The importance of real-time insights for campaign management
Matt: What parts of marketing operations do you think are outdated or don't match current industry standards? And why haven't these issues been fixed yet?
Ankesh: Marketing operations are usually centralised in most companies. For those based in Asia, they rely on someone in the US or Europe to make changes, which takes time. I realised the power of marketing operations when I got a resource in Asia. I noticed some things were missing. Everyone talked about them, but they weren't fully used.
For example, consider the journey of a lead in your system. We've discussed lead scoring models for years, but how much information reaches the right people at the right time? If a lead downloads a white paper and becomes a hot lead, how and when do you inform the right sales person and SDR to connect with them?
Lead scoring is changing, but how will people know about it? How will they understand the trends and patterns of a specific lead? We need to provide this information to account managers. This can only happen if marketing operations integrate all systems, like Salesforce, Demandbase, and the front-end system.
All these systems should be connected to give a single view. At Workato, we get this view in Slack. I have a Slack channel where I receive leads that are becoming important. The system automatically tags the right people in Slack, saying, "Hey, @Matthew, this person in your account is searching for these topics." The SDR is also tagged.
This way, sales and the SDR can work together. Marketing operations need to provide the right information at the right time, instead of expecting people to check multiple systems, which no one has time for. This is crucial.
Second thing about personalisation: Everyone talks about it, but how much are you really doing? For example, when you share content with a lead, you need to know how interested they are and what type of content they will engage with.
Marketing operations help define these rules. They tell us that if a lead is at a certain stage, a specific sequence should start. If the lead reaches a new level of interest, different content should be triggered. This requires teamwork between the content team, marketing operations, and field marketing.
Marketing operations help define these rules. They tell us that if a lead is at a certain stage, a specific sequence should start. If the lead reaches a new level of interest, different content should be triggered. This requires teamwork between the content team, marketing operations, and field marketing.
Marketing operations are not just about creating campaigns. They can run reactivation campaigns and provide valuable information about accounts. Many people talk about personalisation, but few actually do it effectively.
The third thing is real-time insights. For example, if I am running a campaign or a webinar, how can I quickly find out who is registering for it? Sometimes, people need to check Salesforce or another system for campaign members, which can be a long list. Imagine getting that real-time information on your phone every time someone registers.
This info would be sent to the right sales managers, like a notification saying, "Hey, someone from this company is attending this event." This information would reach them through communication channels like MS Teams or Slack, which they use frequently.
Campaign insights should be sent in real time to the right people. We can improve marketing operations by connecting all systems for a single customer view, enhancing communication channels.
Streamlining processes and building collaboration between different marketing roles
Matt: What are some key metrics or KPIs you would recommend a B2B business focus on to measure the success and efficiency of marketing operations?
Ankesh: There are many metrics to follow, but I'll share a few that show how marketing operations simplify things for various marketing roles like field marketing, partner marketing, and digital marketing. Marketing Ops also helps SDRs and CSMs.
Each role has its own KPIs. For example, inside sales or SDRs get many leads from content downloads, events, and demo requests on the website. They also get leads from paid campaigns, but there aren't always enough SDRs to handle them all.
Marketing ops needs a system to manage these leads automatically. For example, if you target companies with revenues over $100 million or $1 billion, what kind of communication should go to them when they visit your website? Marketing ops will help get that information.
They can use tools like Zoom Info, Apollo, and Lusha Sales Navigator to find the right information. Sometimes, the information from these tools can vary. It's the job of marketing operations to research, find the best tools, and connect them to your system.
For example, if the head of a big company visits your website and downloads a paper about a specific topic, like using AI in help desks, marketing ops should check the company's revenue and classify it into segments like enterprise or commercial. This information should be shared with your SDRs via Slack.
If the SDR approves, an outreach sequence should start, informing them about more assets related to the topic. Tools like Hotjar can show if the visitor is checking your pricing page or comparing your software with others. This information can be compiled and sent to the AE managing the account. This process should be automated and measured by the marketing ops person.
The second thing we did was run projects for marketing operations to fit call recordings into a selling framework. They developed AI models to classify information from calls based on the framework. For example, during a conversation, we might discuss your company's pain points, challenges, current buyers, buying process, and competitors.
After the call, a document is automatically generated to classify this information and upload it into Salesforce. This helps maintain Salesforce hygiene, as salespeople sometimes miss filling in opportunity details. We aimed to automate the process of converting voice to text and then translating that text into the CRM. This is one of the initiatives marketing operations take each quarter to improve the workflow for other stakeholders.
The third thing is improving your database. Right now, your system has a lot of junk data, and it's hard to tell if it's good or bad. If your campaign isn't working, you should check if you're targeting the right people.
If your campaign isn't working, you should check if you're targeting the right people.
You need to organise your database by different stages, functions, industries, and regions. You can't get all this information in one form; it's a step-by-step process. Marketing operations help ensure all the fields are set up correctly so that when you send a message, it's to the right person. There's an unsubscribe button at the bottom of the email.
If you send the wrong message, like an HR message to a finance person, they will unsubscribe immediately. After GDPR, you might not be able to contact them again. So, marketing operations play a crucial role in keeping your database accurate.
Analysing patterns in data to uncover opportunities
Matt: How do you think AI will impact the future of marketing operations? Will it make things easier for operations? Will it create more roles or reduce the need for many marketing operations members?
Ankesh: It will improve the role. There are many tools in the market for emails, campaigns, and CRM. Without AI, you can't hire more marketing ops people to manage all these connections and campaigns. AI will simplify things because marketing ops isn't limited to just marketing.
Other functions also depend on marketing. For example, if you're trying to upsell or cross-sell in an account, marketing ops can provide insights on what is happening in that account, what they are searching for, and what other business lines are looking for in that software or use cases.
You can share this information with your customer success team. If you use AI-driven tools, they can alert you about changes. For example, if a new CIO joins a company, the tools can tell you their buying history for tools like ABCD.
AI can predict if someone is likely to buy something based on their past behaviour. Marketing operations can use this information. They can work wonders by connecting all tools at once, making things easier for other departments.
AI solutions have many uses. For example, we analysed lost deals and noticed a pattern. We created an AI model based on this pattern. By focusing on a specific topic related to these patterns, we discovered a $6 million opportunity.
Matt: Can you give one piece of practical advice, maybe with an example, to help businesses improve their marketing?
Ankesh: My main advice is to think of yourself as part of a bigger team, not just a small marketing team. Ask others how you can help them. They can give you many ideas.
Look at how data flows through different systems. Think about what information is needed and how you can provide it. Also, give clear advice on what to do with that information. This will show the value of marketing operations.
Look at how data flows through different systems. Think about what information is needed and how you can provide it. Also, give clear advice on what to do with that information. This will show the value of marketing operations.
If a marketing ops person knows how the process should look, any tool will just be an integrator. Think about what the process should look like. Talk to many people within the company and also to people outside.
