Building your marketing tech stack

Does your credit union want an all-in-one marketing solution, such as HubSpot, which can coordinate web, email and customer relationship management efforts as well as providing marketing automation? Or do you need to bridge the technology you already have? Salesforce, for example, provides the CRM and marketing automation; Marketo supplies the marketing automation only, and Adobe Campaign and Sitecore manage content and campaigns. All have strengths and are reputable, vetted products, says James Robert Lay, founder and president of CUES supplier member Digital Growth Institute, Houston. Lay will be a lead instructor at the CUES School of Strategic Marketing™ I and II this July.

An all-in-one product is a popular choice for smaller or mid-sized CUs, he adds. “Most are perfectly capable when used correctly and to capacity,” says Lay, noting that few CUs need to employ an enterprise solution such as the Oracle, Salesforce or Adobe marketing cloud platforms, which can be complex and often include more tools and features than can truly be utilized.

Lay sees larger CUs blending technologies through application program interfaces, which allow two technologies to communicate. “HubSpot, for example, can integrate with third-party vendors or directly into the core.” But if you’re unsure, Lay advises finding a third-party who can assist with the technology research and implementation.

 

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