Marketing operations professionals who are in the middle of their marketing ops career are more likely to feel like they aren’t understood. These may be specialists, managers, or directors, but if they are being pulled in a million different directions, they won’t feel like they are understood by leadership teams for the true function of marketing operations, a reportOpens a new window by The MO Pros Community and HubSpot said.
The MO Pros Community and the US-based CRM company, HubSpot surveyed more than 750 mo pros to find out what their responsibilities are, what tools they’re using, and what they need to grow. The aim was to reduce overall tech debt, break down silos between marketing ops + everyone else, and improve alignment between teams, said the report findings.
“Without executive buy-in and understanding, resources may be allocated that put the cart before the horse,†said Mike Rizzo, founder, MO Pros. “Industry vets who have worked in marketing ops for some time have figured out ways to prove value and advocate for the alignment they need, but more junior team members may not have that confidence yet,†he explained in a statement.
Key Findings
The report clearly states that they want to help marketing ops teams to become “more strategic and focus on the big picture, rather than constantly chase small fires.†Among the key findings are:
- 72% of marketing ops professionals have been in marketing ops for more than 3 years.
- 70% of mo pros are between the ages of 21-40, most being Gen Z or Millennials.
- 17% of mo pros do not feel they are fairly compensated, whereas 62% feel they are.
- 18% of mo pros take on 3+ side projects or clients per year (4% take on more than 10).
- The main reasons mo pros take on side projects is to make more money; as well as pro bono work
- The primary KPI for marketing ops’ teams to succeed is pipeline.
- Mo pros are most likely to earn between $51-100K.
- 32% of mo pros don’t have a defined marketing ops team or role.
- Most mo pros report to the chief marketing officer (CMO).
- Their next career move is to go into management and build out a team that reports to them
Also read: How Women in Marketing Are Making a Difference: Q&A With Lynne Capozzi, CMO, Acquia
Marketing Ops Teams Feel Burned Out by Tech Debt
Even though marketing ops professionals work in the traditional marketing teams and report to the CMO, they are “savvy problem solvers with a penchant for helping others and figuring out solutions (like no-code solutions). They seek efficiency, want alignment among teams, and crave training opportunities on new software platforms and tools,†the report defined. The top responsibilities of marketing ops individuals, as per the report are:
- To design, implement, and optimize operational policies and processes to support the company’s strategy and goals
- Data analysis/synthesis/reporting
- Develop and implement software or system integrations/systems management
However, often “reactive work†such as “updating CRM tags for the sales team, being asked to pull a report without matching data sets, followed by a huge data cleanup project†is a tech debt that marketing ops pros need to deal with. This leads to feeling “burned out, underappreciated, undervalued, and frustrated,†the report found. “It can also contribute to slowing business growth and using data incorrectly to make business decisions.â€
Also read: Creating a Martech Stack That Supports Agile Marketing
Industries Prioritizing Marketing Ops
Tech companies are currently leading the charge, and other industries will follow and adapt to what marketing operations look like for them. Other top industries include business services, advertising and marketing, and manufacturing.
Do Mo Pros Feel Valued?
As per the report those with either a lot or very little experience report feeling valued, suggesting newer roles are more valued overall due to being more defined and having more resources and tenured folks have paved their own way (and are earning more). Another interesting trend reported was that marketing ops professionals in larger companies ($500,001 to $1 million annual revenue) feel less valued, which suggests that maybe big companies “tend to value operations lessâ€.
Also read: Top 12 Marketing Books Every Marketer Should Read in 2021
Our Take
The future of marketing operations professionals belongs working in teams rather than as individuals. As a result, developing alignment between these teams will be worth investing in to continue the growth mode for business leaders. It is also becoming clearer that marketing ops is a data-driven role with heavy reliance on actionable insights. That’s why we believe leaders must prioritize marketing operations as a business strategy, which will give mo pros a seat at the table.
What do you think of the state of marketing operations professionals in your organization? Do let us know on FacebookOpens a new window , TwitterOpens a new window , and LinkedInOpens a new window .