 |
March 24, 2010
Today our Marketing Analytics team lead, Creig Foster, dives into the sexy topic of predictive analytics (PA). Why are we so enamored with PA? One of my students, the Marketing Operations leader at fast-growing software company, captured the essence of why PA is compelling in a recent essay: “I have a better chance of my marketing department growing and my personal relevance moving up the food chain if I can predict the future – plain and simple.” So if that’s the case, why aren’t more marketing leaders actively applying PA in their marketing strategies (particularly in the B2B world)? Perhaps they just don’t yet understand the many PA applications that are available to run their Marketing Operations better. Creig’s aticle takes some of the mystery out of the magic of predictive analytics. Gary
Increasing the Value of Marketing Operations with Predictive Analytics
by Creig Foster
A recent blog post by James Kobielus of Forrester Research advances the idea that business success depends on your company’s capability to see likely future outcomes and take appropriate steps now to realize them. He goes on to say that predicting future scenarios successfully, laying plans and deploying the needed resources is critical in seizing opportunities, minimizing threats and mitigating risks. I fully support this view and believe that for a company to be successful these days it must use predictive analytics to its fullest extent.
So what is Predictive Analytics? From the all knowing source, Wikipedia, “Predictive analytics encompasses a variety of techniques from statistics, data mining, and game theory that analyze current and historical facts to make predictions about future events.” You might ask yourself what is the big deal; humans do this sort of thing all the time. Yes, but predictive analytics takes in huge amounts of data, analyzes complex interrelationships, and discerns patterns in the data that the human mind could not possibly see. Besides, the models can do their processing 24/7 without making a mistake.
Kobielus goes on to state that the “grand promise of predictive analytics – still largely unrealized in most companies – is that it will become ubiquitous, guiding all decisions, transactions, and applications.” For a company (large or small) to become a truly predictive enterprise, I believe it will take more than an investment in the technology and people to accomplish this transition. It also takes a change in how a company thinks about its business.
Instead of a reactive response to challenges and opportunities as they are presented, I believe that a proactive and investigative approach to building the business is enabled by predictive analytics. Yes, I know we all plan with the best intentions of positive outcomes. What I am suggesting is using predictive analytics in making decisions about future directions and strategy. In other words, the use of predictive analytics should become part of the way a company thinks about its business and a cornerstone of the overall business strategy.
Read the complete article here.
# # #
Highlight any portion you want: 
February 28, 2010
As a tough economy and demanding CEOs call for more disciplined, streamlined, accountable marketing, what impact does this new reality have on how marketing professionals are valued and treated by their organizations?
Is Marketing Operations a protector of individual marketers, helping them optimize and mobilize their talents toward achieving enterprise strategic objectives. Or is it a sinister means to shift responsibility from the system to individuals, making them even more vulnerable and disposable in the name of efficiency and profitability?
It all depends, really, on an organization’s fundamental view of its people. Are your people truly valued or easily replaceable?
A Marketing Operations mindset, and related aspirations such as a culture of measurement and accountability, can be used for good or evil. They can empower marketers or enslave them.
Empowered Marketers
- Have a clear sense of what is expected of them and wholeheartedly buy into the vision
- Are able to focus on what is important, not just urgent
- Continually earn the trust of their management through their willingness to stay accountable, challenge their own mental models (discussed in my ”Building Upon the 5Ts of Marketing Operations post), and act with clarity and courage
- Understand and are able to demonstrate how their efforts contribute to the success of the organization
Enslaved Marketers
- Blindly do what they’re told, what’s always been done, refusing to rock the boat (even when it is sinking)
- Focus on firefighting, pleasing the boss, pointing fingers and playing politics
- Live in constant fear of ”Big Brother”; of being exposed, losing their power (if they have any) and, ultimately, their jobs
- Spend much more time justifying their existence than creating real value
What type of marketer are you, empowered or enslaved?
If your organization empowers you, you have an incredible opportunity to really experience the best of Marketing Operations — to be part of the transformation, the shift in Modus Operandi (MO).
If you’re inside an organization that enslaves you, Marketing Operations is yet another vehicle to maintain the status quo — to keep a sick system sick. Is this the future you envisioned for yourself when you first entered the workplace?
You have a choice.
