No, this isn’t a blog post about kitchen gadgets, but it might sound like it. Funnels. Flywheels. A veritable kitchen sink of digital marketing tactics.

What is Marketing Technology?

Marketing Technology, or MarTech for short, is defined as the tools and technologies marketers use to make their jobs—and lives— simpler. MarTech can help any kind of business run better by improving the marketing team’s effectiveness, strategies and activities. MarTech does this through automation, e-commerce and connectivity, to name a few. Marketing tools have developed alongside the changes in today’s technology to help businesses of all sizes market their products and services better.

Asking for more budget dollars is about as popular as asking for a raise; nobody wants to be the messenger, but everyone wants to be the recipient. Regardless, when you need that budget increase, you’re going to have to ask. The key lies in doing your homework and presenting your argument well. Here are five steps to guide you in building your case for a digital marketing budget increase.

Wouldn’t it be great if all your customers were your best customers? No matter what industry you’re in, you probably have those potential clients and customers that your sales team loves to sell to and others that are … much harder for your sales team to see eye-to-eye with. By creating an ideal client profile, you can identify the type of person who tends to buy and be satisfied with your product.

Whether your business is a handful of people or hundreds, you have company data that is in a constant state of being updated, changed, or deleted in different computer systems, spreadsheets, and software packages. No wonder discrepancies occur and mistakes are made when information you thought was correct isn’t.

It’s never been so important to harness all company data or “digital knowledge,” clean it up, and maintain that cleanliness. It’s a big, important job, especially when it comes to sharing company information online. And incorrect information that’s already posted online also needs to be dealt with if your company wants to improve SEO rankings and keep up with the competition. If digital knowledge management isn’t on your radar, it should be. Here are five compelling reasons why:

Have you ever googled something and seen an overview of information about the topic show up next to or above the standard search results? If so, you’ve seen a knowledge graph. These graphs are Google’s way of answering searchers’ questions directly so no one needs to surf the web for answers. These graphs, when they’re about businesses, can contain contact information like location, hours, phone number, and web address, reviews, menus, and more. So how can you make sure you’re showing up when people are searching, and when your knowledge graph does appear, that it’s showing the correct information?

Do you know how your business appears to people searching on Google? Google My Business can help you put your best foot forward for potential customers. With this service, you can ensure that your correct contact information is listed, see helpful reviews, and answer potential customers’ questions. You can also post interesting featured pictures and topics that will be prominently displayed where people are looking for them. Here’s some beginning steps to using your Google My Business listing most effectively.