Avoiding the martech implementation headache

Katie Morley

Feb 27, 2023

Katie Morley

Feb 27, 2023

You might have less to spend on marketing technology (martech) this year, or you might be one of the lucky few with a higher martech budget. Either way, once you’ve invested in a new solution, you want it to be as easy as possible to set up and use. Fast, hassle-free implementation is the crucial first step to achieving rapid time to value (TTV). 

This blog briefly summarizes why so many martech implementations fall short, and demonstrates how Insider’s expertise and strategic approach can streamline the process—and remove the headache.

Table of Contents
  1. Martech complexity is a huge challenge

  2. Where most martech implementations fall short

  3. How Insider’s expert approach to implementation solves these challenges

  4. Implementation takes time, but it can be done without the headache

Martech complexity is a huge challenge

When it comes to martech investment, the challenge is not just cost but also complexity. Take the example of retail: Although 66% of retail brands increased their digital marketing spend in 2022, one-in-five retail marketers said their martech didn’t do what they needed it to. Meanwhile, more than 60% of marketers said their martech stack was too complex. 

Fast implementation and integration are essential for optimizing the ROI and TTV of a new martech tool or platform. Brands can’t afford an implementation that takes weeks, much less months. 

“Usually, integration takes months. With Insider, it was less than two weeks.” 

— Robson Privado, Co-Founder and COO of MadeiraMadeira. 

For Robson Privado, Co-Founder and COO of MadeiraMadeira, a quick implementation isn’t just about getting the relevant teams up and running on the platform as soon as possible —it’s about reducing the actual cost of the implementation process, too. 

Integration commonly relies on tech and product teams. “These are very expensive teams,” Robson explains. “When we have an easy integration, it is much more efficient and we have a better ROI.” 

With increasingly strained resources, brands can no longer afford to keep spending money and time on new marketing tools. Not unless they know the solution can deliver ROI quickly and won’t take months to implement. The simpler the integration process, the less wasted resources and time. And that’s a big win for everybody.

Where most martech implementations fall short

Unfortunately, the road to implementation isn’t always smooth. Let’s dive into the most common frustrations brands face when implementing new systems and tools:

  • Lack of transparency and honesty. Any provider that tells you the implementation process is easy is lying. The truth is any platform worth its weight requires time and effort to set up. There’s no magic button to implement an entirely new system, but most providers act like there is in their sales pitch.
  • Lack of planning against strategic goals. This is a common problem with a lot of new martech tools. They look impressive and promise to do all kinds of things for you, but without building your implementation process around your key priorities first, your time to value (TTV) will take much longer. Providers could help by offering strategic planning as part of their implementation process, but many don’t.
  • Lack of support. Let’s be real; no matter how good the process is, your implementation will likely hit a snag at some point. Every implementation presents different challenges, which is why it’s essential for vendors to offer active support to clients throughout the process when things inevitably go wrong. Yet many don’t.
  • Lack of clear guidance for development and tech teams. Implementations can be complicated, involving so many steps that it can be hard for dev teams to keep up. Without clear guidance and alignment on milestones and priorities, your implementation runs the risk of causing everyone a headache, and being pushed behind the dev team’s other business-critical priorities. Which, of course, never end.
  • Too much internal resource is required to get up and running. Again, think of Robson Privado’s comments. Tech, dev, and product teams are expensive resources you simply can’t afford to waste. Not when marketing budgets are under scrutiny and everyone is prioritizing efficiency above all. 
  • Confusing or complicated user interface. You get the new tool up and running, only to find the UI is unintuitive and hard to use. Now you have to spend weeks or months training your team how to use it—and who has time for that?!

There are plenty of things that could—and sometimes do—go wrong during implementation. But this is often the client’s first experience with your brand, so it’s critical to get things off to a good start. And as Paul Philip, Founder and CEO at Amity, says: “A poor onboarding experience is hard to come back from.”

How Insider’s expert approach to implementation solves these challenges

We prioritize simplicity

At Insider, we focus on making implementation as straight-forward as possible for our clients. It’s an ethos we refer to internally as our Zero Frustration Philosophy. And it’s this ethos that many of our partners value most. 

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“Our favorite thing about Insider is the ease of use and integration of their tools. At first, we were hesitant about getting these tools because we did not want to spend a lot of time trying to understand the product and implement them to our existing app. However, the implementation process was very easy and the team supported us at every step.” 

— Product Manager and Insider partner; read the full review.

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“Very fast product with efficient results. We were surprised by how fast and easy the integration process was. Insider’s team was helpful throughout the process and left no question mark in our minds concerning their tools.” 

— Digital marketer at a BFSI brand and Insider partner, read the full review.

We take time to understand what’s most important to you

All good marketers know that the more you understand your customers, the more you can personalize the customer experience. The same is true when we work with our clients. 

We work with each client on their most critical short- and long-term business outcomes, starting with our onboarding kick-off meeting and continuing throughout the implementation process. This way, we’re always focused on delivering value as quickly as possible while looking at how our platform can support your long-term strategy, too. 

