How to Audit and Simplify Your Martech Stack
- A Practical Guide
A cluttered martech stack can quietly drain your team’s energy, budget, and focus. Over time, it’s easy for new tools to pile up,
each promising to solve a problem or unlock a new insight.
But when every campaign requires logging into five platforms and nobody remembers why you’re still paying for that analytics add-on, it’s time to hit pause and clean house.
However, simplifying your martech stack isn’t just possible, it’s liberating.
Here’s how you can take back control.
Before You Start: Get The Checklist and Google Sheet
To get your copies of the Martech Stack Audit Checklist & Google Sheet, SCAN or CLICK the QR codes below.
Start With Your Goals
Every effective audit begins with a reality check:
What is your marketing team actually trying to achieve? Whether it’s generating high-quality leads, improving customer journeys, or boosting campaign efficiency, your core objectives should guide every decision you make about your tools.
When you’re clear on your goals, it becomes much easier to spot which platforms are truly essential, and which ones are just digital noise.
Map Out Everything
Grab a coffee and start listing every tool, platform, and integration your team touches.
Don’t just think about the big names, include those “sidekick” tools and even the free trials someone forgot to cancel.
For each tool, jot down who uses it, what it’s supposed to do, and how often it’s actually used.
This exercise alone often uncovers forgotten subscriptions and overlapping features you didn’t realize you had.
Get Ruthless About Value
Now comes the honest part.
Go through your list and ask: Does this tool help us reach our goals, or is it just adding steps?
Is it used regularly, or is it gathering dust?
Are you paying for three platforms that all send emails, when one would do the job better?
Don’t be afraid to let go of tools that aren’t pulling their weight. Every unnecessary login is a distraction, and every extra invoice chips away at your budget.
Streamline and Integrate
With the essentials identified, focus on building a stack that works together.
Choose tools that integrate smoothly and support your most important workflows.
Migrate your data and processes to your chosen platforms, and sunset the rest.
Make sure everyone knows what’s in the new stack, how to access it, and where to go for help.
A streamlined stack means fewer headaches and more time for creative work.
Make Clean-Ups a Habit
Your business will evolve, and so will your technology needs. Schedule a stack review at least twice a year.
Regular audits keep your tools relevant, your team focused, and your budget under control.
It’s a simple habit that pays off in clarity and confidence.
Real Results Happen
One marketing team I worked with trimmed their stack by half and saw campaign turnaround times drop dramatically.
They stopped wasting hours troubleshooting integrations and started spending more time on strategy and creative.
The relief was almost instant.
If you’re ready to cut the chaos and get more from your marketing, now is the perfect time to start.
And if you want more inspiration for making your marketing operations smoother and smarter, check out the Marketing Operations Matrix main page.
