Marketing Operations Fundamentals

Do you know what the real gap in Marketing Ops is right now? It’s not automation skills. Ops pros are some of the most resourceful builders I’ve ever met. The gap is in how we expand beyond tools. Here’s what I mean: Based on research, 54% of companies say they’re not using their automation platforms to their full potential. Now this is happening not because people “don’t have automation skills.” But because they don’t fully understand the capabilities of the tools they already have, or they don’t have the resources to implement them strategically. That’s not a “skills” problem. That’s a product thinking problem. Most ops careers start by mastering one tool deeply, Marketo, Salesforce, HubSpot, etc. That’s table stakes. But the next level is stitching those tools together as part of a GTM product architecture, something that reflects the unique strategy, team, and budget of your business. That’s why I think the future of Marketing Ops isn’t about being an “automation expert.” It’s about being a GTM product manager. 1️⃣ Structured Thinking Yes, this is already a core ops skill. Naming conventions, UTMs, intake forms... structure is what lets ops scale. But the next level is translating leadership’s business goals into a structured GTM system design and then communicating the solution back in a way that builds trust. 2️⃣ Systems Literacy Not “can you push a lead to Salesforce?” But do you understand object relationships, data models, and the flow of information across the entire stack? Tool expertise is step one. Systems architecture is step two. 3️⃣ Revenue Intelligence Ops isn’t just about campaigns and leads. It’s about understanding how your GTM motion impacts revenue recognition, finance models, and board-level metrics. If you can’t connect ops work to financial logic, you’ll stay labeled as tactical. 4️⃣ Cross-Functional Awareness Marketing Ops is the connective tissue across marketing, sales, CS, and product. If you can’t translate strategy across teams and spot process gaps, you’re not operating at the level the business needs. This is why we’re building a tech-agnostic certification at MarketingOps Not one tied to a specific vendor.| But one that helps ops professionals develop the product management mindset their companies are desperately lacking. Remember, Every business already has a “GTM product.” Most just don’t realize it yet. And the ones who figure it out? They’re the ones who win.

So many people have great ideas. So few execute on them. That's why I love marketing ops - we're the ones making things happen. Even if you're not in marketing ops, here are tangible ways you can take ownership of the work and actually move the needle: 1 - Document and operationalize A/B test results: Don’t run tests just for the sake of it. Capture insights, then apply those learnings across future campaigns. Build systems that get better over time. 2 - Double down on top-performing campaigns: Too often, we try to spread resources across everything. Instead, identify what’s working and focus on it. Cut the rest—no need to keep sinking time into low performers. 3 - Remove friction from GTM processes: Is your campaign launch process more complicated than it needs to be? Fix it. Streamline every step, reduce bottlenecks, and make it as easy as possible for teams to get campaigns out the door. 4 - Enable easy access to data: Sales and marketing teams shouldn't have to jump through hoops to get the data they need. Build systems that serve them the right insights at the right time so they can engage customers in a meaningful way. 5 - Maintain data cleanliness and accuracy: Your campaigns are only as good as the data behind them. Implement solid data governance practices so you can trust the information driving your decisions. 6 - Create clear, useful reports and dashboards: Execs don’t need 20-page reports. They need actionable insights. Build dashboards that highlight the key performance metrics so they can make fast, informed decisions. 7 - Reevaluate budgets and optimize for ROI: Don’t set it and forget it. Keep an eye on where your dollars are going and reallocate funds to the areas that are delivering the highest returns. 8 - Align teams with clear marketing plans: Want to avoid misalignment? Document your marketing plans and socialize them so everyone is moving in the same direction. Clear communication is how you avoid silos and make sure the entire team is pulling toward the same goals. Owning the work doesn’t mean taking on more. It means knowing where to focus, where to cut, and how to execute relentlessly. Execution will always outperform a shiny idea with no follow-through. Don’t just talk about it—get it done. #marketing #martech #marketingoperations PS: I'm writing more about this in next week's newsletter, search "The Marketing Operations Leader on Substack" and sign up to stay updated.

