Time for IT marketers to be accountable as times get tougher, says AIIA

Peter Dinham
Monday, 23 March 2009 15:40

IT Industry - Deals

If you want to retain your IT marketing budget in the current tough economic climate, as well as enhance your own credibility as a marketer, then you better step up to the plate and ensure your marketing efforts are measurable and contribute to your organisation’s overall financial health.

At least, that’s the gist of advice from the Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) after the association’s inaugural marketing benchmark survey revealed that ICT marketing professionals need to address a variety of concerns in order to make a significant contribution to their organisation’s efforts to overcome current economic conditions.

AIIA CEO, Ian Birks, warns that ICT marketing professionals will be faced with what he calls “thorny market conditions” that some may not have experienced before.

“This challenge is multiplied by the finding that 64% of survey respondents indicated their marketing budget versus revenue goals is inappropriate.”

According to Birks, the survey highlights the fact that now is the time for ICT marketing professionals to use metrics to restructure their budgets and reallocate funding to activities that will help secure marketing’s credibility within the organisation.

Luli Adeyemo of Best Case Scenario, the firm that undertook the survey of more than 70 marketing professionals for the AIIA, agrees with Birks and warns that the marketing function’s failure to generate marketing metrics will do little to raise its profile to the upper echelons of the organisation.
 
According to Adeyemo, marketing metrics and hard facts will earn exposure for marketing professionals to senior executives who control overall budget allocation.
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