The best marketing technology stack in 2026

Key highlights:

• What a marketing technology (MarTech) stack is and why it matters
• How DAM, PIM, and AI-driven systems create unified marketing workflows
• Steps to build an integrated stack for scalable, data-driven growth

As marketing teams enter 2026, the need for connected tools and data systems is greater than ever. For modern marketing teams, the goal is to work faster, stay consistent, and scale campaigns without sacrificing quality or creativity.

The best marketing technology stack combines content, data, and automation, enabling teams to operate as a cohesive unit.

What is a marketing technology stack?

A marketing technology stack, or MarTech stack, is the set of tools that help marketing teams manage campaigns, analyze data, and deliver content across channels. In 2026, the most effective stacks emphasize integration, automation, and creative agility.

Today’s B2B marketing tech stacks often include:

• Digital asset management (DAM), the MarTech foundation for content organization, management, and delivery
• Product information management (PIM) for product data accuracy or an all-in-one solution that includes DAM and PIM functionality
• Customer relationship management (CRM) to centralize customer data
• Marketing automation to manage complex workflows and operate efficiently
• AI-powered tools for analytics, content creation, and automation
• Content management system (CMS), e-commerce storefronts, and social media management tools for product and campaign execution

When these systems work together, they streamline operations and connect separate workflows into one smooth process that drives growth.

Learn how to build a top-performing MarTech stack in Canto’s webinar: Hack Your MarTech Stack: Reimagining Your Technology and Workflows for Smarter Marketing.

The best MarTech stacks streamline content operations

In 2026, content is not just a marketing deliverable; it’s a business asset. Brands that manage their digital assets and marketing collateral effectively can expand their revenue into new markets.

A well-managed content ecosystem enables:

• Consistent branding across every channel
• Faster collaboration and approvals
• Analytics that measure the value of each asset
• Greater efficiency across creative and marketing teams

Why DAM is the foundation of the best marketing technology stacks

At the core of every high-performing marketing technology stack is a digital asset management (DAM) platform. A DAM system serves as the source of truth for all creative content, organizing, tagging, and delivering on-brand assets across teams and channels. Since modern DAMs are increasingly becoming intelligent content hubs, they make an excellent foundation for any marketing stack to sit upon.

When integrated with tools like PIM, CRM, and CMS, DAM software ensures every asset is approved, discoverable, and ready to deploy instantly. DAM software is essential for operational marketing efficiency, governance, and brand consistency.

DAM helps marketing teams:

• Centralize content and metadata for easy access
• Maintain version control and approval workflows
• Automate delivery to websites, email, and e-commerce platforms
• Measure asset performance across markets

Read about the benefits of digital asset management to see why it’s the foundation of operational efficiency.

How to build the best marketing technology stack

Creating a unified MarTech stack means connecting creativity, content, and customer data into one operational ecosystem. Here’s how to build it the right way.

1. Centralize all digital assets and product information

The best MarTech stacks put centralized and organized content operations at the top of the list.

Instead of juggling separate platforms for product and campaign launches, an all-in-one AI marketing system like Canto PIM brings digital assets and product information together in a single, streamlined workflow. A unified workflow also connects marketing, creative, sales, and product teams, reducing complexity and improving go-to-market speed. Unlike traditional DAM and PIM integration, Canto PIM creates a single environment for product visuals, data, and content, ensuring accuracy and consistency across all channels.

To keep content organized at scale, organizations are turning to transformative AI products like Canto AI Library Assistant to automatically categorize and tag digital assets. At the same time, Canto AI Visual Search allows teams to find and access relevant images using natural language queries. These revolutionary technologies reduce manual metadata management and keep workflows efficient.

Why Canto forms the foundation of your MarTech stack:

• One platform for digital assets and product information
• AI-powered organization, tagging, and search to save marketers’ time
• Unified workflows that connect all go-to-market teams

2. Use AI and brand templates to accelerate content creation

Another marketing trend to watch is how AI tools are transforming creative workflows. Platforms like Adobe Firefly and Canva AI make it faster than ever to generate, resize, or adapt visuals. Meanwhile, Canto is introducing new products, such as Canto Brand Studio, to enhance brand templates with AI, offering marketers a fast and consistent way to scale content creation and expand their campaigns. With all your brand assets in one library, you can ensure that teams are using on-brand and accurate imagery and messaging across all channels.

Similarly, many organizations have adopted the use of generative AI tools, such as ChatGPT, to accelerate ideation and content creation, including copywriting.

Using AI across your MarTech stack empowers teams to:

• Reduce repetitive tasks during design
• Maintain brand integrity with smart templates and a unified library
• Scale creative production while freeing bandwidth for strategy
• Expand your marketing campaigns’ footprint with higher content output

Read more on how AI enhances asset management and AI content creation.

3. Improve upstream marketing operations with ERP, CRM, and work management tools

When ERP, CRM, and work management systems are aligned, marketing gains complete visibility into budgets, timelines, current projects, and customer data. Cohesive data and platform integration keep campaigns on track and ensure every initiative supports business outcomes.

Integrated systems enable teams to collaborate effectively, forecast results accurately, and measure impact with precision, creating a direct link between marketing and revenue growth.

