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When marketing and technology seem to be merging together, shouldn’t CMOs and CIOs collaborate more to make this marriage a successful one?
The Chief Marketing Officer is someone whose prime role is to plan and implement the marketing strategies of an organization and create the right gravitational pull towards a brand. But today, as no marketing strategy could be complete without an IT strategy, the role of CMO needs to be redefined. The CMO has to get into the shoes of the CIO and vice versa. Digitalization is redefining customer experience and the CIO has to be the best friend of the CMO in the days to come.
Understanding of the Technology is Important
While it’s not important for the CMOs to understand the nuances of the technology in and out, they must be well aware of the technology trends they can explore with the CIOs and power their marketing campaigns. There are different touch points in the digital arena which the CMOs should learn to connect to design a better experience for the end customers.
Big Data to Biz Insights
The CMO has to deal with large amounts of customer data from which they need to extract intelligence and insights that help increase the revenue. The CIO, on the other hand, has the capabilities to build the necessary big data backbone to generate necessary insights and help marketing team to execute marketing strategies accordingly. Also, to make the most out of emerging technologies such as Mobility, Analytics, Machine Learning and more, the role of CIO is imperative.
Customer Centricity is the Key
The traditional marketing mix of product, price, placement and promotion must be added with customer experience to make it more relevant to the present times. While the skill sets of Marketing and IT teams could be different, they can together design the customer experience which is beneficial for the organization’s growth, survival, and profitability. With customer experience and technology going hand in hand, the IT and marketing departments will have to work more closely in the years to come.
Identify Opportunities and Limitations
CMOs and CIOs must also remember that technology up-gradation should not be done for the sake of it, but to enable better customer experience. All developments that take place should be customer centric and solve the real problems people. While CMO would have to come with new ideas and strategies to design a better customer experience, it is the job of the CIO to find out how those ideas can be turned into reality and what the technological limitations are.
Better Communication, Better Collaboration
At some instances, it could be difficult for a CMO to understand the limitations of the CIO and vice versa. To avoid this, both these executives must be able to relate to an idea and should be able to understand the objectives and expected results out of an activity. Marketing has been emerging as a practical discipline as new digital metrics are coming into the picture where CIOs and CMOs have a significant role to play.
