The primary role of the Marketing Operations Manager in the larger business is to oversee the strategies, designs, implementation and overall operations of the company s various marketing databases, marketing technologies, tracking systems, and lead management systems to effectively plan, direct, and implement analytical studies so as to develop and evaluate future strategies. This role also includes responsibility for the development of a competitive marketing plan. The Marketing Manager also has the responsibility of developing and implementing an effective marketing strategy that accurately predicts marketing needs, market shares, competitive landscapes, competitor strategies, competitive activities, etc. to assure a solid return on investment.
Many companies across all industry verticals have established specialized marketing operations departments. In fact, there are dozens of specialized marketing departments in the larger companies today. Most companies that have a Marketing Operation (or Marketing Program) spend millions of dollars each year on marketing programs, in-house marketing strategies, advertising and branding and social media efforts. For most companies, these programs add up to hundreds of thousands of man hours – time that can be better spent, with the help of dashboards. Think digital, go for creative marketing, visit gawdo.com
While it is true that many marketing departments and analytics initiatives are productive and beneficial to any company, there are some flaws that limit their overall effectiveness. Most importantly, these marketing practices rarely involve the use of analytic skills. A good analogy of this is that the majority of salespeople, especially large ones, do not possess the analytical skills to understand the results from the sales process and make educated decisions about next actions.
This problem leads to poor relationships between management and marketing operations managers. Research has shown that managers often possess the skill set required to analyze marketing data. However, it is often difficult for them to communicate their ideas to their marketing departments. Without a common communication platform, they are unable to express their analytical ideas, in order to reap the rewards from those ideas. Many managers are simply unaware of many of the capabilities that dashboards present. Lack of knowledge about analytics often prevents managers from making the most of their analytics technology stack and often limits their capabilities.
A common misconception is that a marketing technology infrastructure requires the purchase and installation of new software, or even training for employees who will manage the new technology infrastructure. While there are a variety of options available today, many of these programs cost millions of dollars and require months of training and monitoring before employees can begin utilizing them. In many cases, the IT team that is hired to implement and maintain a marketing technology infrastructure will not be as knowledgeable about newer technologies or methods. While it may seem ideal, hiring an additional staff to handle this new marketing technology infrastructure is often unnecessary.
Another mistake made by many companies is not hiring a senior marketing operations management officer, or CMO, to serve as a primary representative with the entire marketing operation. Although a CMO does possess the necessary skills to be a successful Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), many companies fail to recognize the importance of having a top-level representative in place, who is both skilled and knowledgeable about a variety of topics. The typical CMO has little industry experience and lacks the broad range of topics and experiences required to effectively lead marketing operations. It is also common for a CMO to spend much of his or her time communicating on a common departmental topic. This not only creates a problem when it comes to making decisions related to core business activities, but also for overall management accountability.
The final mistake made by many companies is failing to put a strong emphasis on employee development and training within their marketing operations manager role. A strong and effective marketing team needs to have a well-developed and highly trained executive management team. These CMOs are critical to the success of every marketing team, and the amount of skill and knowledge each of these senior leaders possess is directly related to the depth and breadth of their understanding of the company’s business activities. If a company fails to establish and maintain strong relationships with their CMOs, then they will be unable to effectively implement and execute their key marketing objectives.
It is important that companies take a holistic approach to evaluating and developing their chief marketing officer (CMO) and other key marketing team members. While a specific marketing program may be highly effective and have a very high ROI, it is also important for a company to realize that this program alone will not lead to a successful and profitable business. Many companies fail to recognize that a comprehensive integrated marketing program that includes on-going training, development, and relationship building with their CMOs is the most effective way to train and develop the best employees. This type of integrated marketing strategy is the single most important factor in the development of highly profitable marketing operations managers.
