Establishing Operational Efficiency in the Age of Automation

There’s no denying the fact that that technology has drastically changed the modern marketing landscape, especially after the pandemic forced the majority of businesses and brands to rapidly embrace digital transformation. Marketing automation is quickly becoming an industry standard, reducing error, improving productivity, and increasing revenue across organizations of all sizes, from small businesses and startups to Fortune 500 corporations.
 
But along with these benefits comes the inevitable growing pains of adopting new technology into an existing business model. Weathering the storm requires strategic foresight and planning coupled with a willingness to adapt to necessary changes. To ensure your business gets by, here are three essential tips for improving operational efficiency in the age of automation.

1. Align Your Internal Teams

Most professionals agree that when departments work in isolation, operational issues arise. In fact, according to one study, 97 percent of employees and executives believe a lack of alignment within a team impacts the outcome of a task or project. Yet despite this fact, organizational silos are common in business, especially when it comes to marketing departments. One of the smartest ways to avoid bottlenecks and other operational problems — and help ensure long-term scalability and success — is to break down barriers between marketing, sales, and IT teams.

Sales & Marketing

As outbound marketing strategies wane in favor of inbound and micro-moment marketing, alignment between sales and marketing is becoming more crucial than ever before. In addition to contributing more and more leads to the sales pipeline, marketing teams are attracting more new consumers and boosting brand loyalty through scalable customer engagement strategies such as personalization, omnichannel marketing, and dynamic creative optimization (DCO).

 

At the same time, most businesses still rely heavily on their sales teams to maintain customer relationships and bring in revenue. When a lack of transparency and communication exists between sales and marketing departments, valuable leads can get lost and precious time can be wasted on generating ineffective content. In fact, stats show that 79 percent of marketing leads never convert due to a failure to nurture consumer connections, while 60 to 70 percent of B2B content sits unused because the topics are irrelevant to the buyer audience.

“For any successful B2B effort, sales and marketing need to be in cohort with a robust process and methodology that drives sales behavior and performance. In the absence of process and methodology we depend on individual strengths and weaknesses.” –Jay Kulkarni, Founder and CEO, Theorem

Marketing & Tech

In today’s digital-first business landscape, successful organizations have IT departments that do more than simply oversee technology infrastructure. As MarTech tools become more accessible and sophisticated, savvy companies are enlisting the expertise of their IT teams to ensure the best overall experiences for their customers. While digital marketing teams may be the ones responsible for creating engaging content, the success of that content relies largely on how it’s presented and delivered from a technological standpoint.

For example, in order for data-driven marketing campaigns to be successful, fast and precise IT systems need to be in place. Marketers can help boost campaign ROIs through early collaboration with tech teams to develop specific project metrics and learn how to best leverage existing analytics tools.
 
Additionally, while some cloud-based marketing platforms may require minimal tech skills to deploy, enterprise-level applications can rarely be successfully integrated into business systems without IT expertise. There are a slew of tech-focused factors to consider, from data migration and mobile strategy to permissions and single sign-on integration. It’s also essential to determine how IT teams will support the platform once it’s deployed, which requires cross-team collaboration.

2. Support & Invest In Your Employees

According to the World Economic Forum, more than half of all current workplace tasks will be performed by machines by the year 2025. While this may sound like a scary stat at first, it’s actually expected to positively affect the global workforce, creating 113 million new jobs against the 75 million that are expected to be displaced. Critical to this boom are businesses taking an active role in supporting their employees and setting them up for success through upskilling and reskilling initiatives.

While both of these practices involve teaching existing employees new skills, they are not one in the same and it’s important to note the distinction. Upskilling helps employees expand their capabilities so they can improve their performance and bring more value to their current roles, while reskilling equips employees with the skills they need to successfully shift into other positions within their organization. 

If the pandemic taught us anything, it’s that companies must be agile and ready to quickly adapt to changing trends in order to survive in an unpredictable business landscape. Having a flexible workforce is critical for this, and investing in upskilling and reskilling efforts help ensure maximum agility while also increasing employee satisfaction and retention. In fact, 80 percent of employees say participating in upskilling and/or reskilling training has boosted their confidence, while 91 percent of companies and 81 percent of employees credit upskilling and/or reskilling with improving overall productivity at work. All of these factors are critical to establishing and maintaining operational efficiency, especially in the current endemic market.

3. Embrace Creative Automation

One of the biggest benefits of automation is that it eliminates the tedious, repetitive, rules-based tasks that once had to be carried out by human employees. This can be particularly helpful when optimizing workflows and producing high volumes of dynamic marketing creatives at scale — something that’s become a competitive imperative in today’s oversaturated digital marketing landscape.
 
Creative automation can help bring operational efficiency to the workflow of in-demand creative teams. In addition to relieving them of the time-consuming administrative tasks and minor design work that often compromise productivity, these tools can help improve connectivity between teams, minimizing wasted creative energy resulting from misinformation or miscommunication.
 