COMPLETE THE SENTENCE: The biggest misconception in marketing today Is _____. Here are a few from me: 1. Finding your audience is as simple as posting on social media. It’s not. It takes persistence, failure, and iteration to figure out what resonates and where your audience actually is. It’s not about one post—it’s about dozens. It takes time, experimentation, and a willingness to learn from what doesn’t work. 2. You only need to say something once for your audience to hear it. Think about your own inbox or social feeds. How often do you miss things? Your audience is no different. They’re bombarded with messages every single day. If you want to cut through the noise, you need to share your message consistently and creatively across multiple channels. Even your existing customers might not know what you’re up to. Over-communicating? It’s not a bad thing. It’s a necessity. 3. A single piece of content will help you achieve all your goals. This one comes up a lot, and it’s simply not true. Most content falls into one of two buckets: Reach or Retain. Retain content goes deep, think long-form pieces for people who are already invested in your brand. It’s designed to keep them engaged, but it likely won’t go viral. Reach content, on the other hand, is thumb-stopping and disruptive. It’s meant to grab attention in the feed and attract new people to your brand. No single piece of content can do it all. You need both types working together to create momentum. 4. Don’t try something unless you’re sure it’ll work. People get so afraid of failure that they don’t even try. But here’s the thing: failure is where the learning happens. If you try and it flops, you’ve learned something. If it works? That’s a win. The real danger isn’t trying. It’s overinvesting before you’ve tested. Start small, fail fast, and iterate. That’s where the magic happens.

Most non-ops people fail to understand the complexity of GTM operations. Think about a basic demo request. Your ops team needs to figure out: (1) How you capture the data: via a web form, form integrations, hidden fields, utm capture, etc (2) Enrichment: integrations with enrichment vendors, form enrichment, enrichment waterfalls, etc (3) Data normalization for persona, industry, role, etc: in MAP automation, through integrations, etc (4) Capturing consent/opt-in aligned with country-specific rules: using web scripts, forms, automation in MAP, etc (5) Scoring for both fit and intent: automation in MAP, integrations with outside systems, data analysis to determine the scoring, etc (6) Funnel/lifecycle automation: sales ready model, sales handoff process, SLA tracking, routing, etc (7) Sync to CRM: error handling, sync timing, etc (8) Campaign/channel tracking: UTM tracking, cookies, source data updates, campaign membership, etc (9) Order of operations: how to string all these processes in the correct order so nothing breaks (10) Reporting: How data is captured for easy to build reporting It's a lot to set up. AND it all needs to be implemented flawlessly. If it breaks, it has a material impact on revenue, as the demo request doesn't get followed up. Then many companies still under resource the teams building this out and expect it to work everytime. You can't have it both ways. #marketingoperations #b2bmarketing #revenueoperations

Marketing Teams Today Face Unprecedented Challenges. Marketing teams are under pressure to deliver growth despite tighter budgets, fragmented technologies, and evolving customer behaviors. Traditional tactics no longer suffice, and CMOs must prioritize strategies that turn these obstacles into opportunities—starting with a deep understanding of their audience. 1. Listening to Your Audience and Engaging on Their Terms One of the most critical, yet often overlooked, aspects of modern marketing is genuinely listening to your audience. Customers expect brands to understand their preferences and engage on their terms. By leveraging data insights and social listening, CMOs can tailor communications that build trust and foster loyalty. Businesses that adapt to customer behaviors increase retention and lifetime value. 2. Data-Driven Decision Making With budgets under scrutiny, data is a CMO’s most valuable tool. However, success comes from transforming data into actionable insights. By focusing on key metrics like LTV, marketing leaders can optimize investments for maximum return. Data-driven approaches ensure campaigns are not only efficient but also highly targeted, leading to consistent growth. 3. Integrated Tech Stack for Seamless Operations Disjointed systems create inefficiencies and fracture the customer experience. A unified tech stack, integrating CRM, marketing automation, and analytics, empowers teams to deliver personalized, timely content. Companies using integrated platforms achieve higher engagement and satisfaction, reducing friction and improving both processes and outcomes. 4. Prioritizing Customer Retention Over Acquisition While acquiring new customers is important, retention offers a higher return on investment. Many businesses focus too much on lead generation, missing opportunities to engage existing customers. CMOs should emphasize retention strategies like personalized content and account-based marketing. Retention is more cost-effective than acquisition and turns satisfied customers into brand advocates. 5. Content Efficiency and Effectiveness In an age of content overload, focusing on quality over quantity is key. High-quality, evergreen content resonates more deeply with target audiences, enhancing brand positioning and expanding reach. Analyzing engagement helps identify the most effective content, streamlining production without compromising impact. By prioritizing audience engagement, data-driven decision-making, tech stack integration, customer retention, content efficiency, and agility, marketing organizations can navigate today’s challenges and lay the foundation for sustainable growth. In an era where precision and personalization are key, these strategies ensure efficiency and long-term success. Let’s innovate, inspire, and lead with clever, efficient marketing! Please let me know what you think! #dreamteam #cmo #marketing Courtney Ogawa Andrea Gronberg Brian Adam Jessica True (Day) Beth Keebler

