#the audacity of those pages also to end their list of solutions with a “how to prevent data loss in the future” tips

[hell-much]

didn't save 12 hours worth of writing and editing, having a nervous breakdown and am ready to never write a single word again

[grouchomarxiste-blog1]

Bong Joon-Ho’s Parasite: Marx and Violence

Warning: A majority of this was written pre-pandemic, so please excuse my overly optimistic tone. It was a different time.

Yes, another Bong Joon-Ho film. Can you blame me? The guy’s a genius. Parasite was another one of those great films that will never leave you. You can watch the movie simply without doing a major analysis in your head and you will still agree that it’s a great movie. Which personally, is why I believe it's made its way into the major American awards season. Parasite winning Best Foreign Film at the Golden Globes was one of the few decisions I’ve agreed with. I didn’t see any of the winners in the film categories besides Parasite, and I’m very much ok with that. It’s making its way into Hollywood and the favorite lists of celebrities. Elon Musk said he loved Parasite (he also turned Grimes, the former “anti-imperialist,” to the mother of his future child). Chrissy Teigen loved Parasite (a lot can be said about her, so let’s not). Obama loved Parasite (but I have some serious doubts about the authenticity of his yearly favorites list. Mainly because I can’t imagine him listening to Summer Walker). I was completely boggled at all of those tweets. How? How is one so blind? How did one watch Parasite and not feel a thing? After I watched Parasite, I rushed back to school to attend the discussion section of my Political Theory class so I could read and discuss primitive accumulation through dispossession with revolutionary fervor. I recommended it to everyone near me. I even wrote a note to my professor who tucked it into his book. But is that the problem- that all these beloved figures (not mine) end up loving the sheer adrenaline of the story and tweet to their followers about how great the movie is. Those followers, with their favorite celebrities’ seal of approval, watch the movie, not putting it together either. Bong Joon-Ho is critiquing those very figures! In every post-Parasite interview, Bong Joon-Ho has said that Parasite is about America and capitalism, but we have just reduced those statements to memes on Twitter. As funny as they are, Parasite is rich for its class analysis. The Hollywood reaction is just as important. Marx is all over this movie, there's no question about it. I also want us to understand these controversial moments from a Fanonian perspective, again all with relation to Marx. I hope for us to understand that everything about this movie is intentional and every bit of it is worth pages and pages of discussion. I nearing 11 pages as I write this. I also hope that this film can be a way for us to understand economic exploitation in the 21st century. While many celebrities have misunderstood it, it is important that you, us, the people, the working class, grasp every bit of this radical film.

I’m not going to bother with another one of my “brief summary” because I’m assuming, we’ve all seen it. It's on Hulu now and I believe Apple TV. If you don’t want to pay for either platforms, watch a pirated version online, I genuinely don’t think Bong will mind.

I want to talk about the home. I know we all had the same reaction to that beautiful home: awe, admiration, and envy. The Park’s home itself is significant, but also in contrast to the Kims’ home. The Kim’s live in a small semi-basement home, where they have to reach up in order to look out their window and see the street level. Their home is dirty, cramped, just not a place where anyone wants to be. But immediately, I thought of Fanon and the native sector. I know that Parasite isn’t about colonialism, but space is important to Marx (I’ll return to Fanon). In The Communist Manifesto, Marx and Engels attribute many things to the process of proletarianization. To name a few: literacy campaigns and public education, the politicization of the proletariat towards the end of feudalism, expansion of media, etc. One that stands out, is the mass migration and urbanization of the proletariat. Through that, the proletariat was concentrated into the poorest parts of the city where they shared their most intimate quarters with workers like themselves (Marx and Engels, 15) One might dismiss this as a historical example specific to Europe, but if we go back to my thoughts on Memories of Murder, we’d note how Korea’s transition to a modern capitalist society, was a fairly recent one (from 1987 onwards). As the agricultural sector suffered, Koreans living in the rural provinces were forced to move into the major cities. Park (Song Kang-Ho’s character in Memories) was lucky enough to become a successful businessman, unlike the Kims who earn their livelihood by holding pizza boxes- the most insignificant work. Along with urbanization, the proletariat also occupied the small space of the factory, where they are reminded of the everyday brutality of their work. The Park’s home is not cramped, but the one scene where everyone is rushing to hide from them, results in Ki-taek, Ki-jeong, and Ki-woo hiding underneath a coffee table overnight. After that lengthy battle with Geun-sae and Moon-gwang, the Kims are exhausted. They do not want to be laying side by side hearing the Parks have sex. My friend Sef also reminded me that the Parks had weird sex as Mr. Park recalled how their old chauffeur possibly had sex with a drugged-up prostitute, a scenario that previously made Mrs. Park scream out of disgust. Revisiting this, I believe this definitely deserves a psychoanalytic analysis.

This isn’t their breaking point, but also hearing Mr. Park say that Ki-taek smells like the subway is a factor. Once making their break they run outside where it's raining heavily. They come to their home which is flooded and destroyed. Here is where I’ll start talking about Fanon. [READ NOTE]. Again, I know the colonial system is not the case in Parasite. Fanon was a Marxist and expanded on Marxist theory in the colonial context. I just want to warn you that I am using Fanon as carefully as possible, not using concepts that are distinctly racial. I know there’s probably also much more relevant work out there on spatiality and violence, but I think Fanon’s prose style in The Wretched of the Earthis quite appropriate for the film. Let’s consider the colonial bourgeoisie as the Parks and the natives as the Kims. Fanon calls the colonial world, a “compartmentalized world.” The colonists’ sector is clean and protected whereas the native sector is overcrowded, envious, and starving. Sounds about right so far.

The colonist’s sector is a sector built to last, all stone and steel. It’s a sector of lights and paved roads, where the trash cans constantly overflow with strange and wonderful garbage, undreamed-of leftovers. The colonizer’s feet can never be glimpsed, except perhaps in the sea, but then again you can never get close enough. They are protected by solid shoes in a sector where the streets are clean and smooth., without a pothole, without a stone… The colonized’s sector or at least the “native” quarters, the shanty town, the Medina, the reservation, is a disreputable place, inhabited by disreputable people. You are born anywhere, anyhow. You die anywhere, from anything. It’s a world with no space, people are piled one on top of each other. (Fanon, 4)

This becomes extremely relevant when the Kims run out of the Parks’ home in the pouring rain. I kept noticing that they were all barefoot, only focused on getting out of there. My toes curled in the movie theater watching that. Running away from that traumatic house to find your own home destroyed, relocating to a displacement camp, THEN going to work the next day for your unaffected employer who has the audacity to audibly take a sniff of you. I don't know about you, but to me, this sounds like the conditions for a proletarian revolution. Besides the literal allegory, the tone sharply shifts. One could argue that it began to change when they found Geun-sae in the bunker or when Moon-gwang hit her head but that was just some good old dark comedy for me. After the flooding, things are different. Ki-taek has this unmoving face. Things turned grim and we knew something climactic was about to happen. Fanon’s most famous chapter, “Concerning Violence,” maintains that decolonization will always be a violent event because colonialism is a violent system itself. Something that I absolutely love about this chapter is that it isn’t some dense, theoretical work. It’s a revolutionary call to arms for all colonized people. It has a strategic pace which parallels Parasite so well. He sets the scene- the compartmentalized, Manichaen world. He slowly intensifies the antagonistic relationship between the colonizer and the colonized, until this culminating point:

