We’ve written plenty about the pressing need to align marketing and sales, but what about the other departments in your company? After all, branding begins internally. Pledge to improve communications between marketing and these three departments in the rest of 2015 and as you prepare for 2016:
IT and marketing may not be the first departments most people associate with each other, but that doesn’t mean they can’t work together for the good of the organization. Given the number of digital tools marketing uses every day, from internal ones like CRM systems to external ones like mobile apps for current and potential customers, a strong partnership with IT is critical.
There are a number of areas in which strong marketing-IT alignment is critical, including:
Make it a priority to discuss these areas with the IT department as you wrap up 2015 and move beyond it.
The customer service team has great insights into what your current customers want and need — and that’s a perfect source of guidance for the marketing team’s strategy. Connect with the customer service team to gather this valuable information and use it as you craft a content marketing strategy that keeps current customers engaged and provides appealing outreach to prospects.
In addition, great customer service is your best source of brand advocates, who can be your biggest asset when it comes to spreading the word about your organization. To foster customer loyalty, work with the customer service team to discuss best practices for interfacing with prospects and current customers, encouraging feedback and more.
In the marketing department, you have great insights into what prospects are searching for — the exact insights that the product development team needs. Your team also has insight into objections that potential customers sometimes offer, which the product team can use to inspire new developments that will eventually allow your products to serve the needs of a new set of customers.
In return, the product development team can give marketing behind-the-scenes details on the new offerings that are coming soon, providing your department a head start on planning for effective launches.
Marketing-product development alignment is also critical in crafting a continuous experience for your audience. Discuss your brand voice and brand style so that usability and visual style can be coordinated from product to messaging, giving your audience a clear taste of what their experience as a customer will be like.
As with marketing-sales alignment, alignment between marketing and these three departments demands communication and cooperation. Schedule regular times to discuss needs and strategy with the heads of each department to facilitate better communication with each team.
Better internal alignment can drive increased customer loyalty. For more guidance on customer loyalty, download our white paper: The million dollar question: how loyal are your customers?
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