Given the current situation unraveling around the world and after speaking to a lot of our clients dealing with their unique set of challenges, we debated whether we should even do a fwd video during this time. Our thought was that everyone has bigger problems to deal with.

However, we decided in the end that we should do it because even though marketing ops isn't going to solve the world's problems, we truly believe all you MOps pros out there can really help your marketing teams and companies navigate this unprecedented and uncertain time.

We hope to not stoke the anxiety we're all feeling with this fwd: thinking video, but instead share some thoughts on several things we can all control that may add a tiny amount of clarity and positivity into an otherwise deeply confusing and challenging situation.

Here are 6 focus areas where Marketing Ops can help support their teams right now:

1. Training and enabling team members whose direction and requirements have completely changed

• Utilize documentation and training methods that enable them re-tool, self-serve, enhance skill sets, and help scale in ways that continue to provide value to the team member and business.
• There are a lot of team members having to change directions very quickly (e.g. Event marketers) and they may need to learn new MOps related skills so they can pivot and still reach their goals. It’s time to help them help themselves!  

2. Improving campaign execution processes to enable quick execution in this dynamic environment

• Events are being cancelled, urgent comms need to go out, and the whole company is now reliant on a narrow set of digital channels, so now more than ever campaign execution needs to be flawless and adaptable to change.
• Our audiences are also more sensitive right now so we can’t slip up and damage our brand by adding to our audience’s anxiety with issues stemming from poor campaign ops. For example, emailing the wrong person with your COVID-19 update or over emailing segments of your database because all the marketing teams and sales are reliant on email.
• Incorporate measures that help support demand across channels such as a shared email calendar and scalable request structure, and keep from inundating your database with emails.

3. Organizing data to better support communications

• Consider removing any data from your database that pose threats to your deliverability and reputation as well as implementing email verification and lead enrichment tools for more effective prospecting.  
• Now more than ever the team needs to be able to accurately build their segmentation and be able to rely on good data so no time is wasted.

4. Refining processes and order of operations for sales to seamlessly engage with leads

• Help to ensure no holes in funnels are patched and interested leads aren’t missed or gone untouched. Also, reevaluate things such as nurtures, alerts, and scoring models and adjust to best support the business' current position.
• Times have changed and sales is likely nervous. If someone is ready to engage with sales MOps issues should never be the reason that sales missed the opportunity. So it

5. Examining how your tech stack can help the team sustain and scale

• Audit which key tools are missing and those that can be replaced, then prioritize them, and reallocate team budgets if needed to help invest in what will provide the greatest value in this new environment.
• There is opportunity to invest and also remove. You need to strategically think through this new reality and make the tough decisions.

6. Reporting to emphasize value added to the business

• MOps has a huge responsibility for being proactive and reporting on performance of Marketing activities to emphasize successes and support any cases for proposed strategies and plans to continue driving revenue.
• You are closest to the data so build reports and conduct analysis to help the business make decisions during this difficult time.

As your professional MOps colleagues and support, we share this with hopes that it helps you cope and persevere through uncertain times for your company. As a MOps person we feel you are uniquely positioned to help your team mates through this time with the ideas above and more - so do your best and also look after yourself. Best of luck.

Don't forget, you can also listen to this video on our Apple podcasts or Soundcloud.