IT-Marketing Partnerships Are Key to Business Success

ByShane Caniglia

Ifyour technology team is still hiding in the server room, you are missing out ona great opportunity to be a strategic part of your company?s success. Socialmedia, personalized emails, newsletters, video and other technologies are keyaspects for delivering content and staying competitive in today?s economy.

Infact, according to a 2011 PewInternetSurvey, ?Fully65 percentof adult Internetusers now say they use a social networking site like Facebook or LinkedIn, upfrom 61 percentone year ago.?

Withthese stats, your company?s target market is probably online. To effectively reach out andconnect with them, your marketing team will rely more and more on yoursupport to implement new techniques and measure results. Standalone initiatives from either marketing or IT area sign of a dysfunctional organization ?and it won?t take long before it affectsyour bottom line.

Can marketing and IT teams workeffectively together? Yes, they can?but not when they are atodds. If you find yourself responding to marketing?s requests with any of thesestatements, you?re not functioning as a partner to marketing.

?Thisdeadline is unrealistic.?

?Wedon?t have the resources or budget for this.?

?You don?t understand what ITdoes.?

Well,it?s time to understandthe dynamic of your organization. Today?s CIOs and their teams are becoming anintegral part of the overall sales process. By helping your marketingdepartment test initiatives andmonitor results that increase the bottom line, you?ll provide more value to thecompany. And that can lead to increased jobsecurity, bigger paychecks, and even a larger budget forhiring and purchasing top-lineequipment, software and services.

Buthow do you start the change process to improve communications between your teams?Here are three steps to open the communication floodgates:

1.Understand the marketingplan and researchthe competitive useof technology.

Who are your company?s customers, and whatmethodology is your marketing team using to reach and expand thataudience? What key technologies could support your marketing teamto deliver content in a more timely and measurable way? Write down why theseapplications are important and get examples of what yourcompetitorsare doing. Then determine what it will take to incorporatethese technologies and estimate the results thatcould be achieved.

2.Arrange a think tank.

Talk to the head of your marketingdepartment and arrange an idea-sharing meeting. Review collective ideas,choosing one as a test. Keep in mind that the marketing department is workingto provide the audience with whatitwants. It won?t matter if thetechnology you provide is brilliant;if your audience does not respondwell, the project will not beuseful.Choose a project that is mutually beneficial?something thatwillsolvea specific marketingproblemor test a new technology.

Forexample, when our marketing department was dealing with numerous issues relatedto sharing information on a worldwide basis, our team presented a plan using Facebook?sLivestreamtechnology. By hosting these events, we could use free technology that wasreadily available and reach a worldwide audience in real time.With this plan,we can continue to give our customers what they want, when and wherethey want it.

3.Perform a testproject.

Onceyou establish your first project, be sure to document procedures, communicatetimelines, andmonitor systemsand costs. Start small with managed variables so that the finalreporting can be accomplished in a timely manner.

Sincemany technologies provide specific statistics such as sitevisitors, number of clicks andpopular keywords, you?llbe able to provide concrete evidence that somethingworkedor didn?t.measurements that Yourtechnology team can also use thesemetrics to obtain larger technologybudgets, and your marketing team canmonetize it.  

Forexample, after we held ourlive-streamedbook-signing event,we saw a significant increase in site visitors, clicks to buy products, increasedcustomer knowledge and feedback. We had valuable informationthat it was a successful event. Moreimportant, the process inspired us to develop new ideas to make the next eventeven better.

Share the Excitement

Increasedinvolvement across departments is never easy, especially between creativemarketing teams thatcommunicate with customers and technology teams don?tlike exit pop-ups, which attempt to keep visitors from leaving asite.Opening a line of communication so you can testnew initiatives takes time and effort from all involved. But after you?ve completedthat first project with some meaningful results, both teams will be able toshare the excitement of positive customer experiencesand increased sales.

Collaborationis the key to company success. The outdated scenario of departmental silos has beenreplaced with dynamics that allow both marketing and IT departmentsto grow. It?s essential for marketing departments to use the latesttechnologies to reach out to customers. In turn, it?s important for technologyexperts to expand their scope of work and collaborate with the marketingdepartment.

Inthe long run, everyone wins. The marketing department is happy because measuredefforts allow quick testing, changes in real time and improved sales. Yourtechnology team gets to be more creative and work on innovative processes. Andyour customers receive more value from your company.

Shane Caniglia is the director of technology at thefinancial education company, The Rich Dad Co., Robert Kiyosaki, author of Rich Dad,Poor Dad and otherbooks.