The colonized subject thus discovers that his life, his breathing and his heartbeat are the same as the colonist’s. He discovers that the skin of the colonist is not worth more than the “natives.” In other words, his world receives a fundamental jolt. The colonized’s revolutionary new assurance stems from this. If no longer strike fear into me or nail me to the spot and his voice can no longer petrify me. I am no longer uneasy in his presence. In reality, to hell with him. Not only does his presence no longer bother me, but i am already preparing to waylay him in such a way that he will no longer have any solution but to flee (Fanon, 10)

As corny as it sounds, when I first read that, it brought me to tears. I’m not sure if it was just because I was up for three days straight writing my midterm and I was finally breaking, or because it just meant that much to me. But that section in which the colonized discoversthat his life is worth as much as the colonizer is such a crucial moment. This parallels the infamous birthday scene. Geun-sae gets out of the bunker, stabs Ki-jung, the Park’s kid (I’ll look his name up later) has a seizure, and Chong-sook is wrestling with Geun-sae. Shit is going down. If we recall, Mrs. Park mentioned that it takes a few minutes for her son to die after a seizure and needs to go to the hospital immediately. So much is going on and Mr. Park starts screaming at Ki-taek to give him the keys. Ki-taek is immobilized at this point. His daughter has been stabbed, son attacked, wife almost killed, the Parks’ got him dressed up in some cultural appropriation, Hollywood Indian regalia. In fact, I find it very fitting that he’s dressed up as a Native American at this moment. I see this as Bong’s satirical nod to old ultra-capitalist Hollywood. But if enough wasn't going on, Mr. Park sniffed. He got close to Geun-sae, a man who’s been living underground for 3 years and audibly sniffed him in disgust. The same way that he sniffed Ki-taek. Of course, there’s probably a difference between a “subway” smell vs. “I haven't showered in 3 years” smell but at the moment it feels as if it's almost the same thing. In my initial viewing, I thought what happened next was because of that, but no. Ki-taek realized that his life was worth the same as the Parks, and their presence no longer bothers him, but he is now plotting against him, and the time of action is now. Ki-taek stabs Mr. Park and flees. Annoyingly, the YouTube section for this clip is filled with people feeling bad for the Parks and discussing how what Ki-taek did was wrong. Of course, the average viewer will view the Parks as some sympathetic rich suckers who only treated the Kims kindly. The casual reader who picks up Fanon for the first time would also dismiss his theory of violence as immoral in comparison to non-violent methods like Gandhi’s. A lot can be said about Gandhi, but Fanon says that non-violence is a strategy created by the colonizer to deter decolonization and paint the colonizer as a gentle ruler who wants peace. This is not the case. Colonialism is a violent system. Capitalism is a violent system. Colonialism can only be undone violently. Capitalism can only be undone violently. Now I don't mean to make this all about colonialism, as my friends say I often do. But the similarities are clear. The question isn’t whether the murder of Mr. Park was a justified act, but what were the conditions that forced Ki-taek to murder. Geun-sae killed Ki-jung, but no one in the comment section is having a debate on whether his murder was ethical. Because in our heads we feel bad for him, and the life that he’s lived- why don’t we feel the same towards Ki-taek? Geun-sae and Ki-taek are two sides of the same coin. Geun-sae’s exploitation is naked. He’s confined to the basement, controlling the lights of the home. A feature of the house that Mr. Park doesn't even pay attention to, never mind considering that there is someone manually operating it. A clear example of how our labor is alienated. All while blindly worshipping Mr. Park- a man who knows nothing of his existence. Honestly, I hope some of you see yourselves in Geun-sae the next time you defend billionaires online. But Ki-taek is just another exploited worker. I understand this can be hard to understand in our current understanding of the world. How is Ki-taek exploited? Him and his family conned their way into their jobs and leech off of the Parks. Again, we must return to the system as a whole to understand. None of this wouldn’t have happened if the Kims weren’t desperately poor in a capitalist society, which enables families like the Parks, to live a life of excess at the expense of the Kims. Capitalism is a system of exploitation; we cannot forget that. Quite simply, no one is rich without thousands that are poor.

          The levels of the home are also this unforgettable feature. I just want to make this quick note about the issue of the ghost. Did you forget about the ghost? Da-Song didn’t (yes, I finally looked his name up!). I find the story of the ghost such an interesting touch. Not just as a way for Bong to warn the audience about Da-Song’s history of seizures. When Mrs. Park tells Chung-sook of the story, she says “they say a ghost in the house brings wealth.” This, of course, is true since the exploitation of those like Geun-sae are responsible for the wealth of the Parks, in the larger picture. I’d like to look further into this. There's a twofold meaning to this. I do believe that this ghost is symbolic to the exploitation of the Kims, and the proletariat in general, but that’s Mrs. Park’s understanding of this ghost. The way she understands this ghost, is as a source of wealth. Maybe Mrs. Park isn’t as ditzy as we imagine- she to some degree, understands her class position. But like most, she doesn’t question the ghost, or her class position. She knows that if she looks into either, it would result in the ugly truth. Da-Song, however, is just a child. He’s too young to really understand the economic and social relations which are responsible for his wealth. He’s also too young to consciously suppress any desire to investigate the matter like his mother. He is a child after all and is naturally curious. But his first encounter with the ghost was the one that resulted in a near fatal seizure. This can be his body’s reaction to the life-threatening figure of a ghost. The ghost isn’t just a threat to his mortal life, but his wealth, some may argue that these are the same. Mrs. Park pays for therapy for his “trauma” so he could forget the event, but he still knows. He saw this ghost and is the only one to seriously consider its threat. Mrs. Park knows it's real but chooses to not think about it. I want to return to the Manifesto. Let's hear these famous words: “A specter is haunting Europe- the specter of communism… Two things result from this fact: Communism is already acknowledged by all European powers itself to be a power...” (Marx and Engels, 8). Don’t think I’m just including this because he’s talking about a specter, in fact, I think this story of the ghost is an intentional allusion to the specter of communism. Da-Song represents this figure of the bourgeoisie who is in constant anxiety over the threat of his wealth. When he reappears at his birthday party, he has another seizure. Also, at this time, the family, and all of their guests are witness to the horrors of their wealth and what it's created. This naked, hideous display, this moment of confrontation is a pivotal point in the dialectic. Of course, this murderous moment is not seen as a success to the viewer with Mr. Park, Ki-jung, and Geun-sae dead, Ki-woo presumed to be dead, and Ki-taek missing. This just shows us that the bourgeoisie are their own gravediggers- to again invoke the Manifesto. On a larger scale, this would be the moment of a revolution- but we don’t. Ki-woo survives with Chung-sook and is put on probation. Ki-taek is missing to the police, but Ki-taek realizes that he’s living in the bunker in hiding. Ki-woo declares that he will make enough money to buy the home and free his father. At first, I wondered “why couldn't he just sneak him out of the house when the new owners were asleep?” “Why did he have to buy the home?” As much as I wanted to portray the Kims to be revolutionary figures, Ki-woo has the common fate of most. Instead of usurping power from the bourgeoisie, he believes he can free his dad from the home, by owning the house. Everyone who lives in the basement is stuck there for a reason, because someone is forcing them to stay there. A perfect allegory for the relations of production as I have repeatedly mentioned throughout this text. Ki-woo desires a bourgeois life (as most working-class folk do!) in order to lift his father out of the despair of poverty. He believes the only way he can save his father is to own the home, which could easily be seen as the means of production. A nice touch which I had to look up, was as Ki-woo tells us of his desire to buy the home, a song plays called “546 years”- the amount of time it will take for him to earn enough money. I wish this song title was more obvious for the American viewer. I am not trying to take away from this film by saying that, but for a viewer who knows Korean or the song title, they’ll understand the tragic nature of his dreams. Whereas the American viewers will sympathize with his dreams- as we’ve done with immigrants and “the American Dream” or the bootstrapping mentality of some people. In some way I do think Bong didn’t want an overtly revolutionary ending. I don’t think the average viewer, especially in this day, could handle an ending like that. Not to say that we don't understand class inequality and such. We are not living in, say the 60s/70s where there were Marxist movements all throughout the world. I don’t think we have the conditions for a revolution at this moment, although I do think the mass unemployment and the other severe economic consequences of this virus will radicalize the working class in large numbers, to a degree that we haven't seen in a long time. But to make my point, I feel that we are living in historic political times and we are coming to understand ourselves in a liberating way.  It is my hope that films like Parasite will awaken the revolutionary potential in us all.