Why unify upstream marketing operations:

• Connected data and visibility: Aligning ERP, CRM, and work management tools gives marketers a unified view of budgets, timelines, projects, and customer insights
• Smarter collaboration and forecasting: Integrated platforms help teams plan, communicate, and predict outcomes more accurately
• Marketing tied to business growth: Streamlined systems ensure every campaign supports measurable revenue and performance goals

Learn more about ERP for marketers.

4. Collaborate efficiently and improve productivity with a unified workspace

When marketing teams juggle creative production for campaigns, productivity often depends on how well their tools work together. Modern marketing operations thrive when productivity, collaboration, work management, and DAM platforms integrate into one cohesive ecosystem. Each tool plays a unique role — productivity platforms help teams execute efficiently, collaboration tools keep communication flowing, work management systems organize projects and timelines, and DAM platforms ensure that every campaign has access to on-brand, approved assets in seconds.

However, DAM systems are much more than a single system of record. Modern DAM software, such as Canto, is an intelligent content hub that interweaves AI into an intuitive workspace, where ideation, collaboration, search, and delivery occur simultaneously. Additionally, tools like Canto Approval Hub bring stakeholders, marketers, and creatives into a single, real-time proofing workflow, ensuring content receives the right level of visibility while moving swiftly to market. And since you store all your planning documents, creative files, presentation decks, and all other digital files in your DAM platform, you can rely on version control and centralized brand standards to maintain consistency in content.

Outcomes of a unified workspace:

• Unified workflows: Integrating DAM, work management, and collaboration platforms creates an end-to-end system for campaign planning, creative production, and asset access, eliminating the need to switch between tools
• Faster go-to-market: With centralized asset access and integrated approvals, teams can launch campaigns more quickly and eliminate redundant tasks
• Brand consistency at scale: A connected DAM ensures that every stakeholder uses approved, up-to-date assets, maintaining quality and consistency across all channels

5. Automate on-brand content delivery across channels

Manual workflows for updating storefront listing media and site product page photography are cumbersome and prone to errors. Automation is the key to maintaining brand consistency while accelerating delivery.

DAM functionality, such as Canto Media Publisher, automatically distributes on-brand assets to websites, e-commerce platforms, and other platforms, saving teams time and reducing risk. MarTech, like Media Publisher, ensures that every deployed image and video is brand-approved and up to date. Additionally, integrating your DAM with your marketing automation and CRM empowers marketing and sales teams to maintain brand consistency during outreach, presentations, events, and other activities. DAM software also keeps external contributors, like agencies and partners, aligned on brand assets and promotions through curated and brandable portals. DAM software’s Digital Rights Management keeps content usage compliant, as well.

When you pair Canto PIM with Media Publisher, marketing, sales, and e-commerce teams stay aligned, creating unified omnichannel experiences through accurate product photography, pricing, and specifications. The result is brand integrity across CMS, commerce, email, and social platforms, supported by integrations that ensure every touchpoint reflects your brand’s latest content and data.

Why automation is key to omnichannel consistency:

• Consistent, automated delivery: Automation through tools like Canto Media Publisher ensures instant, on-brand content distribution across websites, e-commerce storefronts, and other platforms
• Unified brand experiences: Integrating DAM with marketing automation, CRM, and Canto PIM keeps all teams — and external partners — aligned on the latest visuals, product data, and messaging
• Improved performance and reach: DAM integrations and CDN capabilities enhance content delivery speed, ensuring every customer touchpoint reflects up to date, on-brand assets

Explore how DAM’s CDN capabilities improve content delivery performance and customer experiences.

6. Repurpose, localize, and target with analytics to improve content value

Repurposing assets is one of the smartest ways to increase content ROI. When assets are easily found and adapted, marketing teams can reuse high-performing visuals or campaign assets across regions — saving time, reducing creative spend, and extending the value of every piece of content.

Integrated analytics tools identify which assets drive the best engagement, enabling teams to focus their creative energy where it matters most. The result is faster content delivery, smarter localization, and higher marketing returns.

How to localize faster and increase content ROI:

• Maximize content ROI: Easily repurpose and adapt high-performing assets across regions using a DAM platform’s intelligent search to save time, reduce costs, and extend content value
• Data-driven creative decisions: Integrated analytics from DAM, marketing automation, and GA4 reveal which assets and pages perform best, guiding smarter creative and localization strategies
• Faster, brilliant execution: AI-powered search and insights help teams deliver targeted, localized content more efficiently

Learn how AI-powered search enhances this process.

Why Canto PIM is the best marketing technology to try in 2026

For marketing teams ready to modernize, Canto delivers an all-in-one platform that unites product data, digital assets, and creative workflows. Embedded with powerful AI, Canto PIM gives teams the agility and governance they need to produce and manage on-brand content across complex, omnichannel campaigns.

With Canto, marketers speed up content lifecycle management:

• Create faster: Canto Brand Studio empowers marketers with AI brand templating for faster localized campaigns
• Collaborate efficiently: Canto Approval Hub centralizes proofing, versioning, and approvals
• Organize better: Canto AI Library Assistant categorizes and tags your content for efficient organization
• Search instantly: Canto AI Visual Search scans and retrieves content from your library using natural language queries
• Manage smarter: Canto PIM centralizes creative files and product information in one connected system
• Distribute quickly: Canto Media Publisher automatically transforms images and video to the correct sizes and publishes to your sites, stores, and platforms