With consumers now communicating with each other and brands through an increasing number of channels, it is essential that marketers and IT are properly integrated to ensure that customers are addressed with consistent messages and offers, whatever the channel

1. Working with IT
“A Marketers Guide”
Richard
Meyer
Online
Strategic
Solu4ons

2. IT’s
percep*on
of
marke*ng

3. Marke*ng’s
percep*on
of
IT

4. However…
With
consumers
now
communica4ng
with
brands
through
an
increasing
number
of
channels,
it
is
essen*al
that
marke*ng
systems
are
properly
integrated
to
ensure
that
customers
are
addressed
with
consistent
messages
and
offers,
whatever
the
channel.
For
this
to
happen,
marke*ng
needs
to
consult
closely
with
IT
to
ensure
this
integra*on

5. Miscommunica*on
?
IT
is
perceived
as
not
understanding
what
marke4ng’s
needs
are,
and
marke4ng
is
perceived
as
a
group
that
is
likely
to
undertake
a
“rogue”
digital
marke4ng
projects
suggested
by
vendors
without
IT
input.

6. Bigger
Marke*ng
Budgets
=
More
Accountability
• Gartner
suggests
that
by
2017
the
CMO
will
spend
more
on
IT
than
the
CIO.
• Marke4ng
is
becoming
increasingly
technology-­‐
based.
• Marke4ng
budgets
are
already
larger
(and
growing
faster)
than
IT
budgets.
• Indeed,
2011
B2B
and
B2C
marke4ng
budgets
as
a
percentage
of
revenue
were
almost
three
4mes
as
high
(10%)
as
IT
budgets
(3.6%).

7. And
More
Dollars
Are
Going
to
Digital
Marke*ng
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Marke4ng
budgets
at
b-­‐to-­‐b
companies
are
set
to
rise
6%
in
2014.
Two-­‐fiUhs
of
B2C
marketers
will
see
budgets
increase
at
an
average
of
3.4%
in
2014.
Marke4ng
budgets
will
eek
back
up
to
4%
of
company
revenue
in
2014.
That's
s4ll
less
than
the
5%
to
10%
many
companies
had
in
place
before
the
2008
recession,
but
an
improvement
over
the
2.5%
Forrester
reported
two
years
ago.
"Business
is
just
4ghtening
its
belt
all
around,"
said
Forrester
VP
and
senior
analyst
Laura
Ramos.
"You
have
to
really
prove
that
you're
going
to
return
value
to
the
business
to
get
more
budget
money.”
An
emphasis
on
accountability
and
smart
spending
will
lead
to
bigger
bets
on
marke*ng
technology
According
to
the
report,
61%
of
marketers
"expect
to
increase
the
propor*on
of
technology
spend
versus
marke*ng
communica*on/program
spend.”
More
than
half
of
the
52
marketers
who
took
part
in
Forrester's
Marke4ng
Budget
Online
Survey
said
they
plan
increase
spending
on
digital
marke4ng
at
the
expense
of
other
channels.

8. Marke*ng
and
IT
Need
Each
Other
for
Success
•
•
According
to
the
IBM
survey,
60%
of
marketers
point
to
their
lack
of
alignment
with
the
company's
IT
department
as
the
biggest
obstacle
to
reaching
today's
consumers.
When
IT
isn’t
engaged,
marketers
are
much
more
likely
to
wind
up
with
a
highly
fragmented
view
of
the
customer
that
result
in
a
disjointed
set
of
communica4ons
and
marke4ng
messages
to
customers.

9. The
IT
department
is
reaching
a
crossroads
• IT
should
own
the
architecture
for
the
marke4ng
pla`orm
but
their
choice
should
be
more
flexible
so
as
not
to
limit
digital
marke4ng
strategies.
• Marketers
should
integrate
all
digital
marke4ng
vendors
with
IT
and
they
need
to
explain
the
“why”
and
the
“how”
in
terms
of
business
jus4fica4ons.

10. So
how
can
IT
help
?
1.
2.
3.
By
sebng
technical
and
func4onal
specifica4ons
for
website
development
as
part
of
the
project
plan.
Tes4ng
&
valida4ng
all
website
func4onali4es
across
a
wide
range
of
Internet
connec4ons
and
browsers.
By
working
closely
with
outside
digital
marke4ng
vendors
to
ensure
they
are
using
best
prac4ces
as
they
develop
digital
solu4ons

11. How
can
marke*ng
help
?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Bring
IT
people
into
preliminary
mee4ngs
around
the
development
of
digital
strategy
so
they
understand
where
and
why.
Allow
them
to
integrate
fully
with
outside
vendors
and
set
up
key
contacts
for
technical
development.
Have
IT
sign
off
on
wire
frames.
Allow
people
from
IT
to
afend
qualita4ve
research
and/or
read
research
summaries
with
implica4ons.
Educate
IT
people
on
success
metrics.

12. Why
Tes*ng
&
Valida*on
are
an
important
IT
Func*on
(Example)

13. What
is
Website
Valida*on?
Valida4ng
a
website
is
the
process
of
ensuring
that
the
pages
on
the
website
conform
to
the
norms
or
standards
defined
by
various
organiza*ons.
Valida4on
is
important,
and
will
ensure
that
your
web
pages
are
interpreted
in
the
same
way
(the
way
you
want
it)
by
various
machines,
such
as
search
engines,
as
well
as
users
and
visitors
to
your
webpage.

14. Because
there
are
a
lot
of
different
browsers
in
use
Source:
Net
Market
Share
Dec
2013

15. Marke*ng
should
also
be
involved
in
website
development
•
•
•
Throughout
the
development
process
you
should
always
engage
our
target
audience
in
usability
tes4ng.
This
is
a
cri4cal
stage
of
the
development,
and
informs
the
final
build.
Upon
comple4on
of
the
ini4al
build,
you
should
immediately
begin
tes4ng
and
a
quality
assurance
process.

16. In
summary…
ü Get
IT
involved
early
and
oUen
in
digital
marke4ng
ini4a4ves.
ü Ensure
that
there
is
4ght
integra4on
between
digital
marke4ng
vendors,
marke4ng
and
IT.
ü Understand
IT
requirements
and
never
go
outside
the
technical
&
func4onal
requirements
without
a
strong
business/customer
case.
ü Understand
the
tes4ng
&
valida4ng
process
for
any
website
changes.
ü Meet
regularly
in
small
cross-­‐func4onal
teams
to
review
current
project
plans
and
cri4cal
project
milestones.
ü Make
IT
part
of
the
solu4on
and
share
successes
throughout
the
organiza4on.

17. About
me..
• 17
years
digital
marke4ng
experience
working
closely
with
outside
vendors
and
internal
IT
departments.
• Author
of
hfp://newmediaandmarke4ng.com
and
hfp://worldofdtcmarke4ng.com
• MBA
New
York
Ins4tute
of
Technology