You just got a new job as marketing operations leader and your top priority is making the department more efficient. Where should you start? 1. Acknowledge that you can’t track efficiency without data. If you’re not measuring, you can’t get a sense of where your problems lie. - You need to know how much you’re spending on marketing campaigns to see if your cost per conversion is increasing YoY. - You need to know how much you’re spending on SEO, the traffic impact, and the conversion rate to tell if it’s a worthwhile investment. - You need to know how long it takes to launch a campaign to see if your campaign development process is getting faster. At Scoop last week, we launched two campaigns in one day. We used detailed tracking to connect the traffic spike to the campaign that drove the engagement so we could see what was most effective (it was Alexandria Ryman's marketing email that drove a surge). Sometimes it’s easy to measure. You can easily see what traffic is driven to your website from someone clicking a blog post link, for example. Sometimes it’s harder, like when someone saw a LinkedIn ad, and then a month later search 'em up on Google to buy — was it LinkedIn that led them to you or Google? 2. Prioritize by impact Once you’ve got data in front of you, you need to sort out your priorities by what’s going to have the most influence on your department’s efficiency. Start by finding the largest gaps and the largest opportunities for increase in ROI. When you’ve flagged that in the data, you can get curious about why that change happened. Maybe your employee retention rate has dropped significantly since 2021. Your team hasn’t been in the same room for two years — could that be why folks aren’t sticking around? Sorting out operational efficiency priorities feels like an impossible task, but organizing your data by impact is a great starting point. 3. Use data to make your argument You probably can’t implement initiatives alone, so you’re going to need to get stakeholder buy-in. Before you make your argument, think through what sort of concerns they might have. - How much money is there to be gained by heading in the direction you’re advocating for? - Why would this be a marketing problem and not a sales problem? - How did you come to this conclusion? Then, pull data that squashes their concerns before they even have the chance to express them. 4. Present that data effectively The final step to making a convincing argument is data presentation — and a convoluted spreadsheet isn’t going to cut it. You need to let the data shine in the simplest way possible. If you’re looking at a wall of numbers, it’s hard to tell — is that a percent change? Is a 2% shift versus a 12% shift a big deal? Do we need to look at data over the last year or over the last quarter? This final step — the presentation — is how you make sure your findings resonate with the right stakeholders.

These 6 myths aren’t just wrong... They’re killing your marketing results. Marketing is full of advice that sounds good but often misses the mark. From outdated tips to oversimplified “hacks,” these myths can waste your time, drain your budget, and stall your growth. Let’s cut through the noise and debunk some of the most common misconceptions holding businesses back. 𝗠𝘆𝘁𝗵 #𝟭: “𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜𝘀 𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗮 𝗟𝗼𝗴𝗼” Your brand isn’t just a pretty mark; it’s your message, reputation, and experience. A logo may catch attention, but a consistent brand story is what earns trust and loyalty. 𝗠𝘆𝘁𝗵 #𝟮: “𝗜𝗳 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗜𝘁, 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗲” Simply creating a website, launching a product, or posting on social media doesn’t guarantee an audience. Effective marketing means meeting your audience where they are and giving them a compelling reason to care. 𝗠𝘆𝘁𝗵 #𝟯: “𝗘𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜𝘀 𝗗𝗲𝗮𝗱” Nope, not even close. Email marketing delivers one of the highest ROI across digital channels. The key is to send value-driven content your audience wants to open, not spam that gets sent to the trash. 𝗠𝘆𝘁𝗵 #𝟰: “𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝘀 = 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀” A million followers mean nothing if they’re not engaged. A smaller, loyal audience that actually interacts with your content is far more valuable than vanity metrics. 𝗠𝘆𝘁𝗵 #𝟱: “𝗦𝗘𝗢 𝗜𝘀 𝗮 𝗢𝗻𝗲-𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗧𝗮𝘀𝗸” SEO is not a “set it and forget it” game. It’s an evolving strategy that requires regular updates, fresh content, and staying in tune with changing algorithms. 𝗠𝘆𝘁𝗵 #𝟲: “𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀 𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁” Good marketing is like planting seeds—it takes time, nurturing, and consistency. Sure, a viral campaign can bring quick results, but long-term growth comes from building relationships over time. Marketing isn’t about shortcuts or following one-size-fits-all advice—it’s about strategy, consistency, and truly understanding your audience. By letting go of these myths, you can focus on what really works: building meaningful connections, delivering value, and creating lasting impact. --- Follow Michael Cleary 🏳️🌈 for more tips like this. ♻️ Share with someone who needs help with their marketing.

