14,106 martech products (27.8% growth YoY) are on the market in 2024.
To be a knowledge worker, and especially a marketer, it helps to be wired to be a novelty seeker. For marketers, when it comes to martech, let alone productivity apps, we’re faced with an ever-increasing abundance of technology. Frans Riemersma and Peter Brinker’s outstanding The State of Martech 2024 contains some mindblowing findings: from 150 martech products in 2012, we now have 14,106—and a growth of 27.8% YoY!
Knowledge workers face incredible diversity of choice.
This pales in comparison to the general field all professionals, not just marketers, play in. In contrast, the AI sector exhibits even more substantial growth. According to the 2024 AI Index Report, approximately 1.8 million AI projects are hosted on GitHub. (This figure encompasses many AI initiatives, including experimental projects, research endeavours, and fully developed products).
Key findings from the report that stand out
- AI-driven tools dominate the conversation, promising efficiency gains in everything from content creation to customer data analysis.
- Composability continues to be a strong trend, with more businesses moving from all-in-one platforms to modular, customisable stacks.
- Integrated productivity tools are increasingly critical as teams juggle remote work and complex collaboration.
(c) Scott Brinker and Frans Riemersma 2024
Recommendations are a Slack message away.
My best technology recommendation source comes from the best app of all – and it’s an analog one: finding out what my friends, colleagues, and people I respect are working with.
In that spirit, I will offer up what I’m working with right now. I rely on a mix of martech and productivity tools in my day-to-day work. Because I work with client stacks, I’m not going to delve too much into the CRM or automation space—but that is a big part of what we do at Europa Creative Partners (probably worth an article all of its own in the future). There are definite big ups to Hubspot and Pipedrive in these spaces, though.
My Martech and Productivity Tech Stack
AI and Content Creation
- ChatGPT & Claude: My trusted AI tools for brainstorming, drafting, and refining ideas (like this article). ChatGPT is a wizard for quick ideation, while Claude helps with structured, in-depth feedback. Or vice versa. I see my writing as enhanced by them and the other tools I’m going to outline — and yes, I do believe you can write with integrity and honesty in doing so.
- Perplexity: Perplexity is great for research and quick fact-checking, delivering concise and reliable answers to complex queries. I probably use it more than Google now.
- Canva & Freepik: Canva is my go-to for fast, professional designs, while Freepik provides a rich library of high-quality images to enhance visual content, and its AI Image Generator is top-notch.
- Figma: It is hard to be in digital marketing and not be on the tools, even in a basic way, with either Figma or Adobe. My colleagues and clients seem to be leaning into the former, though.
Productivity and Workflow Management
- MotionAI: This AI-powered calendar and task manager has been a game changer for me. It’s helped me stay organised and meet deadlines efficiently. It’s essential for time-blocking, and I find it incredibly useful for keeping me on track with deep work. I’m not worried I’ve missed something because everything is scheduled.
- Fireflies: Transcribes and summarises meetings seamlessly, turning conversations into actionable takeaways that save time and eliminate manual notes.
- Grammarly: Grammarly is my constant companion for clear and polished communication, ensuring that everything I write is professional and error-free.
- Slack: the ultimate collaboration tool that keeps my team in sync. Is it just me, or is it somehow more fun than Microsoft Teams?
Website and Content Management
- WordPress / Divi: We use WordPress as the platform of choice for our site, although we work across multiple platforms for clients. Divi’s flexibility and WordPress’s powerful backend make it an excellent combination for publishing and maintaining content.