For more on the relationship of Marketing Operations to the stature of Marketing and Marketing professionals, check out my article, “Integrated? Strategic? Why Marketing Needs a New MO”
Gary
Highlight any portion you want:
February 4, 2010
Marketing and IT are arguably two of the most overloaded and under-resourced functions in the enterprise. As marketing complexity increases, a key aspect of a scalable marketing strategy is the automation of repetitive, manual processes. In most organizations, Marketing cannot advance these automation initiatives through its own resources. It needs IT. Today, our newest associate partner, Simon Daniels, offers an insightful prescription on exactly what Marketing needs – and doesn’t need – from IT. The following article is republished from Database Marketing magazine — Gary
What Marketing Needs from IT
by Simon Daniels
It’s well known that Sales and Marketing are like cats and dogs in many companies. Constant conflicts take place over the value of marketing activity, the quality of leads and their subsequent follow-up and the appropriate assignment of credit for opportunities that result in new business wins. These issues are much discussed and suggested solutions abound.
What though, of the relationship between Marketing and IT? Technology is crucial to modern marketing in the form of database systems, campaign automation, digital and interactive platforms, analytics and much more. We turn to our IT colleagues for solutions in these areas to help us manage customer lifecycle, campaign execution, measurement and many other aspects of marketing activity. Alongside systems deemed business critical in finance and operations though, Marketing is often afforded lower priority and left to fend for itself.
Continue reading Simon’s article on the Marketing Operations Partners website.
Highlight any portion you want:
January 11, 2010
In conjunction with his new book, Bernie Borges recently interviewed me about Marketing Operations 2.0. We’ve received a lot of great feedback about the value of the conversation. Check out the podcast.
I thought it also would be instructive to share what Bernie wrote in his blog in introducing me and the podcast. I’m sure you’ll appreciate his interpretation of the work I (and fellow Marketing Operations practitioners) perform every day to help change the MO of Marketing. Gary
Gary Katz is CEO of Marketing Operations Partners, located in Silicon Valley. Gary has a background in PR. He developed a concept which intrigued me because it fits well with the mindset shift in my book.
Gary authored a chapter in my book, Marketing 2.0, appropriately named Marketing Operations 2.0. Here is the definition of Marketing Operations (MO) from that chapter.
“Marketing Operations is a relatively new discipline that can be defined as a comprehensive, end-to-end operational discipline that leverages processes, technology, guidance, and metrics to run the marketing function as a profit/value center, growth driver, change catalyst and fully accountable business. MO reinforces marketing strategy and execution with a scalable and sustainable infrastructure. MO seeks to nurture a collaborative, well-aligned ecosystem, both within and outside the marketing department, to drive achievement of strategic objectives.”
MO Delivers the Operating Plan for the Marketing Department
When I asked Gary to translate that explanation into plain English, he used an analogy which I believe does the job. Gary says that the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of a business is like the driver of a car. The purpose of getting into a car is to drive to a destination. The driver is responsible for the outcome, but there are many other factors that must be in place to get there. The car’s engine must be operating well. The tires must have enough air. The wheels must be aligned to drive safely. The roadways must offer an efficient pathway. And, the driver must have knowledge of the roadways or have a navigation system for guidance. And, the car needs periodic maintenance to stay prepared for ongoing use.
MO builds a high performance car and makes sure there is a plan to get to the destination. Gary points out that MO is essentially like an operating plan for the CMO. He refers to his company, Marketing Operations Partners as a COO for the CMO. This explanation makes sense to me because the CMO needs an operational plan to manage all the marketing activities which include a myriad of marketing campaigns comprised of advertising, email, SEO, SEM, social media marketing, media relations, etc.
Gary says that MO places a lot of emphasis on alignment of messaging with the rest of the company. MO helps deal with change management for the marketing function acting as a chief of staff for the CMO to guide in effective execution of all marketing activities. In other words, the CMO is like the CEO of their business. MO is the COO to the CMO.
Accelerating the Sales Process
In my book, Gary addresses how MO can accelerate the sales process. Here are two key points on this popular topic.
1) Lead Flow: Nurtuing prospects who are not ready to buy today into prospects of tomorrow. A Sirius Decisions study indicates only 20% of leads get followed up by sales, 70% of which are disqualified. Shockingly, 80% of those leads buy from someone within 24 months. The issue for any CMO is the pressure to show ROI in the face of so much waste.
MO offers a lead process supported by a technology solution. Many companies put in place the technology (CRM systems, tracking systems, etc.) before creating the lead development and nurturing process. Can you say “cart in front of the horse?”
