Martech, explained · Managing your stack · 2:11
Martech stack audit: how to run one
Five steps that turn a list of tools into keep, look closer or remove
The short answer
A martech stack audit runs in five steps: an inventory from a year of invoices, with owners and notice periods; a map of which tool sends data to which; a comparison by capability, not category; a price range on each overlap; and the checks only people can make. Then keep, look closer or remove, tool by tool.
Questions this answers
Why isn't a spreadsheet of tools and prices enough?
It shows what you pay for, not what you pay for twice. A list cannot show that one sync feeds six tools, that nobody owns it, or that two tools with different labels do the same thing.
Where should the inventory come from?
A year of invoices, not memory. Every line is a tool somebody pays for. For each one, note who owns it, what it costs, when it renews and the notice period.
Why compare capabilities instead of categories?
Two tools with different labels can do the same thing: an email platform and a CDP may both build segments. Overlap also has a direction, since one tool can cover most of another while the other covers only a little of it, and some pairs only look alike: a tag manager feeding a CDP is a handoff, not a duplicate.
How do you put a price on an overlap?
Give a range, from the cautious number to the hopeful one. A single figure starts an argument; a range starts a plan.
What can an audit tool not check for you?
Who actually logs in, what the contract lets you cancel and by when, and whether an opt-out reaches every tool that holds a copy of the data. Those need people. Then decide tool by tool, keep both where that is right and you know what it costs, and run the audit again next quarter.
Transcript
Every chapter as text. Click a time to play the film from there.
0:00 Why a spreadsheet isn't enough
Most martech stack audits start in a spreadsheet: tool names, prices, renewal dates.
That shows what you pay for. It doesn't show what you're paying for twice.
Here's how to run a martech stack audit in five steps.
0:17 1. The inventory
Step one: the inventory.
Start from a year of invoices, not from memory. Every line is a tool somebody pays for.
For each one, note who owns it, what it costs, and when it renews, including the notice period.
0:35 2. Draw how the tools connect
Step two: draw how the tools connect.
Which tool sends data to which, and how often.
A list can't show you that one sync feeds six tools, or that nobody owns it.
0:49 3. Compare capabilities, not categories
Step three: compare capabilities, not categories.
Two tools with different labels can do the same thing. Your email platform and your CDP may both build segments.
Overlap has a direction, too. One tool can cover most of another, while the other covers only a little of it.
And some pairs only look alike. A tag manager feeds your CDP. That's a handoff, not a duplicate.
1:17 4. Price each overlap
Step four: put a price on each overlap.
Give a range, from the cautious number to the hopeful one. A single figure starts an argument. A range starts a plan.
1:31 5. What only people can check
Step five: check what only people can check.
Who actually logs in. What the contract lets you cancel, and by when. And whether an opt-out reaches every tool that holds a copy of the data.
1:46 Keep, look closer, or remove
Then decide, tool by tool: keep it, look closer, or remove it.
Sometimes keeping both is the right answer, as long as you know what it costs.
And run the audit again next quarter, because by then the stack will have changed.
Run a free instant audit at Martech Stack Builder, or build your own stack there.
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The articles this film is drawn from.