CMOs will invest more in IT than CIOs by 2017. The reasons are marketing is currently technology-based, Big Data is key in gaining competitive advantage, and digital marketing is the fuel of today’s business growth. This forecast is exemplified by Gartner’s research last year where they discovered that 2011 B2B and B2C marketing budgets as a percentage of revenue were nearly 3 times greater than IT budgets. Additionally, they identified that high tech marketing budgets were going to triple IT budgets by 2012.

 

With anincreased investment in IT from marketing departments, there’s no doubt in my mind that marketing and IT need to integrate in today’s business world. By working together, marketing and IT departments can use technologies to gain consumer insight, garner real-time data, and conduct real-time analytics. This will help marketing and IT departments find new improved ways to engage with consumers. 

 

Read the whole article at Forbes.