Note: I wanted to use Fanon’s theory of violence and diagnosis of colonialism as a violent structure, in relation to capitalist society. I don’t want us to interpret his writings as something that can be isolated from the racial structure of colonialism, but i do think it is a beneficial guide to understanding this film.

Work Cited:

Philcox, Richard, translator. “On Violence.” The Wretched of the Earth, by Frantz Fanon, Grove Press, 2004.

Joon-Ho, Bong, director. Parasite. Barunson E&A, 2019.

Marx, Karl, and Frederick Engels. The Communist Manifesto. International Publishers, 1948.

[arnettethm52-blog]

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[goddessofphilosophy]

Dearest Father, I have returned here in our homey abode in New York City. Oh I have missed you so terribly! Please don't tell me that I don't remember you more often since I got married. In fact he makes me want to write to you every single day. Oh Father, if only you know the situation here on Earth. He's right here beside me, soundly sleeping, every inch of perfection, and I just can't understand how my heart flutters when he smiles at me. He collected me from London Sunday Night last week to attend the Opening of the National 9/11 Memorial & Museum and he gave the most amazing speech ever! Because it involves me! I heard you whisper I'm such a narcissist. Well... newsflash, Father, I'm never the humble sheep to begin with. He said so himself I'm the lion. You know what, I have this long list of reasons why he must have fallen in love with me and now it's shorter than my shopping list. Can you imagine? I'm getting suspicious but then... sometimes we don't need words... and you don't have to know that part. We had so much fun meeting old friends and guests from other states. I personally loved catching up with my former clients. I told them it's getting a bit lonely now that my youngest son's already graduating in college (because I presume he might want to just stay in his house in Cambridge than stay with us here in New York City) and they asked me why I never had another baby. If only they know how traumatic my first and last pregnancy was. I have been here for quite a few days now. Mom & Amberleighn are too busy with Fashion Week. They didn't even bother supporting us. And they went to London this weekend for the Burberry Show. I bet they are still enjoying Milan Fashion Week. Annicka has been my companion lately. And before I forgot, I have a new secretary. She is Jane Sheppard. Why do I need a second one, you ask? My husband is apparently on panic mode in case I go back to Syria and get killed by the ongoing war. What he doesn't know is that I also visit Somalia and Nigeria (and other parts of Africa) where I met this peculiar girl we saved from child marriage. Oh Father, it was heartbreaking. Her father had to force her to marry an older man to get them out of poverty. It was terrible! Two oxen, five chickens and a goat in exchange for a little girl's life. And they are not even treated properly after getting married; they become slaves, Father. Why do they have to suffer that much? The United Nations General Assembly will start to tackle feminist agendas to end global problems for this week. That is one of reasons why I have been here longer than usual. I was invited by a colleague. And you won't believe the people I will meet there! In attendance are President Obama, Prime Minister Trudeau, Secretary-General Ban Ki-Boom, and other delegates (some are kings!) of foreign countries, according to my sources. I'm used to meeting world leaders, Father, that's correct but not all of them at once. I should have retired from work sooner if this is how I will live as a volunteer and representative of the World Economic Forum. How about Vladimir Putin? We're still friends. I still want free hotel accomodation in Moscow whenever I get the chance to relax. While I was watching the news though, there was another batch of refugees who drowned in the Mediterranean Sea. Again. Did you hear about it? Oh right there is no television in heaven. But is there like a grand council who decides when a group of people's mortal lives are taken away from them when all they wanted was to survive and escape the war? Is there a black hole in the Mediterranean Sea? Is the Atlantis located there? Come to think of it, their prayers have been answered. They are in a safer place now. Can you tell me what heaven looks like, Father? It had been such a delight to feel your divine intervention, Father. I'd be glad to update you as soon as I get my dysfunctional mind working again. You don't have to worry about me, Father. I have been fighting the same battle for years. If I have discovered a feasible solution to whatever has been bothering me, you would be the first to know but I bet you a million dollars he's going back to New Orleans anytime soon, without even telling me when he's coming back. See you sooner than later! I love you best, Father! Love, Hyacinth Athena Descartes

