process, this platform improves the efficiency of digital marketing teams. It helps in content opportunities and an intelligent strategy for creating and distributing their content across various channels focusing on Scatter’s work with multiple brands.
10. Agile CRM – A global sales, marketing, and service automation suite, Agile CRM provides businesses with complete sales, marketing, and service automation capabilities.
With over 15,000 customers who rely on the platform to generate & nurture leads. To close deals and provide customer support the world over. Small and medium businesses can manage all steps of a customer journey using Agile CRM. Agile CRM can automate all aspects of the customer’s journey, from sales to marketing to support.
Features –
Conversion optimization tools
Auto-responders
Calendar management
Calendar sync with Google
Call recording
Campaign planning
Computer telephony
Skills required in MadTech
For all businesses, understanding people remains essential. Because of customer-centric marketing, listening to customers and knowing their requirements has become the most vital skill marketers need today. Customer behaviour patterns, principles of psychology, empathy, active listening, and research methods are some of the required skills and knowledge to understand how people make choices, think about brands, and influence.
Read, and analyze data to enable intelligent decisions. To Make sense of MadTech stats with data and insights, only the first one is available today. A massive majority of marketers and advertising professionals report that finding workable insights in the data is a pressure point. Hence, tracking and measuring brand and advertising effectiveness are now highly required skills to make intelligent decisions about future marketing actions.
As per estimates, at least 75% of recruiters today struggle to find candidates with MadTech knowledge or specialization on the market.
Hence this can be seen as a mismatch in the markets. Recruiters cannot find suitable candidates, students, or professionals.
On the other hand, they lack the critical skills and knowledge required to enter the MadTech world.
Why should you learn MadTech?
Year after Year, the job market demand for technology experts is growing. The overall spending on technology is set to accelerate above 50% – from 2015 to 2030.
For all those passionate students and candidates about tech and its implementation in all aspects of our lives, this could help create 20 – 50 million jobs globally by 2030.
In fact, agency influencers, as well as marketers, are highly positive regarding the role of technology in their business today.
In one of the studies done by Ipsos Connected in 2016, at least 66% of agency professionals and brand marketers said that technology made it much easier to reach out to their audience, and almost 55% stated technology is excellent for improving on the customer experience.
Today, the marketing and advertising world needs professionals who have digital-oriented skills and knowledge. As a result, the fast growth of technology implementation offers more job opportunities daily.
The trend of MadTech is to continue in 2021, with 60% of marketing leaders anticipating expanding marketing technology spending in the coming years.
Edited by Prakriti Arora
