With the rising importance of marketing technology, better integration between tech departments and their counterparts in marketing seems inevitable. But there are still plenty of obstacles—whether marketers see them or not.
US CIOs vs. Ad and Marketing Executives Who Believe that Their Company Can Support Marketing and IT Integration for
According to May 2015 research by Robert Half Technology and The Creative Group, about three in four US ad and marketing executives believed their companies could support integration between marketing and IT to support digital marketing efforts. But among CIOs—that is, respondents on the IT side of the equation—the share fell dramatically to a bare majority.
The disparity is stark, and suggests that substantial work is still needed on relationships between marketers and IT departments.
Leading Ways in Which Their Company Supports a Digital Marketing Strategy According to US CIOs vs. Ad and Marketing Executives, May 2015 (% of respondents)
Based on the Robert Half/Creative Group research, marketers may be doing their fair share of that work. Nearly seven in 10 ad and marketing execs who responded to the survey said they tasked employees in the two departments to work more closely with each other, vs. 47% of CIO respondents who said the same. Overall, ad and marketing executives were 15 percentage points more likely to be taking some action in support of a collaborative digital marketing strategy.
Working together can be hard, but it’s not the only problem for marketing tech. Budget constraints are an issue, and many marketers are also having trouble figuring out what they even need from technology.