She retired to bed after writing the letter and gazed at the only person who makes her crazy. How on Earth did she allow this person to make her so vulnerable? Immediately after closing her eyes, she felt her body falling too fast, falling deeper each second. She wanted to open her eyes but she has lost control. After what it feels like two minutes of wandering in a pitch-black wilderness, the warm morning beams tickled her senses. She awoke, wanted to sleep some more but her mind tells her otherwise. Everyone was there, standing inside their huge, high-ceiling living room. They were all waiting for her. She recognized her daughters Hyamidalla Irish, Seraphiel Guinevere and Lucia Henriette with their beaus. Even his bachelor son was present. He doesn't like reunions. Keeva brought all her children with her too, with her husband standing right behind her. The Houghtons are in the far right of Andréas. Then she noticed a young girl who seems to be out of place in this picture perfect complete happy family. "Who is she?" she asked no one in particular. She was taking one step at a time down the staircase and nobody would want to make eye contact with her. "Seems like we have a visitor here, mind to introduce us, Mother?" "I don't think I'm the right person for that, darling." She was surprised to see her late brother among the crowd. He is not supposed to be here with them, he should be in heaven, she thought. But to make it all the more bizarre, he held her hands. He was saying something but she couldn't quite understand a word. She understood though that he was sorry for her. "Is she your adopted daughter, Adrian?" Adrian Yvés is her eldest son. They don't have the most admirable relationship as mother and son but Yvés has always been there for her mother. He was polite and modest with his life endeavors with the exception of its romantic facet. "No, Mother." "Is she your girlfriend, Andrei?" "No, Mother." She had to repeat herself, "Then who is she? Anybody?" Andréas felt obliged to answer her finally, "She's Michaela." "Oh why thank you, hon," she crossed her arms, waiting for more information. "She needs us. Her mother died last week. She's only 17. And she's my daughter..." Hyacinth wasn't prepared for any of it. She didn't want to hear more. It can't be true, she must be dreaming. For a moment there she felt like everybody knew but her. She rushed to the study room. There displayed an enormous wedding photo of a once upon a time the two happiest people in the whole world. Beside it is her portrait wearing her favorite purple dress. Another frame contained their family picture when Andrei was seven. Oh how time flies. This room has always been her sanctuary. The room was filled with good memories of her life-long pursuit for happiness. She met him in that very same room. And it was fitting for the room to witness how it will all end. He followed her, "You have to hear me out, please." She wanted to say, "You have until 4 PM to get rid of your dearest darling daughter. She is not welcome here. This property is under my name. This house is mine. You can't use my Mother to impose her ridiculous traditional values on me about family this time. She doesn't have any right to say who stays here or not. You can't come home to me one day with the evidence of how you cheated on me all these years. You are such a coward for hiding her. After seventeen years, you had the audacity to bring her here, of all places? She is not welcome in New York City either. I have adopted kids before and I don't mind adopting one more if only the kid will not remind me of the biggest mistake of my life. The last thing I want to read in the newspapers is my cheating, lying bastard of a husband having an illegitimate daughter. I will never accept your daughter with another woman. Take her anywhere, I couldn't care any less. Or may I suggest that you kill her yourself, like the savage beast that you naturally are." But she said nothing. She cried in silence. He knew her loving wife has the kindest, biggest heart in the world (not always, but still). She volunteers for the United Nations. She conducts lectures at The School of Economics for free. She donated her inheritance to the International Monetary Fund to finance projects in developing countries and stabilize the world's monetary supply. She has never turned down anyone who needed her help. She made sure all her children and grandchildren has a house to come home to. He wanted to remind her how she adopted five kids and gave them everything they needed and more. So what is the difference of one more? "You are better than this, love." She wiped her tears and turned her chair to face him, "No, I'm better off without you. Don't you dare call me love. I should have always known." He was defeated, "I know sorry will never be enough but let me make it up to you." She was as calm as the ocean after a storm, "You need to sign the divorce papers tomorrow morning, 10 AM, at the law firm. Expect Leah to walk you through all those pages. You are dismissed." "Not like this, please." "If you don't want to leave, I will." She stood up and walked out of the room. He caught her arm, "It was unintentional, an accident. They needed me desperately." Tears started to blur his vision. This is not the reaction he expected from her. He couldn't think straight. He didn't know what else to say. He knew she always wanted the whole truth. She was staring at him blankly. She was too hurt to speak. "Let me go," she huffed. "You're my everything, Icy. I have faith in us; in you, mostly." The words were echoing in her ears. She had to cover her ears from its gradual intensity each passing second. She felt more tears in her cheeks. Andi was being taken by the dark. The ground was shaking beneath their feet. The walls were enclosing them in. It was only a dream. She woke up, catching her breath. It was exhausting. She felt an unquenchable thirst for air and water and energy. She woke up a million dollars richer, too. The stocks market was kicking in again. Oh how she loves playing this expectations game. Later that week, Andréas found Annicka and Hyacinth chatting inside the study room. "Speaking of the devil, he's here." Hyacinth beamed at him, welcoming him back yet again, after four days of not seeing each other. He kissed her cheek, sat beside her on the sofa's arm and rested his arm on her shoulders. "What are you lovely girls talking about? Both of you seem so animated and enthusiastic tonight!" "My sister here is smitten and she wants to be a Canadian," Annicka giggled. "Why?" Hyacinth was delighted to share, "Oh I've met their Prime Minister this morning at the United Nations General Assembly. And I'm so in love with him, hon. He's the man of my dreams!" She winked at Annicka. "Okay?" "I'll leave you two, alright?" Annicka excused herself on cue. "I'm so honored to be sitting in the same table as him in our leadership luncheon. He's so good-looking and the coolest Prime Minister ever! Why don't we get a house in Canada, hon?" She held his hands. He didn't seem to appreciate the gesture. "But you have a house in Quebec, right?" "I gave that to Keeva's friend. The girl won't stop asking for it." "Stay with Lucia. She lives there, right?" "Oh please, I want to be neighbors with the Prime Minister and see him every single day. I can't wait to be best friends with Sophie! He mentioned she's just fabulous!" "I reckon this Sophie is his wife?" She nodded. "Why would you be friends with your crush's wife?" "Why wouldn't I? If you're going to be my ex-husband and you are having a new wife, I'd definitely be friends with her. It reduces the hard feelings." "Stop thinking about things that will never happen." She lingered in his eyes and felt sincerity in his words. Or is that what she wanted to see? Why was she testing the waters?

[flowwriter]

The Oracle of ∇φ

The party headed down a long winding path, already exhausted from the days conquests, and still heavy with the knowledge that they must carry on. The path to the old Soothsayer was so well obscured that one could be obscured for missing it completely, and yet once the dense, lush fern was trodden down a small, yet clearly well-worn path emerged in front of them.

The party had been walking for well over an hour when Farnus, the token human of the group, slouched his aching shoulders and bemoaned “This guy better be fucking legit or I swear to God..’ before tailing off entirely.

The halfling cleric accompanying them, named Zensys, was quick to pull Farnus even closer to the brink of hopelessness ‘Or what Farnus? You’ll miss all your axe swings like you did back in Drittensmith? Don’t think we’ve forgotten.’

Farnus, for the second time in as many minutes, silently enjoyed a vision of himself after he had finished this job. Alone, no-one to bother him, no crazy old voodoo prophets to deal with, no halfling brat to make him question his alignment, pure and utter serenity. This bubble was, unsurprisingly, burst, by Koralath, the Goliath, who after careful consideration selected about one of 10 phrases that he knew in Common to express dissatisfaction. A hearty “This. Sucks. No. Point” bellowed forth from his mighty lungs, each word punctuated by a loud stomp. Before either party member could complain of their subsequent splitting headache, the stillness of the summer air was cut with a loud shriek:

“FUCK!”

The party immediately lost their calm composure and assumed a battle stance. Koralath even managed to process that this wasn’t a time for loud oafishness, progress that Farnus quietly appreciated, as the last time stealthiness was required, Koralath had cost the party quite a lot of HP by loudly asking nobody in particular where the nearest tavern was.

Even more surprisingly, a young tired-looking elf immerged, from seemingly (even to Zensys’ trained eyes) nowhere at all. He was dark-skinned, long-eared and fairly lanky, carrying himself as if he was unfamiliar with his build. His tired, yet sharp and analytical eyes, panned across the general area that the party occupied through his long unkempt hair, which covered an unreasonable portion of his face.

