Can Marketing and IT Collaborate in Martech?

The reality is some tasks will be IT, and some will be marketing when it comes to martech management. How should they work together?

Selecting, implementing and managing martech solutions invariably involves a tug of war between marketers and IT, two teams that inherently fall on opposing sides. Marketers clamor for tools with which they can create digital experiences and effectively engage with consumers at scale, whereas developers seek adaptability, connectivity and the freedom to pick the tools for the technology stack.

Such a scenario results in conflicts and inefficiency. Hence why a cohesive and inclusive strategy for selecting the right martech tools is crucial for building compelling digital experiences.

The Common Goals of Marketing and IT

In reality, marketing and IT share some important common goals:

  • Adopt scalable martech solutions that enable the creation of captivating experiences for both potential and existing customers.
  • Collaborate seamlessly and efficiently across teams.
  • Align and connect martech tools based on business needs.

A way to meet those shared goals has been to switch from monolithic platforms to MACH architectures, which focus on API-first. APIs ensure that services can communicate with one another for a fast, flexible martech stack.

MACH gives you the freedom of selecting the right tools for your needs while ascertaining that the tools you pick work together well. That’s a tremendous advantage over the old, monolithic approach, wherein bundled, best-in-class tools often offer solutions replete with major drawbacks, hampering teams’ effectiveness.

Related Article: Expert Tips for Taming the Martech Madness

The Marketing POV: Inclusion at Outset

All too often, marketers are left out of the decision-making process for selecting technologies and are simply handed a suite of tools and a directive to “make it work.” That scenario leads to frustrations among marketers, who must keep up with multiple channels, including fast emerging ones and consumer demands in an ever-changing environment.

Realistically, brands must recognize that marketers are in the trenches and therefore closest to the workflow for building experiences. In fact, marketers’ input should carry as much weight as that from developers vis–vis selection of martech tools.

In addition, the current crop of tools — typically a rigid monolith martech suite or a cobbled-together mix of legacy and best-of-breed solutions — lack usability for marketers, who would then lose real-time control over content. To be effective, marketers must be empowered to independently build experiences, personalize them and measure performance without having to call on IT help.