55% of marketing leaders report disappointment in martech payoff compared to expectations, according to Duke University’s Fall 2024 CMO Survey. But here’s what that statistic doesn’t tell you: you might be getting substantial value from your technology without realizing it.

The problem isn’t the tools, it’s that you might be measuring the wrong things and missing the value that’s happening right under your nose. Your marketing automation could be saving hours of manual work. Your CRM might be improving customer relationships. Your analytics could be enabling better decisions. Your content systems might be accelerating execution. 

These benefits could be compounding daily, but they disappear when you try to calculate utilization percentages or track attribution through broken measurement systems. The crisis might not be in your technology performance. It could be in how you identify and communicate the value being created.

The value your technology might be creating (that measurement tools can’t capture)

Scott Brinker, the martech landscape pioneer, directly challenges the utilization measurement approach: “I find this a rather dubious measurement. How does one determine what percentage of their capabilities are being used? Is there any quantitative analysis being done here at all by respondents, or is it just gut feel?”

As Brinker explains with his famous analogy: “It would be kind of like measuring whether your subscription to Spotify is worth it based on the percentage of their 35 million songs that you listen to. All that matters is if they give you the songs that you enjoy listening to — even if it’s but a tiny fraction of their massive overall catalog.”

Your martech could be delivering business impact across four areas that traditional ROI calculations consistently miss. Understanding these areas is how you start identifying real value instead of apologizing for utilization rates:

Your operations might be more efficient than before. Every automated email sequence could represent hours your team doesn’t spend on manual sends. Every social post scheduled in advance might be time saved. Every lead score calculated automatically could be analysis your team doesn’t do manually. Multiple 2024 studies show attribution challenges mask these efficiency gains, making them invisible to traditional measurement.

These potential time savings could translate directly to cost reduction and productivity improvement. Your team might focus on strategy instead of execution. Your campaigns could launch faster. Your responses might happen quicker. That could be a measurable value, even when utilization surveys miss it.

Your customers might have better experiences than they used to. Your platforms could enable personalized content, behavioral triggers, and customized messaging that improve satisfaction and loyalty. Modern martech enables personalized customer interactions at scale, creating competitive advantages that resist simple quantification.

Dynamic content based on customer behavior. Email sequences triggered by specific actions. Website experiences that adapt to visitor interests. Support tickets routed to the right specialists. These improvements could drive retention and lifetime value, even when attribution tools can’t connect the dots.

You might have strategic capabilities you didn’t have before. Your martech infrastructure could provide market intelligence, customer behavior analysis, and predictive insights that inform decisions. Research shows 70% of marketers struggle with data fragmentation, but the platforms themselves might generate valuable insights for organizations that know how to extract them.

Customer segment analysis that could guide product development. Campaign performance data that might shape strategy. Competitive intelligence that could inform positioning. Market trends that might drive planning. Your tools could be creating analytical capabilities that didn’t exist before implementation.

You might be protected from risks you couldn’t manage before. Your martech platforms could provide audit trails, security protocols, and backup systems that protect against operational and regulatory risks. Compliance management, data security, business continuity. These protective capabilities represent significant value that traditional ROI calculations rarely capture.

These value areas could exist in your organization right now. They might remain invisible because attribution modeling complexity makes accurate measurement elusive. The measurement challenge doesn’t eliminate potential value creation; it just obscures the identification and communication.

How to discover if your martech is creating hidden value

Converting potential value into visible business impact requires systematic investigation and strategic communication. No, this doesn’t mean better measurement tools. It’s more about better value detection and articulation. Here’s how to do it:

Start with a value investigation. Examine what might be happening versus what you’re measuring. Interview your team about potential time savings, workflow improvements, and new capabilities. Look for customer experience changes, response time improvements, and personalization capabilities. Identify possible strategic insights, data access improvements, and analytical capabilities your organization might now have.

Most CMOs suspect their teams are more efficient. Few investigate exactly how. Most sense customer experience improvements. Few quantify the potential impact. Most recognize possible strategic capabilities. Few articulate them in business terms.

Test if operational improvements translate to business value. Look for time savings that could mean cost reduction. Check if process improvements might represent efficiency gains. Examine whether customer experience enhancements could indicate retention and satisfaction improvements. Consider if strategic capabilities might represent competitive advantages and growth enablers.

The key is investigating whether marketing efficiency improvements connect to broader business outcomes. Your CFO cares about cost reduction. Your CEO focuses on competitive advantage. Your sales leader wants customer relationship improvements. Test whether your value story addresses each (or any) stakeholder’s primary concerns.

Look for evidence that might demonstrate impact. Search for before-and-after comparisons that could show process efficiency. Examine customer feedback that might indicate satisfaction improvements. Look for examples that could show problem resolution and capability enhancement. Organizations that can demonstrate clear evidence of martech value secure continued investment.

Evidence beats theory. Specific examples beat general claims. Documented improvements beat anecdotal success. Your martech might be creating measurable impact. You need to investigate whether you’re measuring the right things.

Stop defending utilization rates and start investigating business impact

Marketing organizations that can articulate the value of martech effectively secure continued investment in marketing technology and strategic support. Those who can’t face budget cuts despite potentially creating genuine business value. Research shows marketing budgets face increasing pressure when value communication fails, regardless of actual performance.

Your technology might work better than you think. Your measurement approach probably doesn’t. Start investigating operational efficiency if you want quick wins with clear metrics. Examine customer experience if you suspect competitive differentiation. Look for strategic capability if you’re building long-term credibility.

Build your reputation as the CMO who investigates whether martech investments connect to business outcomes. Your organization might already be receiving martech value. Now you have the approach to find out.

About the Author

Digital Mindshare LLC (Digital Mindshare), sponsor of How Marketing Technology Works®, is led by Gene De Libero, a Martech Healer with over three decades of experience helping organizations and leaders ‘Ride the Crest of Change.’ Digital Mindshare is a New York-based Marketing Technology Transformation® consultancy that helps clients optimize their martech investments, ensuring maximum returns and strategic alignment.