Real Story Group's Tony Byrne Discusses the Strategic Importance of Investing in a True Omnichannel MarTech Stack

SAN JOSE, Calif. - April 3, 2019 - PRLog -- MarTech 2019 -- Enterprises today are experiencing a serious Omnichannel deficit. While there are a number of tools in the market that enterprise marketers and technologists can leverage to deliver important messages and engage with their customers, there is a lack of integration and alignment with larger company-wide priorities. This is creating a barrier to coherent and coordinated engagement with customers and prospects, according to Tony Byrne, CEO and Founder of Real Story Group in an audio interview for journalists.

The end result is inefficient, frustrating internal operations and lost opportunities to nurture ongoing customer relationships.

"Inadvertently or not, major enterprises are on the cusp of going in the wrong direction when it comes to the marketing technology (MarTech) strategies. They are trying to modernize their stack, but what they are really doing is modernizing the top of their stack. This is the conventional wisdom right now and I think we are on the wrong path," Byrne explains.

Organizations are updating their websites, email campaigns and contact centers to be richer and smarter in themselves. But for the most part, Byrne notes, customers still don't have a consistent view of the enterprise, and the enterprise still doesn't have a 360 view of the customer.

The Track to Successful Omnichannel

A true omnichannel strategy will require enterprise decision makers to focus their attention -- and investments -- lower in the MarTech stack while tying the design of their marketing operations more closely to business processes throughout the organization. Hence the importance of developing a strong omnichannel capability.

Omni Channel Defined

"By Omnichannel we mean two things: first the ability to connect with customers and prospects across multiple venues or communications types: direct mail/in-store/email/websites/mobile apps/contact center/sales calls/etc. This has historically been called multichannel," says Byrne.

But Omnichannel means something else as well.

"It is the ability to engage coherently and consistently regardless of channel -- and even as new channels emerge. If you are trying to do digital transformation in the customer arena, you have to get your omnichannel stack in order," says Byrne.

This is why a clear-eyed perspective is needed to make sure the right MarTech stack is built for each organization.

"Conventional wisdom on these issues is set by the major suite/cloud vendors in this space, and the analyst allies who work for them. That conventional wisdom suggests that a platform in your multichannel stack will give you omnichannel capabilities. This is false. Platforms are not omnichannel. A vendor is not omnichannel. Your stack is omnichannel," proclaims Byrne.

To explore the full range of options available to organizations, and to eliminate the omnichannel deficit, the Real Story Group is putting together an executive council of MarTech stack owners from among its largest research and advisory subscribers.

"These are confidential sessions -- closed to vendor or supplier participation -- where enterprise stack owners can share lessons and insights," says Byrne.

"Right now, we are going through a time of great change, and as an analyst I want to deliver clear operational models. But the reality is, we have a lot to learn from each other, and we're looking forward to hosting some of those private conversations."

To listen to the full interview with Tony Byrne please visit:

https://bit.ly/2UfgGZz