The complete guide to marketing operations management
Catherine McNally
GatherContent Contributor, Writer
You need a well-oiled marketing operations machine to have a successful marketing campaign. But many businesses don't put enough emphasis on marketing operations (MOPs), which can lead to disaster.
It is clear that marketing operations are a vital factor in all campaigns, and 93% of B2B marketers believe it is an important or crucial part. Without MOPs, executing the essential activities and campaigns that marketers need would be almost impossible as they bring structure and order to the whole process.
In this guide, we'll cover:
What marketing operations management is, and why it's so important
Tips to optimize your marketing operations
How to create a strategy for marketing operations
A toolset to ensure success
Let's start with a proper definition of what marketing operations management is.
What is marketing operations management?
Marketing operations management is a process that includes the planning, organizing and overseeing of all marketing activities. The MOPs team is a central part of a marketing department in any-sized company. It involves creating strategies for reaching goals, allocating resources, tracking progress, and ensuring compliance with standards. The goal is to optimize the efficiency and effectiveness of marketing initiatives so that better results can be achieved in a shorter amount of time.
"Marketing operations management is a process that includes the planning, organizing and overseeing of all marketing activities. The MOPs team is a central part of a marketing department in any-sized company.”
For example, suppose you're running an email marketing campaign. In that case, your marketing operations team is responsible for creating and maintaining the campaigns, analyzing data from previous campaigns, monitoring analytics to measure success, and making necessary changes.
Why is marketing operations so important?
Optimizing your MOPs can help you improve customer service, increase sales and revenue, reduce costs, and better understand your target audience. It can also help you become more agile and responsive to changes in customer buying behavior—ultimately creating a better customer experience.
By taking a strategic approach to managing your MOPs, you create an efficient system for your marketing strategy that will drive results for your brand. With the right tools in place, you'll be able to track progress and adjust your campaigns as needed.
What systems do marketing operations encompass?
Marketing operations management covers a wide range of systems, including:
CRM (customer relationship management) software
Analytics and reporting tools
Social media management platforms
Content management systems (CMS)
Email marketing platforms
Lead generation tools
As businesses continue to expand, the need for efficient marketing operations management is ever-increasing. Without it, enterprises could quickly become chaotic and disorganized. Marketing operations management helps streamline marketing workflows by unifying team members, departments, deadlines, and goals—all in one place.
Just like in the GatherContent workspace, marketing operations management streamlines workflows.
Here are a few ways to leverage this powerful tool to maximize success in your marketing processes.
Skillsets to optimize your marketing operations
To get the most out of your marketing operations management, here are some skills your team members should possess:
1. Technical skills
Your marketing ops team must be tech-savvy. From SEO to spreadsheet optimization and website analysis, they should have a broad range of technical skills depending on the role. Additionally, they must be well-versed in any software programs used for marketing purposes—comprehension at both fundamental and advanced levels is vital for success.
2. Strategy skills
When crafting the necessary infrastructure for their marketing team, MOPs teams must take a strategic approach. It's essential to consider all the other departments they support and how to construct an effective framework that assists these teams in achieving their objectives.
3. Data management
Data management is an essential skill for any marketing team, requiring the collection and organization of data in a dashboard or tool to be shared with everyone at your company. A skilled MOPs team will help you set up connections between various data sources that can then be used to analyze the performance of campaigns.
4. Marketing automation
Bigger teams often depend on marketing automation software to facilitate their marketing efforts. A successful marketing operations professional must understand how to utilize the technology and guide data in the right direction for maximum efficiency.
5. Customer relationship management
Connecting with customers is a critical responsibility for all marketing and sales teams. By forming an alliance between the two teams, both will benefit from having access to information about prospects in order to create effective strategies that convert leads into paying customers.
How to create a strategy for marketing operations
Creating an effective marketing operations strategy will help ensure success. Here are some steps you can take to create an effective strategy:
1. Define the needs and goals of your business
When forming a plan for your MOPs team, it’s crucial to be aware of the expectations and aspirations set by key stakeholders and to get their buy-in. The MOPs department plays an invaluable part in backing up the overall performance of the marketing sector.
For example, let's say that you work in an ecommerce business. The growth marketing team wants to attribute some of their sales to social media ads, so they meet with your MOPs team to discuss how this can be achieved using the existing marketing tools. With everyone on board, it is now possible for them to track and quantify the success of these campaigns accurately and efficiently.
2. Create an action plan
The marketing operations department will then collaborate with stakeholders to design a plan of action. Though commonly, a stakeholder might expect something your current marketing infrastructure cannot deliver, it's up to the MOPs team to know both the capabilities and restrictions of your current technology, so you can collaborate for an ideal course forward.
