Our body would simply collapse without our spine. It is similar when marketing departments lack their backbone: the Marketing Operations. So in itself, nothing new. And yet we are encountering the term more and more in everyday work as increasingly more competencies are assigned to Marketing Operations companies are finally realising its importance.
Photo: Mike Hofmaier
For Speed Readers:
Definition: What is Marketing Operations?
Marketing operations (MOps) is a broad term that describes the marketing organisation of people, processes and technology that enables teams to do their work consistently and to the best quality.
Marketing operations is the backbone of a marketing team, providing planning, control and support functions so that team members can focus on their core marketing tasks.
The main goal of marketing operations is to enable the company and the marketing department to work more efficiently and to sustainably scale their actions in order to provide a good customer experience (CX).
Why MOps Is That Important
Every product, no matter how great, must also be successfully marketed to be successful. Therefore, it is of great importance that the marketing department has clear processes to drive the success of the product step by step.
In the age of digitalisation and automation, marketing operations have become particularly rich, wide-ranging and important in the last 10 years.
The marketing tool landscape has literally exploded recently. This means that marketers have to make a considerable effort to use the increasingly complex tools if there are no marketing operations specialists to support them.
In addition, marketers are expected to manage the entire funnel from start to finish, bringing new leads, deals and more money into the company. Tracking the movements in the funnel and formulating forecasts is extremely complicated and requires appropriate marketing operation skills.
These are just a few examples that show the importance of MOps. Because it is clear: with good marketing operations, your company can gain an edge over the competition, in which the basic processes, technologies can be executed and operated more easily and purposefully by all teams.
The 5 Main Tasks of Marketing Operations
Whereas a few years ago the main function of MOps was to manage the MarTech stack and untangle the data mess, the areas of responsibility now include significantly more competences.
The focus today is on end-to-end marketing optimisation. The following tasks are of central importance to ensure that customers have the best possible experience with the brand:
1. Strategy
derivation of goals from business objectives, definition of KPIs
2. Analysis
analysis of key figures, business processes, identification of best practices and worst practices
3. Planning & Budgeting
of resources and projects
4. Operations
provision of technology and data in good quality and process definition for the execution of the planned activities and measures
5. Reporting
reporting, target achievement, alignment
This shows that MOps is not just about providing infrastructure or marketing IT support, but that Marketing Operations is also involved in many strategic decisions such as allocating and managing marketing resources to achieve marketing and business objectives and minimise risks.
How to Get Your MOps Running
Every organisation is unique and the best plan for your marketing operations machinery may differ slightly. However, the following 5-step approach is always recommended.
1. Strategic Planning & Goal Setting
Find out where your company's strategic focus is at the moment and communicate closely with the management to ensure alignment between the different departments from the beginning. Based on this, set goals to support the company e.g. in the acquisition of new customers, the next product launch or brand strengthening.
2. Implementation & Ongoing Communication
Focus and prioritisation are the keys to success. Ask yourself which project will have the biggest or fastest impact with the least amount of effort. Then invest the majority of your time in completing that project and don't forget to communicate your progress (or problems) along the way. Involve all teams, even from different departments. You are the person in your organisation who has the power to break silos and strengthen alignment.
3. Analytics & Reporting
One task that you should never neglect in addition to your current projects is the continuous analysis and reporting. In this way, you ensure that you recognise pressure points in the various processes at an early stage and can plan appropriate measures for future projects. And remember: Even if the constant optimisation of the status quo is in your head - share successes with your team and don't just point out what needs to be improved.
4. Optimise & Automate
The optimisation of workflows and processes is deeply rooted in the remit of MOps. That's why you should always reserve some time to streamline, scale, make more accurate or automate processes. But always ask yourself whether automation really makes sense for the specific process, or whether it might lead to less value for the customer or poorer quality.
Conclusion: Focus on Your Marketing Operations Now
Digitalisation cannot be stopped. In addition, customers increasingly expect an outstanding customer experience. These two developments alone show that the work of marketing professionals will not become easier or slower in the future, but even more complex and diverse.
That's why your company should start building a strong marketing operations centre now, at the latest, to be prepared for the future. Only with clear processes, good alignment and a well-oiled tech stack will there be enough time left for your marketing team to do excellent work.
This article first appeared on 29.03.2022 as a guest article on marketing.ch.
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