IBMs new survey of the marketing industry finds that chief marketing officers (CMO) and chief information officers (CIO) must join forces in order to connect with today’s consumer across new channels including mobile devices and social networks. Fully 60% of marketers point to their lack of alignment with the companys IT department as the biggest obstacle to reaching todays consumers.
One key new finding of the survey shows that with mobile marketing working well, marketers are now preparing to go beyond coupons and deliver mobile advertising that reaches customers on their smart phone and tablets. According to the study, 34% of respondents stated that in less than 12 months, they intend to deliver mobile ads, the highest rate of new marketing tactic adoption in the five-year history of the study. Overall, 46% of respondents are currently using mobile web sites followed by 45% mobile applications, up from 40% and 44% respectively since last year.
IBMs State of Marketing 2012 surveyed more than 350 marketing professionals across a wide range of industries and geographies. In the study, 51% of respondents who identified their companies as high-performing indicated they have good relationships between marketing and IT, 10% higher than other companies. This figure validates the importance of the marketing and IT alliance which gives top performers greater responsibilities for the products and services, price, place and promotion (the 4Ps), and communication across the purchasing cycle. As a result, marketers from these higher performing companies are nearly three times more likely to be pro-active leaders in driving their organizations customer experience across all channels.
Yuchun Lee, Vice President, IBM Enterprise Marketing Management Group, said:
This research indicates that as new channels continue to mature and consumer habits evolve, marketing and IT have no alternative but to emerge from their traditional silos and form a strong partnership that puts the business in a position to succeed. CMOs and CIOs, an odd couple in some respects, will be the catalysts in forging this union and enabling the types of personalized multichannel brand relationships that today’s customers demand.
Additional results from the survey include:
Marketing and IT Lack Integration:
While 48% of respondents believe that improved technology infrastructure or software will enable them to do more, nearly 60% indicated that lack of IT alignment and integration are significant barriers to the adoption of technology. This void further reinforces the notion that CMOs and CIOs must forge stronger, more aligned relationships that put the business in a position to succeed.
Marketing and IT Lack Unified Vision:
While 71% believe integration across owned, earned and paid channels is important, only 29% are effectively integrating these different channels. When asked why, 59% said that existing systems are too disparate to integrate these channels. This is most evident in areas such as mobile and social where only 21% and 22% of respondents run these tactics as part of integrated campaigns with the remainder conducting them in silos, discretely and on an ad hoc basis, a practice which inhibits their ability to deliver effective cross-channel campaigns.
Marketers Fail to Turn Data into Action
When asked how they are using online visitor data, 65% of respondents are doing the basics, reporting and analyzing their data. Despite that number, only one third are using this data to target one-to-one offers or messages in digital channels and less than 20% are using this online data to make one-to-one offers in traditional channels.
View the full report here:
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