Staying abreast of the latest digital transformation is vital for performing marketing operations perfectly. Moreover, it is challenging for marketers to carry out critical tasks efficiently due to prevailing delusions.
Delusions about marketing operations are one reason brands cannot leverage their marketing technology stacks, thus resulting in low RoI. Marketers must be aware of these assumptions in marketing operations, which can break marketing execution significantly.
Here are the delusions for marketers to take note of and try not to implement in their next quarter’s marketing plan:
Delusion No. 1 – Marketing Operations Are One-Time Responsibilities
Marketers commonly think that marketing strategy is only a one-time responsibility to take care of. Once all the strategies and attributes are aligned with the desired business goals, there is no need to monitor how strategies work and their outcomes.
Fact:
Marketing operations are a continuous process that requires constant attention and monitoring.
Modern digital marketing is evolving, so brands must keep up with the updates and innovations to stay relevant and competitive. It is a cycle that includes stages of planning, execution, and optimizing marketing activities with the help of automation tools to achieve desired business objectives.
One-time responsibility for marketing operations is not the right approach and is not effective. Overlooking operations may lead to challenges such as skipping customer needs, unable to match with current market conditions, trends, and innovations. To build effective marketing operations, marketers must ensure intelligent data analysis, track performances, monitor traffic and hits, and optimize strategies to ensure marketing efforts deliver better RoI.
Also Read: Strategies to Embrace Digital-First Marketing Operations
Delusion No. 2 – Marketing Operations Are Only the Responsibility of the Marketing Department
There is a misconception among organizations and marketers that marketing departments only look after marketing operations and processes. But marketing operations are not limited to creating marketing campaigns; they go beyond this by a long way.
Fact:
Marketing operations rely on many other operations of an organization. While the marketing department plays a crucial role in handling marketing operations, other departments such as finance, I.T., and sales also play an equal role in managing various operations. They need collaborative efforts to ensure the effective functions of marketing operations. The current marketing operations are evolving with multiple tech stacks, requiring approvals, support, and monitoring simultaneously. So, this requires the collaboration of business, finance, and I.T. leaders for decision-making processes under overall marketing operations.
The coordination ensures that every stakeholder is on the same page and working towards the business objectives. That makes sense, as the sales role needs to provide feedback on the quality leads for campaigns, and the finance’s role is to ensure the budget for marketing tech budgets. The role of I.T. is to monitor, install, and maintain tools and software to make marketing processes successful. Therefore, collaboration and alignment across departments are pivotal to ensure that marketing operations are effective and achieve better revenue goals.
Delusion No. 3 – Marketing Operations Are Technologically Blended
When discussing marketing operations, there is a misconception that it is only about technology. While technology is a crucial element of marketing operations, it is the only essential factor that leads marketing today.
Fact:
Effective marketing operations also involve marketers, processes, and strategies apart from technology. They also do play a vital role in the overall marketing processes. To initiate successful marketing involves proper management and optimization of campaigns, measuring effectiveness, monitoring traffic, analyzing data, and making data-driven decisions. These factors need collaboration between different teams, including sales, customer service, data analysts, and quality analysts, to check and ensure that these elements fit a particular marketing plan and are aligned with overall strategies and goals.
Further, implementing technology tools alone can’t drive a successful marketing operation. It must require alignment, proper tools, proper resources, and suitable software or tools usage is vital. These factors need close consideration of whether they align with business needs, whether any customization is required, or whether platforms need modification according to marketing plans. In addition, effective marketing operations also require skilled professionals to use technology tools for productivity.
Delusion No. 4 – Marketing Operations is Only About Boosting Sales
Due to this misconception many organizations fail to understand the real-time advantage of implementing marketing operations tools. The technology-based operations are more than this, not for increasing sales figures. While sales growth is undoubtedly a primary marketing strategy goal, it is not a core reason to implement technology tools.
Fact:
Organizations can approach effective marketing operations to create a sustainable marketing infrastructure. The sustainability factor focuses on building long-standing customer relationships, improving customer engagement, and building brand awareness. These objectives are crucial for an organization to establish a good brand identity, create a loyal customer base, and increase customer retention rates.
In addition, marketing operations manage costs and improve efficiencies to impact revenue generation. Brands can reduce costs and maximize their marketing investments by optimizing processes, eliminating redundancies, and utilizing modern marketing technologies. Moreover, marketing operations also play a significant role in shaping the customer experience. Brands can use the personalization of products and services by understanding their needs, choices, preferences, and behavior towards a particular service or product. By doing this, they may witness increased customer service and brand loyalty.
Delusion No. 5 – Marketing Operations is a Cost Center
Marketing operations being a cost center is a myth limiting organizations’ growth. It says that marketing operations are necessary for businesses and do not contribute to revenue growth. However, by looking at the current marketing landscape, where digital technologies are boosting revenues, this delusion needs a relook.
Fact:
Effective marketing operations can be a significant contributor to revenue growth. If organizations have accurate technology alignment, the operations can drive double sales and revenue by optimizing marketing efforts and improving customer engagement. Most importantly, marketing operations can contribute to business success by reducing costs through optimization processes, accurate technology management, and resource allocation.
Marketing operations also play a crucial role in building brand equity and growing customer loyalty. Brands can establish a trusted image among their customers and potential prospects by developing a comprehensive marketing strategy and executing it effectively. Following these aspects can lead brands to increased customer loyalty, impacting the bottom line.
Marketing Operations Growth Opportunities
Looking at these myths and facts clearly may help brands and marketers to understand more about what and how marketing operations function and benefit businesses. With that said, Statista states in its report Marketing Automation Software Market Revenue Worldwide from 2022 to 2031 that in 2023, the global marketing automation software industry’s revenue will extend to 5.4 billion U.S. dollars and multiply by 2031, surpassing 11.2 billion dollars. In addition, the global marketing automation industry revenue expects to expand by nearly 5.9 billion dollars in 2023.
The rising investments in marketing operations depend on the increasing practice of data-based marketing tactics and the growing usage of marketing automation solutions among organizations of all sizes. The study makes sense and shows the importance of brands yet to implement marketing operations aligned with updated technology stacks.
