IBM released the results of a survey of 350 marketing professionals across a range of industries and geographies in which some of the key findings indicate that CMOs feel a disconnect between the marketing and IT departments. This is particularly important because the survey also revealed the highest ever percentage of companies that said they will begin using mobile advertising as part of their marketing programs in the next year.
The entire study results can be viewed here. However, key takeaways related to the need for closer collaboration between the marketing and IT departments include:
- 60% of respondents indicated that the lack of IT alignment and integration are significant barriers to the adoption of technology
- More than half of the respondents that indicated that their organizations are “high-performing” indicated that they have good relationships with their IT department
- 41% of respondents said that keeping pace with digital marketing channels and mobile device trends will be the biggest challenge over the next 3-5 years
- 34% of the respondents indicated that they intend to use mobile advertising (beyond mobile coupons) in their marketing programs in the next 12 months (Editor’s note: IBM indicates that this is the highest rate in the 5 year history of the survey.)
- 51% of respondents are not yet using social channels as a formalized aspect of their marketing campaigns
- While 65% of respondents use marketing analytics data, only 1/3 of respondents use the data to target individual users with offers
Impact on Telecom
From a macro trend perspective, the first key takeaway is that IBM’s survey somewhat validates all of the recent hype around mobile ads. Additionally, the survey data points out that the disconnect between marketing and IT departments represents a major opportunity for technology providers such as IBM, HP, and even, perhaps, for some traditional telecom equipment vendors.
To be sure, the disconnect between marketing and IT is a key challenge that CEM solutions providers are looking to solve. Additionally, more marketing organizations are recognizing then need to engage in holistic CEM solutions.
Beyond just getting the CMO and CIO organizations talking to each other, a key part of a holistic CEM solution is helping the marketing organization to better capture and leverage insights from the mobile device usage patterns of their target customers. Here is where telecom-style analytics can be a big help. The survey sited the need to keep up with device challenges as one of the key hurdles that respondents will face in the coming years. No one understands mobile device usage patterns better than mobile operators and/or their CEM solutions providers. Here is where operators, aided by a robust CEM solution can help retailers over come this challenge.
Taking the Next Step
Going further, the survey also indicated that a key opportunity that marketers have yet to full wrap their minds around is the ability to use social media platforms and analytics data to craft personalized marketing campaigns. Here is another huge opportunity for tech firms to add value. Without a doubt, increased personalization is what consumers are looking for in all aspects of their lives. Marketing organizations need to do more than recognize this trend, they need to embrace and take advantage of it.
Tools to help in this quest do exist. Recently, for example, Relevvant launched a mobile advertising platform that helps organizations identify power influencers and then target them on their mobile devices. Tapping into tools like this will be key to future success in the digital economy.
