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    Learn B2B SaaS Marketing

    Must-Have Skills for a B2B SaaS Marketing Operations Manager

    Last updated: June 11th, 2024

    If you’re missing pipeline targets and you’re unsure of where to start troubleshooting, hiring a B2B SaaS marketing operations manager is likely a great solution for your business. However, to get the right person for the job and reap all the benefits, you must know what skills to prioritize when selecting candidates.

    The benefits of having a marketing operations manager in your team are definitely worth the efforts of the hiring process. But before we get to the most important skills and tips on nailing recruitment, let’s see the telltale signs your business needs a marketing operations manager.

    When Do You Need a B2B SaaS Marketing Operations Manager?

    There are several reasons that would push you towards hiring a marketing operations manager, and all are related to seeing slower business growth than expected. This tells you that something is not working as it should, signaling the necessity for workflow optimization.

    There could be a problem with automations not being used to their full potential or conflict and miscommunication between sales and marketing teams. Slow business growth could also stem from inefficient sales funnels, which require careful analysis to identify the cause and find a solution.

    Engaging a marketing operations manager or team can improve customer experience through faster, more effective service and enhanced use of marketing automation tools. The right candidate will also know how to improve communication and collaboration between teams and their overall productivity. And we all know that happy customers and a productive team lead to powerful campaigns and improved ROI.

    What Are the Core Responsibilities Within Marketing Operations?

    Marketing operations involves aligning customer engagement, technology, and processes to facilitate business growth. While large companies usually require a marketing operations team made up of multiple staff members, smaller businesses only need a marketing operations manager to oversee all marketing processes.

    The core responsibilities of a marketing operations team include:

    • Monitoring and optimizing campaigns
    • Assessing campaign data and analytics
    • Funnel reporting
    • Redistributing resources to ensure KPIs are met
    • Managing customer and stakeholder expectations

    If only a marketing operations manager is engaged, they take on a multifaceted role. Their primary concern is optimizing operations across the board and delegating some tasks to the existing marketing team. They focus on overseeing the implementation of marketing campaigns to ensure they meet KPIs. If campaigns fall short, the manager investigates to identify the issues and areas of improvement.

    It’s likely the marketing operations manager will also be responsible for training and supporting team members to use new tools and processes designed to improve operations.

    Key Marketing Operations Skills for the B2B SaaS Niche

    B2B SaaS marketing operations managers require a diverse set of hard skills to excel in the role. These skills include:

    • Digital marketing expertise: Proficiency in A/B split testing and maximizing the potential of different ad platforms.
    • Project management: Competency in managing projects from infancy to completion, whether leading a team or working independently.
    • Email marketing and automation: A solid understanding of email marketing and the platforms used will help boost efficiency. In addition, understanding how various workflows can be automated will reduce pressure on the marketing team.
    • Competency with various marketing software: Experience with CRM software like Salesforce or HubSpot, database management software like BigQuery, and various email marketing or CMS platforms.
    • Data analytics and business intelligence: Experience in data analysis and a high level of competency with the required software, like Power BI, Google Analytics, or Baremetrics.

    The soft skills a marketing operations manager should possess include:

    • Analytical thinking: Ability to analyze data and make data-driven decisions, with meticulous attention to detail and workflow documentation.
    • Strong communication and leadership skills: Ability to clearly communicate with the team and lead with confidence.
    • Fast learner with a growth mindset: Willingness to learn and adapt when it comes to new trends, alternative strategies, new software, etc.
    • Time management skills: Effective time management to ensure projects are implemented within a set schedule.

    How to Nail the Recruitment Process

    Recruitment is a stressful and often expensive process, so you want to get it right the first time.

    Because of our vast experience in recruiting marketing professionals over the years, we’ve fine-tuned our recruitment process, which we call Talent-Trajectory Fit. Simply put, it’s designed to help you find the right talent for your SaaS business that aligns with your specific business growth goals.

    First, detail your strategic objectives and understand what needs to be done to achieve them. Then, establish clear criteria for the ideal candidate, like having at least 5 years of experience working in marketing. This will help you formulate and facilitate comprehensive interviews, and narrow down your list of applicants.

    Interview questions should encourage candidates to speak freely and elaborate on responses. Open-ended situational questions are ideal because they’ll give you insight into the candidates’ problem-solving approaches. We also recommend incorporating a skills-based test to assess candidates’ proficiency in the required hard skills.

    Check out our article for more details on our Talent-Trajectory Fit framework.

    Alternative Options to Hiring In-House

    If you don’t want to go down the recruitment path, hiring externally might be an even better choice. This decision eventually comes down to weighing the benefits against those of hiring in-house.

    In-House or External?

    Hiring in-house certainly has some benefits, like retaining expertise and institutional knowledge within the business. The biggest downsides to hiring in-house, however, are the hidden costs and the time it takes to onboard and get value out of a new employee.

    Hiring externally, on the other hand, provides immediate access to marketing experts ready to go from day one. There’s still onboarding time to account for, but it’s greatly reduced because they will not become a permanent part of your workforce and, therefore, don’t need to go through the full onboarding process.

    You’ll get access to expert advice from different areas of marketing and can increase and decrease resources as needed. The costs often work out about the same when you factor in HR and other overheads associated with full-time staff.

    Related:

    If hiring externally makes more sense for your business, it’s time to decide between engaging a marketing agency or a consultant.

    Hiring A Consultant or a Marketing Agency?

    The choice between engaging a marketing agency or a consultant comes down to whether you need a range of functionality and resources or specialized guidance.

    A marketing agency can step in to fill multiple roles that are lacking within your marketing department, whereas a consultant will be ideal if you have a fully functional marketing team but lack specific expertise to guide them.

    Typically, consultants are ideal for early-stage SaaS businesses that are trying to establish product-market fit or have a strategy that needs guidance and careful execution.

    At Powered by Search, we offer a range of marketing services to B2B SaaS clients, from developing high-converting PPC campaigns to demand generation strategies. We deliver results in 90 days or less and tailor our approach to every business and its unique needs. If you’re interested in learning more, get in touch, and let’s have a chat.

    Wrapping Up

    The role of marketing operations manager requires significant analytical capability and strategic thinking. Whether you choose to go through the recruitment process or outsource, be sure to carefully assess the person or agency so you know you’re getting the capability your business growth requires.

    On that note, before continuing to scale, you need a baseline understanding of your business’s current position. Try out our SaaS scalability score self-assessment to grasp how the business stacks up against the competition and determine your next steps for growth.

    What you should do now

    Whenever you’re ready…here are 4 ways we can help you grow your B2B software or technology business:

    1. Claim your Free Marketing Plan. If you’d like to work with us to turn your website into your best demo and trial acquisition platform, claim your FREE Marketing Plan. One of our growth experts will understand your current demand generation situation, and then suggest practical digital marketing strategies to hit your pipeline targets with certainty and predictability.
    2. If you’d like to learn the exact demand strategies we use for free, go to our blog or visit our resources section, where you can download guides, calculators, and templates we use for our most successful clients.
    3. If you’d like to work with other experts on our team or learn why we have off the charts team member satisfaction score, then see our Careers page.
    4. If you know another marketer who’d enjoy reading this page, share it with them via email, Linkedin, Twitter, or Facebook.