High-performing Marketing Operations professionals in 2025: 🙅♀️ Will not: 1. Juggle 10+ disconnected tools without integration. 2. Rely solely on "best practices" without adapting to their organization. 3. Blame Sales for poor pipeline quality. 4. Ignore feedback loops from campaigns. 5. Over-complicate dashboards with vanity metrics. 6. Treat Martech as a "set it and forget it" system. 7. Spend hours on manual processes that could be automated. 8. Expect success from shiny tools without strategic alignment. ✅ Will: 1. Focus on fewer, highly impactful tools with strong integrations. 2. Build scalable, adaptable processes tailored to business goals. 3. Collaborate with Sales to refine lead handoffs and pipeline quality. 4. Create feedback loops with campaigns to iterate and improve. 5. Simplify dashboards to focus on actionable KPIs. 6. Leverage AI to automate repetitive tasks to free up time for strategic work. 7. Dedicate daily time to learning and staying updated on Martech trends. 8. Prioritize alignment between Marketing, Sales, and Revenue Operations for measurable impact. 2025 won't be drastically different from 2024, but small, consistent changes will drive longer-term transformations. Do you agree? 🤔 Would love to hear your thoughts! ♻️ Repost if you think this will define high-performing MOPs teams in 2025.

The biggest threat to marketing success isn't bad strategy. It's operational inefficiency. Too many enterprise marketing teams: • Overinvest in bloated, misaligned teams • Build complicated tech stacks they barely use • Run disjointed campaigns across regions • Chase metrics that don't matter to the C-suite Resources get wasted. Results fall short. After leading marketing at 3 large publicly traded companies, here's what really works: • Global consistency beats local customization • Operational excellence beats creative perfection • Revenue impact beats vanity metrics The costliest mistake in enterprise marketing? Building a massive marketing engine you can't efficiently operate! I see marketing leaders struggle with: - Scaling operations globally - Proving marketing's ROI - Aligning teams across regions And the biggest missed opportunity in 2025? Not having the operational backbone to scale your marketing impact. What actually moves the needle: 1. Streamline before you scale 2. Measure what matters to the business 3. Build repeatable processes 4. Focus on revenue impact Remember: Your marketing strategy is only as good as your ability to execute it. And execution lives or dies by operational excellence. #MarketingOperations #GlobalMarketing #MarketingROI

Why are we still pretending Marketing Ops is about marketing? ...Because marketers are easier to underpay than data analysts And vendors trained you to call that a strategy. This is exactly the kind of bullshit 𝘉𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘐𝘵 𝘋𝘰𝘸𝘯 was built to torch. This is RevOps work with a different label—slapped under “marketing” to justify lower compensation, blur team responsibility, and keep marketers busy being reactive instead of strategic. Most “Marketing Ops” roles have nothing to do with actual marketing. You know what Marketing Ops 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 be? • Driving operational clarity • Aligning campaign execution with real buyer behavior • Building feedback loops between sales, marketing, product • Helping marketing move faster, not just report better But in more organizations that anybody's willing to admit—that’s not how it’s treated. Some of you are breaking your neck nodding right now. • They’re CRM janitors. • Tool-stack interpreters. • Attribution repair techs. • A Band-Aid for bad data. • A live-in therapist for your CRM. They’re mislabeled RevOps roles wearing a marketing badge because someone wanted to save on headcount. This is not marketing. Meanwhile, the real work of marketing— → Understanding people → Telling stories that land → Building strategy that scales → Earning trust instead of just traffic —gets buried under dashboards, sync errors, and campaign codes. You know what this creates? —A generation of marketers who never get to do marketing. 𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣. They’re too busy pulling reports and cleaning up after tools that were sold as “plug and play.” This isn’t just inefficient. It’s malpractice. Stop calling it Marketing Ops if it’s not marketing. Stop training creatives to be analysts. And stop pretending this mess is strategic just because it has KPIs attached to it. You want operational excellence in marketing? • Hire real data analysts. • Put RevOps where it belongs. • And give marketing its power back. Because until we burn down this broken structure— we’ll keep mistaking noise for performance, and maintenance for momentum. 𝘉𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘐𝘵 𝘋𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘨𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘔𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘺. 𝘚𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘶𝘱𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘍𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘺. 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘴.