More companies are adding Marketing Ops capabilities to the Marketing function to help ensure that systems, processes, and tools were in place to support Marketing performance measurement and management. The spectrum for this role ranges from being focused on campaign implementation on one end to a role that serves as the right hand of the CMO.

In the early days of Marketing Ops, it fashioned itself after operations such as manufacturing, where the scope of the function focused primarily on project management, processes, and workflow. As demand generation (demand with a small d) took precedence and automation tools emerged, Marketing Ops added these to its scope.

Today, the Marketing Ops in organizations range across the entire spectrum.  In some organization the role is narrow in scope, in others very broad, with Marketing Ops serving in a Chief of Staff role for the CMO.  The scope of Marketing Ops among Best-in-class Marketing organizations (those that earn top marks from the C-Suite for the ability to measure Marketing value, impact, and contribution) tends to be very far to the right on the spectrum, encompassing every before to Marketing Performance Management and Governance.

As far back s 2014, our MPM benchmark study began to reveal this expanding role and scope of Marketing Ops, with BIC Marketing Ops addressing these responsibilities (not in any particular order):

• Performance measurement and reporting
• Campaign analysis and reporting
• Technology, automation, and pipeline management
• Budgeting and planning; financial governance and reporting
• Data management
• Workflow process development and documentation
• Project management
• Strategic planning
• Organization benchmarking and assessments
• Customer, market, competitive intelligence, research, and insights
• Analytics and predictive modeling
• Talent and skills development

Best-in-class (BIC) Marketing organizations, that is those marketers who serve as value creators to the organization are passionate about using data to make market, customer, and product/service decisions that create value for customers and shareholders. Accordingly, the following are top roles for Marketing Ops function among the value creators, in priority order:

• Customer, market, competitive intelligence, research, and insights
• Analytics and predictive modeling
• Data management
• Campaign analysis and reporting
• Budgeting and planning; financial governance and reporting
• Organization benchmarking and assessments

Source: VisionEdge Marketing/ITSMA MPM Study

The emphasis on intelligence, insights, analytics, modeling, and data management makes sense, considering the focus on value creation.  We anticipate the role Marketing Ops to continue to expand, especially within Marketing organizations serving as value creators. Within these organizations, the Marketing Ops function will include and move beyond campaign automation and financial governance to facilitate alignment, accountability, and agility. The Marketing Ops in these organizations champion and orchestrate six A’s of marketing performance management: alignment, accountability, analytics, automation, alliances, and assessment to transform Marketing into a Center of Excellence.

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Marketing Ops, among the BIC, focuses on six key areas:

Six areas are vital to develop a Marketing Ops team capable of transforming Marketing into a Center of Excellence.

1. Alignment: We know with statistical significance that BIC marketers take a different approach to aligning Marketing with the business. They connect marketing activities and investments to business results, and take their alignment efforts beyond the Sales function. Marketing Oops in these organizations facilitates the alignment process and oversees the development of a customer-centric Marketing plan that ensures that the Marketing investment portfolio supports measurable marketing objectives that will have a direct impact on the business.

2. Accountability: BIC marketers have a framework for establishing the metrics to measure and report on Marketing’s value, impact, and contribution. They know which outcomes and metrics matter to the leadership team. Marketing Ops drives the development of the framework and key performance indicators (KPIs). They manage the mechanics of measurement, perform the analysis, and publish the performance results. Marketing Ops translates marketing metrics into an actionable marketing dashboard that the leadership team and the marketing team can use to make strategic, tactical, and investment decisions.

3. Analytics: In today’s fact-based environment, data and analytics are table stakes. Marketing organizations need to be able to quickly synthesize data and gain actionable insights. Marketers need the analytical muscle to build and use models to make smart investments and strategic decisions. Marketing Ops constructs and maintains an environment that enables Marketing to better use data and analytics.

4. Automation: The technology available to help Marketing measure and report on performance is extensive and growing. From marketing resource management to business intelligence to data management systems to reporting platforms to scenario analysis tools, Marketing Ops selects, deploys, and manages the automation and technology infrastructure to support the department. The deployment of a technology infrastructure, training, and change management falls under the auspices of Marketing Ops and serves as the big “I”—the infrastructure that Marketing needs to guide decisions, improve its capabilities, and prove its value.

5. Alliances: Much has been written about the need for Marketing to form strong, more explicit alliances with Sales, IT, and Finance, as well as with the service and product functions. Marketing Ops is the conduit between Marketing, Sales, Finance, and the executive team. It forms and manages these alliances so everyone on the team is “rowing in the same direction.” As part of its work, Marketing Ops should craft the operating level agreement that serves as the “rules and roles of engagement” for each of these partnerships and ensures that the liaisons from each group are included in appropriate meetings and decisions.

6. Assessment: Continuous improvement is at the heart of assessment and benchmarking. It can only be achieved within a culture where there is genuine concern, dedication, and a willingness among management and employees to improve. While the marketing executive sets the direction and vision for the team, Marketing Ops conducts the benchmarking and assessments to determine what standards,

Marketing Ops has the opportunity to enable Marketing to become more effective by developing and managing the processes for setting performance expectations, monitoring progress, and measuring results. By creating or expanding the marketing ops role and skill set to include performance targeting skills and process and technology optimization, as well as strategic capabilities to drive change, Marketing can reach the next step on its performance management journey and become a center of excellence.

Learn more about Marketing Operations Enables Marketing Centers Of Excellence.

FAQ:

• Alignment: Link investments to business results; oversee a customer-centric, outcome-based marketing plan.
• Accountability: Define KPIs, manage measurement mechanics, analyze results, and publish dashboards for decision-making.
• Analytics: Build the analytical environment and modeling capability to guide smarter investments and strategy.
• Automation: Select, deploy, manage martech/BI/data/reporting infrastructure plus training and change management.
• Alliances: Serve as the conduit across Marketing, Sales, IT, Finance, Service, Product; establish operating-level agreements and shared “rules of engagement.”
• Assessment: Benchmark, evaluate performance, and drive continuous improvement through standards and disciplined review.

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