11,000+ different marketing technologies are available to be used by marketers!
Amazed?
I am!
How about defining the right marketing technology stack for your business and implementing it? How do you intend to achieve that?
Marketing operations professionals, experts in a specific group from these 11000+ technologies, can help you do that.
But you don’t need to hire in-house full-time marketing ops professionals.
A marketing ops agency would serve the purpose well. Onboarding an agency would increase your team’s bandwidth, help handle challenging projects, add technology specialists to your team, and support them to meet your business goals.
How do you select the right marketing ops agency and what should you be looking for, in an agency? This is what I suggest to our customers.
But first things first.
Difference between a marketing agency and a marketing ops agency
This is a very common confusion amongst prospects.
A marketing agency offers marketing campaign strategy services.
While a marketing operations agency offers all things MOps (data, technology, process, analytics).
10 Key Factors to Consider When Choosing a Marketing Ops Agency
Agency expertise: Number of technologies vs depth of knowledge in each
While evaluating an agency for their expertise, go through their partner page and check out the number and type of partners they have.
This is an example of a partner page that showcases expertise in a specific set of marketing technologies.
Source: fractional CMO
A partner page with too many logos depicts a wide range of services that have around 1000+ employees, but that means marketing ops would be one among their multiple services. And they might not have a vast knowledge of each one of those.
On the contrary, a specialist marketing ops agency will have fewer partnerships, with less than 150 people and deep expertise in those technologies.
Carefully evaluate their website to check for the technologies they are offering services for.
Project management methodology and expertise
When evaluating marketing ops agencies, it's crucial to ensure that your projects are executed on time, within budget, and with proper QA testing. Look for agencies with a robust project management process and transparent communication practices.
Beware of agencies that charge for project management without actually managing projects. Effective project management is as important as consultant expertise.
Ask about the agency's project management methodology, tools used, and whether you'll have a dedicated project manager.
At fractional CMO, we use ClickUp for effective and efficient project management.
In customer reference calls, discuss the agency's project management practices, including communication frequency, adherence to timelines, and handling of scope changes or additional costs.
How does the agency assure Quality?
Mistakes are natural and likely to occur anytime.
But what makes a marketing ops agency different from the others, is their ability to recognize and resolve the mistakes as soon as possible. This reduces/removes the chances of mistakes and potential project delays for you.
To evaluate the Quality Assurance (QA) process for an agency, ask for customer testimonials and documentation of their approach.
Try getting in touch with those customer references and validate the agency’s QA process with these questions:
- What is the agency’s QA process like?
- Was there a situation when their QA process failed to meet your expectations?
- How does the agency identify and resolve mistakes?
What else does their team bring to the table?
In a marketing ops agency model, you will be assigned a primary consultant for your project. But they will have internal team members, including developers, email marketers, campaign ops experts, and others.
Always understand what the rest of the force looks like so that you can outsource other ops requirements to them, and free up your team’s bandwidth for other strategic initiatives.
SOW structure and clarity
A Scope of Work (SOW) details the entire project and the hours needed to complete it. Ensure it is clear to you and has all the details needed by your finance team.
There are majorly 3 types of SOW’s:
- Project-based: This includes a flat charge for a particular project, with set deliverables and timelines. Make sure it has details on both of the above. It can also include an option to get additional hours to be used as expanded work on the deliverables.
- Retainer-based: A fixed number of hours/week model is a retainer-based SOW. These hours can be for specific projects or ad-hoc tasks.
- Bucket of hours: In this model, you purchase a set of hours and use it for a project or other tasks.
Other than the models, the marketing ops agency should send you regular updates on the project and the hours billed.
Willingness to edit/change SOWs with business shifts
Your business might change/remodel with changing needs and your agency partner should be willing to pivot when you need.
Accordingly, they must be ready and able to alter the SOWs. Verify if they are willing/able to do the same if required.
Best practices they bring along with them
The right marketing ops agency will have a pre-defined structure, best practices, and templates. They should have a clearly defined process for assisting you to address important operational decisions.
The agency should also be able to import tried and tested templates and best practices to save your time and the chances of errors will significantly reduce.
Agency reputation
The marketing ops agency is brimming with agency partners, and reviewing the reputation of the one you choose is critical.
Look for customer reviews on platforms like G2. Review what the existing/past customers are saying about the agency.
The agency should also be willing to put you on the phone/connect you via email with their customers. You must connect with 2 types of customers:
- Customer associated for a long time (1-2 years): They will be able to tell you about the good, bad, and the best part of the agency partner you are reviewing.
- New customers (3-4 months): They will be able to give you details of their onboarding process and whether the promises made during initial calls were matched in the delivery or not.
Communication methodology and responsiveness of the agency
Make sure to ask about the marketing ops agency’s communication method.
At fractional CMO, we use Slack for chat-based communication instead of long email threads, unless necessary to be documented on emails.
For meeting them virtually, review how soon you can get on a call with them. If they use Calendly or other self-scheduling meeting apps, they deserve brownie points for that.
Agency pricing
Evaluate the pricing the agency quotes for marketing ops services.
Remember, everything that’s cheap wouldn’t necessarily be good. Being too cheap can be a potential red flag as it may cost you more in the total number of hours being billed.
An agency that quotes way less than the market average can mean way less than average service quality.
Carefully evaluate the pricing of an agency’s services and then finalize.
Wrapping up
Navigating the vast landscape of marketing technologies requires the expertise of marketing operations professionals.
Hiring a marketing ops agency offers a flexible and efficient solution, providing specialized knowledge, project management expertise, and a comprehensive quality assurance process.
By considering factors such as expertise, project management methodology, quality assurance practices, team composition, communication, reputation, and pricing, you can confidently select the right agency to drive your marketing operations success.
With their support, you can optimize your technology stack, streamline processes, and achieve your business goals in the ever-evolving marketing landscape.
Looking for the perfect marketing ops agency? fractional CMO is here for your business.
Visit our website and get in touch with our MOps experts, Today.
