How important is our relationship with IT, and what can we do to make it better?
Advancement in technology and the use of data should make for exciting times. But with around half of our surveyed Members citing it as an issue for the business, and a challenge for marketing, there’s progress to be made in harnessing the technology opportunity. In this extract from our 2019 Marketing Trends Report, we look at some of the key statistics, and ask our panel of experts to scratch beneath the surface of the findings.
Most aspects of technological change are yet to have a large impact on marketing. More than half of survey respondents said that artificial intelligence and machine learning will have no impact on their marketing plans this year, and a third state that mobile marketing and programmatic marketing will have little bearing.
Data analytics and marketing automation look set to have the biggest impact, although these mostly only impact between a third and a half of respondents.
So, is it time for marketing and IT to forge a closer relationship, and develop solutions that improve the customer experience, and positively impact the bottom line? If so, there's work to do. As the chart shows, other than Fintech and Retail Banking, over 40% of respondents said their relationship with IT is either poor or just okay.
Work together to help the customer Our panel of experts felt that IT can still have a very inward-looking mandate. Their focus tends to be on large budget transformation projects and simply keeping the wheels turning day-to-day.
Product, marketing and servicing teams should be thinking creatively about the role data and technology can play in making life easier for the customer. But they need access to technical expertise to support that. Bringing IT closer to the customer-facing parts of the business should be encouraged from the top down through shared objectives and KPIs. And businesses could make it easier for people to collaborate on new ideas.
Investing in new skills If financial services firms want to be able to make the most of technological advancements, there needs to be a change of mindset. There should be investment in young and innovative IT experts, and marketers must invest in training and development to ensure their skills keep up with the trends.
To read more of this discussion, and other trends affecting marketers within financial services, download the full 2019 Marketing Trends Report here.