Why career diversity drives martech team success

Diversity and inclusion in marketing can improve business outcomes. Just as assembling a team from different personal backgrounds yields positive outcomes, a team with diverse career backgrounds can benefit a martech team and its broader organization.

Fortunately, there are many aspects to an individual’s career that avail themselves to provide diverse insights.

The growing complexity of martech: Why diverse expertise matters

As the martech field continues to evolve, it increasingly involves practitioners from a variety of disciplines, including:

• Creative.
• Product management.
• Strategy.
• Data.
• Programming.
• Enterprise architecture.
• Platform management.
• User enablement.
• Channel specialists.
• Privacy.
• Legal.
• And many others.

As a result, martech practitioners often collaborate with a broad set of partners. After all, martech is a team sport. A project to establish robust cross-channel orchestration requires input from individuals across different parts of the organizational chart.

Building effective martech teams with a wide range of skills

This highlights the importance of forming martech teams with practitioners from different career backgrounds. For instance, understanding data and how it flows between systems is essential when working on orchestration and personalization efforts. A martech practitioner with significant experience managing and analyzing data will be invaluable for such initiatives. Including individuals with data-focused backgrounds on a martech team is a prudent strategy.

Dig deeper: By the numbers: Diversity and inclusion are good business

Martech teams can take on many different roles, from evaluating platforms to coordinating work across multiple workstreams. The roles a team plays may vary from project to project. This can differ depending on the organization and can be influenced by factors such as size, sector, and culture.

A team with broad expertise is invaluable because it can effectively support the many stakeholders involved in any martech initiative.

Generalists and specialists: Finding the right balance for success

Another important consideration at the team member level is their skillset profile. No one can truly master everything, so viewing individuals through the lens of generalists or specialists is helpful.

This concept comes from the Agile software development community, which defines I-shaped and T-shaped practitioners based on the key skill sets a team needs.

T-shaped team members are generalists. They are versatile and skilled in multiple areas but tend to excel in only one or two. They can contribute to various tasks, though they typically don’t produce exceptional output in any single area. Generalists may have gained experience across martech, such as paid search manager, website content manager and scrum product owner.

I-shaped team members are specialists. Their expertise is focused on a narrow subset of skills. They excel in specific areas but may not be as helpful when the team needs support outside their specialty. Specialists often come to martech from a specific career path, like data analysis.

Both generalists and specialists bring valuable strengths to a team, and having a mix of both is highly beneficial. This is yet another reason why diversity of career background is crucial.

Tapping into product and ecosystem knowledge

It’s also valuable to consider career diversity in relation to martech products and ecosystems. Two prominent companies with competing ecosystems are Adobe and Salesforce.

Martech product specialists have advantages and limitations. They can fully utilize a product’s capabilities but may miss out on broader developments within its category. Also, a product that’s the best for an organization at one point may no longer be the most suitable as the product category evolves. Teams must stay on top of these shifts.

Even if an organization isn’t currently considering a migration, it might still benefit from having a specialist in the other product ecosystem. They could offer valuable, fresh perspectives that enhance the team’s approach.

How other work experiences enrich martech

Because of their diverse work experiences across different companies, individuals bring a wealth of skills, perspectives and tools. For example, some organizations use the Waterfall framework for project management, while others rely on Agile methodologies like Kanban and Scrum. Each has its strengths and weaknesses, and having team members familiar with different approaches can provide valuable insights for any initiative.

Moreover, organizations pursue various goals to meet their unique needs. Some focus on developing interpersonal skills such as coaching, while others offer professional development programs or provide cross-training opportunities through job-swapping programs. These skills and training are invaluable and should not be overlooked — especially since other organizations have already made the investment.

Dig deeper: The war on DEI is hitting marketing and hurting business

If organizations are concerned about investing in individuals who may leave, they should also consider the cost of failing to invest in those who stay. These are key factors to consider when reviewing resumes, conducting interviews and engaging with team members in day-to-day interactions.

Expanding the talent pool: The value of non-traditional backgrounds

So far, the career diversity discussed has focused on fields closely related to marketing technology. However, individuals from vastly different career backgrounds — such as chemistry, teaching and forestry — can also bring significant value.

This diversity can be seen not only in career paths but also in educational credentials. For example, I majored in international relations during college.

Such individuals offer a fresh perspective, often from outside marketing or related technology fields, which can be incredibly valuable.

Enablement and empowerment in martech

While diversity is beneficial in itself, teams and organizations must also create an environment where people feel safe speaking up and contributing different perspectives. This requires a concerted effort across multiple levels.

It takes courage to challenge seniority and organizational inertia by saying, “The way we’re doing this isn’t working — let’s consider something different.” I know I can improve at speaking up in these situations, and I’m sure I’m not alone in this.

Embrace diversity

As the martech field continues to evolve, it becomes increasingly important for practitioners and teams to collaborate with a growing number of stakeholders. Building a diverse team is challenging, but embracing that diversity is an entirely different task. The effort is worthwhile because it can lead to greater success.

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