You run another report that you suspect nobody reads. This begs the question, “Why are we even doing this?”
It’s a question worth asking. Simplification is the core of marketing ops.
Colton Slauson, former Marketing Operations Manager at Watermark, joins the show to discuss why simplification matters so much and whether the MQL really is the Holy Grail of marketing.
Join us as we discuss:
- Identifying whether your potential customer even wants your marketing
- Simplifying everything from tech stack to messaging
- What the value of the MQL really is
- How marketing ops will change in the future
Ready to learn more about streamlining your marketing operations to better serve your customers?
“Simplification is, I believe, at the core of marketing operations.” — Colton Slauson
Simplify Everything
Simplification is at the core of marketing operations.
When you find yourself busy doing things, stop, step back, and think. Ask yourself, "Is this what I'm doing… planning… or being asked to do… going to create more work in the future?"
Two months from now you don't want to look back and say, "What did I do?!"
It's an easy thing to happen right now because we can pull data from so many different tech stacks. Often, we get confused or make a mistake that unnecessarily complexifies the result.
Why simplification is critical to data accuracy
Great reporting cannot happen unless the database's core systems are fine-tuned. For most companies, that's the hardest part. You're trying to work with more text, new platforms, and faster automation tools. As a result, your reporting process doesn't look like it did a year ago. Everything grows even more complicated if the process wasn't set up properly in the first place.
But… you say… I can't wait for all my data to settle down in the right places. I have reports to run.
Colton says he understands that.
Executives want certain reports done in certain ways. It's tempting just to give them what they want and get them off your back. Colton doesn't recommend that approach. He says you have to push back.
It's okay to say, "I get that you want this, and I want to get it to you as soon as possible. But our current database is not in the space that needs to be to get that information accurately."
You have to clean up the shop before you can display the merchandise.
“If you're going to do anything in marketing, think about the customer and how they would receive it.” — Colton Slauson
Tracking What Matters
If the chatter on LinkedIn is to be believed then there's a growing sentiment that the way we're currently tracking data is not right.
We track so many different things — form fills, attendance at a webinar, whatever the flavor of the day is. These are all great to know about the performance of a particular event or to track your ROI on different marketing channels. But at the end of the day, those things are not what truly matters most.
To learn what matters most, ask these questions:
- How are we communicating this information to the customers?
- How is this impacting them?
- Did it help us close one deal?
It's great to know how many people opened your email, but it's better to know how many closed a deal. The number of deals closed — that's the Holy Grail.
(You might find out that it was better if you had never sent that email in the first place.)
Tracking for the future
Colton believes marketing ops is going to experience a big shift with regard to the regulations surrounding data privacy. These are constantly updating, changing, or taking on new dimensions.
Technology changes marketing. No one marketed products on smartphones just a couple of decades ago. Why? Because that technology didn't exist for most people.
Such rapid advancement makes prognosticating difficult. What marketing technology will be trending in five years? It might be something we can't even conceive of right now.
That's part of what makes it challenging to answer the question of data tracking. What data should we stay on top of? It's tough to say when we don't even know what will exist in the world in a year or so.
Personally, Colton believes marketing operations and marketing automation are going to evolve into something that currently we don't even use right now but that will ultimately be better for everybody.
Is he right? We don't know. What we do know is that it's going to be an interesting journey into the future.
“If you're in marketing ops, act like you are a brand new intern. Stay eager and stay positive.” — Colton Slauson
4 Questions to Ask in Marketing Ops
#1 Is This Platform Even Worth It?
Or is it a distraction from other, successful platforms?
#2 Does This Speak To My Customer?
Or are they at the webinar to learn instead of buying?
#3 Do We Really Need to Track This?
Or are we keeping this data for its own sake?
#4 What Can We Simplify?
Something is always too complex.
Remember where we started — Simplification is at the core of marketing operations.
Where do we go from here?
Colton suggests retaining the mindset of a brand new intern — someone who is willing to learn and be humble, eager, and positive.
If you're in marketing ops, stay hungry. Stay eager to learn. Act like you are a brand new intern. You don't know what's going to come at you most days, but stay eager and stay positive.
