MarTech audits: not sexy, but essential (and how to know you’re overdue)

Let's talk about the closet nobody wants to open

Somewhere inside your organization is a marketing technology stack that’s bigger, messier, and more haunted than anyone wants to admit.

At a glance, everything looks fine. The campaigns run. The dashboards load. The tech list fits neatly on a PowerPoint slide.

But start asking questions - real questions - about what’s in use, who owns it, what it costs, and what value it’s delivering? You’ll quickly discover ghost platforms, forgotten integrations, overlapping tools, and systems nobody’s logged into since pre-pandemic days.

The truth is simple:

The only real question is: when should you audit? (Spoiler: It’s probably earlier than you think.)

Why MarTech audits are non-negotiable

The average enterprise now has over 90 MarTech tools in play at any given time. Even mid-sized companies routinely juggle 40-50 platforms.

Each one came with a business case. Each one promised to save time, drive engagement, boost ROI, or “streamline the buyer journey.”

Fast forward a year or two:

• Teams change

• Strategies shift

• New tools get layered in

• Old tools get neglected

• Budget oversight gets fuzzy

• Integrations break silently in the background

Without a regular, structured audit, your MarTech stack quietly mutates from a strategic asset into a bloated liability.

An un-audited MarTech stack is like a neglected garden: It doesn't just stop growing - it grows wild.

The unmistakable signs you're overdue for a MarTech audit

You don't need a crystal ball to know when it’s time. Just look for these very real (and very common) symptoms:

✦ Platform sprawl

Nobody can answer - with confidence - how many MarTech tools you have, what they all do, and who owns them.

✦ Ghost platforms

You discover platforms still being paid for that nobody claims to use. (Bonus points if IT finds them when they’re auditing VPN access logs.)

✦ Duplicate functionality

Multiple teams are using different tools to solve the same problem (e.g., three different event management platforms, two CRMs, four survey tools).

✦ Integration chaos

"Connected" systems aren’t syncing properly anymore — leading to dirty data, broken workflows, and dashboard numbers nobody trusts.

✦ Shadow IT

Departments buy and use their own tools without any oversight. Congratulations: your marketing stack now includes whatever Steve in Demand Gen put on his corporate card.

✦ Rising costs, falling value

Budget reviews show MarTech spend creeping upward, but campaign performance isn't moving with it.

✦ Technical debt headaches

Your ops team spends more time fixing and patching systems than innovating or optimizing.

When is the right time to undertake a MarTech audit?

Here’s the honest answer: If you have to ask, it’s time.

But there are also some key trigger points where an audit isn't just useful - it’s critical:

✦ Major strategic shifts

New GTM strategy? New ICP focus? Expanding internationally? Your tech stack was built for the old playbook. You need to recalibrate.

✦ Leadership changes

New CMO, new Head of RevOps, or even a new CFO? You can bet one of their first questions will be:"What are we actually paying for - and is it working?"

✦ Mergers and acquisitions

Combining two MarTech stacks is like blending two IKEA furniture sets blindfolded. You must audit before consolidating.

✦ Budget freezes or cuts

If Marketing’s been told to tighten belts, you need to know which platforms deliver real value and which ones are just nice-to-haves.

✦ Tech stack maturity milestones

Every 18-24 months, it’s healthy to audit - even if nothing is "wrong" - just to prevent rot from setting in.

What a strong MarTech audit looks like

A real audit goes beyond asking, "What tools do we have?"

It digs deep into performance, fit, cost, risk, and ownership.

At minimum, a MarTech audit should assess:

• Tool inventory: What’s in use, who uses it, when was it last actively engaged

• Overlap analysis: Are multiple tools solving the same problems?

• Cost vs. value: Is the platform driving revenue, improving efficiency, or just burning budget?

• Integration health: Are data flows clean and stable between platforms?

• Adoption rates: If only 10% of your licenses are active, you have a problem.

• Compliance and risk exposure: Especially around data privacy, consent management, and security standards

• Strategic alignment: Does the tech still match the marketing and sales goals for the next 12-24 months?

Common MarTech audit discoveries (and why they hurt)

Nobody escapes a MarTech audit entirely clean.Expect to find some (or all) of the following:

The goal of an audit isn't just to clean house - it’s to create clarity, focus, and efficiency moving forward.

Why people avoid MarTech audits (and why that's dangerous)

Let's be real: MarTech audits feel tedious. They threaten sacred cows. They force uncomfortable conversations about ownership, accountability, and strategic clarity.

But avoiding them doesn’t save you from those problems. It just delays the pain until it's bigger, more expensive, and less fixable.

Smart companies don’t audit because something broke. They audit because they know waiting until something breaks is the slowest (and most expensive) way to lose.

The bottom line

You can either proactively audit your MarTech stack - with intention, structure, and a strategic lens - or you can wait until:

• A new CFO starts asking hard questions

• A data breach exposes your compliance gaps

• Marketing underperformance triggers a stack-wide investigation

• Your team burns out trying to keep a broken system limping along

Because in the world of modern marketing, your tech stack isn’t just an enabler - it is the infrastructure of your entire revenue engine.

If you don't know exactly what's in it, what it’s costing, and what value it’s creating?You’re flying blind - and turbulence is inevitable.

Final thoughts

MarTech audits aren't sexy. They won't win awards. They won’t trend on LinkedIn.

But they will potentially, quietly, save you millions (our last client MarTech audit highlighted $1.1m of savings), sharpen your strategy, and give your teams the tools they actually need to win.

And honestly? That’s the kind of success story that actually matters.