As technology opens up new means of solving IT and communication challenges, marketing opportunities simultaneously emerge. Forrester Research recently reported that 87 percent of online retailers plan on optimizing their mobile email communications with customers this year, while 70 percent intend to optimize their paid search campaigns for smartphones and tablets. So what else do companies stand to gain, and how could one implement these tactics into a professional setting?
Benefits of Increased Collaboration
The most obvious benefits of combining marketing and IT include improving target market accuracy and increasing marketing efficiency. Increasing one’s mobile presence can be an excellent way to attract a generation that’s attached to smartphones, especially when a company’s target audience is a young crowd. More exposure leads to more data collection, which results in more efficient marketing through data-driven content production. Putting two different departments in the same room is a breeding ground for innovation, with each unique department bringing a different mindset to the table.
Open Communication
It’s true that marketing and IT both serve different purposes in a given company and are likely located in different physical departments in the workplace as well. This is why open communication is crucial to uniting these mediums. Departments should meet together regularly to discuss goals and keep up with each other’s current projects. In addition to independent projects, both departments should be working on ways to catalyze one another’s success.
Strategy Development
So how exactly can marketing and IT strategize to maximize efficiency for both parties? A cloud-based database can be an effective tool for keeping everyone in the loop while also encouraging active collaboration in group projects. Although in-person meetings are important, taking advantage of the efficiencies of a cloud database can save time for everyone involved. Moreover, both parties have a responsibility to keep up with new developments, whether in technology or marketing. New IT advancements can be a huge benefit to marketing professionals who work in a fast-paced, competitive market, and a cloud database provider can get a company started in the right direction.
Data and Results Analysis
Keeping up with ideological and technological developments should be complemented with a close eye on new research. What methods do studies support? What has proven to work? Both parties should be scrutinizing all the relevant data available, looking for how it can benefit both marketing and IT. Considering the varying strengths between marketing and IT, the labor could easily be divided. IT would know how to retrieve data using APIs and managing databases, while marketing would be more likely to provide valuable insight into audience analysis.
As the world grows more and more reliant on technology, the IT field is going to find itself building an ever stronger relationship with marketing. What’s more, IT’s influence will likely extend beyond marketing. This change isn’t exactly anything new, but the face of advertising via technology is changing on an almost daily basis. Marketing alone simply can’t handle the task of adapting to the new marketplace on its own. This mutually beneficial relationship is why IT and marketing should combine forces to create a truly powerful campaign.
