According to Business Development Bank of Canada, 98.2% of businesses have less than 100 employees. That may seem shockingly high when your city’s downtown streets are stuffed with storefronts of large multinational companies. But as the owner of a growing IT and marketing agency, I see how small- and medium-sized businesses in Canada have a big presence on the global tech scene servicing major corporations. In fact, several headquarters of the world’s most talked about marketing technology (MarTech) companies can be reached without needing a passport. Here is a visual on the Canadian landscape:
All MarTech companies, all Canadian. Two hundred eighty-five tech businesses dip into all aspects of marketing, including paid advertising, social media and building relationships with consumers, and managing data. Courtesy of wriber.com
Small MarTech Businesses, Big Clients
You have probably already bought something from a website powered by Shopify, the e-commerce giant that’s helped businesses around the globe market and sell their products. But did you know that Shopify is as Canadian as a moose in long johns? Shopify is headquartered in Ottawa (for maximum Canadianness) with additional locations in Toronto, Montreal, Kitchener-Waterloo (Ontario), and San Francisco, its sole location outside of the True North.
That’s just one example of a big Canadian MarTech company. From its headquarters in Toronto, ScribbleLive helps businesses create engaging and interactive content for on the web. This solution is very impactful for large enterprise companies. ScribbleLive is used by Red Bull, Dell, NBA, Bank of America, Yahoo, Bayer, and over 1,000 more global businesses.
Yes. In fact, the chances are that your business already uses MarTech in some way or another. The real question is, Are you using your tools to attract prospects and close sales in the best possible way? The right combination of MarTech can streamline the marketing and sales process, and the right agency can show you how it’s done.
Three Questions for Better Marketing
When I started Macromator in 2013, I wanted to help marketing organizations utilize their digital marketing technologies and CRM tools in the most efficient way possible. The business really started from that combination of marketing and tech passion. Today, we help run global marketing operations for global enterprise companies.
There are three questions you should always be asking about your marketing activities:
- Am I targeting the right accounts?
- Are my sales and marketing activities aligned?
- Do I have the right digital tools supporting me?
Target the Right Accounts
Many companies are out there in the big digital sea, seeking the right service that fits their needs. How do you define your target accounts? You can do so based on your ideal customer profile or by simply looking at your existing clients to find other similar companies.
Account-based marketing ads allow you to be more focused. Interactive content educates your prospects about their needs, which sparks interest and generates leads. Very often, prospects are not aware of what they need to do business better. Engaging your prospects through quality email content and educational webinars pushes the prospects down the pipeline until sales deems them qualified to start a conversation.
Keep Sales and Marketing Aligned
When sales and marketing are communicating and working together, your business is thriving. To compare the relationship between sales and marketing to a marriage isn’t far-fetched—every good relationship is built on communication, shared goals, and realistic expectations. For example, sales needs to define and communicate their ideal target accounts to the marketing department. Marketing, in turn, needs to know what sorts of obstacles sales comes up against so they can support the sales process. It’s a mutual, supportive relationship towards the same goal: revenue.
The Right Tools for Your Unique Needs
How do you decide which tools best aid your sales and marketing divisions? My pro-tip: keep your MarTech stack simple. The tech should enable you, not impede you. You want to reap the benefits of your tools as quickly as possible rather than constantly waste time fixing complicated engines that don’t work as one.
Technology specifically designed to help sales and marketing departments become more data-driven are invaluable tools. A lot of these tools are built right here in Canada. However, selecting the right MarTech and implementing it can make you feel like that prospect is out at sea—one need, so many possibilities. This is where our expertise can help. The Macromator marketing operations team is certified in many MarTech categories, enabling world-class sales and marketing operations. We set-up, train, and support global marketing operations.
There are numerous MarTech companies in Canada, both big and small, that can be leveraged to help grow more Canadian businesses from small to big.
Dan Radu is the founder of Macromator Inc. and not at all ashamed to admit that he’s a MarTech geek. Most recently, Dan was invited to sit on the MarTech Council by the Canadian Marketing Association (CMA). If you’re interested in becoming a more data-driven marketer (or just want to talk MarTech), send him an email at [email protected].
Are you in the Toronto area? Macromator is committed to growing the MarTech community in Toronto. Join today for workshops and seminars on how to use MarTech to enhance your business.
