How a Marketing Agency Can Improve Your Marketing Operations

May 13

Written By

Marketing operations isn't the flashiest part of running a marketing team, but it might be the most important.

When the underlying infrastructure is broken, even the most creative campaigns can't save you. And yet, marketing ops is often the last thing organizations think to fix, and the last place they consider asking for outside help.

We sat down with Keri Witman, Clever Lucy President and Co-Founder, to talk through the marketing operations challenges we see most often, when it makes sense to bring in an agency, and what it actually looks like when that partnership works. Here's what she had to say.

1. What are some of the most common marketing operations challenges you see organizations struggling with today?

One of the biggest challenges we see with clients is data quality. Poor-quality data can negatively impact the marketing function, especially in the CRM, which is fundamental to segmenting and targeting the right audiences.

Data and CRM cleanup is often skipped because it can come with a hefty price tag. However, the cost of NOT having a clean CRM can be even greater to the bottom line.

The business impact of having bad data can include:

Lost deals or delayed deals because marketing is targeting the wrong person, title, or company.
Losing deals to competitors who may have reached the right target first.
Wasted marketing budget due to targeting the wrong segments.
Paying for contacts in your database that are not viable.
Spending marketing dollars on campaigns that aren’t performing.
Making marketing and leadership decisions based on inaccurate data.

Adjacent to the bad data issue are attribution challenges. Not leveraging the lead scoring or lifecycle stages features in CRMs is also common. Sales reps lose faith in and ignore leads from the marketing team when they are consistently unqualified, or there is no way to determine which leads to follow up on.

2. At what point should an organization consider working with an external marketing agency instead of relying solely on internal teams?

Before they are in a crisis. Mid-size companies that are on a growth trajectory often find that the systems and processes that worked when they were small and nimble no longer work as they grow larger. Anticipating the additional complexities involved in supporting a sales team, for instance, is not often planned for.

3. How can a marketing agency strengthen marketing operations for an organization (rather than simply executing campaigns)?

This is often an overlooked need for our clients. When building staffing plans for the marketing organization, they focus on execution and deliverables (who will create the campaigns and collateral, who will make the videos, who will schedule social media posts, and so on), while the actual issues impacting their growth lie in operations, including their tech stack.

Often, companies only think of bringing a marketing agency in to support creative, content creation, and execution. However, a solid B2B agency has deep knowledge and expertise in marketing operations, including process improvement, tech stack setup and management, and CRM and database management.

If a company has a strong marketing execution team but still misses the mark on performance, reporting, and sales alignment, bringing in an agency to rebuild the infrastructure could well be worth it.

4. What does a successful partnership between an internal marketing team and a marketing agency typically look like?

The most successful agency-client partnerships are just that: true partnerships. When Clever Lucy works with a client long-term, we don't operate at arm's length. We embed ourselves in your team and genuinely become part of it. I always feel a bit cliché when I say that, but it’s true! And it’s a critical part of how we do business.

We learn your goals, stay in the loop on company strategy, and collaborate and show up like a true extension of your team. That access matters because it allows us to do far more than execute. We can proactively bring fresh ideas to the table, flag opportunities you might be too close to see, and provide strategic marketing direction that keeps you on track toward your company’s goals and objectives.

The best partnerships are always those in which we’re working toward the same finish line.

Strong Marketing Starts With a Strong Foundation

If there's a common thread across all of these answers, it's that execution only works when the infrastructure behind it does too. Clean data, aligned systems, and a clear view of what's actually driving results are the foundation on which everything else is built.

From CRM cleanup and tech stack optimization to full-funnel strategy and execution, the Clever Lucy team specializes in building the operational infrastructure that makes marketing actually work. Explore our full range of marketing capabilities or book a 15-minute discovery call with us to get started.