Apparently oblivious to his almost certain demise at one of the most respected parties in all of the North, he suddenly acknowledged the heroes with a start, only to stare at them indignantly, before somehow confidently complaining:

“You’re about 14 seconds late! You –“ He pointed an accusatory finger at Zensys “had the audacity to chat up that barmaid for a few extra seconds this morning didn’t you? She is gay, incidentally, although she doesn’t realise that for three more hours, so it was all wasted anyway.”

This outburst had a markedly different effect on each of the heroes. Koralath’s brain simply chose to reject the information entirely, instead delighting itself with a fantasy of the small elf’s imminent slaughter. Farnus’ brain, if it could have, would have rolled its eyes and done a little finger gun motion towards its head. However, it soon settled back into its familiar groove of assessing the new enemies’ weak spots.

Zensys brain, understand every word perfectly, and was almost convinced its body to run back and confess its undying love to the aforementioned barmaid. It reasoned that it was better than wasting her time galivanting with her companions, one of which was almost bound to double-cross her, as this was the way things generally worked.

Without any regard for the internal journeys each party member was taking, the curious elf continued. “Look, I appreciate the mental taxation that took on you, but if we take more than about a minute and a half here I can’t reasonably apply the Central Limit Theorem anymore and if that happens I think I’m gonna scream’

This was the final straw for both Farnus and Koralath, who simueltaneously drew their weapons, falling back on their most basic warrior instincts. The young elf began to leisurely flip through a small, tattered notebook retrieved from a concealed pocket. Koralath’s brain, having first began what can only be described as a blue screen, swang wildly at the elf’s head.

Unfazed, the elf stayed stationary. Koralath’s swing, almost in spite, careened a wild path through the air before cratering a mere two inches from the elfs side. Apparently, untroubled, the elf continued:

“NO, sorry, you were twe- ELEVEN seconds late. You don’t add a constant when integrating I through that first order differentiation product rule trick do you? Im ever so sorry. Would you like to come in? NO” He hastily scribbled through several lines of illegible symbols on the notebook. “TEN and a half MAX. And also it…” Another scribbling “doesn’t matter whether you want to or not, you WILL follow me in about three or four seconds regardless”.

The party, all now suffering terrible headaches, did indeed follow suit. Single file, they mopily trundled through the dense underbrush towards a hut which, although commonsense told them it was purposely built, seemed almost accidentally put together.

The confusing elf had left the door open behind him, and the party followed suit.

What they saw before them almost turned their stomachs. Hundreds of pages of scrawled writing coated each wall. A large, dark, once proud desk lay sunken into the ground. Piles of textbooks surrounded its border, and the party’s only clue to the huts inhabitants was a sliver of brown hair peaking over the top of them all.

Indeed, the elvish oracle was sat in a ornate, yet tattered armchair in almost the direct centre of the room. Although none of the party would here, he muttered ‘Told you’ under his breath before rising.

“MATHEMATICS!” He exclaimed. None of the party had an idea what he meant. Koralath added ‘kill goblin named ‘mathematics’??” to his mental to-do list.

The elf, wide eyed and clearly finished waiting for any intellectual input from the bewildered adventurers, continued.

“You see, all these oracles and soothsayers trying to predict the future with runes and smoke and ritualistic sacrifices –“ Farnus’ perked up, ritualistic sacrifices was his weekend hobby, “all rot! Its nothing more than taking an integral over all space and then all – sorry DOUBLE integral – and then all time. Because you know d-t and d-S is just a function of...yeah… And then, that’s an axiom! Well, its, I mean not really but I’m the only one doing – yeah, doing this. So its an axiom, anyway yeah this horrible function comes out, but its like, that’s why I can’t, and No-one can predict exactly. In fact, we, well I only found analytical solutions like a few weeks ago, but, even then its not elementary and-‘.

Beyond this point, no living being, apart from the elf himself, registered the specifics of his diatribe, and as such the rest was lost to history.  Zensys was the first to awake from the spell of the elves’ rhythmically pulsing speech, and found her emotions turn to anger.

“Look, you incel little bitch, can you help us out or not-“

The elf, taking Zensys’ words very slightly to late to feign that he was at all paying attention to anyone but himself, again perked up.

“Oh yes, of course, just let me uh…’ and so he took away to the grand battered arm chair, made a wide sweep with his arm to remove what almost seemed like important documents from his table, and began frantically scratching a weather quill across a piece of hard flaky parchment.

If the adventurers had hoped that this moment would hold them in great and suspenseful intimidation, they would have been disappointed. Not for the lack of expertise by the elf, but by his constant muttering and exclaiming, as well as his seemingly incessant need for someone to tell him how smart he was, as evidenced by his constant glancing to the three heroes for even the slightest validation.

About 10 scrawled, illegible pages of random symbols (3 of which had been crumpled up and thrown to the floor in anger), the soothsayer began to grunt ever so more excitedly, until at a sudden burst he sprang forth from his well defined groove in his ancient seat.

“OK, so whom now the rolling dunes may cover, he shall be your saviour and ours forevermore, well for an arbitrarily long period of time, I just took the limit from an arbitrary direction. And those who were quelled under something which calls itself the ‘Lost Great One’” He took just a moment to assess the relative not-greatness of his visitors. “Yeah, good luck with that one guys, will rise at least a whole multiple of twice more before the end of days. Oh but OH! You will succeed, yeah the second derivative is positive, so you will reach a global maximum here.” He seemed, unsurprisingly to at least Farnus, amazed at his own derivation. He added an extra layer of insufferability by adding “Gotta say guys, it usually doesn’t work out this well, and I do this all the time.”

Farnus, having counted to 10 at least 3 times since the start of the second painful diatribe spoken by the elf who was looking easier and easier to kill by the second, quickly interjected “yes, yes, wonderful thankyou so much, oh brainy one. We’ll be on our way now”

The elf, seemingly impervious to registering the feelings of others, mentioned to the backs of the party members “Oh don’t forget to drop by again soon!”

But as soon as the rickety door closed behind the large frame of Koralath, he realised that a simple derivation would prove that they wouldn’t. Which was a shame, he soon realised, as not even a second after his heel had turned to begin a well deserved afternoon nap in the comfortable armchair, he realised that “Oh shit, the second derivative is positive which means it’s a global minimum, so well they’re doomed to, oh” – all of which was muttered out loud too. It was, he consoled himself with, going to be an interesting adventure.

[martechadvisor-blog]

What Is MarTech and How to Become an Expert at Marketing Technology

Welcome to MTA’s MarTech 101 series, where we dive deep into the basic ideas, concepts and tools of MarTech. No matter where you are in your MarTech journey, this exploration of the basics is sure to help you do your job even better.

We’ll answer questions we know you have such as: What is MarTech exactly? How does one use MarTech in marketing? How does MarTech help marketers? How can marketers excel at MarTech? … and many more!

MarTech or marketing technology makes the lives of marketers easy by streamlining and scaling marketing activities.

This article serves as a primer on the topic by explaining what MarTech is, its key concepts, the various tools and techniques leveraged by MarTech and the skills required to be a successful MarTech manager.

