New Forrester research shows brands benefit from directly managing marketing technology

A new commissioned study by Forrester Consulting on behalf of AudienceScience finds that brands benefit from managing marketing technology directly rather than through media budgets and agency fees. The research reveals that marketers benefit significantly from adopting enterprise-grade vendor selection and management methods that their IT organizations already have in place.

The study found that a cross-department, internally driven vendor selection process creates better alignment between vendor capabilities and technology requirements. This results in less risk, fewer technology integration issues and significantly lower technology costs. In addition, the study reveals that 54% of marketing and IT leaders prefer direct license-fee vendor relationships while none favor burying technology costs in media fees.

To download the full study, please visit http://www.audiencescience.com/enterprise-purchasing-whitepaper/

Many marketers traditionally have outsourced technology decision-making and management to agencies, bypassing key internal stakeholders in IT, procurement, finance and legal. However, the study found that leading marketing executives are increasingly taking back control of technology decision-making, with a majority of senior marketing executives interviewed preferring direct licensed software relationships with marketing technology vendors.

Likewise, the study found that, when making technology decisions, marketers place higher levels of trust in internal enterprise stakeholders like IT (50%) and procurement than in agencies. As noted by one marketing executive interviewed for the study, “More parts of the organization have to be involved in more complex purchases. Lining up the internal organizations…and getting over the politics…are the hard parts.”

To download the full study, please visit http://www.audiencescience.com/enterprise-purchasing-whitepaper/

In order to reveal the results of this study, AudienceScience is hosting a webinar on Tuesday, October 15 at 1:00 PM ET. In this webinar, Bert DuMars, VP & Principal Analyst at Forrester Research, and former Forrester analyst Michael Greene, Director of Research at AudienceScience, will discuss how marketers can adopt a better technology buying process. Key points will include:

• Why marketers should take control over marketing technology decisions
• Why marketers need to engage IT early in the technology buying process and what risks come from delaying IT involvement
• What role finance, procurement and other enterprise stakeholders can best play in the buying process and how marketers can make the most of their expertise
• How to best gather and assess business and technology requirements and how to craft an effective RFP template

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