BLOG

The Future of Martech: Embracing a Composable Strategy

The days of rigid, one-size-fits-all marketing technology are over. The most successful businesses don’t rely on a single vendor or a locked-in software suite; instead, they build a composable martech stack—a system that seamlessly blends foundational platforms with specialist tools to maximize agility, efficiency, and scale.

A composable strategy isn’t just about choosing the right tools, it’s about implementing a structured approach to integration, experimentation, and long-term scalability. Research has shown that companies effectively managing artech stacks follow three key principles:

1. Find the Center Platform in Your Stack

Your Martech ecosystem needs a backbone, a centralized platform that integrates with the majority of your marketing tools. Research shows that 72% of companies rely on a core system that supports more than half of their stack’s functions.

This center platform is often one of the following:

  • CRM (Customer Relationship Management): B2B companies typically rely on CRMs to track customer interactions and sales cycles.

  • MAP (Marketing Automation Platform): Ideal for nurturing leads, automating outreach, and streamlining workflows.

  • CDP (Customer Data Platform): A favorite for B2C brands managing real-time personalization and customer segmentation.

  • CDW (Cloud Data Warehouse): A critical hub for companies with large-scale data operations.

Your business model determines which platform plays the leading role. B2B companies prioritize CRM and MAP tools to focus on deeper customer relationships, while B2C companies lean on CDP and CDW systems to manage vast customer data pools.

Finding this core platform ensures that your marketing, IT, and data teams are working from the same foundation, creating a scalable, stable system that supports long-term growth.

2. Experiment with Specialist Apps

Innovation in marketing doesn’t come from legacy systems, it comes from specialist apps that enable agility, testing, and rapid deployment.

Many companies use specialist apps instead of native platform features, even if there’s some overlap. In fact, 83% of businesses opt for external solutions rather than relying on built-in tools. Why? Because:

  • Cost Efficiency: Standalone tools are often cheaper and faster to deploy than modifying enterprise software.

  • Better User Experience & Functionality: Specialist apps focus on a single function, ensuring better design, performance, and ease of use.

  • Governance & Flexibility: These apps can be switched on and off without overhauling core systems, making it easier to test and iterate.

For example, a marketing automation platform might offer built-in email segmentation, but a specialist AI-powered personalization tool may provide more precise targeting. Rather than waiting for the core platform to evolve, businesses integrate specialist apps that deliver results immediately.

Specialist apps are not workarounds, they are purpose-built accelerators that help businesses adapt quickly without disrupting stability.

3. Implement a Handover Process

Adopting new tools is easy; making them part of a long-term strategy is harder. That’s why successful businesses have a structured handover process to transition marketing experiments into their permanent Martech stack.

A well-defined process ensures that prototypes and specialist tools don’t become isolated, disconnected assets but instead contribute to sustainable growth. The key steps are:

  1. Clean Up & Validate: Before transitioning, remove redundant content, data, and features, keeping only what directly impacts performance.

  2. Brief IT & Define Next Steps:

  • If a specialist tool proves valuable, IT can migrate its features into the core platform.

  • If the tool lacks native support, IT can integrate it into the existing stack.

  • If security or compliance issues arise, IT can recommend an alternative that meets internal standards.

  1. Ensure Long-Term Scalability: Once integrated, marketing and IT should continuously evaluate performance to optimize, refine, and adjust as business needs evolve.

This structured process prevents the chaotic sprawl of disconnected tools and ensures that successful experiments transition into long-term, scalable solutions.

The Composable Future of Martech

Martech is no longer about choosing between all-in-one suites or individual point solutions. Instead, the future belongs to businesses that can blend the best of both worlds:

✔ A strong, scalable core platform to maintain stability and data integrity.

✔ Agile specialist apps to enable rapid adaptation, testing, and competitive advantage.

✔ A structured handover process to transition experimental tools into long-term assets.

By embracing composability, companies future-proof their martech stack, ensuring they are always adapting, innovating, and scaling, without sacrificing control, security, or efficiency.

The real question isn’t whether composability is the right strategy, it’s how soon you can start implementing it.

Stay in The Loop

Subscribe to The Loop to stay updated with the latest in analytics, e-commerce, A/B testing, and growth strategies. Get cutting-edge tips, industry insights, and exclusive resources delivered straight to your inbox.

More from Nlytics

Building storefronts for the future? Learn how Nlytics can help you do it better & faster.

Start for free.
Scale as you grow.

Start making your website's data work for you instantly with simple set-up.
Create my account