SECTION I:

What Is MarTech?

MarTech Development & Deployment

The 7 Core Categories of MarTech Tools  

SECTION II:

What Is a MarTech Stack?

Why Do I Need a MarTech Stack?

How Do You Build a MarTech Stack?  

SECTION III:

What are the Must Have Skills of a MarTech Manager?

The Way Ahead  

SECTION I

What Is MarTech?

"Every piece of technology a marketer uses to reach a potential customer is martech."

~ John Koetsier, Journalist (Source: John’s Website)

**MarTech, a portmanteau of Marketing Technology, refers to any piece of software used by marketers to perform marketing activities.** MarTech applications help marketers plan and execute marketing campaigns, collect and analyze the results of those campaigns, measure & track marketing performance, and apply the insights to future campaigns. All of this at scale, in a multi-touchpoint, omnichannel, primarily digital environment.

MarTech Development & Deployment

The MarTech industry has been democratized by the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model, a software distribution model pioneered by Salesforce in 1999. Salesforce introduced this business model as an alternative to expensive ‘on-site’ or custom-developed CRM systems that only big corporations could afford. Salesforce disrupted the industry when they made CRM software available to companies of different sizes at a fraction of the capital investment traditional software development and deployment needed.

Since then, a multitude of MarTech products have entered the market, serving different industries and different areas of marketing. The rapid growth of MarTech has empowered marketers to automate and streamline many aspects of their day-to-day marketing activities.

Today, MarTech solutions on the Cloud can be Point solutions (MarTech solutions focused on one key aspect of MarTech) or Suite solutions (a suite of MarTech solutions on one platform). Both have their pros and cons, and a choice of deployment really depends on the marketer’s needs, skills and budgets.

Put together, the collection of marketing technology tools, platforms and solutions that serves and supports a Marketing team is referred to as the ‘MarTech Stack’ of that organization.

Marketing activities are performed with the help of digital tools and technologies; it is crucial to gain a through understanding of the tools used in MarTech.

The 7 Core Categories of MarTech Tools

The MarTech landscape is spread far and wide and consists of innumerable tools and techniques. We divided the tools into different categories — which was an elaborate exercise, but we’ve kept the classification as simple as we could. Let’s get started!

Please Note: The companies mentioned here are examples of tools active in the industry. This is not a ranking or an exhaustive list. MTA does not endorse any of the tools mentioned herein.

1.     Content Marketing Tools

Content marketing tools consist of a wide array of software that cater to different facets of content marketing. Some of them are CMS, SEO, landing pages, content curation, content marketing, DAM, lead magnets, etc.

Let’s look at each type of content marketing tool in detail:

Content Management System (CMS): A CMS is a software that is essential to publishing on the web. It is the primary tool for working with content, including writing, editing and publishing that content. A CMS is usually an owned asset for an organization. This is the interface where almost every content marketing activity begins. A CMS or blogging platform is used to host the company website or blog, native content such as audio, video and landing pages. Examples: WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, HubSpot, etc.

A. Search Engine Optimization (SEO): SEO tools are used to gather data on keywords and competitors, to check whether SEO best practices are in place, etc. They help a site boost its organic rankings in search engines to drive domain authority and get more relevant website traffic.

Examples: Moz, Yoast SEO, Open Site Explorer, Ubersuggest, Raven Tools, Coveo, etc.

B . Landing Pages and A/B Testing: These tools help you build landing pages quickly, without the need for programming knowledge. Landing page tools are intuitive and have a drag-and-drop interface. They also allow you to test which version of the landing page works best in terms of responses, downloads, registrations or other desired actions by your audience. Examples: Unbounce, Leadpages, Instapage, Wix, etc.

C. Content Curation Tools: Not every marketing team has the ability, budget or need to create original content. Content curation tools allow you to automatically find relevant pieces of content based on pre-defined filters, that you can share with your audience or use in your own content creation process.

Examples: Feedly, Scoop.It, BuzzSumo, etc.

D. Content Marketing Platforms (CMP): If content marketing is core to a marketing strategy, then these comprehensive platforms are often more suitable than a set of point solutions. CMPs help marketers with the strategy, creation, distribution and analytics aspects of content marketing. In other words, they take care of end-to-end content marketing activity. Examples: HubSpot, Contently, Marketo, Skyword, etc.

Digital Asset Management (DAM): DAM platforms help organizations store, retrieve and share digital content from a centralized repository to teams across geographies and functions, ensuring consistent use of content at all touchpoints. Examples: WebDAM, Adobe Experience Manager, Brandfolder, Bynder, etc.

Lead Magnets: Considered one of the key growth hacks of recent times, lead magnets are sign-up fields placed ingeniously on a website to generate leads. Examples: OptinMonster, Sumo, Optimonk, Bloom, etc.  

Also Read: What is Content Marketing and Ways to Kick It Up a Notch

2. Rich Media Tools

Rich media tools can be categorized as a subset of content marketing tools, but they primarily deal with the design, video and audio aspects of content.

Let’s look at each type of rich media tool in detail:

Video Making Tools: You can use these tools to create and edit videos easily. Creating whiteboard videos, animations, stock footage videos, etc. from scratch is a cakewalk with these tools. Examples: Biteable, Animoto, Filmora, DaVinci Resolve, etc.

Video Marketing Platforms: Video marketing platforms allow you to upload, share and promote your videos on their respective platforms. Examples: Wistia, Vimeo, YouTube, IBM Cloud Video, Vidyard, etc.

Podcasting Tools and Apps: To get a podcast off the ground, you will need recording equipment and a recording solution. Then, you will need to edit, polish, and stich the sound files in specialized software before you publish the finished product on the various platforms available. A few tools can help you right from recording the audio content to publishing the finished product and everything in between. Examples: Ringr, Logic Pro, Buzzsprout, Audacity, GarageBand, SoundCloud, Google Podcasts, iTunes, etc.

Graphic Design Tools: As the name suggests, these tools help you create stunning graphics to use as part of social media marketing, content marketing and so on. Examples: Canva, Piktochart, Adobe Creative Cloud, Pixlr, etc.

Interactive Content: Instead of creating content that requires only the passive involvement of the audience, use interactive content tools to create surveys, polls, quizzes, contests and sweepstakes to nudge them to engage actively with your content. Example: SnapApp, Woobox, Polldaddy, Typeform, SurveyMonkey, Prezi, etc.

Also Read: What is Interactive Content Marketing and How Marketers can Leverage It

1. Social Media Tools

**Despite the claims of social media not being effective anymore, it is still a major distribution channel and a great way to connect with your audience.** We have listed social media management, monitoring, and influencer marketing tools here.

Social Media Management Tools: These tools help marketers with scheduling, posting, community management and analytics for social media accounts. Examples: Hootsuite, Sprout Social, Buffer, Agora Pulse, etc.

Social Media Monitoring Tools: Social listening helps you keep track of interactions with your brand, the competition, and trends in the industry, including more advanced applications such as sentiment analysis. Examples: Brandwatch, Google Alerts, Brand 24, SocialOomph, SimilarWeb, Digimind, etc.

