What is Marketing Operations? An Introductory Guide.

Marketing operations indicate a vast and complex system that directs marketing activities and evaluates an organization’s overall marketing performance. Today, marketing is constantly changing rapidly, and, therefore, marketing operations have become a crucial part of any business.

This post will learn a lot about marketing operations, including its definition, major parts, and more.

What is Marketing Operations?

Marketing operations is an extensive term that includes all elements that serve together to ensure efficient, performant, and consistent marketing results. Marketing operations comprise analytics and reporting, technology,  automation, compliance, marketing professionals, and many more.

Those factors act as the backbone for marketing. They work together, in accord, to deliver end-to-end marketing optimization that enhances efficiency and, eventually, realizes the desired 

marketing results.

We will be looking at significant parts of marketing operations to understand it properly.

Major Parts of Marketing Operations

1. Marketing Analytics and Reporting

It should include sophisticated analytics and reporting to conduct a wide range of marketing activities effectively. Once these activities have been accurately managed, marketing operations professionals can sort via the resulting data, such as data generated from a CRM data migration, evaluate performance, predict results, and make critical decisions for the marketing team

Typical Marketing Analytics and Reporting Tasks

Some of the marketing analytics and reporting tasks that you’ll require to complete regularly are:

• Drafting a range of reports to measure performance
• Building dynamic dashboards to deliver information in new ways
• Showing key findings to stakeholders
• Utilizing analytics to predict future performance
• Analyzing changes in performance
• Utilizing analytics to shape future actions

Best Practices you need to follow.

a) Monitor the right metrics

Depending on your campaign, you’ll be required to monitor metrics, and they will range from one campaign to the next. Make sure you identify the right metrics for each campaign and track them diligently over time. Some instances of various campaigns could include:

• Email marketing
• Social media
• PPC
• SEO
• Content marketing
• Offline marketing

b) Use custom dashboards

There is so much data and many KPIs to track; it’s easy to get distracted and become cluttered. However, marketing operations professionals can develop custom dashboards that employ sophisticated reporting tools. These dashboards allow them to work as efficiently and effectively as possible.

c) Master data visualization

Understanding data and then sharing it with your findings with many other people within your business means that you’ll have to become a master of data visualization if you want to bypass confusion and miscommunication. Data visualization indicates that data is illustrated graphically in images. Therefore, it can help you share your complex data in the most transparent way possible.

Resources that will help you

Like other tasks in marketing operations, you’ll have to identify and utilize a suite of critical resources if you get success in this area. Here is a list of the main resources you’ll require to manage analytics and reporting effectively. You’ll require::

• Sophisticated analytics tools
• Software, to make and edit reports
• Communication tools to distribute findings

 

2. Marketing Tech Stack Management

Sourcing, managing, and maintaining the right tools is a vital part of marketing operations’ success. It’s no easy task, though, given that new tools occur regularly and minor updates can affect the harmony of your tech stack.

Typical Marketing Tech Stack Management Tasks

The most common tasks in tech stack management:

• Evaluating the suitability of new tools
• Updating and maintaining existing tools
• Handling accounts/permissions
• Troubleshooting and contact support

Best Practice you need to follow.

a) Avoid overlapping

Marketers employ a number of tools to manage. That indicates the possibility for overlapping functionality is high, which can impact your projects’ profitability.

Make sure you use different tools and avoid spending twice for the same functionality. 

b) Plan for long-term stability

The trick to tech stack management is predicting the future and planning for upcoming needs. Try to create a roadmap that will help you integrate new tools and features seamlessly as they arrive. Without this planning, you might see that your tools don’t play nicely together, leading to much chaos.

c) Manage your costs 

With so many tools available, you must evaluate each of them in terms of the ROI they deliver. Unfortunately, it’s far too effortless to allow the costs of your marketing tech stack to mount up and to consume a significant percentage of your marketing budget.

Resources you need

• A tech roadmap
• Precise knowledge of available tools out there
• Quality tools in each category

3. Marketing Compliance

Today, marketing departments keep a higher output than at any other point in history, but they’ve still got to be very cautious when it comes to compliance. Marketing operations specialists are liable for marketing collateral that is compliant with internal and external guidelines.

