What do you do if you're missing the essential tools and software for Marketing Operations?

Start by assessing your marketing operations requirements and identifying the specific tools and software you need to streamline your processes, improve efficiency, and achieve your marketing goals. Prioritize tools based on their importance and relevance to your operations.

Understand if you need the tools or if you can make do with the capabilities you already have. We were on a basic pack for a CRM which did not allow us to create templates for emails. There was a lot of hues and cries about it simplifying life for reaching out to prospects, especially because the team had tried this feature out during the trial period for the advanced plan. What we observed was that open rates and conversion rates drastically improved when the templates feature was disabled, as the team now needed to create customized messages for each prospect rather than sending out generic templates which greatly improved our conversions. Hence understanding if the tool is going to add value to your operations is extremely crucial.

When you find your marketing operations lacking essential tools and software, start by evaluating what you truly need. Identify the key functions that need support, such as campaign management, analytics, CRM, or automation. Prioritize these functions based on their significance to your marketing objectives. This step helps pinpoint crucial deficiencies in your toolkit. Remember, not every process needs a sophisticated solution; often, simpler, cost-effective tools can effectively meet your requirements and enhance your marketing efficiency.

The overall marketing unit's objectives, the assessment of the current marketing procedures and processes, and the current stack are critical areas to start. Tools support the overall objectives so it is important to understand the efficiencies the upgrades or introductions will achieve. Budget and full utilisation of existing tools are other key assessments. Are we able to optimise existing tools? Do we understand the capabilities of the tools? Can the existing tools be enhanced? What ROI are we looking for with the new spend on the tools, which includes not just enhancement to the tools but training and other components?

Conduct thorough research to explore available tools and software solutions that meet your identified needs. Look for reputable vendors, read reviews, and compare features, pricing, and customer support offerings to make informed decisions.

Here I roll up my sleeves and explore alternative options. Whether it's seeking out budget-friendly alternatives, leveraging free trials, or even tapping into open-source solutions, I'm all about finding creative ways to get the job done efficiently.

In my two decades helming marketing operations, I've seen countless campaigns sputter due to bloated tech stacks. A luxury fashion retailer I once consulted with was hemorrhaging budget on a suite of marketing automation tools – overkill for their core needs. Once we identified the critical tasks (email marketing, lead nurturing), we explored alternatives. We migrated their email blasts to a free platform and utilized a multi-purpose project management tool for lead nurturing. Results soared, and costs plummeted. But tell me, what budget-friendly tech solutions have you unearthed in your marketing journeys?

I am a big believer of leveraging networks to better understand and educate ourselves and others on best practices and lessons learned. Collaboration is key and fairly critical. Collective thinking often leads to collective opportunities from my most recent experiences.

Whenever I find I do not have all the needed tools and software for Marketing Operations, I reach out to my network, which can come through with insights, recommendations, or at times even the use of tools for a short duration. This will only serve to help fill the gap in the meantime before getting hold of other resources.

I make it a point to use my professional network to tackle any shortages in marketing tools and resources. By reaching out to other marketing professionals, I can share resources, swap services, and gain insights into the tools and strategies that have worked for them. This not only helps me address immediate needs but also introduces me to new methods and technologies I might not have considered. Networking in this way enhances my marketing efforts and fuels my ability to innovate.

Optimizing Our Processes Without sophisticated tools, I focus on refining our existing processes to boost efficiency. This involves streamlining workflows by removing redundant steps and honing in on manual techniques that consistently deliver results. Although this approach requires more hands-on effort, it deepens my understanding of our core marketing operations. This knowledge becomes invaluable as we later integrate more advanced tools, allowing us to leverage them more effectively.

Process optimization will really help you ensure you improve ROI, effectiveness and efficiency. Combined with automation, will also help improve data hygiene and accuracy. Build workflows and automation to limit manual processes. Manual processes and inefficient and error prone so try automation as much as possible.

As a Chartered Marketer with a marketing ops background, I know expensive tech isn't always the answer. Early on, we relied solely on fancy software, neglecting the power of process. Big mistake! We hit pause, mapped our workflows, and ruthlessly cut unnecessary steps. Manual tasks like data cleansing, yes, but it forced us to understand the data intimately. This hands-on approach unearthed hidden inefficiencies. When we finally got marketing automation tools, they weren't a black box - we knew exactly how to leverage them. Remember, in marketing ops, sometimes the simplest solutions are the best. Streamline first, automate later. You'll be amazed at what you can achieve and gain valuable knowledge for the future.

Once you've acquired the necessary tools and software, implement them into your marketing operations and provide training to your team on how to use them effectively. Ensure proper onboarding and support to maximize adoption and optimize utilization of the new resources.

Even with limited tools, you can empower your team. Develop creative training programs to equip your team with essential MarOps skills. Focus on data analysis techniques, project management methodologies, and best practices for manual campaign management.

You need to always think ahead and build scalable future proof solutions. When purchasing a new tool also think ahead, based on your strategy how do you expect to be in 2 to 5 years it is really important because it might affect your tooling cost. For instance some tools charge on database size, if you plan to do a lot a leadgen activities and increase your database a lot it will affect your tooling cost, so ensure to factor this when negotiating the price.

Develop a data-driven case for acquiring essential MarOps tools. Demonstrate the potential return on investment (ROI) by showcasing how improved automation and data management will translate to increased efficiency, reduced costs, or improved marketing campaign performance. Present this data to relevant stakeholders to advocate for future budget allocation for MarOps software.

If lacking essential marketing tools and software, I would embrace an agile, test-and-learn approach, leveraging open-source solutions. I'd start small by identifying critical processes like lead management, campaign execution, and analytics. e.g. for lead management, I might use an open-source CRM like HubSpot CRM. For campaigns, tools like Mailchimp. This approach allows you to progressively build marketing operations capabilities without significant upfront investment. As you test and learn, you can iterate, identify areas for improvement, and make a case for more robust solutions over time. Throughout this journey, I would seek stakeholder feedback, analyze performance data, document lessons learned and continuously optimize processes.

If can be helpful to plan for two scenarios: One where your budget is 10 times the size - what would the dream marketing operations setup look like? The other when your budget is cut to just 10% - what do you need to survive? We can (and I'm guilty of this myself) focus on the next tool that will make us more productive and sometimes need to step back to look at the broader picture. There's also the debate over best-of-breed (ten different tools each with a different vendor) or best-of-suite (one vendor with ten tools), one may offer more features but needs more integration, the other has fewer features, but is integrated deeper.

Remember, with a combination of resourcefulness, process optimization, and strategic planning, you can navigate challenges and achieve success even with limited resources.