I recently read an annual report from the IT department of a major semiconductor manufacturer. At 30 pages long with a lot of nine-point font, it's an impressive document—full of information about missions, values, strategies, objectives, organizations, projects, service levels, costs and impact. But what is the value of this tome in a world where the success of communication often hangs on the phrasing of an e-mail subject line?

CIOs have entered the marketing game today, with the ultimate goal of increasing customer loyalty and securing funding. In addition to annual reports, brochures and newsletters, IT marketing approaches that CIOs have used include showcasing IT awards, publicizing service level metrics, branding projects, conducting town hall user meetings, publishing a catalog of services and reviewing business unit performance (according to a May 2004 survey by CIO magazine).

Yet marketing veterans caution that these approaches can backfire—particularly in organizations where IT's credibility is already low and these programs are regarded as another example that CIOs are out of touch and out of step. Mass marketing approaches tend to fall flat if people's personal experience counters what is being communicated. External IT awards and service level metrics can reinforce a positive impression but not sway those who are negatively disposed toward IT. Branding projects and town hall meetings are helpful in communicating change but have little impact on the approval process or the overall perception of success. Service and product catalogs can make it easier to do business with IT, but they typically are not utilized much by decision makers in the business.

But if mass marketing methods can't help the average CIO, then what's the alternative? To evaluate what works and doesn't work when it comes to marketing IT, identify your primary targets for persuasion—namely, the people who make decisions about IT and those who influence them. CEOs and their direct reports should not be the primary targets of IT marketing efforts. Successful CIOs market one or two levels farther down because they understand that senior executives are heavily influenced by key members of their own organizations. These managers have formed their own perceptions of IT, based on their own personal experiences and the urban legends recounted in the hallways.

IT marketers should learn from the lessons of business-to-business marketing. Harvard Business School professor Das Narayandas, in a Harvard Business Review article titled "Building Loyalty in Business Markets," contrasts B2B efforts with mass marketing. Business markets consist of a relatively small number of customers—"segments of one," Narayandas calls them—that define value in different ways and desire customized products, quality or price. The sales process is typically lengthy due to the complexity of transactions and the large number of decision makers and staff types involved.