The hidden MarTech costs that are killing your ROI

Companies are still investing heavily in MarTech solutions - yet many struggle to prove ROI. Redundant tools, underutilized platforms, and inefficient processes quietly drain budgets, while marketing teams face mounting pressure to justify every dollar spent.

If you’re wondering how much you could save (and reinvest) by optimizing your MarTech stack, you’re not alone! We speak to clients on a daily basis about this exact same topic, so thought we'd share some of the most common pitfalls, hidden costs, and proven strategies to help you streamline your MarTech stack, cut waste, and maximize ROI.

The hidden costs of an inefficient MarTech stack

Before diving into the numbers, let’s look at some common MarTech inefficiencies that impact your bottom line:

1. Redundant or overlapping tools

Many companies invest in multiple tools that serve the same purpose. Do you have multiple CRM platforms, email marketing solutions, or analytics tools that aren’t fully integrated? These overlaps create unnecessary subscription costs.

Beyond just subscription fees, redundant tools also lead to fragmented data, making it harder to get a unified view of customer interactions. This results in inconsistent messaging, poor customer experiences, and wasted time reconciling data from multiple sources. Additionally, managing multiple tools increases the administrative burden on IT and Marketing Operations teams, reducing overall productivity.

A streamlined MarTech stack ensures that every tool serves a distinct purpose, integrates well with others, and delivers measurable value. Conducting a thorough audit of existing platforms can help identify redundant software and reveal opportunities for consolidation.

2. Low utilization rates

According to Gartner, companies use only about 58% of their MarTech capabilities. If you’re paying for tools that your team barely touches, you’re essentially burning budget on unused software.

Low utilization rates often stem from a lack of proper onboarding, training, or internal advocacy for a platform. Sometimes, businesses invest in sophisticated tools with advanced features but only use the most basic functionalities. In other cases, marketing teams struggle to adopt new technologies because of poor user experience or a steep learning curve.

To maximize value from your MarTech stack, it’s essential to:

• Regularly assess tool adoption and feature usage.

• Provide ongoing training and support to ensure employees understand and leverage the tools effectively.

• Decommission or downgrade underutilized platforms to eliminate unnecessary costs.

By increasing the adoption and effective use of existing martech tools, companies can improve efficiency without the need for additional software investments.

3. Manual workarounds & poor integration

Disjointed platforms force marketing teams to rely on manual data transfers and workarounds, leading to inefficiencies, increased labor costs, and missed revenue opportunities.

Many MarTech solutions operate in silos, meaning that data must be manually exported, transformed, and imported across platforms. This lack of integration creates a significant drain on marketing teams’ time, leading to:

• Increased risk of human error in data handling.

• Slower campaign execution as teams manually sync information.

• Difficulty in tracking customer journeys due to disconnected touchpoints.

A well-integrated MarTech stack can eliminate these inefficiencies by automating workflows, ensuring seamless data transfer, and reducing reliance on manual processes. Investing in API-based integrations or an all-in-one marketing platform can greatly improve efficiency.

4. Lack of performance visibility

Without a clear attribution model, marketing leaders struggle to connect spend with revenue, leading to suboptimal budgeting and missed growth opportunities.

When data is scattered across multiple platforms, it becomes difficult to measure marketing effectiveness. Some key challenges include:

• Inability to track customer journeys across multiple touchpoints.

• Lack of real-time insights, delaying data-driven decision-making.

• Difficulty proving marketing ROI to justify budget allocations.

By implementing robust attribution models and centralizing analytics, marketing teams can gain a clearer picture of what’s working and where budget adjustments can be made for maximum impact. Tools that provide cross-channel attribution, predictive analytics, and real-time reporting can transform decision-making and improve marketing efficiency.

How to calculate your MarTech ROI potential

To determine how much you can save and reallocate by optimizing your stack, consider these key cost factors:

1. Technology costs

• Subscription fees: Total cost of all marketing tools in use.

• License redundancy: Cost of duplicate tools that serve similar functions.

• Unused features: Cost of capabilities within a tool that go unused.

  
  

2. Labor costs

• Time spent on manual processes: Hours per month wasted on workarounds and data reconciliation.

• Training costs: Cost of upskilling teams for complex platforms that may not be necessary.

• Administrative overhead: Extra time and effort spent managing multiple contracts, renewals, and vendor negotiations.

3. Efficiency gains & revenue impact

• Campaign execution speed: Faster go-to-market time.

• Attribution & optimization gains: Improved targeting and spend efficiency leading to increased revenue.

• Lead nurturing & conversion rates: Higher conversion rates through improved automation.

Next steps: let's discuss a MarTech stack audit

Understanding potential savings is just the first step. Our team of experts can conduct an in depth MarTech stack audit to identify specific opportunities for your organization.

Schedule a free 30-minute consultation - By optimizing your MarTech investments, you can cut costs, increase efficiency, and drive better marketing results - without adding complexity.

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Final thoughts

In the current economic climate, B2B companies can't afford to waste budget on inefficient MarTech stacks. With a data-driven approach to optimization, you can free up resources for strategic growth initiatives while improving marketing performance.

With the amount of daily conversations we are undertaking around MarTech audits, you can be pretty sure that your competitors are already on their own journey. If you haven't yet undertaken one, now is the time to start. Your future marketing success depends on it.