MDG Solutions

3 essential marketing technology stack in 2026

Article Highlights

  1. An effective CRM should have built-in marketing automations, customization across fields and workflows, and robust reporting capabilities.
  2. Your website is still your most important digital asset. 
  3. Business intelligence tools are some of the most important in the entire martech stack because they provide one place to view marketing ROI, engaging stakeholders and encouraging continued marketing investment.
  4. AI is a tool, not a replacement for team members, so use it wisely and make sure the output is correct and reflects your brand voice and values. 
  5. The overall goal in martech is to ensure that you use the tools you have, they work together seamlessly, and they make your marketing more effective.

Does it feel like you have a million marketing technology tools? Are you using them all effectively? Do you constantly feel like you need to incorporate new tools? If that sounds familiar, you’re not alone. The marketing technology market is booming, with over 14,000 marketing-specific tools available today. This year, let’s agree to move away from “we need a tool for everything” to “less is more,” where an integrated, intentional martech stack can drive real results and make your team’s work lives easier and more fun! 

What is a marketing stack?

A technology stack is just a way to describe all the tools your organization is using at different parts of the customer journey. A marketing stack is a collection of tools specific to marketing, and may not always include finance or sales tools, depending on the overlap with marketing responsibilities. 

What is the best way to build a martech stack?

There are a few ways to build out an efficient marketing tech stack, and one which we prefer is to create layers. The layers can be changed to be more relevant to your organization, but we’re going to highlight the following: core marketing infrastructure, content creation and management, analytics and reporting, and execution. 

Core marketing infrastructure tools

These are the non-negotiable tools that every marketing team should have access to at a minimum as they allow you to manage customer data, web presence, and customer communication. 

  • CRM: What role can a CRM play in an effective martech stack, you ask? The CRM acts as the single source of truth for lead and client data! This is the tool that will connect to all other tools and give you invaluable insights into the customer journey and effectiveness of campaigns. An effective CRM should have built-in marketing automations, customization across fields and workflows, and robust reporting capabilities. The heavyweights in the market are HubSpot and Salesforce, but it might make more sense for e-commerce brands to use different products, such as Klaviyo, Shopify, or ActiveCampaign. 
  • Website: Your website, believe it or not, is still your most important digital asset. Traditional CMS like WordPress, Webflow, and Squarespace still serve many organizations well, especially when you need a single website and want integrated design, content, and publishing capabilities. For those looking for more robust systems, platforms like Contentful, Sanity, and Strapi allow for publishing content across a variety of channels. 
  • Customer Data Platform: Since we’ve said goodbye to cookies, customer data platforms have become much more popular as a way to build comprehensive customer profiles, incorporating data from multiple sources. Some CRMs will feature this functionality (Hello, Salesforce) already, and some teams prefer to keep it separate with tools like Pipedrive, Bloomreach, Insider One, and more. 

Content creation and management 

Content exists at the center of marketing, making everything possible. These tools are necessary for creating, organizing, and distributing content. 

    • Social media management: Most brands use multiple social channels to reach their audiences, and managing those channels without an efficient tool can be cumbersome and inefficient. Social media management tools allow teams to create, approve, schedule, and post content to social media, and monitor and engage with their community. Hootsuite and Sprout Social dominate the enterprise market, while Buffer appeals to smaller teams. Later specializes in influencer marketing for visual-first platforms like Instagram and Pinterest. Sprinklr serves large enterprises requiring extensive governance, compliance, and global team coordination as a customer experience management platform.
    • Digital asset storage: This one is interesting because most teams have asset management and storage built into a project management tool or organization-wide technology stack, such as Google or Microsoft. Either way, centralized storage, powerful search, version control, and usage rights all need to be enabled, and depending on your industry, you may need additional controls in place for audits and compliance. 
  • AI Content Tools: One of the most exciting categories, AI content tools help teams do more with less. Generative AI tools, like Claude, ChatGPT, and others, can be useful for creating first drafts, ideation, and repurposing content for a variety of channels. There are also marketing-specific tools like Jasper, Copy.ai, and Writesonic that provide templates and workflows for marketing. Remember, AI is a tool, not a replacement for team members, so use it wisely and make sure the output is correct and reflects your brand voice and values. 
  • Project management: Once your team is running more than one concurrent marketing campaign, you need a project management tool. Asana, Monday.com, and ClickUp deliver management options, team collaboration, file sharing, project timelines, and much more. Additionally, you can choose marketing-specific tools like CoSchedule and Wrike, which include content calendars and campaign templates. For creative review and approval specifically, tools like Frame.io, Filestage, and Ziflow help centralize feedback.

Analytics and Reporting

There are unlimited analytics tools to choose from, and each marketing tool (SEMrush, HubSpot, Sprout, Meta, Squarespace, etc) usually has analytics and reporting built in.

  • Marketing Attribution and Analytics: At the end of the day, the most useful analytics tools are those that the team can use and that clearly show how and why you have, or haven’t, reached your marketing goals. For example, Google Analytics is the gold standard for engagement across devices and channels, events, and much more. However, it can be complex, requires extensive setup to use properly, and has to be maintained. For more privacy-conscious teams, Plausible and Matomo are simpler options. 
  • Business intelligence and dashboards: Connecting all your marketing data into unified reporting requires business intelligence tools, like Tableau, Looker, and Power BI, which connect dozens of data sources, enable complex analysis, and create interactive dashboards. Honestly, these tools are some of the most important in the entire martech stack because they can provide one place to view marketing ROI, engage stakeholders, and encourage continued marketing investment. For marketing teams without data engineering support, tools like Databox, Klipfolio, and DashThis provide pre-built connectors to marketing platforms and template dashboards you can customize. 

Execution 

Most of these tools will be used to ensure your content is getting in front of the right audience, and might not require the same amount of vetting, as you might not have a choice in the matter. For example, to advertise on Facebook or Instagram, you have to use the Meta Business Suite. 

  • Paid advertising: Google Ads, Meta (Facebook and Instagram), LinkedIn, and increasingly TikTok and Pinterest are all used for organic and paid advertising. Some enterprises will select cross-platform management tools but these are expensive and usually only worth it if you have multiple six-figure monthly advertising campaigns. 
  • SEO tools: Platforms like Semrush, Ahrefs, and Moz offer keyword research and tracking, backlink analysis, technical SEO audits, competitor analysis, and content optimization recommendations. 

How to build the best tech stacks for scalable digital transformation

It can take time to build an effective martech stack. It should also evolve with your organization and your marketing needs. Start by setting out evaluation criteria for any new tools you want to bring into the team. It’s important to highlight different requirements, such as integration capabilities, budgets, customization, customer support, and more. If a tool doesn’t meet your requirements, it shouldn’t be in the running for your organization. 

It will always be tempting to switch tools or adopt the newest and shiniest, but remember to implement strategically. Don’t try to roll out multiple new tools at once or change your CRM every year because the organization is growing. The overall goal in martech is to ensure that you use the tools you have, they work together seamlessly, and they make your marketing more effective. This year, choose tool quality over quantity!