Process is the missing ‘P’ in Marketing Technology

Data and marketing technology are key enablers used by marketers to enhance their ability to engage customers through personalisation – however, they must be utilised properly to succeed. To do this, there must be a focus on process; how new tools are used, how roles and responsibilities of the teams will adapt and where opportunities to work more efficiently to increase scale and capacity within each team exist.

As one of the core pillars in how a marketing team functions (alongside ‘People’, ‘Data’ and ‘Tech’), ‘Process’ underpins everything to establish cohesive ways of working across teams with differing priorities. This is particularly important when we see that only around 20%(1) of customer engagement teams are owned by marketing, with the majority sitting within teams like IT and product. Therefore, ensuring clear processes are set up and implemented will help remove any potential gaps when teams are siloed and have different objectives.

At CACI, we have identified three core principles that should govern how businesses approach process when thinking about enhancing their marketing capabilities:

1. Processes should continue to evolve as new technologies are implemented

One process does not necessarily fit all situations. With new marketing technology companies continuously entering the market, and the more established MarTech platforms adding new features to keep up, an often-forgotten consequence is that teams do not then consider the need to continuously evaluate how their processes should evolve. As a result, any new technology or data systems will either only fix issues in the short term, or not make any difference at all from the systems they’re replacing . Therefore, ensuring that processes are reviewed regularly and incrementally will enable you to get the most out of the technology you’ve invested in.

2. Process is not limited to a single team or function – it should define how different parts of the business interact with each other

Different teams will have different priorities, meaning that if processes, roles and responsibilities are defined and understood across the business, then work is unlikely to be missed or de-prioritised. This is particularly important during peak periods and when you have multiple teams working on the same campaign or across multiple regions, where teams may become siloed across a business.

Furthermore, when creating a process for a team to follow, the entire end-to-end process must be considered – from the inception of the idea to the briefing and building, deployment, campaign analysis and future optimisations. While we would typically think about the build as the most process-heavy area, we must ensure that from start to finish, roles and responsibilities have been defined to maintain consistency across all projects.

3. Efficient processes will save you money, time and potential mistakes

Outdated processes can be a hinderance. If new technology or teams are added, but there are improper or irrelevant processes, you are unlikely to recognise the benefits you invested in. As a result, it will take significantly longer to realise any value from the investments you have already made.

This requires people, technology and data to integrate seamlessly, and having a rock-solid process can help this. By ensuring that the right processes are in place, you will also find that productivity increases, operating costs should decrease, errors will reduce, and you will be able to remove any duplication of effort.

How CACI can help

CACI can support you with setting up processes for your teams by reviewing current practices and recommending a more streamlined approach , either to assess your readiness to implement new technology or data, or to make the necessary changes around existing capabilities to make them work harder. A recent example of how we’ve grouped each section for new processes is as follows:

• Ideation, strategy and planning
• Resource planning and briefing
• Design, content, copy and localisation
• QA, testing and approvals
• Data selections, set-up and execution
• Reporting and measurement
• Optimisation and iteration

However, all process mapping projects are bespoke to how you would be best set up to succeed. To find out more about how our experts can help set you up on the path to success, please get in touch.

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