TMW #199 | Reflecting on (almost) 200 TMW newsletters
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Reflecting on (almost) 200 TMW newsletters
Editor’s note: We are on the cusp of our 200th edition of the TMW newsletter, so in this edition Keanu Taylor, TMW’s Head of Research reflects on what it takes to get to 200 editions of Martech research, we share our favorite newsletters of all time and end with a question for you, dear reader.
As we cross over into the next one hundred editions I want to say thank you for reading, sharing and participating in our mission to equip marketing technology leaders in over 65 countries with the highest quality information and resources. It is a great joy and honor for TMW to serve you each week.
Now over to Keanu….
- Juan Mendoza, CEO of TMW
It feels like the stars aligned this week for TMW: Not only did we wrap up Martech World Forum London – the third and final event of the inaugural year of MWF – but we also reached 199 newsletters, so we’re taking this opportunity to reflect before we tick over to 200.
It’s safe to say we’re immensely proud of – almost – reaching this milestone. TMW CEO Juan Mendoza published the very first TMW newsletter on the 17th of July 2020 on the pressing topic of the end of third-party cookies… who would have thought we’d still be talking about it four years later!
For the following years after that first newsletter, Juan covered what was new, novel, and notable – the three Ns test that defines what we cover – in the world of Martech, undertaking a staggering amount of research and writing on his own in order to keep subscribers ahead of the ever-changing industry.
But over time, Juan brought on a crack team to support the growing needs of TMW editorial and research. The very first was Johnny Huang, who came on as a producer at the start of 2021 to support Juan in turning the research and writing into professionally-produced email newsletters, podcasts, promotional snippets, Notion articles and more. Next to join the team was Felicity Harrison, who has added polish and panache to the writing with her fastidious proofing, editing and copywriting support, always full of creative suggestions to help add a little more “oomphy.”
As the other parts of the business – Martech World Forum and TMW 100 – started to grow quickly towards the end of 2023, Juan realized he would need to share the load of research and writing, so he published TMW #144 | Writing for Martech covering his writing process. It finished with this call-to-arms:
“P.S. If you made it to the end of this huge essay, then maybe this is a sign that you should start writing? After all, the Martech industry can only get better with more experts like you bringing your insights to the table. You don’t need to be a journalist to make an impact – I am definitely not one of them! We’re currently interviewing folks who have reached out with interest to support our research for a part-time writing role. Reply to this email to learn more.”
I responded to throw my hat in the ring and started supporting researching and writing on November 1st, 2023. Almost exactly one year later, I have a chance to reflect on the experience.
Reflecting on writing for TMW
Let’s start with this: Writing for TMW is a joy. Every single time I open my computer to research or write, I am genuinely excited for what I am about to learn and discover. Yes, of course, I get writer’s block every now and then or have slow days where I procrastinate more than I write (today was one of those), but it’s never because I’m not enthused about the task at hand.
The Martech industry is constantly changing and evolving. That means that it’s hard for marketing folks to keep up and that’s a big part of the reason we exist. It also means we’ve always got something to write about!
And it’s not just the volume of change that makes things interesting; it’s also the breadth of the industry. There are so many different categories of Martech which serve completely different objectives, industries, and users. For me, that’s pure gold. I used to be a Martech consultant, and although I loved that job, the topics that I could really sink my teeth into were dictated by my clients. Now, I get to research anything that passes the three Ns test.
And when something passes that test, I get to go as deep as I like into that topic. Sometimes, I’ll have most of what I want to write already residing in the recesses of my brain, and all I have to do is pull it out. Other times, I’m writing about things that I know a little bit about, but need to spend hours (and sometimes days) researching. In the future, we plan to go even deeper by working with focus groups dedicated to Martech excellence (email me to find out more) and collecting our own data to underpin our editorial.
I’m a big visual learner, so my favorite thing that I’ve been able to carry over from my days as a consultant is turning complex concepts into digestible frameworks. The tech side of Martech is inherently complex, but the marketing outcomes it drives are generally quite simple. That means there is value in being able to marry up which parts of the complexity in the tech drive each part of the business opportunity.
