How to Optimise Your Tech Stack

Goal-driven businesses know that tech integration is essential when scaling and optimising processes to support growth and service customers more efficiently. In fact, these elements are rolled into the definition of what a tech stack is — a group of technology-based tools used by businesses to optimise the customer's experience and maximise sales and marketing performance. 

Nice-to-haves, must-haves, and sneaky duplicates: Is your tech stack expertly managed?

A 2020 report from Blissfully shows that app usage across companies of all sizes has increased by 30%, and so too has the number of apps being used –– also by 30%. But abundance often also results in excess –– in some companies, duplicate subscriptions have jumped by 80%.

While the implementation of SaaS is hugely positive for business, the above figures show that many companies are overwhelmed by their technology and unsure how to effectively manage and optimise it. 

At a critical time for budget makers, controlling your resources and getting maximum output from your investment is essential. That's why tech stack optimisation should be a key business priority. 

The big takeaway for marketing and sales departments is that your tech stack should work hard to support your inbound strategy. If you suspect that things could be improved, we're on hand to help. The BEE team can evaluate your tech stack and suggest more effective solutions or integrations.

Top 5 reasons to optimise your tech stack

Tech stack audits can be hugely beneficial to your organisation for these four reasons:

1. Employees will gain time back. 
2. Your business can save money on unnecessary apps. 
3. Maintain the integrity of your data. 
4. Consolidate apps that perform similar functions. 
5. Keep your business secure. 

Having a system that ensures your technology is always serving the best interests of your business will help to keep you on track towards your goals.

Getting started with a tech stack audit

Auditing your tech stack regularly helps you keep on top of any bloat that may be accumulating. For example, if your business is on a roll with new projects, it's likely that your team is also adding new tools to help them fulfil any unique requests or simply to work better — this is particularly true for dynamic industries where speed and high levels of productivity are critical. 

But who's checking whether those add-on apps are still necessary once the project is complete? A tech stack audit will help you keep on top of these issues.

Step 1: Get a big-picture overview

There are a few initial questions you can ask to start understanding how various tools support (or don't support) your teams' activities. As you answer each question, make a list of the tools that address the related objectives.

1. How does your company reach its target audience?
2. How do you track interactions with your content?
3. Do you use several analytics platforms to measure success?
4. What tools do you use for email marketing and sales activities?
5. How do you track your customers' journey across different channels?

Step 2: Drill down to the core purpose each tool serves in your business

Once you've made a list of all the apps you currently use to meet your business objectives, it's time to review that information in depth. Here are some more questions you'll need to ask:

1. ho in the business uses this app?
2. When does the app/tool get used — at what stage in the business process?
3. Which features get the most use?
4. Does this app track metrics, and where is that data stored and reported?

Step 3: Identify the teams and processes that use specific tools and apps

Once you've completed steps one and two, it's time to look at which teams and processes are most affected and reliant upon these tech stack tools. This will help you verify whether these solutions still deliver value to your business and how changing or removing them may impact key functions.

1. Which team/teams most frequently use this tool?
2. Which process would be affected if the tool was removed?
3. Do competitors offer similar tools with the same functionality, and what is the cost?
4. When does your contract/subscription for the tool expire?
5. Are there any notable complications with a migration to another app, and how long would it take?
6. Could this tool offer better reporting and analytics features?
7. Is this tool easy to use?

The purpose of asking all of these questions is to evaluate whether each tool or application provides the performance and functionality required to justify its cost to your business. You'll likely discover that many tools can be eliminated in favour of more robust, multi-purpose software.

Consolidating your marketing tech stack

After completing your tech stack audit, certain opportunities and weaknesses will be highlighted. For one, you may notice that some applications are creating difficult-to-manage data silos, others are hindering visibility and may also be an unnecessary cost to your business.

Striving for simplicity should be your motto. Multiple tools will require more effort to manage and implement; that's why consolidating your tools where possible is a critical step.

Ideally, your marketing tech stack should cover these core mission-critical functions:

• Marketing automation
• Dashboards and reporting
• Email marketing
• CRM system
• SEO tools
• CMS

If you have multiple tools fulfilling these functions, it's time to consider a platform that makes all of these tools available in one place. Another essential thing to look out for is how easily this platform integrates with other applications your business may rely on.

By centralising key marketing activities into one multi-purpose tool, you will be able to streamline almost everything in your marketing process, including onboarding and training of new employees.

Could HubSpot be the right solution for you?

HubSpot is a highly sophisticated tool that combines many essential functionalities across sales, marketing, customer service and operations management into one easy-to-use platform that scales with the needs of your business.

As a Saas product, HubSpot allows you to pay for the things you need and easily upgrade to other plans as your business grows and requires access to more features. Migration of data from previously used systems is straightforward, allowing you to hit the ground running fairly quickly after the technical onboarding element is complete.

BEE can offer you more support and guidance on HubSpot's hubs and features –– why not start a conversation with us today? Discover how we can help you implement your ideal HubSpot configuration in your organisation. Or, if you're already a HubSpot user, get the most out of your HubSpot investment.