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David Avery

What is B2B Marketing Operations and How to Build Your Own Team



Most B2B organizations have marketing teams that run campaigns and target specific demographics. But what happens when those campaigns do not produce the desired results? The team may try to change tactics, but without a dedicated Marketing Operations team, they are left with little knowledge of how to optimize their efforts for future success. This post will discuss what Marketing Operations is, why you need it in your organization, and how to create a Marketing Ops team that manages the budget, generates targets, executes campaigns, owns CRM data, and provides reporting and analytics of marketing performance to maximize marketing ROI. What is Marketing Operations and why do you need it? Marketing Operations includes the activities that are required to measure and analyze marketing efforts, optimize resources for maximum efficiency, improve the effectiveness of campaigns by test-and-learn experimentation, and create repeatable processes with an ongoing optimization strategy. It’s about optimizing your company’s marketing investments so you can predictably deliver on business goals. This team creates measurable targets or objectives based on customer metrics from data analysis such as website traffic information, lead conversion rates and other related indicators; partners with Marketing and demand gen leaders to develop campaign strategies across channels to meet those targets; executes campaigns through digital advertising media buying platforms like Google AdWords or Facebook Advertising as well as email marketing via Marketing Automation tools like Marketo, all in order to generate leads which are then qualified into sales pipeline. This team also is responsible for managing the underlying systems such as the CRM database and lead data and ultimately provide data-driven insights that help optimize campaigns and allocate budgets more effectively across channels. The Marketing Operations team is critical in delivering on business goals as they’re responsible for setting realistic expectations for lead volumes and conversion rates, executing email and digital programs, purchasing and managing the Marketing Technology stack, and providing insightful qualitative analysis of campaign performance against target metrics with the goal of generating higher ROIs from all invested dollars spent. What Skills are Required in a Marketing Operations Team? The core skills and experience required of a Marketing Operations team are: a CRM and Marketing automation manager, SEM and SEO manager, website developer, Marketing Analytics manager, and finance manager. You will want team members who pay attention to detail and are able to juggle many different tasks at once without forgetting anything. Other useful skills include project planning and project management, as well as the ability to communicate difficult subjects in a simple manner. They will be responsible for presenting campaign performance data to senior leadership regularly so they can make informed decisions about budget allocation across channels. In rare cases, it might make sense for these duties to fall under one person's responsibility, typically at smaller organizations, but most often they are distributed among different people because not everyone can do everything well. CRM and Marketing Automation Manager The CRM and Marketing Automation Manager will be responsible for the day-to-day management of all customer data that flows through your marketing automation software or you can have a broader title like Digital Marketing Optimization Specialist. They are also heavily involved in creating email programs, landing pages, and other marketing materials from scratch. They will need to be able to create automated workflows and marketing campaigns. They should also have a strong understanding of customer data, especially in relation to CRM systems like Salesforce or Marketo. They'll also map out different campaign strategies which can include everything from how emails are sent out daily in an email flighting calendar and should be familiar with email spam laws such as the CAN-SPAM act and GDPR. The CRM Manager is responsible for ensuring that the right contacts are signed up with the appropriate company information on your database. The manager may not always be working directly with customers themselves, but they are still responsible for managing all contact interactions which includes everything from assigning leads to sales reps, tracking lead status, following up with prospects after an inquiry has gone unanswered and more. With these responsibilities come a variety of skills including excellent communication abilities as well as familiarity with Microsoft Office products such as Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook experience. This role will typically own other pieces of the Marketing Technology stack above and beyond the CRM and Marketing Automation platform. These tools include social media listening tools such as Hootsuite, chatbot tools like Drift and Intercom, ABM platforms such as DemandBase and 6Sense, and a variety of other tools that allow for more efficient and effective marketing.

SEM/SEO (Search Engine Marketing and Search Engine Optimization) Manager This individual will work closely with designers to create PPC campaigns that generate conversions on Google AdWords, Bing Ads, Yahoo Gemini ads or Facebook advertising platforms as well as social media sites such as Twitter and LinkedIn. The key responsibility is optimizing search engine rankings by increasing website traffic primarily through SEO tactics, but they may also use content creation strategies when necessary. They will work with marketing teams to create content strategies that generate organic traffic through Google and other search engines as well as social media sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. They are responsible for keyword research on topics related to the company's products or services to improve rankings within these platforms as well. Website Developer The website developer is responsible for creating and designing web pages by singlehandedly or collaborating with others. They oversee all the programming work, from laying out a page's format to writing its code in languages like HTML, Javascript, PHP, CSS, Python, and SQL. A good developer will also be familiar with Content Management Software like Wordpress. Website developers must understand how well a site will fare on search engines such as Google and Yahoo, so they have deep knowledge about SEO (search engine optimization) tactics that help them achieve high rankings within these platforms. So they will work closely with the SEM/SEO manager. It's possible that these roles might be combined into one in smaller organizations. The web developer will also typically work closely with the CRM and Marketing Automation manager on landing page and HTML email templates, cookies, installing tracking code on the site, etc.

Marketing Analytics Manager The analytics manager job description may include: Collecting data from various sources like website traffic analysis, Google Analytics, CRM, or other relevant marketing platforms. They will analyze performance of different marketing channels including paid search, events, email, partner marketing, paid social advertising, etc. In addition to campaign performance, they will perform attribution modeling to tie marketing efforts back to revenue and perform demand modeling. Demand modeling is the process of estimating how much demand is needed to achieve marketing's contribution to revenue targets. Demand models are built on data and analytics, as well as assumptions about customer behavior, marketing objectives, and lead funnel conversion rates and velocity. The more sophisticated these models become, the better they can anticipate actual future demand based on what has happened in past years. The analytics manager will also be responsible for building dashboards using BI tools such as Qlik, Tableau, and Datorama to provide a holistic view of marketing performance, such as groupings by lead source or campaign, trending over time, and performance of marketing KPIs vs targets. This will be used to monitor marketing performance and ROI so that you can identify trends or make course corrections in your campaigns as needed for optimum results. The team is also responsible for testing new channels, tools, and methods of communication while monitoring the success rates and the cost-effectiveness of these efforts. Marketing Budget and Finance Manager The budget manager may be responsible for the overall marketing spend and monitoring performance of different marketing channels including paid search advertising such as AdWords spend over time, paid social advertising, attribution modeling, and more. The role includes setting budgets to optimize ROI or other objectives driving investment decisions according to a company's goals. This person is also responsible for forecasting and ensuring that appropriate financial resources are available at all levels in the organization so that campaigns can run effectively. They will work closely with Finance and often are responsible for procurement, reviewing contracts, negotiating terms, and identifying waste within the budget. Key Takeaways Marketing Operations is an essential component of any Marketing Department. It should be the first hire any CMO makes as it's the team that will make sure all marketing efforts are aligned with business goals and set up to be successful, from budgeting and planning to executing campaigns and maximizing ROI. Optimax is a full-service Marketing and Sales Operations (RevOps) firm offering all of the skills listed in this article and more. If you want more information about how we can help your company achieve it's marketing objectives through Marketing Operations, email us at mailto:info@optimaxbusinessconsulting.com, contact us on our site, or book some time directly to talk to an expert.



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