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“Great team, efficient processes, instant difference! The team at Insider are great to work with to workshop and build ideas that best suit your business needs. They take the time to understand our brand and really get to know our data to best support decision-making. The process from ideation to implementation is the quickest I have ever experienced with a tech partner, and the service and attention we receive from our CSM is extremely helpful and reliable.” 

— Head of Digital at a retail brand and Insider partner, read the full review

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”The best advantage of their service is responsive technical support and quick implementation.” 

— Analysis and Operation Chief at a retail brand and Insider partner, read the full review.

We provide a step-by-step process aligned with your business goals 

No two customers are the same, so neither are any two implementation processes.

Once we’ve agreed on your business-critical outcomes, our technical team builds a fully personalized integration plan which prioritizes your specific needs rather than following a set pattern. There’s no ‘one size fits all’ approach with us. That way, the tools you need most urgently will be the ones you get access to first. 

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“They go the extra mile to ensure success, and this sets Insider apart from other vendors we have worked with.” 

— eCommerce manager at a global retail brand and Insider partner, read the full review.

To kick off implementation, your IT team receives a step-by-step integration plan from our technical team, who will continue to work alongside your team one-to-one. This ensures a smooth and stress-free process that is always aligned with your business goals.

As part of your step-by-step integration plan, we provide a clear timeline and roadmap so you can let everyone know what to expect and when. We know how important it is to get your new tool up and running as quickly as possible, so we prioritize hitting your key implementation milestones above all else.

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When Insider commits to a timeline, they stick to it and we have achieved the fastest ROI with Insider.” 

—Digital marketing manager at retail brand and Insider partner, read the full review.

We provide best-in-class support throughout implementation

One of our best secret weapons at Insider is our incredible Partner Experience Team, who are always on hand to provide guidance and support during (and after!) implementation.

Not sure if the feature you want is ready to use? We’ll let you know. Need a little training on the best practices for WhatsApp marketing? Our team can provide it. Problems with service disruptions? Or need some tips on how to get the best out of the platform? We got it.

Whatever your questions, our team is here to help. This is especially useful during the implementation and onboarding itself, when all kinds of questions and issues can arise. 

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The [partner] team was very supportive and helped us navigate every scenario with the right strategy during implementation.” 

— Growth Marketing Specialist at a retail brand and Insider partner read the full review

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“We love the ability to discuss new features and ideas we’ve seen across other sites on different platforms, and within a week or two, we are experimenting and testing that experience on our site.” 

— Head of Digital at a retail brand and Insider partner, read the full review

We seamlessly integrate with your existing tech stack

Because fast integration with your existing tools is key to ensuring a rapid TTV, we offer many out-of-the-box integrations to get you up and running in no time at all. 

Our ultra-flexible architecture and open API can sync with CMS, eCommerce systems, advanced analytics solutions, marketing automation platforms, and more without friction,  including: 

Out-of-the-box integrations

Each third-party integration comes with clear and simple guidelines, but if you have any problems you can reach out to our Partner Experience Team. We’re here to make the process as smooth as possible for you.

Why not explore all of our integrations

We make data easy to understand and action

There’s little point in unifying your data if you can’t glean actionable insights from it. Insider’s clean, intuitive and easy to use interface makes it easy for you to analyze customer behavior and uncover areas of opportunity. 

For example, our executive summary dashboard helps you understand the total business impact of all your Insider-powered campaigns across channels in one single, clean view. You can use this dashboard to get high-level metrics on incremental revenue, uplift in conversion rates, and observe the health of your channels individually.

Insider’s executive summary dashboard provides an overview of campaign performance in one easy to understand interface.

Built on a unified data layer, Insider’s platform has been expertly developed to balance ease of use and flexibility for marketers of all scales and maturities.

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“It brings together everything you need under one roof in an easy-to-use interface.” 

— Product Development and Digital Marketing Specialist, read the full review.

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“Insider is one of the most feature-rich marketing tools that we have used. They offer a user-friendly interface that is also technologically advanced, helping us make our dream campaigns come true.”

— Digital Marketing and Search Engine Optimization Specialist, read the full review.

Implementation takes time, but it can be done without the headache

Insider’s expert implementation process stands out in the market for several reasons. From our one-to-one technical support and step-by-step implementation guidelines for your tech and IT team, to our (obsessively!) close alignment with your business goals, we’ve worked hard to ensure our implementation is as stress-free as possible. 

Our years of experience and proactive support are both key to ensuring a rapid time to value, and explain why over 1,200 leading brands have chosen to come aboard with us. Are you ready to join them?

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Katie is an award-winning content marketer with over eight years of experience in content strategy, development, and copywriting. As Global Content Director at Insider, she currently oversees content strategy across 26 regions. Fun fact: Katie read 64 books last year (for which she owes a long commute and two week-long holidays where she spent approximately six hours a day with her nose in a book).