02 Your Digital Marketing Tech Stack

Let’s talk about tech.

What do I mean?

I mean the software, apps, integrations, websites, extensions, widgets, plugins, etc you use to run your business.

If you’re like most small businesses you have next to zero recollection of everything you use. And you’ve probably signed up for services a year ago, logged in once, and forgot about it.

Let’s talk about why this is important.

Stop Cash Leaks

First, and most obvious, you might be leaking money. Those $5 and $10 monthly subscriptions add up. When was the last time you made sure you’re using all of the tools you’re paying for?

Consolidate Functionality

Second, tools change – they get better (most of the time, anyway)…and what you needed three tools for last year, you might only need one now to do the same functions.

Time to Automate

Third, you might have some tech gaps. By this I mean, early on in your business it’s worth it to handle some things manually for a while. But at some point it’s time to get software to automate. You know you’ve hit this point when you are actually losing income by doing the task manually.

Back in high school economics class you might remember the term “opportunity cost.” Spending an hour every day manually publishing social posts makes sense at the beginning. But when you have a full workload, all of a sudden that hour is costing you real money because that is an hour you are NOT spending on billable work.

So at that point it makes sense to spend $30 a month on a social scheduling tool so you aren’t interrupted every day. You’re actually SAVING MONEY by SPENDING MONEY.

Make sense?

Take Some First Steps

With that in mind, go through your credit card statements for the past 12 months and see what you’re paying for. Also write down any free tools you’re using.

Start by downloading this template provided to help you identify what you’re using and if it’s a “nice to have,” “essential,” or “oh crap, I need to cancel this.”

Access Google Sheet Template (save as a copy) »

Bonus points if you also document WHO has access and what the login credentials are.

The point of this exercise is for you to get a sense of where your tech gaps might be. I want to encourage you to be intentional about what tools you’re using. Not just using it because your friend recommended it.

Let’s make sure you’re playing with a full deck as we build out your digital marketing program.