Influencer Marketing Platforms: You can use these tools to connect with the thought leaders and influencers in your industry. Examples: Followerwonk, Upfluence, Influencer, Social Circle, etc.  

Also Read: Buyer’s Guide to Social Media Marketing Platforms for SMBs

2. Marketing Automation Platforms & Tools

Marketing automation is a pretty generic term, but for lack of a better umbrella term, we are going to include email marketing and mobile marketing platforms in this section, along with more generalized marketing automation platforms.

Let’s look at each type of marketing automation tool in detail.

Marketing Automation Software: Marketing automation refers to software that automates and streamlines repetitive tasks, such as web analysis, social media, etc. Examples: HubSpot, Marketo, Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Eloqua, etc.

Email Marketing Tools: Often confused with marketing automation, email marketing tools focus exclusively on the email aspect of marketing. Examples: MailChimp, AWeber, GetResponse, Campaigner, etc.

Mobile Marketing Platforms: Mobile marketing platforms strive to enhance the user experience of mobile app users by sending push notifications, promotions and offers, tracking user behavior, and producing reports. Examples: Swrve, CleverTap, LeanPlum, etc.  

5.  Advertising Platforms & Tools

Advertising platforms are responsible for streamlining paid ad efforts that include search engine marketing, social media advertising, native advertising, and programmatic advertising.

Let’s look at advertising platforms and tools in detail.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM): SEM tools can suggest new keywords, monitor competition, manage and streamline your search engine campaigns. Examples: Google AdWords, Bing Ads, SEMRush, SpyFu, WordStream, etc.

Social Media Advertising: Like SEM tools, social media advertising tools help you manage social media ads. Examples: AdEspresso, Qwaya, StitcherAds, etc.

Native Advertising: Also known as content promotion or content discovery platforms, native advertising platforms promote your content on other websites, thereby increasing the reach of your content at scale. Examples: Taboola, Outbrain, Adblade, 4INFO, etc.

Programmatic Advertising: Programmatic advertising is the real-time buying and selling of ad spaces. Programmatic buying platforms allow you to target your ads efficiently, streamline your campaigns and allow easy access to ad inventories. Examples: SmartyAds, Simpli.fi, Skipper, Adbeat, MediaMath, etc.  

Also Read: 3 ways AI can Advance Advertising

4. Sales Enablement Tools

If you are a smarketer (sales+marketer), sales software is an essential tool. Sales software helps you manage and automate various crucial aspects of the sales and customer management process at scale. In this section, we are going to look at sales automation, customer support, and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools.

Sales Automation Platforms: Sales automation tools take care of contact management, lead management, sales forecasting, bulk emails, click to call, call recording, etc. Examples: Zoho, Prospect.io, Outreach, etc.

Customer Support Tools: Customer support tools allow you to communicate with your customers, answer their queries and solve their issues. Examples: Zendesk, Intercom, Freshdesk, etc.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM): CRM platforms consist of features such as contact management, reminders, calendar, task management, campaign management, and reporting. Examples: Salesforce, HubSpot, SugarCRM, Freshsales, etc.  

Also Read: 5 Fundamentals of a Foolproof CRM Strategy

5.Data and Analytics Platforms

Data and analytics platforms are all about, well… data and analytics. Marketer managed data platforms consist of Customer Data Platforms (CDPs) and Data Management Platforms (DMPs), while analytics platforms pertain to web analytics, tag management, and predictive analytics.

Let’s look at the various Data and Analytics platforms in detail.

Data Management Platforms (DMPs): DMPs collect anonymous third-party data and are primarily used to improve ad targeting and media buying efficiency. Examples: Adobe Audience Manager, Krux, Lotame, BlueKai, etc.

Customer Data Platforms (CDPs): Customer data platforms primarily collect first-party data and are used in almost every aspect of personalized, 1:1 marketing. Examples: Evergage, Dynamic Yield, Listrak, blueconic, blueshift, Lytics, etc.

Web Analytics: Web analytics tools collect and report website data such as visitor demographics and behavior, traffic and site performance. Examples: Google Analytics, Kissmetrics, Piwik PRO, etc.

Tag Management: To collect different types of data, you need to implement tags on your website. Tag management tools make it easy to implement tags without any coding. Examples: Google Tag Manager, Launch by Adobe, Tealium, etc.

Predictive Analytics: These tools use current and past data to make predictions by implementing machine learning, data mining and predictive modeling. Examples: Aviso, EverString, Dataiku, RapidMiner, etc.  

Also Read: How to Differentiate Between CDP and DMP in the Age of PII?

SECTION II

What Is a MarTech Stack?

"A MarTech stack, in this case, is a number of different technologies from a number of different companies that's meant to attract and retain customers in the most efficient way possible."

~ James Thomas, CMO, Solium (Allocadia)  (Source: Ad Age India)

In the previous section, you learned about the most commonly used MarTech tools. You must be wondering how to go about incorporating these tools into your marketing operations. That is where a ‘MarTech stack’ comes into the picture.

**Simply put, a MarTech stack is an assortment of tools that marketers use in tandem to enhance their operations.**

Why Do I Need a MarTech Stack?

The famous American efficiency engineer and business theorist, Harrington Emerson once said, “As to methods there may be a million and then some, but principles are few. The man who grasps principles can successfully select his own methods. The man who tries methods, ignoring principles, is sure to have trouble.”

Marketers often get confused about which tools to use in their marketing activities. They keep  trying out different tools hoping that the next one will solve their problems. The problem with this approach is, you will keep circling around the same point without achieving much. Once you understand your processes and funnel, it will be easy for you to build a MarTech stack that brings you results.

As Forbes says, marketers can find diverse uses for their MarTech stack:

  How Do You Build a MarTech Stack?

If you are using a few marketing tools, but don’t have a concrete stack, this section will provide enough information to get you started with building your first marketing technology stack. But before you begin, it is critical to have clarity on the focus areas and desired outcomes from any investment in technology: Is it automation? Streamlining operational efficiencies? Driving scale and consistency? More intelligent data-driven marketing?

Get clarity and then build is what we advise.

Key considerations for marketers building a MarTech Stack are:

1. What Is Your Business Model?

Before getting to the actual nitty-gritty of building the stack, understand the business model of your organization. What is your product? Are you a B2B or B2C brand? What sector are you working in? What is the pricing structure and how long is the sales cycle?

Answering these key questions will give you clarity when you get down to deciding on the tools.

2. What Are Your Marketing Goals?

You must have chalked out your marketing goals and the desired outcomes from your upcoming MarTech investment/s. If not, take this as an opportunity to define your marketing goals. If you’ve completed the business model exercise, coming up with marketing goals that align with your business should be the logical next step. During this exercise, remember to specify the desired outcomes from the investment in building a MarTech stack to help build a business case.

3. What Is Your Marketing Funnel? What Does Your ‘Buyers’ Journey’ Look Like?

The marketing funnel, in general, consists of the following stages:

Awareness: The buyer realizes that they have a problem.

Interest: The buyer starts looking for possible solutions.

Consideration: The buyer shortlists probable solutions.

Purchase: Based on research, the buyer makes a purchase.