Typical Marketing Compliance Tasks

The essential tasks that make up this area of marketing operations are:

• Examining and approving creative content
• Securing approval from key decision-makers
• Sourcing several review and approval tools

Best Practices you need to follow.

a) Develop a review and approval workflow

First things first, you’d like to create a smooth review and approval workflow and integrate it into your projects. This workflow can assist you in working systematically and never skipping the compliance stage. 

b) Keep on top of internal and external rules.

As marketing operations professional, you must maintain the latest internal and external rules to stay compliant. Keep a register of those regulations in a centralized location and share them regularly with the rest of the team.

c) Use stakeholder management to keep everyone in the loop

Stakeholder management software makes sure that you never leave compliance to chance. When you involve the right people in your projects, you cover all your bases.

Resources you need

• A robust review and approval platform
• Prevalent project management tools
• A shared document that summarises the applicable rules and regulations

4. Marketing Project and Process Management

Marketing projects usually involve several stakeholders, and they can be extremely complex. So if you’re going to get the most satisfactory results from your marketing endeavors while keeping your team happy and productive, you’ll require to engage in marketing project and process management.

Typical Marketing Project and Process Management Tasks Involve

• Stakeholder management
• Invention and implementation of workflows
• Gathering and processing feedback
• Onboarding new clients
• Spinning up new projects

Best Practices you need to follow.

a) Use the right software.

Management projects and processes can become very complex, particularly when there are several team members involved. However, a robust stack of project management tools can transform your projects for the better.

b) Use the right methodology.

Many marketing project management methodologies have emerged over the years, and you must learn which one(s) to apply to your projects. Agile methodologies have become very popular in recent years therefore it is important to understand them precisely.

c) Try to be continually learning. 

Marketing project and process management practices are constantly evolving. Marketers regularly share their tips and insights worldwide, and you should aim to learn from them. Try to put together a list of trusted sources and keep on top of those, to “polish up” your knowledge regularly.

Resources to excel in this area

Many resources are available to improve your marketing project and process management results. You’ll need to the following critical resources regularly:

• Project and process management tools
• Templates and outlines
• Communication tools
• Reporting templates and tools

Key Qualifications A Marketing Operations Manager Should Have

1. Personal Skills

The marketing operations manager role is a technical and analytical position, not a creative one. Therefore look for somebody with an analytics/systems background rather than conventional marketing skills.

You want someone who is:

• Accurate, systematic, and organized.
• Able to organize and prioritize tasks and projects.
• Makes an amazing team player and has strong interpersonal skills.

2. Technology Expertise

Managing the technology stack is probably the most crucial function of marketing operations. managers ought to:

• Experimenting, implementing, and managing the different marketing technology systems and integrations with related technologies that are required to launch and run campaigns.
• Optimize and audit existing systems.
• Create the roadmap and strategy for new products and solutions.
• Manage technology vendors.

3. Data Optimization and Governance Knowledge

A marketing operations manager ought to examine the data, make recommendations, and drive actions:

• Ensure marketing data is correctly collected and connected with other systems such as a CRM.
• Manage data to cleanse and research new methods to enrich the data.
• Ensure the business satisfies best practices for marketing and data privacy while maintaining data clarity through a semantic layer.

4. Analytics and Reporting Experience

The marketing operations manager should be numerate to create reports and derive valuable insights and analysis for the business.

Look at analytics, reporting, and team dashboards to gauge the effectiveness of the marketing channels.

• Measure team-wide efficiency by role, step, or project.
• Provide insights to stakeholders in the business.

5. Process Optimization

Optimizing marketing processes is a crucial skill to enable the business to grow and scale:

• Review and update existing processes.
• Design and create new operating procedures.
• Define the marketing objectives for each campaign.
• Advise campaign managers on builds, segmentation, and personas.
• Ensure campaigns meet standard processes and quality standards.

6. Project Management Skills

It involves

• Managing complex digital projects.
• Managing change programs with key stakeholders.
• Managing spending and budget planning and reporting for projects, including ROI reporting on activities.
• Managing risks and compliance.

7. Teaching and Supporting Skills Development

The marketing department must grow, so your marketing operations manager needs to:

• Let the organization evolve its marketing practices and embrace new solutions.
• Guide the marketing team about technical processes and best practices.
• Mentor individuals from the marketing teams.

Conclusion

After reading this guide, you may better understand marketing operations and how it helps you improve their department’s processes and systems and provides all-around visibility to other parts of the business.