A big year for marketing technology: Our top columns of 2016

Those working in the field of digital marketing have been utilizing marketing technology (martech) in some way since the dawn of the industry. As the field grows larger and more complex, technology solutions have been necessary in order to organize and make sense of the ever-growing amount of data at our fingertips.

Yet, in many ways, martech is still in its infancy. This past year saw an explosion of marketing technology solutions as Scott Brinker expanded his popular Marketing Technology Landscape infographic to include nearly 3,500 companies, up from ~2000 last year and ~1000 in 2014. This surge of martech — and the resulting interest from the digital marketing community — is part of what inspired us to launch this very site earlier this year.

Our talented columnists here on MarTech Today are boldly exploring this new frontier and imparting their knowledge and wisdom upon the rest of us. From making predictions about what the near-future holds to sharing advice on how best to utilize existing tools, these savvy marketers are illuminating all the ways in which technology can be harnessed to achieve our marketing goals.

Following are the top ten columns of the year on MarTech Today.

1. 11 marketing technologies & resources you probably haven’t heard of yet by Travis Wright, published on 10/24/2016.
   Social activity: Facebook 173, Google+ 37, LinkedIn 557
2. The future of email marketing is already here by Len Shneyder, published on 8/31/2016.
   Social activity: Facebook 2, Google+ 9, LinkedIn 39
3. Cutting Through The Hype: 5 Points To Drive Value From A Data Management Platform (DMP) by David Booth, published on 2/1/2016.
   Social activity: Facebook 0, Google+ 0, LinkedIn 6
4. Why agencies and marketers need to think and act like data companies by James Green, published on 4/18/2016.
   Social activity: Facebook 0, Google+ 0, LinkedIn 0
5. Why Tag Management Is The Way Forward In 2016 by Nick Iyengar, published on 1/4/2016.
   Social activity: Facebook 0, Google+ 0, LinkedIn 0
6. Introducing the “Influencer Marketing Technology Landscape” by Travis Wright, published on 7/14/2016.
   Social activity: Facebook 4, Google+ 1, LinkedIn 17
7. 4 tips to break into the C-suite and become a chief marketing technology officer by Sheldon Monteiro, published on 3/10/2016.
   Social activity: Facebook 0, Google+ 0, LinkedIn 0
8. The future of paid search buying by Andrew Ruegger, published on 11/21/2016.
   Social activity: Facebook 261, Google+ 113, LinkedIn 173
9. Enough analysis, already! 8 tips for avoiding data fatigue by Joshua Reynolds, published on 5/6/2016.
   Social activity: Facebook 0, Google+ 0, LinkedIn 0
10. How using Zapier coupled with Pipedrive revolutionized our lead management process by Rae Hoffman, published on 3/22/2016.
    Social activity: Facebook 0, Google+ 0, LinkedIn 0

Methodology: Columns published in 2016 are ranked in order of pageviews measured by Google Analytics. Data includes all columns published through November 30, 2016. Social data provided by SharedCount.