This plan should include how to measure and monitor progress, a timeline for completion, and specific roles and responsibilities for each marketing function.
Once you have an action plan, it's time to implement your strategy. This can involve developing new teams or systems, such as social media content calendars and reporting systems. Additionally, the MOPs team can help identify areas where improvement is necessary and put solutions that will improve performance into play. The ultimate role of marketing operations is to ensure a streamlined effort across all teams to ensure the best customer journey possible.
When implementing, it's important to be transparent with stakeholders and ensure everyone is aware of the progress. You should create a communication plan to ensure that all stakeholders are informed and up to date. A project management tool can keep track of progress and measure results.
Good to know: Part of creating an effective system is building a scalable and repeatable process. To learn how to do this for content operations, check out our guide.
A scalable and repeatable process is a crucial component of marketing operations.
4. Track progress, measure results, and adjust strategies
Finally, you should constantly monitor and track your progress and metrics, making any necessary adjustments along the way. Keep track of KPIs, compare them to benchmarks, and identify areas for improvement.
Additionally, look at successes and failures to learn what works and what doesn’t. Make sure to communicate any successes with stakeholders so they can see the value and impact of your efforts. As the business evolves, so should its strategies and tactics. Ensuring that processes are up to date is essential.
By creating an effective strategy and following these steps, you will be able to optimize the performance of your marketing operations team, resultingin increased sales, better ROI, and stronger customer relationships.
CRM systems store customer data and provide insights into customer behavior
By leveraging these tools, MOPs teams manage marketing operations efficiently and effectively. With the right strategies in place and the right marketing technology, your team can optimize performance across all aspects of marketing.
At its core, marketing operations is all about bridging the gap between strategy and execution. It ensures that teams are aligned and processes are efficient. By combining the right people, processes, and technology, MOPs teams can help to drive meaningful results for any business.
For companies that want to remain competitive in today’s digital landscape, having a well-oiled MOPs team is essential. With the right strategies in place and the right technology, your team can optimize performance across all aspects of marketing. By streamlining your workflow, you can create clarity and transparency throughout the organization, resulting in increased efficiency and improved results.
When you're ready to implement a content operations management system that can streamline and manage your MOPs, we recommend GatherContent—and not just because it's ours. GatherContent is perfect for organizations that need to centralize editorial and marketing efforts, collaborate across teams and create content efficiently.
It is clear that marketing operations are a vital factor in all campaigns, and 93% of B2B marketers believe it is an important or crucial part. Without MOPs, executing the essential activities and campaigns that marketers need would be almost impossible as they bring structure and order to the whole process.
In this guide, we'll cover:
What marketing operations management is, and why it's so important
Tips to optimize your marketing operations
How to create a strategy for marketing operations
A toolset to ensure success
Let's start with a proper definition of what marketing operations management is.
What is marketing operations management?
Marketing operations management is a process that includes the planning, organizing and overseeing of all marketing activities. The MOPs team is a central part of a marketing department in any-sized company. It involves creating strategies for reaching goals, allocating resources, tracking progress, and ensuring compliance with standards. The goal is to optimize the efficiency and effectiveness of marketing initiatives so that better results can be achieved in a shorter amount of time.
"Marketing operations management is a process that includes the planning, organizing and overseeing of all marketing activities. The MOPs team is a central part of a marketing department in any-sized company.”
For example, suppose you're running an email marketing campaign. In that case, your marketing operations team is responsible for creating and maintaining the campaigns, analyzing data from previous campaigns, monitoring analytics to measure success, and making necessary changes.
Why is marketing operations so important?
Optimizing your MOPs can help you improve customer service, increase sales and revenue, reduce costs, and better understand your target audience. It can also help you become more agile and responsive to changes in customer buying behavior—ultimately creating a better customer experience.
By taking a strategic approach to managing your MOPs, you create an efficient system for your marketing strategy that will drive results for your brand. With the right tools in place, you'll be able to track progress and adjust your campaigns as needed.
What systems do marketing operations encompass?
Marketing operations management covers a wide range of systems, including:
CRM (customer relationship management) software
Analytics and reporting tools
Social media management platforms
Content management systems (CMS)
Email marketing platforms
Lead generation tools
As businesses continue to expand, the need for efficient marketing operations management is ever-increasing. Without it, enterprises could quickly become chaotic and disorganized. Marketing operations management helps streamline marketing workflows by unifying team members, departments, deadlines, and goals—all in one place.
Just like in the GatherContent workspace, marketing operations management streamlines workflows.
