Marketing teams in this day and age face challenges in adapting to evolving consumer behaviors, technologies, and competition. To drive growth, marketing leaders must embrace innovative strategies and technologies. Composability, a rising marketing technological approach, allows the combining of components for flexible, future-proof marketing systems. This article explores the benefits of composability and an API-first marketing technology stack.
The challenges CMOs face in 2024
The ‘Gartner CMO challenges for 2023’ whitepaper sheds light on the prevailing marketing landscape. One standout statistic revealed the increasing strain on marketing budgets, emphasizing the need for a more intelligent allocation of resources. As marketing teams grapple with limited budgets, finding cost-effective solutions becomes paramount. This is where composability and an API-first approach comes into play.
“By 2024, the mantra for new SaaS will be ‘composable API-first and API-only,’ relegating traditional SaaS vendors as legacy.” – Gartner (Becoming Composable: A Gartner Trend Insight Report).
“Composability and an API-first approach are game-changers in marketing. By breaking down systems into smaller, flexible components and leveraging APIs, companies gain agility and the ability to adapt. Consolidating tools and having a single source of truth for data streamlines activities and enables personalized experiences. Embracing this approach is how companies stay ahead in the ever-changing marketing landscape.” – Mark van den Berg, Managing Director at Spotler.
Maximizing efficiency and cost savings
One of the compelling advantages of embracing composability in marketing is its potential to maximize efficiency and deliver cost savings. Traditional marketing approaches often involve:
- investing in many standalone tools and systems to address various needs
- leading to fragmented operations
- increased complexity
- higher costs
Yet, a composable architecture with an API-first approach offers a more cost-effective alternative. The approach reduces the need for multiple standalone tools, eliminates redundancies and streamlines operations.
For context, the estimated waste on software costs is 34%, according to Zylo’s “2023 SaaS Management Index Report”. For every euro spent on software, €0.34 is going down the drain.
The redundancy of software and the costs that come with it, forces CMOs to rethink where to allocate their software budget.
In contrast, a composable architecture combines modular components through APIs, reducing tool fragmentation and integration complexities while promoting scalability and flexibility. This results in cost savings by eliminating unnecessary expenses and simplifying maintenance and upgrades.
Centralised data management
With composability, a single point of truth is established for marketing data. Marketers gain a holistic view of customer interactions, preferences, and behaviours by integrating various systems and channels into a centralized platform. This unified data enables better decision-making and personalized marketing campaigns and eliminates the need for managing disparate data sources in different departments.
Consolidation of tools and systems
Instead of investing in standalone solutions, marketers can strategically select the best-of-breed tools for each specific function and seamlessly integrate them using APIs. Auping, a European e-commerce retailer, tackled challenges in marketing operations across multiple channels and target demographics. The integration of systems, including their Customer Data Platform, CRM, and email marketing platforms reduced duplication, enhanced data accuracy and centralized customer interactions. Consequently, Auping achieved notable cost savings by eliminating redundancies and optimizing resource allocation.
Reduced integration and maintenance efforts
Composability leverages APIs as the backbone for connecting different components and systems, where APIs provide a standardized and efficient way to exchange data and functionality between applications. By adopting an API-first approach, marketing teams can save a lot of integration and maintenance efforts. APIs enable seamless data flow, eliminating the need for complex custom integrations and reducing the dependency on technical expertise. This, in turn, leads to significant cost savings in development, support, and system maintenance.
Flexibility and scalability
Composability also brings cost advantages through its inherent flexibility and scalability. As marketing needs evolve and new technologies emerge, marketers can add or replace components within the composable architecture. This agility allows teams to adapt quickly to changing market dynamics without incurring substantial costs associated with rebuilding entire systems or investing in new tools. Additionally, the modular nature of composability facilitates incremental updates and enhancements, reducing the risk of costly and disruptive system overhauls.
Embracing the technology of tomorrow
By embracing these innovative strategies, marketing leaders can position their teams for success in the dynamic and evolving marketing and customer experience landscape.
De Telegraaf, a Dutch media giant, significantly improved their customer service by adding APIs to their stack. They were able to quickly integrate WhatsApp and a chatbot, which was set up to handle common customer service queries. Routine questions were efficiently managed by the chatbot leaving the agents to focus on delivering more personalized service. This resulted in a 23% reduction in customer enquiries for their service agents.
By embracing modern, composable communication methods, they achieved faster response times and a more user-friendly experience with WhatsApp, optimizing their service for the benefit of their customers.
Article written by Tom Blijleven, Head of Marketing Operations at the Spotler Group