Overview
Marketing operations (MOPs) teams are critical to the success of any large marketing department. Responsibilities include the planning, execution, and measurement of marketing campaigns, as well as the integration of technology platforms and processes that enable them. To support these activities, marketing operations professionals need a project management tool that is specifically tailored to keeping them organized, on track, and aligned with the rest of the organization. However, not all PM tool configurations are created equal, and organizing your PM tool to support MOPs is crucial to the success of your marketing operations. In this post, we will explore how to configure your PM tool to support marketing operations and why it is so important.
What role should a PM Tool play in supporting marketing operations?
A PM tool should be the central hub for all marketing operations activities. It should be the bridge that connects all of the different activities, tasks, and workflows involved in planning, executing and tracking marketing campaigns and projects. The PM tool should be the single source of truth for the status of each project, the resources allocated to it, and the timelines for completion. With the right PM tool setup, MOPs can streamline their workflows, increase collaboration, and ensure that deadlines are met.
Why should companies prioritize optimization of their PM tool for marketing operations?
Your MOPs team helps ensure your automated martech stack is running smoothly. By incorporating the unique needs of your MOPs team into your PM tools, you’re maximizing benefits for all your marketing processes, including:
- Increased efficiency – Marketing operations projects involve many moving parts. When MOPs have a tool that is specifically designed with their unique needs in mind, they can work more efficiently and effectively with the greater team.
- Improved collaboration – With a PM tool that includes everyone involved, MOPs can collaborate more easily with other stakeholders, including internal teams, external agencies (like Etumos!), and vendors.
- Better visibility – A properly set up PM tool can provide MOPs with real-time visibility into project progress, allowing them to identify issues early and correct them before they become major problems. Also, it helps ensure that all team members are working toward the same goals and are aware of each other’s progress.
- Enhanced reporting – By configuring your PM tool to track and report on specific metrics, MOPs can gain valuable insights into their marketing operations and make better data-driven decisions.
When is it important for companies to optimize their PM tool for marketing operations?
It’s always important to optimize your PM tool for marketing operations, but especially when:
- You’re experiencing growth – As your marketing operations grow, so does the complexity of your projects. Optimizing your PM tool can help you manage this complexity while maintaining a high level of productivity.
- You’re working with multiple stakeholders – If you’re collaborating with multiple internal teams, external agencies, or vendors, a PM tool can help you keep everyone on the same page.
- You’re looking to improve your processes – If you’re looking to streamline your workflows and improve your processes, a PM tool designed with MOPs in mind can help you identify areas for improvement and implement changes more effectively.
How should companies configure their PM tool to ensure it will best support MOPs?
To configure your PM tool to support MOPs initiatives, consider the following:
Identify your key workflows and processes
Understand your key workflows and processes, and configure your PM tool to support them. This could look like creating custom fields, templates, and workflows that are tailored to the specific MOPs requirements of each marketing campaign.
Define your project structure
Create a list of elements required for each campaign type, including tasks, milestones, and typical duration of each step. Then build out your PM tool to include templates to match.
Templates, Templates, Templates
Once you’ve defined key processes and project structures, create templates in your PM tool to ensure requirements are consistently filled in. Every. Single. Time. Start by tackling templates for the most complex recurring projects that involve multiple sub-tasks, dependencies, approvals and stakeholders. Then work your way down the list.
Integrate with other tools
Integrate your PM tool with other marketing tools, such as marketing automation platforms, so you can streamline your workflows and improve efficiency. Consider also connecting with your team’s main communications platform, email add-on or design tools where it will provide added reminders that are helpful without becoming annoying.
Monitor the performance of the PM tool and make adjustments as needed
This could involve modifying workflows as new features are released or changing the details included on templates to avoid missing commonly forgotten items.
In conclusion, a PM tool can play a critical role in supporting marketing operations activities in enterprise companies. By optimizing the PM tool to support your MOPs best practices, you can improve your ability to plan and execute marketing campaigns, position team members around common goals, and make data-driven decisions about campaign performance. You don’t want to miss out on the valuable contributions of the MOPs team because your PM tool has been built without this key team in mind. Up level your platform and start enjoying the benefits of optimal marketing team alignment.
