Can We Just Get Along? Research Shows Relationships Between Marketers and IT Can Be Rocky
Marketers are by nature an optimistic lot (they have to be to keep doing what they do). Maybe that’s why many of them are a tad clueless about the obstacles that are actually besetting their firms.
On the other hand, IT people are a pragmatic lot — and are more aware of all those technical issues.
That’s a takeaway from May, 2015 research by Robert Half Technology and The Creative Group. The research showed that three in four U.S. 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,” reports eMarketer. “The disparity is stark, and suggests that substantial work is still needed on relationships between marketers and IT departments.”
Could IT staff be partly to blame? The survey responses illustrated that nearly seven in 10 ad and marketing execs said they tasked employees in the two departments to work more closely with each other. That’s vs. 47 percent 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,” notes eMarketer.
The bottom line? More cooperation is needed (and maybe bigger budgets, too). Because when optimists and pragmatists get together … well, they’re going to need a little more time to talk.
