Marketing and tech chiefs are still failing to show the love, and, despite an “urgent need” for them to jump into bed together, only just over one in five (23%) companies enjoy a “very effective” working relationship between the two team leaders.
According to the Making Martech Pay Off report by the CMO Council, published in collaboration with KPMG, the need to act has “never been greater”, with future revenues heavily dependent on digital marketing.
Effectiveness rankings were judged on the basis of innovative techniques employed, with relationships employing two on average classed as ‘very effective’ compared to an average of 1.2 which were classed as ‘effective’.
The benefits of CMOs being in ‘very effective’ working relationships with their chief information officer colleagues are clear: nearly two-thirds (65%) of companies in that category regularly collect and distribute key performance indicators with insights and recommendations, but this falls to just 36% of CMOs in the ‘effective’ bracket.
This is made more likely by levelling the balance of power. Nearly half (48%) of CMOs in ‘very effective’ pairings have equal standing with their IT counterparts, up from just 21% in ‘effective’ counterparts.
CMO Council executive director Donovan Neale-May said: “Marketers in very effective relationships with IT, who get the most out of martech, also have the largest martech stacks and spend the highest percentage of their marketing budget on martech.
“These marketers are more likely to be responsible for digital transformation, customer experience and revenue generation – the ‘big three’ – and play a larger role in the future of the company.”
KPMG marketing consulting practice lead Jason Galloway added: “There is an urgent need for CMOs and CIOs to closely work together to maximise the return from martech, leading to necessary changes in innovation, data-driven metrics, governance, and alignment and integration.”
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