From my experience, writing has been a great way to get both breadth and depth into the Martech industry at the same time. Writing forces me to learn about and consider things that very few people have considered in the same way, which is why AI can definitely assist what we do, but never replace it.
Writing for TMW isn’t all sunshine and lollipops though. It takes hard work, commitment, and a steely belief in the power of content to light a fire in the industry. I’ve only been at it for the last year; Juan, Johnny, and Felicity have kept that fire burning for over four years without the slightest wavering. Dedication, dedication, dedication: That’s what it takes.
In that vein, we’re looking to bring new, diverse and most importantly dedicated Martech minds into our editorial team next year. If you’re interested in writing for TMW and experiencing the enjoyment that I do every week, get in touch by replying to this email. As Juan said in the email that set in motion me joining TMW, you don’t have to be a journalist to make an impact. Passion and curiosity for Martech are more important than journalistic polish.
Anyways, that’s more than enough about me. Let’s take a trip down memory lane into five of our favorite TMW essays of all time.
Our Five Favorites
TMW #078 | The great abstraction
Another theme that Juan was onto early was the power and implications of AI in Martech. TMW #078 was released in April 2022 – some eight months before ChatGPT was released – and covered the ways that AI could be used to abstract a lot of marketing away from marketers. This has only gathered steam since, as AI has increasingly abstracted and intermediated customer experiences too, with Big Tech playing a massive role in getting between marketers and their customers.
TMW #089 | The bundled warehouse
TMW #089 was TMW’s first to deep dive into warehouse-native architecture, which has become a common thread in editorial ever since due to its rising popularity amongst enterprise brands. CDPs had reached an inflection point at that time where many brands weren’t realizing the value they’d been promised from the tech. Enter: Warehouse-native CDPs and Reverse ETL platforms. Ever since this point, many brands have been trying to reach a level of digital maturity to go warehouse-native with their data orchestration, and we’ve tracked them every step of the way.
TMW #129 | The composability idea
This essay is one that set the direction for much of what was to come with TMW’s editorial, as composability became one of the defining forces in our industry in the last few years. Juan broke down the idea of composability, describing it as an orchestra that “is not about inventing new music notes or building new instruments – it’s about the flexible and dynamic nature of using different technologies in a modular fashion to create something wonderful for your customers.”
TMW #164 | Gartner and the authority economy
TMW #164 played a big part in cementing in our minds that our mission to deliver unbiased, independent Martech research and analysis is the right mission to be tackling. This was another one that spread to LinkedIn for lively debate after Juan published his take on Gartner’s inaugural Magic Quadrant for the Customer Data Platform category. And that debate caught the attention of our now-partner, the buyer intelligence platform Alium, with its CEO Jonathan Sherry kicking off the conversation with Juan by proclaiming “I think we might be soulmates.”
TMW #194 | How to win friends and influence Martech buyers
We published TMW #194 only a few months ago, but this one was great to write. It was one of those essays where everything was up in my head ready to go when the time came to write. Juan and I had been conceptualizing the Martech buyer influence landscape for a while, with a few different iterations drawn up on a Miro board. This essay birthed the below framework, which was shared widely across LinkedIn – including by Scott Brinker, which was a special moment for me. Although LinkedIn shares are not something we strive for, it’s always great to see when our content starts a conversation between folks in the industry.
Towards 1,000
200 newsletters equate to more than 4,000 hours spent by the TMW team researching, writing, proofreading, debating, producing, and publishing. Without the countless hours spent reading news and reports, speaking with vendors and marketers, attending events, and trawling our RSS feed, we couldn’t have the moments of clarity and inspiration that lead to our best insights.
But we’re not resting on our laurels. We aim to continually grow our capabilities to enable us to dig deeper into Martech to serve our subscribers better every day and furnish them with the insights that will drive their careers.
So, today we’re celebrating 200 TMW newsletters, but we’re planning for 300, 500, 1,000 and beyond. We hope you’ll stay with us on this journey, and that you’re still following along as we tick off each milestone.
Thank you and as always, stay curious.
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Stay Curious,
Keanu Taylor
Make sense of marketing technology.
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Want to share something interesting or be featured in The Martech Weekly? Drop me a line at juan@themartechweekly.com.