Marketing and IT Departments Strive for More Integration

As marketers and IT professionals see the potential of digital marketing, new research shows that both groups want to work closer together. In fact, 92 percent of marketers want more integration with IT, and 75 percent of IT leaders said the same about marketing.

Over the next three years, 74 percent of marketers see digital marketing driving their company’s success, and 92 percent of IT professionals agreed. Seventy-two percent of marketing leaders believe that their companies will be more successful if they work closer with IT.

At the moment, 64 percent of marketers think that they already have the same goals as their IT counterparts. Sixty percent claim that their CMO and CIO work well together and about 71 percent of marketers say they are more integrated with IT than they were five years ago.

“IT and marketing used to function as two completely separate entities, free to operate as they saw fit, with their idiosyncrasies and stereotypes. But the rapid growth of digital marketing and e-commerce pushed these two groups together. And if these groups are at odds, it can cause the customer experience to slip,” says Kyle Metcalf, General Manager of Rackspace Digital.

Digital Marketing as a Top Priority

As marketers show more interest in working with IT, there is a growing desire to promote digital marketing among IT professionals. The “2015 CIO Survey and CEO Survey” from Gartner found that 17 percent of CIOs now make digital marketing a priority. This is an increase from the 11 percent who said the same in 2014.

About 32 percent of CEOs said that digital marketing was a top investment for them. It was second on a list of priorities, only to customer experience management (37 percent).