Marketers supercede IT managers in calling the shots on software purchases
Marketers have leapfrogged IT managers in importance when it comes to the purchase of new marketing software, with 66 per cent of marketing managers now in the ‘driving seat’ when it comes to such decisions.
According to digital transformation business Squiz, which conducted the study, just 45 per cent consider that the remit for such decisions rests with the IT manager, with the remainder backing their colleagues in marketing.
The results follow a period in which marketers have become increasingly tech oriented thanks to a rise in marketing automation software, whose usage leapt 92 per cent from 2015 to 2016 and the rise of CMS platforms, now used by 83 per cent of marketing respondents.
Stephen Morgan, co-founder of Squiz, said: “Marketing and IT Managers are beginning to understand the importance of integrated systems. Whilst there has been the tendency in the past for marketers to acquire the latest and greatest technologies without much thought for how it will sync up with other platforms, this is changing. The fact that over half of marketers now describe their relationship with IT as ‘collaborative’ exemplifies how they are determined to work together with their tech counterparts to build and implement integrated platforms that serve the customer best.”
On the other side of the coin many marketers remain ‘mystified’ with 53 per cent of those quizzed struggling to understand the business focus of integrated platforms.