2) Alignment of Sales Process with Buying Process: Since social media is meant to be a platform where conversations occur and relationships are built, new processes must be defined. Remember MO is also a mindset. Gary was inspired from the book Think Like your Customer. He encourages marketers to ask: “How attractive are we to our prospective buyers?”
Thinking Differently
Businesses need to think differently in an environment where economic pressures ask you to close deals this quarter. Sellers have big pressures. But, buyers don’t want to be engaged in a sales pressure situation. Sellers need to get the buyer to “like you.” MO provides the roadmap for a CMO to implement marketing strategies with process and discipline. Organize marketing activities around the customer. Break down the silos that exist in your business. Examine how the functions in your business align with marketing such as customer service, P.R. sales, manufacturing/distribution, etc. They are all part of the marketing function. If they are not aligned, those who touch the customer directly will reflect a different message or attitude than your marketing message.
Demonstrating Measurable Returns on Marketing
Using MO to measure results always comes back to the business goals. Social media is a new channel. You can measure details such as RSS subscriptions, website traffic from new keywords used in social media, names of employees producing great content, etc. The challenge for many companies is that using social media is still new. There is no history or benchmark. The analytics usually provides indicators but not results. Executives ask the CMO how these metrics impact revenue today? In most cases they will affect revenue in the future, not the immediate present. So, it’s imperative the CMO has strategic alignment with the CEO and all other key stakeholders in the business for short term survival and long term success.
MO Take Away
Regardless of the size of your company here’s the take-away on marketing operations…How do you execute a marketing strategy regardless of individuals? How can you build a marketing organization that sets the right processes and can scale effectively as the company grows? The more you grow, the more marketing programs you run and the more challenges you will face in measuring, managing and staffing.
Companies are wise to think with an MO mindset before you get into trouble. You can’t defend your marketing budget, your people or your programs without processes. You’ll get marketing programs (or people) cut when things go wrong without MO processes in place. Often senior management doesn’t understand the value of what was cut in the absence of MO processes until after it’s been cut. Reduce your risk and maximize your long term success with an MO mindset.
If this topic interests you, you can learn more from Gary Katz and his company Marketing Operations Partners at his website, his MO blog, his LinkedIn groups, and his MO presentations on Slideshare. You can also follow Gary on Twitter.
So, what’s your take away from this MO discussion?
Bernie Borges
Highlight any portion you want:
October 11, 2009
Yep, Marketing Operations 2.0 is really upon us! I’m going to be presenting a web seminar on the topic, “Marketing Operations: MObilizing Marketing in a Web 2.0 World” for the Business Marketing Association on Tuesday, October 20 at 10:30 a.m. Central, 8:30 a.m. Pacific time. Check out the details below:
BMA Web Seminar
Date:
October 20, 2009
Time:
10:30 a.m. CST
Cost:
BMA Members — No Charge
Non-Members — $99
Registration:
- Click here to register.
- Reserve your slot in the web seminar. After registering, a receipt page will open. On this page, click the link asking you to reserve your slot to complete the reservation process.
This BMA web seminar, led by Gary Katz, CEO of Marketing Operations Partners and founder of the Marketing Operations Future Forum, details the emergence of MO 2.0, how it intersects with Web 2.0, what it is, the types of challenges it addresses, why it’s important and how it evolves toward maturity within organizations.
Web Seminar Details:
The new marketing paradigm we know as Web 2.0 and its sidekick, Social Media, have captured our imaginations. Complementary concepts have emerged of late to reinforce these new visions of stakeholder engagement: Inbound Marketing, Marketing 2.0 and Sales 2.0.
But none of these new models of engagement will reach their vast potential if not supported by a driving force from within the organization – one that delivers the same type of systems approach and collaborative framework that Web 2.0 provides externally.
Marketing Operations 2.0 (MO 2.0) is that MObilizing force.
The emerging discipline of Marketing Operations 2.0 is integral to helping enterprises manage this transition from the old to the new. As focus intensifies on organizational transparency and accountability, a key role of MO 2.0 is to help enterprises stay in integrity by ensuring that their deeds match their promises. Where once marketing was valued for its creativity and ability to put a compelling spin on company activities, MO 2.0 integrates operational muscle, measurement rigor and holistic, cross-functional alignment behind the marketing strategy and associated tactics.
Gary
Highlight any portion you want:
June 4, 2009
|
|