From collaborative design tools such as Figma and InVision to digital asset and project management platforms like Trello, Smartsheet, and Asana, these programs provide busy teams the ability to produce effective, multi-platform creatives while saving time, effort, and money. Rather than resist the introduction of automation into the creative process, today’s most successful marketing teams are using it to increase their creative capacity, scale their content production, boost campaign ROI, and improve overall operational efficiency.

In Closing

Establishing and maintaining operational efficiency is critical for the success of any company. When it comes to marketing specifically, success relies largely on a business’s ability to adapt quickly to changing trends while still reducing costs and increasing productivity. This requires proactive planning and an investment in your employees to help ensure retention and workforce flexibility. It also involves breaking down silos, aligning your marketing team’s efforts with other key departments, and embracing tech tools that can help optimize creative workflows.

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    Meto

    Meto is a tech-based nonprofit intent on making access to quality higher education a reality for all students. We have a special focus on creating scholarships for low-income students.


    In 2018, Meto was founded to connect African students with university opportunities. Along the way, we have learned that all students can benefit from our innovative model, wherein universities make the first move and invite good-fit students to apply. So, in 2023, we opened our platform to students across the globe.

    website: https://meto-intl.org/

              Nikhil Badlani Foundation

              The Mission of the Nikhil Badlani Foundation (the “Foundation”) is to enhance the lives of underserved children in West Orange, NJ and neighboring communities through music lessons, scholarships, and traffic safety education for all.

              Since the Foundation was established in 2011, Theorem has consistently been an annual sponsor of and team participant in the STOP for Nikhil 5K Run/3K Walk. This event intends to raise traffic safety awareness and to serve as a way to remembervbgfc ≈ and honor those who have been killed or seriously injured in traffic accidents. We recognize the importance of raising awareness and road safety amongst teenagers and parents alike, especially in the local communities of our Chatham, New Jersey office. Learn more about the Nikhil Badlani Foundation at nikhilbadlanifoundation.org

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              Theorem actively aids in the ongoing fight against systemic racism and discrimination, realizing the importance of ongoing discussions surrounding diversity and inclusion.

              By contributing to organizations such as Black Girls Code and the Anti-Racism fund, we aim to be a fundamental supporter of diversity in the workplace and beyond. These organizations specifically speak to Theorem’s role as a leading voice in the technology innovation space and we avidly support their missions. The vision of Black Girls Code is to empower girls of color, ages 7-17 to become innovators in STEM fields and encourages them to be the builders of their own futures. The Anti-Racism Fund serves as a response to the inequities experienced by the African-American community. It provides monetary support to a dynamic portfolio of curated organizations as a way to inject and enable social change.

              Feeding America

              Feeding America is the largest charity working to end hunger in the United States. By partnering with local food banks, food pantries and other community food programs, Feeding America looks to advance change across the country and ensure equitable access to nutritious food.

              As a long-standing contributor and sponsor of Feeding America, we deeply believe in their vision of an America without hunger. The need for and importance of organizations like Feeding America has has become more and more prevalent as communities face more hardships as a result of the pandemic and the current economy. Theorem is dedicated to its continued contributions to Feeding America to do our part to empower and strengthen our communities. Learn more about Feeding America at www.feedingamerica.org

              Grameen America

              Grameen America is dedicated to helping entrepreneurial women who live in poverty build businesses to enable financial stability mobility.

              Since their founding in the United States in 2008, Theorem has supported Grameen America’s mission, which seeks to build upon the legacy of Presidential Medal of Freedom, Congressional Gold Medal and Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus. Through financial contributions and event participation, Theorem has contributed to Grameen America’s cause. As an immigrant entrepreneur himself, our CEO Jay Kulkarni is especially eager to support the organization’s mission of aiding underserved communities. Learn more about Grameen America at www.grameenamerica.org

              Vision Spring

              VisionSpring is making the wonder of clear vision possible for all by helping provide affordable and quality eyeglasses to those in need. For many, lack of access to affordable eyeglasses leads to loss of employment or less educational opportunities.

              VisionSpring partners with organizations who join them in their mission of supporting livelihood initiatives, enhancing potential for all. Learn more about Vision Spring at https://visionspring.org Theorem has consistently partnered with VisionSpring to organize free events, such as eye check-ups, across multiple villages in the Mysuru, India region, impacting over 3,000 rural residents. We stand with VisionSpring in their mission to increase accessibility to quality eyewear and eye care.

              Covenant House

              Covenant House provides housing and supportive services to youth facing homelessness, helping young people transform their lives.

              For more than 5+ years, Theorem has supported Covenant House with corporate sponsorships, leading career-building workshops at their Newark, NJ shelter facility and participation in the organization’s fund raising Sleep Outs. Covenant House utilizes these Sleep Outs to raise funds and help shine a light on the injustice of youth homelessness, inspiring communities to step up and protect the vulnerable. We are proud to support Covenant House’s programs, which are designed to empower young people to overcome and rise above adversity, today and in the future. Learn more about Covenant House at www.covenanthouse.org

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