Data means everything to today’s businesses. Market intelligence firm IDC predicted the amount of newly created data in 2020 would grow 44X to reach 35 trillion gigabytes. By 2018, we were already well on our way to exceeding that estimation. Numbers aside, this is to say that as the sheer amount of data humans create and deal with every day increases, it will only become more critical for today’s businesses to better manage and utilize that information efficiently in order to deliver the best possible experience.
This is where marketing operations comes in. Across sectors, as the importance of data grows, marketing operations (“ops”) teams have taken on an increasingly prominent role in their organizations. Often seen as the “maestros” of marketing technology systems — the ones who understand data, processes and logistics best — marketing ops teams have grown in prominence, and even raised the bar for traditional marketers who are now expected to have the skills and know-how ops professionals typically hold.
Even so, there’s one channel that marketing ops professionals have struggled to incorporate into their overall data strategy: events. With in-person events only gaining momentum in the marketing stack, and more event data at marketers’ fingertips than ever before, the opportunity is big for marketing ops teams to step in and streamline processes to drive better results and improve the efficiency of these key moments for the business.
The Challenges With Events
Without the right solutions and teams in place, today’s companies face a number of obstacles when it comes to executing successful events that make the case for how marketing operations can play a greater role.
The first is inconsistent tools and processes: oftentimes, events are run and executed on a number of different solutions that aren’t strongly integrated with the rest of the marketing technology stack. Naturally, data from all of these disparate outlets fails to paint an overall picture of an event’s success. Then, with inconsistent and incomplete data, the leads process is more difficult to manage and return on investment (ROI) is difficult to realize.
Where Marketing Operations Can Play A Bigger Role
With all of this in mind, the need for a more streamlined approach to events and event data is clear. So, why is marketing ops best positioned to lead this charge?
At its core, even as the role has evolved in the last few years, marketing ops has a critical eye for improving operational efficiency and always mapping objectives to greater ROI. What’s more, marketing ops professionals have a strong understanding of what insights to look for and collect to help determine the next best sales and marketing actions.
A prime example of marketing operations and events in action can be seen with manufacturing technology company Rockwell Automation, which transformed its marketing ops organization globally — and their approach to events as a result. The Rockwell team developed set data standards to reset on data best practices and ensure consistent information was being collected across all of their events. Beyond that, the company also created step-by-step playbooks for their global events teams that defined processes for everything from registration to leads follow-up. As a result, Rockwell experienced increased productivity and greater results across their events.
Together with event marketing and sales teams, marketing ops can help simplify events processes, and provide a single source of the truth when it comes to making sense of event data and proving ROI. In 2020, as we continue to see the proliferation of data and the increasing importance of events, marketing ops teams are poised to play a leading role in transforming how businesses develop and execute on a successful events strategy.
James is the VP of Marketing at Certain and brings over 16 years of enterprise marketing and sales experience in B2B technology. James is responsible for accelerating growth and bringing Certain’s unique story to the market. In his spare time, James stays active enjoying the San Francisco Bay Area and rooting for the local sports teams with his wife and daughters.
