A dozen years ago, marketing operations (MOPs) was the new kid on the block. Today, it’s an essential part of nearly every CMO’s toolkit.
Want proof? 93% of B2B marketers say that having a robust MOPs function is a key to their success, according to a survey from MarketingOps, Adobe, and Knack.
But not all MOPs teams are created equal. They can run the gamut from a one-person many-hat-wearing-band to a machine-engine team of full-out rock stars. As companies level up their MOPs functions, they gain new capabilities and move to a higher level of technological sophistication.
How can you benchmark your company’s MOPs function, and where does your team stand on the MOPs tech maturity curve? Let’s take a peek.
Before we dive into MOPs benchmarking, let’s review 5 must-haves of a successful MOPs program.
1. Dedicated MOPs resources – Achieving a sophisticated level of MOPs takes focus. Creating a MOPs-specific team is critical for any business that wants to grow and succeed long term.
2. A MOPs roadmap – Your roadmap should spell out which projects you’ll tackle each quarter. Include specific goals and timelines.
3. Accountability – Be clear about who on your team will lead various MOPs functions so you can set a solid foundation for governance.
4. Balance – Scale your team wisely to meet demand. Technical-level staff members with deep MOPs expertise can help you integrate systems as you add new solutions to your tech stack. Rely on secondary team members to execute your strategy tactfully.
5. Clean data – Conduct regular data audits. Reduce open-text fields. Ensure that your data populates correctly across all systems during all integrations.
At Unreal Digital Group, we created the Tech Maturity Curve to help marketing leaders benchmark their level of MOPs sophistication. The four levels of tech maturity:
Level 1 – Building – You’re establishing fundamental marketing and operational practices and deploying essential email communications that follow unsubscribe best practices.
Level 2 – Scaling – You’re getting more strategic and improving basic processes for automation, segmenting, and repeating within your marketing automation platform or CRM.
Level 3 – Optimizing – You’ve expanded your MOPs strategy to integrate multiple technologies and achieve a full-funnel view of your prospects and accounts.
Level 4 – Disrupting – You’ve reached MOPs nirvana and operate at the highest level possible.
When you know where your MOPs team stands on the tech maturity curve, you’ll gain valuable insight that will help you grow the value of your people, processes, and technology.
Follow the roadmap to MOPs maturity, with our new interactive guide. Inside you’ll discover:
If you want a set of outside eyes to evaluate your tech maturity, we’d love to help. Send us a message, or reach out to Ricky Spiese, our head of sales and marketing.