Absolunet's Mark Tinucci explains that while you likely do not need all of these tools, the ones you do need must be tightly integrated. Listen to the video or read on.
Managing Manufacturer Data.
Your manufacturer data contains product information from multiple sources. This data falls into a couple of categories: technical, dimensional, transactional, logistical and marketing.
One of the principle goals of the tools listed below is to bring this data together into a collective whole across products and timeline.
So which tools do you have and are they talking to one another?
ERP - Enterprise Resource Planning.
Software that manages and integrates a company's financials, supply chain, operations, reporting, manufacturing, and human resource activities.
CRM - Customer Relationship Management.
A system for managing client interactions, dealing with future and current customers, optimizing and systematizing relationships.
PIM - Product Information Management.
A system for storing product information with the intent to output the data to channel partners, distributors, customers and other systems such as eCommerce platforms.
DAM - Digital Asset Management.
Describes everything done with image files and documents (Technical and Marketing Collaterals) from the moment you download them from the memory card or camera.
eCommerce platform.
Systems for operating enterprise transactions, static websites and their related applications. These platforms offer functionality to customers in order to transact, investigate products and buy services.
CMS - Content Management System.
Computer software or an application that uses a database to manage all content. It can be used when developing a website, or serving content to partners.
PLM - Product Lifecycle Management.
An information management system that can integrate data, processes, business systems and, ultimately, people in an extended enterprise.
DC Data - Distribution Center Data.
Data from the DC, which includes timely data on inventory availability, shipping, out-of-stock products, returns, parts substitutions, and other data specific to that DC.
Data Lake.
A centralized system used for collecting Enterprise data and bringing it together in date/time sequence, with standardized definitions and complete data mapping to ensure data is used appropriately.
Middleware.
Works with data from the Data Lake to identify delta files and transform data to other preferred formats.
CDN - Content Delivery Network (YouTube/Vimeo)
System of distributed servers delivering pages and other web content to a user, based on user geographic locations, the origin of the webpage & content delivery server.
DMS - Document Management System.
A system used to receive, track, manage, store documents and reduce paper, capable of keeping a record of the various versions created and modified by different users.
Building the Most Competitive Marketing-MarTech Stack
The winning approach absolutely depends on your business and competitive environment. It also depends on your size, your ambitions and your needs.
But here a 5 takeaways, regardless of your marketing-technology stack:
- Clean, complete and standardize your product data. This upkeep is instrumental for making your MarTech stack relevant and profitable.
- Create relevant content for the appropriate stages in your customer journey.
- Automate the generation of product-focused marketing data and build your infrastructure for automation.
- Optimize the systems you do have. Be more nimble via your APIs and your connections. You can’t be transactional without system connections.
- Find digital differentiators so that you aren’t selling on price alone.
And ask for help. The Absolunet team knows HVAC. We can guide you on the tools that won’t break the bank and that will get you a return on your investment now and in the future. Speak to our HVAC sectorial lead.
