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Cisco estimates that by 2019, there will be 3.9 million internet users worldwide – just over half of the global population. To be successful, companies must embrace new technologies. Digital is now an integral part of any company’s business strategy. CMOs and CIOs across all industries are responsible for driving digital transformation.
It is a challenge that these roles are traditionally viewed from different perspectives. CIOs, in general, are responsible for evaluating, implementing, and managing technological solutions. CMOs, on the other hand, lead marketing initiatives to engage customers and drive revenue.
In order to achieve positive business outcomes, it is more important than ever that these roles and perspectives work together rather than independently. What is the answer? The answer? A new era in CMO-CIO collaboration can drive revenue growth and digital maturity. Before we go any further, let’s look at the past.
CMO: The Evolution
In the 1980s, vendors such as SAP and Oracle allowed CFOs to manage buyouts more efficiently, outsource, and work on global business operations.
As we enter the 1990s, companies like Vantiv and Scopus helped Sales Directors increase their bottom line.
In the 2000s, Symantec & Citrix helped CIOs improve their efficiency by consolidating & enhancing their IT infrastructure.
Digital technology is having a significant impact on the world of business. It’s now time for the CMO decade and the disruption of marketing.
The critical areas for business investment in the digital age
Marketing is now a technical discipline. We must reframe what we’ve been doing for the past 100 years. – Doug Milliken, VP of Global Brand Development Clovox
There are more ways than ever to use technology to reach new prospects, increase brand awareness, and market new products.
Marketers already spend significant amounts of money on technologies. Still, by 2025 it is expected that the total spending will grow to 10% of $1.2 trillion in real marketing instead of only 1% currently.
The CMO and CIO can now collaborate to drive their business forward. Investing in the following areas is what companies are doing today and beyond:
CRM: The customer is always first in business, and consumers today are more tech-savvy. Customer relationship management software allows companies to analyze and manage customer data and interactions throughout the entire customer lifecycle. The goal is to improve relationships with customers and encourage customer loyalty. This is a critical area for every business, and it’s a place where marketing and technical experts can work together.
Databases Data is growing at a faster rate than ever. By 2020, everyone will have around 1,7 megabytes of new data created every second. These databases are essential for processing the enormous amount of data, which provides insights vital to digital marketing strategies. It will be easier to increase revenue and engage customers if a database has been developed in a technologically superior manner.
Marketing Automation In a world with endless ways to share information about brands, products, and companies with new customers, marketing automation processes and software are vital. Nearly 11 more B2B companies are using marketing automation today than in 2011. With so many tasks to manage, the importance of this technology will only grow.
Digital Marketing. Of course, the umbrella of all promotional activities is digital marketing. It is fast becoming as much a technical discipline as it is creative. Companies must invest much money and time into developing effective digital marketing strategies to ensure their success and survival. To reiterate the importance of digital marketing, over a third of CMOs think it will account for 75 percent of all marketing expenditure in the next five years.
Analytics: In today’s fast-paced digital world, the interpretation of statistics and insights, as well as the intricate silos and data, are vital. Again, collaboration and investment between the CIOs and CMOs would make this activity much more powerful. According to a recent survey by IBM (which included over 700 CMOs), today, one of the top priorities for marketing is to incorporate data-driven insights.
Customer experience is essential
Customer experience is the most critical investment area for CIOs or CMOs.
In today’s customer-driven environment, CMOs must engage their consumers in innovative and new ways using digital platforms, which are constantly evolving. This requires close collaboration between marketing and IT to test digital marketing hubs, augmented reality, microsensors, and social listening centers.
“Customer Experience is becoming a hot topic for the CMO and across the C suite. Customers want a consistent customer experience and expect that a company knows them from one device to another and from one touchpoint to another. “You can only achieve this with technology.” – Sheryl Pattek, Analyst at Forrester Research.
CMOs must use their tools better and do more to achieve this level of marketing spending.
As core responsibilities change, the CIO’s role in IT becomes more complex. The CIO’s role is expected to be a significant part of digital transformation, from migrating workloads and apps to cloud-based platforms to maintaining networks and systems security.
72% of CIOs confess having difficulty balancing business innovation with operational excellence. 62% still find their roles more rewarding and admit that balancing transformation with functional roles has become essential to their jobs.
Collaboration in Action
Companies are showing new signs of exceptional growth and success as the relationship between CIO and CMO becomes tighter. Take CarMax, for example:
CarMax, once the most popular place to purchase a used car, has been under pressure due to the rise of startups that only operate online. These include Vroom and Beepi. CarMax’s CIO teamed up with its CMO to combat these disruptors and find new ways to reach consumers.
It was decided to combine the marketing and IT departments in a digital technology center while also overhauling their website to enhance inventory search functionality and introducing a new CRM to assist sales staff in accessing information efficiently on various devices. The company also regularly developed software to refine products before going into production.
This collaborative process allowed CarMax to benefit from a company in harmony. Marketing and IT were involved in selecting, testing, and delivering technologies needed to drive the digital requirements of the business.
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