Here are a few ways to leverage this powerful tool to maximize success in your marketing processes.
Skillsets to optimize your marketing operations
To get the most out of your marketing operations management, here are some skills your team members should possess:
1. Technical skills
Your marketing ops team must be tech-savvy. From SEO to spreadsheet optimization and website analysis, they should have a broad range of technical skills depending on the role. Additionally, they must be well-versed in any software programs used for marketing purposes—comprehension at both fundamental and advanced levels is vital for success.
2. Strategy skills
When crafting the necessary infrastructure for their marketing team, MOPs teams must take a strategic approach. It's essential to consider all the other departments they support and how to construct an effective framework that assists these teams in achieving their objectives.
3. Data management
Data management is an essential skill for any marketing team, requiring the collection and organization of data in a dashboard or tool to be shared with everyone at your company. A skilled MOPs team will help you set up connections between various data sources that can then be used to analyze the performance of campaigns.
4. Marketing automation
Bigger teams often depend on marketing automation software to facilitate their marketing efforts. A successful marketing operations professional must understand how to utilize the technology and guide data in the right direction for maximum efficiency.
5. Customer relationship management
Connecting with customers is a critical responsibility for all marketing and sales teams. By forming an alliance between the two teams, both will benefit from having access to information about prospects in order to create effective strategies that convert leads into paying customers.
How to create a strategy for marketing operations
Creating an effective marketing operations strategy will help ensure success. Here are some steps you can take to create an effective strategy:
1. Define the needs and goals of your business
When forming a plan for your MOPs team, it’s crucial to be aware of the expectations and aspirations set by key stakeholders and to get their buy-in. The MOPs department plays an invaluable part in backing up the overall performance of the marketing sector.
For example, let's say that you work in an ecommerce business. The growth marketing team wants to attribute some of their sales to social media ads, so they meet with your MOPs team to discuss how this can be achieved using the existing marketing tools. With everyone on board, it is now possible for them to track and quantify the success of these campaigns accurately and efficiently.
2. Create an action plan
The marketing operations department will then collaborate with stakeholders to design a plan of action. Though commonly, a stakeholder might expect something your current marketing infrastructure cannot deliver, it's up to the MOPs team to know both the capabilities and restrictions of your current technology, so you can collaborate for an ideal course forward.
This plan should include how to measure and monitor progress, a timeline for completion, and specific roles and responsibilities for each marketing function.
Once you have an action plan, it's time to implement your strategy. This can involve developing new teams or systems, such as social media content calendars and reporting systems. Additionally, the MOPs team can help identify areas where improvement is necessary and put solutions that will improve performance into play. The ultimate role of marketing operations is to ensure a streamlined effort across all teams to ensure the best customer journey possible.
When implementing, it's important to be transparent with stakeholders and ensure everyone is aware of the progress. You should create a communication plan to ensure that all stakeholders are informed and up to date. A project management tool can keep track of progress and measure results.
Good to know: Part of creating an effective system is building a scalable and repeatable process. To learn how to do this for content operations, check out our guide.
A scalable and repeatable process is a crucial component of marketing operations.
4. Track progress, measure results, and adjust strategies
Finally, you should constantly monitor and track your progress and metrics, making any necessary adjustments along the way. Keep track of KPIs, compare them to benchmarks, and identify areas for improvement.
Additionally, look at successes and failures to learn what works and what doesn’t. Make sure to communicate any successes with stakeholders so they can see the value and impact of your efforts. As the business evolves, so should its strategies and tactics. Ensuring that processes are up to date is essential.
By creating an effective strategy and following these steps, you will be able to optimize the performance of your marketing operations team, resultingin increased sales, better ROI, and stronger customer relationships.
CRM systems store customer data and provide insights into customer behavior
By leveraging these tools, MOPs teams manage marketing operations efficiently and effectively. With the right strategies in place and the right marketing technology, your team can optimize performance across all aspects of marketing.
At its core, marketing operations is all about bridging the gap between strategy and execution. It ensures that teams are aligned and processes are efficient. By combining the right people, processes, and technology, MOPs teams can help to drive meaningful results for any business.
For companies that want to remain competitive in today’s digital landscape, having a well-oiled MOPs team is essential. With the right strategies in place and the right technology, your team can optimize performance across all aspects of marketing. By streamlining your workflow, you can create clarity and transparency throughout the organization, resulting in increased efficiency and improved results.
When you're ready to implement a content operations management system that can streamline and manage your MOPs, we recommend GatherContent—and not just because it's ours. GatherContent is perfect for organizations that need to centralize editorial and marketing efforts, collaborate across teams and create content efficiently.
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