Post-Purchase Evaluation: The buyer uses the product and evaluates the experience.

Re-Purchase: Based on their previous experience, the buyer decides whether to purchase the product again.  

Conceptualizing Your MarTech Stack

Once you have chalked out a marketing funnel specific to your business, to put together your MarTech stack you then need to fill in tools and platforms for each stage of the funnel. MarTech tools help marketers connect with customers at every stage of the marketing funnel to help them navigate the entire customer journey. There are certain products that connect with customers at every stage of the journey and some are specifically designed for a particular stage. Pick and choose what you think will work for you and then rinse and repeat.

Here is an example by CoSchedule:       

                                         Also Read: How to Make Customer Service Work for Your Marketing Stack

Building Your MarTech Stack

Here are some of the key tools and technologies marketers would expect in a typical MarTech Stack:

Content Management System (CMS)

Advertising Tools

Conversion Tools

Email Marketing

Social Media

Customer Service

Customer Relationship Management

Automation Software

Web Analytics

The key to a successful MarTech Stack is maintaining a balance. As Dan Purvis, Founder & Director at Comms Axis, says in the article we referenced above:

“As the word ‘stack’ suggests, your MarTech tools are not something to consider in isolation, it’s a blend and mixture of all of the tools that deliver overall marketing success and each individual piece of marketing ROI. Good balance is key to a successful MarTech stack, and this is something you often learn over time with trial and error of different tools. Once you begin integrating technologies and developing your stack you’ll see how your time and energies can be focused on the more creative and innovative elements of marketing, with the tools supporting your choices and decisions.”

SECTION III

What are the Must-Have Skills of a MarTech Manager?

“MarTech leaders use both sides of their brain.”

~Michelle Gudema, Senior Director, Hearst Newspapers Digital (Source: CMS Wire)

In this section, we will look at the skills and traits of those who wish to be known as leaders in MarTech in the years to come. These are not necessarily hard or soft skills, but we can term them implicit skills — traits that are inherent to a person, but can be developed through deliberate practice.

5 Crucial Skill Sets of MarTech Leaders

1.Ability to Think on a Strategic and Tactical Level

As marketing has now grown into different aspects such as content, social media, email, mobile marketing, etc. an ideal MarTech manager should be able to think on a strategic and tactical level.

From the strategic point of view, you should be able to align your marketing strategy with the organization’s goals and should be clearly able to line up the necessary tools, tactics, and platforms to get there.

From a tactical perspective, the marketer should be a T-shaped person. They should understand every marketing area mentioned above and should be an expert in at least one area.

Having these two skills will enable marketers to think tactically in silos, yet when it comes to the big picture, effortlessly marry all the areas of marketing required.

2.Marketing Automation Skills

The goal of any marketing automation tool is to promote efficiency, but proficiency in such tools comes with a steep learning curve. However, you do not require expertise for stand-alone tools that are aimed towards different areas of marketing. The UX of such products is intuitive, so they are easy to navigate and use. Since marketing automation is a suite of various tools, you need to know how each function works and how it is connected to the rest of the suite or stack.

You would have noticed that all major corporations require their MarTech person to be competent in the marketing automation software they are using. Therefore, if you are aiming to become a sought-after MarTech manager, make sure to acquire expertise in at least one marketing automation tool.

Pro Tip: The biggest players in the marketing automation industry such as HubSpot and Marketo have their own training and certification courses.

3. Data Analysis Skills

Modern marketing is data-driven and so should the modern marketer be. You should be able to extract data from almost any MarTech software or marketing tool you use. Treating data as sacrosanct is more important than following your intuition. Although you are not expected to have the expertise of a data scientist, understanding the basic concepts of statistics, game theory and probability will undoubtedly give you an edge over others in the field.

To get started, just look at your web analytics data and set a goal. If your bounce rate is high and average time on page is low, use this data to come up with a tactic that would reduce the bounce rate and increase time spent on the page. Once you can do this successfully, focus on other areas of your website and product (mobile or web app) and eventually scale this up.

4. Ability to Build and Manage an Optimal MarTech Stack

There are over 7000 MarTech tools in the market. How do you pick the best one from the pack? Although having a marketing automation platform solves your problems to a certain extent, you still need plenty of other tools to manage different areas of marketing. For example, even though you might use a social media management tool to automate your social media calendar, you’d still need a different tool to run and manage your paid social media ads. Therefore, having a thorough understanding of MarTech tools is the need of the hour as this will allow you to craft a tailored MarTech stack for your organization.

Note: Building a MarTech stack is just one facet of the overall MarTech stack process. The real test lies in how well you can manage it. With new tools hitting the market so frequently, you’d be tempted to try each one out. Many marketers do it, and it eventually leads to Frankenstacks where your tools are not in harmony, and the whole MarTech system is inefficient, becoming an impediment to the growth of your organization.

5. Practice a Growth Mindset

According to the renowned psychology professor at Stanford University, Carol Dweck, individuals with a growth mindset are not afraid of failure as long as they understand that it will be a lesson in bettering themselves.

Here is why the growth mindset is so important in MarTech:

Willingness to take calculated risks: Every decision you make comes with an opportunity cost. With risks, the opportunity cost tends to be higher as the exact outcome is not known. Knowing which risk is worth pursuing will make you a better marketer. It’s good to be open-minded, but you need to be able to strike the right balance between intuition and inference.

For example, whenever a new MarTech tool or a new marketing channel is introduced, instead of jumping onto the bandwagon, sit back and think it through before you end up building the aforementioned Frankenstack. Realize that you don’t need to try every software that enters the market, but if a particular one catches your eye, be sure to check its reviews on neutral industry publications such as MarTech Advisor or directories where users are allowed to leave their feedback. If you are sold on the idea, ask for a demo and if and only if you think it will add value, should you go for a trial.

Quick Learner: There’s a new update being introduced in MarTech as you are reading this article. MarTech is a fast-paced area where if you are not progressing, you are falling behind. You don’t need to make giant strides but do keep to a goal of achieving 1% improvement daily. Learn skills that will help you do your job better. To be a quick learner, you need to know the right learning techniques. An excellent resource for this is the Learning How to Learn course on Coursera.

Creativity: I can hear many people say, “How can I be creative if I don’t have any artistic inclination?” That’s not true. You don’t need to be an artist to be creative in your work. You just need to have the right mindset to use your creativity. It’s as simple as newsjacking your favorite sitcom into your content. Along with MarTech, learn concurrent skills that can help you showcase your creativity. For example, understanding the fundamentals of design such as typography, colors, UI/UX, harmony, space, etc. will help you improve your MarTech skills.

Also Read: The Skills You Need to Thrive in the Era of AI As a Marketer

The Way Ahead

We hope to have given you some elementary insights into what marketing technology is, and what it takes to become a MarTech professional. Please note that we have barely scratched the surface in this article, there’s a lot more in the field of MarTech. To become an expert in this field, be a relentless reader. Consume what intrigues you and find ways to implement it in your work.

We wish you all the very best on your MarTech journey!

If you have any questions or want to provide other readers with added insights, please let us know in the comments below.

This article was first appeared on MarTech Advisor