Martech Today Discusses Bridging the Gap Between IT and Marketing with Credera’s Phil Lockhart

In today’s digital era, IT and marketing executives must learn to collaborate more than ever. Yet, the rapid rise of digital and mobile technologies does not erase the fact that marketing and technology executives often come from two very different worlds.

Cross-team collaboration always brings its unique challenges, but research shows that the divide between marketing and IT is especially cumbersome. This is often attributed to misaligned priorities, siloed organizational structures, and a lack of common language between the two groups.

In order to help bridge this gap, MarTech Today, interviewed Credera’s Phil Lockhart and other industry leaders and curated a list of recommendations for IT and Marketing leaders:

Banish the buzzwords

“Often, marketing and IT clash due to an inability to speak the other’s language,” says Phil Lockhart, principal and leader of management and IT consulting firm Credera’s digital practice. “If they’re unable to communicate well, both parties will struggle to maximize the company’s investments. If jargon must be used to explain a concept to the other team,” Lockhart says, “it should be accompanied by a patient explanation considering the context and perspective of the organization. If team members become frustrated about having to explain a concept multiple times, they should consider creating shared language that they both understand.”

Make purchases together

When both teams have a stake in a purchase, such as marketing software, both teams should have a say. At smaller companies, a ranked-choice voting system may be sufficient to give everyone a say. Larger teams may need to designate a representative to present the team’s interests to a third-party decision maker, such as a vice president or another decision maker.

Celebrate wins as one

“From kickoff to liftoff, IT and marketing need to be one, so they should also celebrate as one,” says Lockhart. The CMO of a global company Lockhart and his Credera team worked with made it a point to celebrate with IT after every major website release. It was always scheduled two days after launch because marketing knew IT was usually up all night supporting the deployment and needed to refuel first.

To read the full article visit martechtoday.com.

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