While 74% of marketing teams are recognized as strategic partners, more than one in four marketers feel isolated from the rest of their organization.

Meltwater, a global leader of media, social, and consumer intelligence, and The Work Innovation Lab, a think tank by #1 AI work management platform Asana, released the State of Marketing Collaboration, a new report revealing only 39% of marketers are confident their department’s goals are aligned with overall business objectives. Despite 74% of marketing teams being seen as strategic partners, more than a quarter (27%) of marketers feel disconnected from the rest of the organization.

Based on a comprehensive survey of 830 marketing professionals worldwide, along with social listening insights sourced from the Meltwater suite of solutions, the State of Marketing Collaboration dives deep into the evolving dynamics of today’s collaborative landscape. The report uncovers critical gaps in transparency, data literacy, and inter-departmental collaboration, posing significant challenges to achieving marketing success.

Although strategic collaboration and data-driven decision-making are key to success in modern marketing, many don’t know how to harness its power to drive growth. Only 18% of individual contributors understand how their department measures the impact of their marketing efforts, while 23% confess their department hasn’t fully embraced a data-centric approach.

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“Too many marketing teams lack insight into the ROI of their work and the capability to measure and track data. In today’s martech landscape, we know that guesswork doesn’t work. This is why data-driven organizations are empowering their teams with the technology needed to make informed marketing decisions to better align with business objectives and company strategy,” said Alexandra Bjertnæs, Chief Strategy Officer at Meltwater.

Amid this uncertainty, a new player emerges: AI. The marketing world is abuzz with the promise of AI-powered transformation, yet the report uncovers a surprising lag in adoption. Only 46% of marketing professionals use generative AI on a weekly basis—significantly fewer than in other functions—and a scant 15% use it daily. Nevertheless, online conversations about marketing and AI have surged by an astounding 606% year-over-year, as marketers are eager to bring AI into their organization as a teammate and strategic collaborator.

Building on the potential of AI, the report also highlights that marketing success hinges on cross-functional collaboration. By dismantling silos within and between marketing, sales, IT, and R&D, organizations can unlock innovation and growth. However, silos persist due to fragmented goals and technologies. For example, social media and PR teams should be essential collaborators but nearly one-third (29%) of social media marketers dread collaborating with their PR partners. Additionally, 62% of marketers feel disconnected from the IT department, complicating the implementation of new technologies like AI.

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“True collaboration is a highly strategic and intentional activity that, when turbocharged with AI, can drive massive growth and impact, especially for marketers,” said Dr. Rebecca Hinds, Head of the Work Innovation Lab. “To unleash this potential, organizations must adopt the right collaboration platforms that help align goals, support cross-functional collaboration, and transform marketing teams into the strategic collaboration powerhouses they are meant to be.”

Other key findings from the report include:

• Online conversations about marketing and collaboration have skyrocketed by a staggering 41% year-over-year.
• 79% of marketers believe collaborating with other departments improves the quality of their work
• 73% report being strategic partners to other functions within the organization.
• 62% of marketing professionals say that their marketing department is closely connected to the sales department.
• Only 57% of marketing professionals say the marketing and sales departments celebrate successes as one team.