Ten Effective Principles for IT and Marketing
Business Goals Are Everything
Not all goals, however, are good goals. Follow Peter Drucker’s “SMART” guidelines to come up with ones that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time Bound.
A Collective Vision
Global complexities put the pressure on CIOs and other leaders to communicate vision statements more effectively than ever. Once established, however, a collective vision unleashes inventive collaboration between IT and marketing.
Data Inspires Creativity
Data by itself doesn’t provide solutions. But it does depict a clearer path toward opportunity-and that’s when IT can work with marketers to pursue bold ideas.
Finding Unicorns
Unicorns are people who want to be more than tech-savvy and creative-they want to make a difference by building new revenue streams, making customers’ lives easier and more. They combine a lack of ego with curiosity, passion and optimism, while remaining highly adaptable to change.
Culture Predicts Success and Failure
Such a culture requires a flat hierarchy, encouragement of ideas/risk taking and information sharing/collaborative learning.
Measure What Matters
There are an infinite amount of things to measure. So filter out any metrics-based activity that you can’t act upon. Because measurement without action is a waste of time.
What It’s Worth
Through relative-value modeling, you assign dollar values to activities and behaviors. This helps prioritize tasks and operational practices during busy stretches.
Never Stop Improving
No project is every finished, because even a launched initiative is merely a hypothesis of what might work. Continuously conduct testing and collect feedback to find a better way to reinvent something.
One Size Fits No One
Customers aren’t all the same. That’s why a generic experience won’t work in a digital world that demands personalized exchanges with an organization. Use tech to drive toward distinctions among customers to build highly customized interactions.
Framework for Innovation
Simply stated, all innovation must be something new that takes existing situations and makes them better. Then, it needs to help achieve business goals-there’s no room for innovation strictly for the sake of innovation.
