Marketing technology is abundant. Almost too abundant. With so many choices, it can be overwhelming. We don't know where to start. Worse yet, we may feel like we need to make a major investment in order to get involved.

The truth is that you don't know which is the right system for you until you get in and work with it. You can do a lot of research. Deep dive into all the documentation behind the technology and spend the months it would take to narrow down to the technology that you feel is right for you. The trouble is, you still may not know that that's exactly the right technology.

A better approach is to remember the modern marketing mantra: start simple. Let's take content marketing as an example. There are a number of technologies out there that are free or low-cost. Use this as a great way to get started. Set up a pilot. This will allow you to understand what the technologies can do. More importantly, it'll help you understand how you interact with the technology or how your organization needs to interact with the technologies.

Once you get a feel for the ins and outs of the system and how it affects you and your organization, you can start to make some determinations. You may discover that you could really benefit from a soup to nuts system. Or you may discover that you don't need all the features that are included in a full feature system. You may need something specific. In this case, you can build a technology stack. That means that you can choose pieces of technology that you can put together into a system that works well for you.

Whichever way you choose to go, this is a great way to start because it allows you to get in, try some things, and iterate. What you learn from this approach can help you work toward the technology that’s absolutely right for you. So start simple. It’s the smart way to approach modern marketing technology.