Having trouble getting your marketing campaigns off the ground? Even the best marketing operations can get jammed up at some point in the process. Let’s take a look at three common bottlenecks that can gum up the MOps works and consider ways to address these obstructions. 

1. Stakeholders in the Way

Let’s face it – sometimes it’s hard to get everyone on the same page. Progress can be slowed down by:

• Approvals. Getting approvals from all the stakeholders in a timely manner can be like herding cats. They mean well, but sometimes not everyone is on the same schedule.
• Lacking information or buy-in. Delay or hesitancy in approval may be due to one or more stakeholders not fully understanding one or more components of the campaign, such as the goals of the campaign, targeting or tactics.
• Delayed reporting demands. It’s not uncommon for someone to decide they need more information and ask for detailed data reports, which take time to produce.
  

Some ways to open up stakeholder bottlenecks include:

• Ensure that Service-Level Agreements (SLAs) are in place for each phase of the campaign.
• Provide visual summaries and/or short written briefs to key stakeholders.
• Ensure that decision makers understand not only what’s behind the campaign data and decisions, but also why it’s important.
• Don’t assume the decision makers understand the campaign – check to make sure their understanding is clear and accurate.
  

2. Tech impacts

While martech stacks are supposed to be helpful, sometimes the various components can get in the way, especially when many different tools and platforms have been cobbled together. Tech issues can include:

• Broken or faltering tech components
• Data that is incomplete or dirty
• Dependence on manual processes.
  

Tech bottlenecks can be addressed by:

• Ensuring that alerts for tech interruptions are in place.
• Doing QA audits of lead capture, workflows, and attribution paths on a quarterly basis.
• Establishing a centralized location for documentation of tech connections and logic flows.
  

3. Process impacts

Even after everyone has signed off on the campaign and the tech has been aligned, the process itself can start to unravel from issues such as:

• Unclear handoffs between process steps
• Duplicate or shadow workflows
• SOP that is unclear or poorly defined.
  

Improve your campaign process by:

• Documenting and mapping out the campaign lifecycle from start to finish, showing the progression from idea to go live to reporting.
• Making sure each role is clearly assigned.
• Avoiding reinventing the wheel during and between campaigns by using shared templates and a centralized repository of campaign briefs.

AI tools and automation platforms can smooth out the campaign process, but there will still be glitches along the way. If you’re prepared to address them quickly, you can achieve faster success with your campaigns.