MarTech expected to be the ‘next big thing’ for marketers

Demand for marketing technology (MarTech) is surging following lower cloud costs, the essence of customer data usage and intense competition, say industry pundits.

“Business organisations in Thailand are starting to adopt MarTech more rapidly as it helps marketers develop activities and campaigns to communicate with their customers in multi-channel strategies seamlessly with a full customer purchase journey from awareness, consideration, purchase, retention to advocacy,” said Jittipong Loespradit, president of the newly established MarTech Association of Thailand.

Technology can reduce workload from collecting data while supporting direct and deeper communication with each customer segment through personalisation and evaluating return on investment, he said.

MarTech is software and tools that automate and optimise marketing efforts to streamline and enhance marketing process efficiency and drive business growth effectively.

It covers marketing analytics, data integration, data visualisation, cloud usage, advertising tech, content marketing tools, search and social marketing tech, customer data platforms, customer relationship management and marketing automation.

According to the association, 34% of the 400 marketers surveyed said MarTech helps automate tasks and reduces human workload and 17% said MarTech supports data collection and integration from various platforms.

Some 15% said MarTech can support data visualisation and offer insights while 7% said it can assist omnichannel communication.

The number of MarTech solutions grew 5,200% globally between 2011 and 2020.

“In Thailand, MarTech is just emerging and being adopted. In the next 10 years, MarTech is expected to be a dominating marketing force,” said Mr Jittipong.

Vatsun Thirapatarapong, country manager of AWS (Thailand), the local operating unit of the global cloud computing giant, said IT technology is a driving force for transformation and innovation.

Amid economic challenges, companies are expected to reduce their marketing budgets but they aim to increase IT spending and digital expenses, he said.

There are several cases of corporates using customer data to benefit new businesses, he said. “Data has become a valuable asset.”

Nuttakorn Rattanachaisit, chief executive of Predictive, a data analytics and customer experience consultancy, said cloud computing makes it affordable for companies to collect customer data and understand their behaviours.

Artificial intelligence technology leverages data to support deeper marketing through diagnosis, prediction and prescription analytics, he said.

Large corporates in Thailand, including retail and mobile operators, can leverage customer data with users’ consent, he said. They can monetise the data through collaboration with brands.

According to Mr Nuttakorn, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) see less usage of data analytics with only 10% of the total 380,300 websites run by SMEs capitalising on Google Analytics.

“More business opportunities can arise when businesses analyse transactions and get insights into customer behaviours through data, including a rise in the sales conversion rate in e-commerce,” said Mr Nuttakorn.

Thanachot Wisuttismarn, founder of Future Trends, a marketing technology news provider, said MarTech in Thailand is taking off as businesses are grappling with various challenges, including a fast change in the business landscape and intense competition.

To address their pain points, the firm is scheduled to hold a marketing technology exhibition, called Marketing Technology & Innovation Expo 2023 presented by SC Asset, as a venue for businesses to meet and exchange information on MarTech on March 1 at Samyan Mitrtown.

According to Mr Jittipong, the association aims to create opportunities for local MarTech startups to provide services for government agencies and others. It wants to foster connections between Thai MarTech businesses and the global ecosystem, he added.