The IT and marketing departments have been in a strained relationship for years, with the latter relying heavily on technology to understand customers. It’s time for a change in this relationship and collaboration to grow cutting-edge businesses. The complexity of data is a significant issue in today’s businesses, and while many companies seem to have mastered it, the marketing department still focuses on the problem and current solutions, hindering the growth of businesses.
The author discusses the importance of cross-departmental collaboration in modern, cost-effective marketing strategies. They highlight Gartner’s Digital Marketing Conference, where they learned that one-third of marketing’s budget is currently spent on technology, with 28% allocated to operations. This highlights the need for IT departments to collaborate effectively to deliver modern, cost-effective marketing strategies. The author also highlights the need for IT departments to support operations in achieving these goals.
Today’s marketers spend heavily on technology enablement due to the necessity of executing in the modern marketing environment. They need to understand customers and their behaviors to improve the relationship between the brand and the consumer. Technology is now a cornerstone for the marketing department, making it a complex and essential tool for practitioners to effectively communicate and engage with their target audience.
The marketing technology stack consists of two main components: the system of record and marketing automation tools. The system of record involves collecting consumer information through CRM systems, data management platforms, and other marketing automation tools. Gartner research shows that the top use cases for businesses relate back to the customer, including marketing, sales, and customer service initiatives.
The second component of marketing is complex, as marketers require multiple-point solutions to effectively utilize customer information. As they constantly strive for the best-in-breed product, the stack grows to fit departmental needs, with many enterprise-grade marketing organizations utilizing over 20 systems for daily tasks.
Scott Brinker’s Stackies Awards showcase a marketing technology stack, with each solution providing analytics for a better understanding of the marketing department’s success or failure. However, combining data from over 20 source systems can be challenging, assuming the team knows what information to gather and can distinguish between noise and importance. Although some components of the stack can be connected natively, this does not imply they are connected for data analysis.
To optimize marketing strategies, marketers need to combine various data points to understand their customer performance on a microlevel. However, many marketers rely on impractical solutions like cramming data into Microsoft Excel spreadsheets, which can be time-consuming and costly. The latest tools could help marketers gather this data more efficiently, but it’s essential to consider the potential pain and suffering associated with manually gathering complex Excel documents.
Today’s marketers and IT need to collaborate more effectively to integrate the marketing department with the company’s tech stack. This requires participation from both leaders, who have historically clashed. Additionally, roles that bridge the IT and marketing gaps must be established. The chief marketing technologist is already starting this process, but more professionals with a mix of domain and technical knowledge are needed.
