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With all the new marketing technology that is thrown at us marketers, many companies face a significant challenge: technological silos. This happens when different people or teams in an organization use separate tools and platforms, without integration. The painful result is that their data is scattered at best, are overpaying for tools and experience many inefficiencies. For marketing teams that rely on data analytics and seamless customer journeys, this can be a major obstacle. In this blog post, we explore how to dismantle marketing technology silos and resolve integrations issues.
Technological silos occur when different departments use independent systems. Almost every time, these systems are not connected or integrated. That means they fail to communicate effectively. In marketing, this can lead to:
A lot of marketing these days revolves around digital transformation. Technology plays a central role in that transformation. Consider these effects:
To dismantle these tech silos and address integration challenges, CMOs and their teams should adopt a strategic approach. That goes for alignment between marketing and sales (or smarketing), but also for for alignment between other departments in the organization. These are the key steps to consider.
An obvious first step is to make sure that there is a shared vision on the technology your organization should use. It’s also rarely really the case for organizations to have that shared vision. So first of all, you need to make sure that every department understands how collaboration contributes to your overall organizational goals. Open communication and transparency about priorities is key here. Once there is a shared vision, you can take further steps.
A unified way of working and having shared data requires platforms that support this. Use platforms that connect different teams within your company, and that support different functions. Salesforce and Hubspot support this really well and are very powerful platforms, but depending on your needs, other systems may be more relevant to you. Whatever you choose, go with a system that supports open APIs to enable integrations. Without it, you will still end up having different systems and scattered data.
Having your data in one place is key. Consolidate your customer data in your CRM to prevent fragmented data. This will ensure a unified customer view for anybody in your organization, whether they are in marketing, sales or service delivery. It also facilitates data-driven decision making: correct and complete data in one single place that provide you with real insights to base your decisions on.
Everyone in your organization should be working towards the same goals. When breaking down these technological silos, organize workshops and projects that involve several teams within the organization. this promotes understanding between departments and helps you get rid of organizational silos.
Organizations change, as do the world around them and the markets in which they operate. Define clear KPIs and regularly evaluate progress. Dare to ask the critical questions:
The data in your platform should give you this information. By constantly monitoring, you can adjust and continuously optimize your platform, processes and campaigns.
CMOs and marketing teams that want to break down technological silos should invest in both technology and a culture of collaboration. With integrated systems, centralized data, and cross-functional teamwork, organizations can not only improve internal efficiency but also create more impactful marketing campaigns. That is when your marketing team can make a real difference and contribute to the organization’s bottom line. If that is you, then best of luck in this endeavor; and please don’t hesitate to contact us for a free consultation, we are happy to help.
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