Is your marketing technology stack quietly turning into a tangled mess? Welcome to the world of GTM bloat. Many marketing leaders are navigating a collection of suites, platforms and tools that have expanded rapidly over the past few years, only to realize it’s now more of a hindrance than a help.
If your tech feels cluttered or you’re questioning the ROI on some of your tools, you might be facing GTM bloat. The good news is that trimming down and streamlining your tools doesn’t have to mean sacrificing the innovative solutions that make your strategy flourish.
In this 5-part series, we’ll explore how to streamline your martech stack, balance efficiency with specialized tools, and make smarter tech choices to boost both performance and ROI.
In part one, we’ll break down how to recognize GTM bloat, why addressing it is essential, and what steps to take before taking drastic action.
What is GTM bloat?
GTM (Go-to-Market) bloat refers to the accumulation of marketing tools and platforms in your tech stack that leads to inefficiencies, redundancies, and spiraling costs. Over the years, marketing teams have been quick to adopt new tools for everything from customer data management to campaign personalization. As each tool promises to solve a specific problem or improve performance in a particular area, the stack grows and grows. And with the number of martech tools out there growing at historic rates – nearly 30% in just the last year – it’s no wonder how this happens.
But, eventually, it becomes hard to manage and, even worse, creates problems of its own—problems you may not even realize at first.
For example, you might have several tools collecting customer data, but if those tools don’t integrate smoothly, you’ll end up with fragmented insights. Worse yet, you could be paying for multiple tools that essentially perform the same function.
That’s GTM bloat—too much tech and not enough integration and alignment.
Why addressing GTM bloat is critical for business health
- Improved operational efficiency
A bloated martech stack can slow your team down instead of speeding things up. When your team has to navigate multiple platforms to execute a single campaign or struggles to integrate data across systems, valuable time is lost. This not only delays marketing execution but also increases the risk of errors.
By consolidating marketing technology and eliminating unnecessary tools, you’ll reduce complexity, allowing your team to work more efficiently.
- Protecting your budget health
GTM bloat is expensive. It’s too easy for marketing departments to fall victim to subscription creep, where tools are added to the budget over time, but rarely reviewed. You could be paying for software that isn’t being used or for features that overlap across multiple platforms.
Consolidating your martech stack can help rein in these costs. By auditing your current tools and eliminating redundancies, you can free up your budget for high-value tools that truly deliver ROI. The goal isn’t to cut costs blindly but to ensure that every dollar spent on marketing technology is delivering value.
Simply put, be a friend to Finance. You won’t regret it.
- Boosting team productivity
Juggling multiple logins, platforms, and interfaces leads to frustration and wasted time. A streamlined martech stack makes it easier for your team to focus on what they do best—crafting campaigns, engaging with customers, and driving revenue—rather than wrestling with a jumble of disconnected tools. Your team will spend less time troubleshooting and more time executing.
- Delivering a seamless customer experience
No one will argue with the importance of providing a personalized, cohesive experience for your customers. It’s a non-negotiable must-have, and a deal-breaker if your tech doesn’t support one. A seamless stack ensures that all customer data is consolidated and easily accessible, allowing you to deliver personalized messages and interactions at every touchpoint.
It’s the whole foundation of Relationship Marketing. When your tools are well-integrated, you have the power to create a unified, relevant experience that makes your customers feel seen, understood, and builds long-term loyalty. Research shows that more than two-thirds of consumers are willing to pay more to shop with brands they’re loyal to!
Symptoms of a bloated martech stack
Not sure if your marketing tech stack needs a trim? Here are some common signs of GTM bloat:
- Overlapping tools
If you have multiple tools performing the same function (e.g., two analytics platforms, three email marketing tools), you’re likely dealing with overlap. While it’s easy to justify adding specialized tools over time, overlapping solutions often create confusion, making it harder to integrate data and manage your stack effectively.
- Underused platforms
When you evaluate your martech stack, you might find that some platforms haven’t been touched in months. If that’s the case, you’re not alone. Gartner’s latest CMO survey reports a steep plunge in utilization in the last year. Perhaps they were brought in with good intentions, but after a few campaigns, their use dwindled. Underused platforms not only waste money but also add unnecessary complexity to your operations.
- Manual workarounds
Despite having a tech stack designed to automate and streamline marketing processes, your team might still be manually entering data or jumping between platforms to cobble together reports. This is often a sign that your tools aren’t well-integrated and aren’t delivering the efficiency they promised.
Take a poll across your team. I bet this one is their favorite. (*wink*)
First steps toward streamlining your marketing technology
So, how do you go about reducing GTM bloat without losing the tools that are critical to your marketing strategy? Start by creating a task force across your department and have them consider what to prioritize by first examining the following information.
- Audit your stack
The first step is a comprehensive audit of your martech stack. List every tool you’re currently using and evaluate its purpose. Consider how often your team uses each tool, what it’s used for, and how it integrates with the rest of your stack.
This audit will help you identify which tools are essential, which are underused, and where redundancies exist. Tools that no longer serve your strategy or offer overlapping features are prime candidates for elimination.
- Assess tool usage
Look at actual usage data to see which platforms your team engages with regularly. Most software platforms have built-in analytics that will show how often they’re accessed and by whom. If a tool is only being used occasionally, ask whether it’s still necessary or if its functionality could be handled by another platform.
- Identify redundancies
When you have multiple tools serving the same function, it’s time to make some decisions. Evaluate which tool performs best in each category and retire the rest. The key here is not to “rip and replace” everything at once, but to be strategic about where you can consolidate without sacrificing functionality.
Time-saving tip: Have your operations team list your tech, what you use it for, and team usage (a metric found in the tool’s backend settings or can be given to you by your customer success manager.) Feed that information into ChatGPT 4, redacting anything proprietary, and ask it to detail suspected redundancies.
Strategic trim vs. rip-and-replace your marketing technology
While your tech stack needs to be tended to regularly or it will grow out of control, a full rip-and-replace strategy can be costly and disruptive. The reality is that replacing tools comes with hidden costs—implementation expenses, the time and effort required for training, and potential operational downtime while your team adjusts to the new system.
Before making any drastic changes, explore whether your current tools can be better integrated. It’s the most important factor for martech buyers, outside of cost. Many platforms today offer APIs and connectors that allow for smoother data flow between systems. You might find that your existing tools can still deliver value if they’re better connected, saving you a lot of headaches.
The goal isn’t to slash your tech stack down to the bare bones, but rather to streamline it to improve efficiency without sacrificing key capabilities. By eliminating redundancies, consolidating your stack where appropriate, and improving integration, you can get the best of both worlds—a lean, effective stack that still delivers the specialized functionalities you need to grow your customer base.
Stay tuned for the next part in the series, where we’ll dive into how to find that sweet spot between efficiency and performance in your martech stack.
Dive deeper into the latest insights shaping customer expectations and brand loyalty. Download the full Marigold’s Relationship Marketing Trends Report to discover what top-performing brands are doing to streamline their customer experience and boost loyalty.