IT and marketing departments must call a truce and work better together to maximise the impact of marketing campaigns – especially those on social media – or risk wasting their budgets.
The latest Social Media Revenues Forecast report from Gartner suggests that social media revenue worldwide is expected to reach $34bn (£22bn) by 2016, up from $12bn (£7.6bn) in 2011 – but the disparity between IT and marketing roles will hinder business success in this area.
Gartner senior research analyst Jenny Sussin said: “IT and marketing departments are the classic ‘Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus’.
“IT is very focused on procedure, and marketing is very focused on vision. Since marketers are used to communicating with marketers, and IT professionals are used to communicating with IT professionals, neither recognises they need to learn the translation to maximise their impact on the overall organisation.”
The reports claims problems can arise when lack of communication prevents turning marketing concepts into reality, mainly because marketers do not know what is needed from IT.
But Gartner research director Adam Sarner believes things are beginning to change.
“Both parties need to prove they are providing measurable business value in their organisation,” said Sarner. “And both are under pressure not to be looked at as a cost centre, but that they are contributing directly to the bottom line of a company – so alignment is happening.”
Gartner also forecasts that advertising will remain the largest contributor to social media revenue, increasing from $6.5bn (£4.2bn) in 2011 to $18bn (£11.5bn) in 2016, but its contribution will decrease marginally from 55% in 2011 to 54% in 2016.
Social gaming revenue more than doubled between 2010 and 2011, and by 2016, gaming revenue is expected see an average of 18% growth, while its contribution to total revenue will decrease from 34% to 28%.
