Jasmine Allen.
Bloated tech stacks, disconnected teams and AI tools are making your marketing more expensive. Jasmine Allen explains how to beat the bloat and improve your marketing efficiency.
The pace of change in our industry is the fastest I’ve seen in my career, and it’s only getting faster – sped up and exacerbated by AI and the number of tools available to help businesses be more productive.
There’s a tool for this, a platform for that, and another tool to fix the mess those first two created. It’s no wonder CMOs are frustrated and struggling to figure out what they need to grow their business profitably.
In an effort to simplify processes, all too often, organisations are building on top of issues that haven't yet been solved, which is making systems even more complicated and siloed than they were before.
Say hello to tech stack and function “bloat”, which is likely costing you money.
If your departments and channels aren’t communicating and your functions aren’t fully optimised, there’s a good chance you’re investing in tools you don't need, leading to wasted OPEX and even media spend.
I’ve seen businesses waste tens of thousands of dollars on platforms and tools that either went unused or were underutilised because they couldn’t be integrated effectively.
When evaluating marketing efficiency and its effect on profitability, the tools and platforms you deploy directly impact how you define campaign performance, drive incremental ROI, and determine marketing’s contribution to overall business outcomes.
Marketing is already becoming more expensive. Paid media acquisition costs are rising. Add to that increased competition in an environment where it's already challenging to have visibility and cut through. Now, more than ever before, every dollar invested inside and outside of your business counts.
So what can you do to beat the bloat?
Integration isn’t optional; it’s infrastructure
While the digital ecosystem has evolved into an interconnected, real-time organism, most marketing strategies have not. They remain siloed. Disconnected. Fragmented.
Marketing itself and your tech stack can no longer work in silos. These parts of your business need to be very carefully orchestrated and considered.
Solving this challenge isn’t just about skills. It also requires an understanding of how to set up your business to thrive in this new environment.
Every tool in your arsenal must speak to one another because when they do, you get a better outcome. According to AI company Axis Intelligence, within 18 months of strategic selection and deployment of an integrated tech stack, Fortune 500 companies realised average savings of USD 2.4 million.
And yet, an IAB study tells us that more than 70 per cent of large Australian businesses admit their digital teams still work independently across functions, inhibiting their impact.
The proof is in the pudding
What happens when your marketing channels are working in tandem, not in silos?
Take the example of seamlessly connecting your SEO and SEM functions.
Integrated SEO and SEM reduces reliance on costly brand terms while improving acquisition efficiency. Organic search informs paid strategy by providing keyword intent data, high-performing landing pages, and user engagement metrics. SEM captures high-intent queries and tests messaging, which can then refine meta titles, content structure, and internal linking in SEO. This bidirectional data flow creates a continuous feedback loop, optimising both channels and maximising ROI.
And that’s just one example relative to marketing channels. Imagine what’s possible if the tools marketing uses are also talking to finance and other functions of business? The benefits are quantifiable.
AI is a catalyst but also a mirror
If that wasn’t enough of a challenge, along comes AI.
Artificial Intelligence is reshaping the marketing function at speed, from predictive modelling to content automation and real-time bidding. But here’s the catch: AI is only as powerful as the ecosystem it operates within.
A study by DeepSense.ai reveals that nearly 75 per cent of AI initiatives fail to deliver on their promise, with up to 85 per cent never reaching full production. The primary cause? Misalignment between business objectives, data readiness, and technical execution. When systems don’t speak to each other, AI doesn’t elevate performance; it magnifies chaos.
To harness AI strategically, businesses must first build an environment where data is unified, teams are aligned, and strategy flows across every touchpoint.
Act now to be agentic-ready
The broader industry investment in agentic commerce is a clear signal of where the market is heading: a world where AI agents don’t just surface options, but autonomously transact on behalf of consumers to ease friction.
In this environment, fragmented architectures, inconsistent data schemas, and siloed martech stacks won’t just slow you down; they’ll lock you out of the consideration set entirely. To remain competitive, brands must prioritise seamless system interoperability and structured, machine-readable product data that agents can easily interpret.
In an agent-driven commerce ecosystem, integration is crucial for a technical foundation that ensures your business is discoverable, trusted, and transaction-ready.
No matter the size of your organisation, not just adoption - but integration - will be crucial to success in the next six to 12 months and beyond.
There’s no doubt it will be the difference between marketing that performs and leads versus marketing that costs more while delivering fewer results.
The brands that thrive won’t be those that move the fastest or spend the most. They’ll be the ones that operate as one across platforms, channels, teams, and technologies.
More importantly, they will be the businesses that can create the kind of seamless, brand-led experiences that drive long-term loyalty and scalable growth.
Jasmine Allen is the Head of Digital at integrated marketing agency Impressive.