Finding the right tools and technology to power your company and/or your client’s business is one of the most onerous and complicated tasks affecting a marketer.
The reason is, simply put, there is more competition out there for your patronage and marketing dollars than ever before.
The decreasing cost of launching a business, the allure of a high b-2-b valuation and exit, and the increase in companies launching MVPs and lean startups all coalesce into a glutted market place where some products may look shiny but are not ready for prime time. And those that are ready may very well be obscured by all of the noise.
That is compounded by the launch of a new social network seemingly every month that will focus so monomaniacally on customer growth that third-party services launch to focus on business needs. Some survive, some are acquired, and others fade away before they even hold their first webinar.
The good news: there are a lot of a great products out there that solve real business problems.
The bad news: a brand-new business problem has arisen; it now feels like a full-time job to keep on top of all the changes in the marketing technology marketplace.
The shiny-next-thing syndrome is a mere annoyance if it’s just you constantly upgrading your espresso machine or having to buy a new phone every two years. It is entirely different when it involves relearning and retraining, and having hard conversations with your boss or your clients about the inadequacies of your existing system (or to tell them that the service you championed just got acqui-hired and will be shutting down within the week).
It’s not easy when representatives from these companies are tempted to shoehorn themselves into every use case, regardless of what are their real strengths and weaknesses.
Our goal here at The Hub is to help you make the best decisions you can for your business and your clients. We won’t lie – there is no silver bullet that can tell you exactly what is right for your business. But our goal with The Hub is simple: to keep you up-to-date with the industry and company news affecting your marketing technology decisions and to give you in-depth profiles and unvarnished reviews about the most important services out there.
Much like the industry we cover, we will be rolling out features in the upcoming months that make the process easier. But do let us know your thoughts either the comments below or on Twitter @thehubcomms, or e-mail. We look forward to an open dialogue with our readers and will keep you abreast of all of our improvements.
