By Jose Soto, VP of Engineering, Converge
Outdated legacy systems pose a significant challenge to modern marketing agencies. These systems impede agility, scalability, and data-driven decision-making. After years of accumulating point solutions, many companies find their tech stacks function far from seamlessly.
Today’s marketers prioritize comprehensive platforms over bundled tools, seeking simplification, integration, and operational efficiency. However, many legacy solutions are built on outdated data architectures from the late 90s, designed for a different era of marketing unable to handle today’s fast-paced, multi-device consumer and the massive data volume.
To address this, marketing agencies need to focus on cross-departmental collaboration between engineering and marketing teams. Moving away from the patchwork of disconnected tools, modern platforms must offer a unified system where all marketing channels seamlessly work together and connect disparate data sources. This removes the fatigue many companies experience from juggling dozens of siloed solutions. As a result, emerging technologies, such as AI, no-code/low-code solutions, and cloud-based platforms, can streamline operations, enhance efficiency, and fuel sustainable growth by replacing legacy systems.
Identifying Legacy System Bottlenecks
Legacy systems often become bottlenecks, slowing processes and impeding growth. These systems may be inflexible, difficult to integrate with new technologies, and costly to maintain. Identifying these bottlenecks is the first step towards modernization. Common issues include:
- Data silos: Information is trapped in separate systems, making it difficult to get a holistic view of the business.
- Manual processes: Repetitive tasks are performed manually, leading to errors and inefficiencies.
- Limited scalability: Systems cannot handle increased workloads or data volumes.
- Security vulnerabilities: Outdated software may have security flaws that can be exploited.
The Necessity of Cross-Departmental Collaboration
Modernizing effectively demands close collaboration between engineering and marketing teams. Engineering provides the technical expertise necessary for implementing new systems, while marketing defines the crucial business requirements and user needs. This collaboration facilitates alignment of efforts with broader company goals, and offers key advantages: a mutual understanding of challenges and opportunities, more innovative and effective solutions, and faster implementation due to streamlined communication.
At Converge, a strategic opportunity emerged when a marketing and account management lead identified the untapped potential of pay-per-call, recognizing its higher intent and faster conversion rates compared to traditional web forms. This initiative highlighted the need for refined call tracking, enhanced IVR systems, and seamless data integration. Through close collaboration, engineering and marketing aligned on implementing a call-first approach, leveraging technology to capture, analyze, and distribute high-value inbound calls. This cross-departmental effort resulted in streamlined lead qualification, real-time data enrichment for client CRMs, and ultimately, increased revenue generation for both the agency and its clients, demonstrating the power of a unified, data-driven strategy.
Agility via Rapidly Evolving Technologies
It’s impossible to avoid the AI conversation today, but identifying how to effectively implement, and therefore see business success, AI solutions takes a bit more time and dedication. But the benefits are real: AI significantly optimizes marketing operations by automating tasks, analyzing vast datasets to identify trends, and streamlining campaign creation, execution, and optimization. AI also enables personalized customer experiences through data-driven content and recommendations. It’s essential for marketers to identify where AI will augment their strategies, and begin implementing new processes.
Complementing AI, no-code/low-code platforms democratize application development, allowing marketing teams to rapidly adapt to evolving needs and build custom solutions without coding. This approach increases agility, reduces reliance on IT, and offers cost savings compared to traditional development. When access to data is no longer a bottleneck, marketers can bring their best ideas to life, building behavioral campaigns, conducting A/B testing and making optimizations.
Finally, cloud-based platforms offer scalability, flexibility, and efficiency. They enable agencies to easily scale their operations, access data from anywhere, and optimize costs. Benefits include:
- Scalability: Easily adjust resources to meet changing demands.
- Accessibility: Access data and applications from anywhere with an internet connection.
- Cost-effectiveness: Pay for only the resources used, reducing costs.
Future-Proofing and Embracing Change
Marketing agencies must continuously modernize by adopting new technologies and fostering innovation. To be successful, communicate the benefits of modernization, involve employees in the transition process, and provide adequate training. While switching costs are real, they are mitigated by the simplicity and enhanced capabilities of newer systems. Upgrading to a newer platform offers superior performance at reduced costs, enabling reinvestment in programs that drive engagement and performance improvement. By embracing modern approaches and proactively managing change, agencies can overcome legacy infrastructure limitations and position themselves for sustained success in the data-driven future.
The time for modernization is now. Agencies that address legacy system bottlenecks, embrace collaborative strategies, and leverage cutting-edge technologies will thrive in the future of marketing. It’s time to build a resilient, agile, and data-powered agency.
