DX is progressing in various fields, and marketing is no exception. To realize marketing DX, many organizations are actively introducing new tools and utilizing data. What is important in introducing this tool and utilizing data is a collaboration between the marketing department and the IT department. However, interdepartmental cooperation is not easy and often leads to friction. Therefore, in this article, we will explain three reasons why collaboration does not work well and solutions for each.
Three reasons why marketing and IT departments don’t work well together
Here we will introduce three causes of the lack of cooperation between the two departments, using actual examples.
Cause 1: Mutual “work processes” are not coordinated
If each department does not understand the work processes they are responsible for, intermediate tasks tend to be overlooked.
For example, suppose the marketing department asks the IT department to extract sales data for the past 10 years to analyze sales of existing customers. The marketing department thought that data analysis would be the only task that would be handled and that the IT department would handle data extraction and processing. Since the IT department was asked to “extract data,” I thought the marketing department would handle “data processing.”
When such a discrepancy in understanding of the work process occurs, intermediate work in “data processing” may be overlooked, and a gap may arise between departments as to whether the work was requested or not.
Cause 2: The two systems (tools) are not working together
This often happens when a marketing department independently implements a new system (tool).
As a result of the marketing department introducing the tool without checking with the IT department, it was unable to link with the database originally used within the company, and every time analysis was performed, the IT department was requested to download the data in Excel and hand it over. This will result in wasted man-hours.
From the IT department’s point of view, “I wish someone would just give me a shout-out at the time of implementation…” and from the marketing department’s point of view, “I don’t want them acting like they’re bothering me every time I request data extraction…” This can lead to distortions between departments.
Cause 3: Strongly reflecting the opinions of one department
If one department takes the lead and considers how to operate a system (tool) that strongly reflects the opinions of that department, it tends to result in partial optimization. The IT department thinks about things system-driven, and the marketing department thinks about things from a field/marketing-driven perspective.
As a result, if the IT department takes the lead, it will be optimal for maintaining and managing data, but it will be difficult for the marketing department to use daily. Conversely, if the marketing department takes the lead, it will be easier to perform day-to-day data analysis, but it will be difficult for the IT department to maintain and manage the data.
Solutions to strengthen collaboration between marketing and IT departments
We will explain solutions to strengthen collaboration for each of the three causes introduced in the previous chapter.
Solution 1: Align work processes
Data analysis is often the responsibility of the marketing department, so in most cases, the marketing department will request the IT department to extract the data.
What is important at this time is that when the marketing department requests data extraction, it communicates the purpose of data utilization to the IT department and clarifies the work process it wants to request. By having both departments correctly understand each other’s work processes, data extraction, processing, and analysis processes are no longer isolated.
What is often overlooked here is “communicating the purpose of data utilization.”
Let’s say you want to ask the IT department to handle everything up to “data processing.” At this time, if you do not know the purpose of using the data, you will not know how to process the data, and you will not be able to obtain the expected output.
Therefore, it is ideal for both departments to have a common understanding of not only work processes but also the purpose of data utilization.
Solution 2: Make systems (tools) work together
The second solution is to select a system (tool) that can be linked with existing systems when introducing it.
However, there may be cases where it is simply not possible to link directly with existing systems. In that case, consider implementing ETL and BI tools that both departments can use.
ETL tools are tools that can extract and process internal and external data and are an acronym for Extract, Transform, and Load. BI tools can analyze and visualize various data. By using these tools, it is possible to indirectly link systems.
Solution 3: Find a sweet spot between both departments
When considering system implementation, rather than being biased towards either system-driven or marketing-driven, find a middle ground between the two.
When moving forward concretely, both departments will organize their “absolutely non-negotiable essential conditions” and “desired conditions” and share them between departments. After that, it will be smoother if you decide on the operation by repeatedly discussing the essential conditions that cannot be negotiated, finding a compromise, and considering the possibility of removing the desired conditions.
The key is to visualize and share your essential and desired conditions in advance, so please give it a try.
If you have trouble coordinating between departments, please contact cross-marketing.
Using the causes and solutions introduced in this article as a reference, try creating collaboration between departments within your company. However, there may already be large gaps between departments, or it may be difficult to find a common ground between the two departments.
If so, please feel free to contact Cross Marketing. Cross Marketing has been solving customers’ marketing issues as a marketing DX partner. Additionally, as a data marketing business, Cross Marketing is expanding its scope to support the introduction of systems such as BI tools. If you contact Cross Marketing, a data marketer who has both a marketing and systems perspective will stand between your company’s marketing department and IT department and provide support,
