#210: Strategy | Building a Marketing Operating System with the Team at Tenon (Ben Person, CEO & Co-Founder, Jessica Skovira, VP Marketing, & Hannak Rankin, Growth Marketing Manager)
Jan 13, 2025
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In this discussion, Jessica Skovira, VP of Marketing, and Hannak Rankin, Growth Marketing Manager at Tenon, reveal how to create an effective marketing operating system. They emphasize the need for aligning marketing goals with business objectives to drive results. Practical strategies for campaign planning and managing tasks are shared, showcasing how to foster team collaboration. The duo also highlights the importance of flexibility in adapting to changes while maintaining clarity and performance in marketing efforts.
Aligning marketing initiatives with business goals is essential for driving meaningful results and improving overall campaign effectiveness.
Implementing a structured marketing operating system enhances team efficiency by streamlining task management and prioritizing high-value work.
Utilizing templates for marketing processes fosters consistency, reduces errors, and facilitates smoother onboarding for new team members.
Deep dives
The Challenge of Marketing Attribution
Marketing attribution in B2B environments is notoriously complex, making it difficult for marketers to assess the effectiveness of their strategies. The introduction of Paramark's marketing attribution platform highlights a new approach, as it simplifies measurement without relying solely on traditional click attribution methods. Instead, it combines marketing mix modeling and incrementality testing to provide insights into brand performance across various levels, channels, and campaigns. This method allows marketers to pinpoint where to invest their resources effectively, ultimately driving business growth.
Building a Marketing Operating System
Establishing a structured marketing operating system helps high-performing marketing teams manage tasks efficiently amidst complex demands and numerous project requests. By creating a systematic approach to marketing work, teams can prioritize and execute tasks strategically rather than reactively. The need for a centralized project management tool becomes apparent as it allows marketers to triage incoming requests and align work efforts to larger business goals. Ultimately, this organizational strategy can lead to increased productivity and efficiency within the marketing team.
The Importance of Brand Alignment
Aligning marketing initiatives with overarching business goals is essential, as successful campaigns directly correlate with company objectives. Metrics such as website traffic, social media engagement, and lead generation serve as tangible indicators to gauge brand effectiveness. Marketers can build campaigns rooted in business goals, ensuring that every effort contributes to sales and customer acquisition efforts. Continual assessment and adjustment of these goals throughout the year refine efforts and enhance overall alignment between marketing and business strategy.
The Role of Templates in Marketing Work
Implementing templates across marketing processes streamlines workflow and minimizes the chaos often experienced in creative environments. These templates serve as guides for recurring tasks, allowing marketing teams to execute with greater consistency and effectiveness. By establishing clear procedures and standardized documents for various marketing tasks, teams can onboard new members more efficiently and reduce the risk of errors. This approach also fosters a culture of collaboration, as team members can easily adapt and improve upon templates based on their experiences.
Handling Brand Goals in Pre-Revenue Companies
For pre-revenue companies, establishing brand-related goals can be particularly challenging given the lack of direct sales metrics to gauge success. Marketing leaders must create measurable objectives based on awareness and engagement benchmarks, such as increasing website visits or social media following. This allows companies to focus on building a recognizable brand while experimenting with various tactics to generate interest and leads. Regular reassessment and adjustment of these goals are necessary to ensure marketers are moving toward growth targets effectively.
In this episode, Dave is joined by the team at Tenon to go behind the scenes of B2B marketing. They talk about the marketing operating system -- specifically: how to organize your 2025 campaigns, align your team, and stay laser-focused on what matters most. You’ll learn how top marketers are using work management tactics to simplify the complexity, free up time for high-value work, and boost team performance—all while showing your boss the real impact of marketing.
Dave and the Tenon team cover:
The importance of aligning marketing goals with overarching business objectives to drive meaningful results
How to create a marketing operating system that prioritizes clarity, efficiency, and flexibility
Practical frameworks and templates for planning campaigns, managing tasks, and adapting to company needs and changes
Timestamps
(00:00) - - Intro to the Tenon Team
(05:48) - - How to Think About Your Marketing Strategy Challenges
(11:44) - - Framework for Building a Marketing Operating System
(16:22) - - Why You Should Align Marketing with Business Goals
(19:16) - - How to Ensure Campaign Alignment with Marketing Goals
(23:43) - - Why Proactive Planning Is Key
(30:25) - - How to Simplify Your Marketing Processes
(37:27) - - Leadership Strategies
(41:53) - - Tenon’s Tools for Success
(46:08) - - Aligning Brand Goals and Business Objectives
*** This episode of the Exit Five podcast is brought to you by our friends at Paramark. You’ve heard it before – every B2B marketer’s top pain point is marketing attribution. It’s complicated, messy, and too often leads to fights with your CRO over whose lead deserves credit.
That’s where Paramark steps in. Their platform makes it simple to understand what’s driving results (and what isn’t) with tools like marketing mix modeling and incremental testing. No more relying on outdated click attribution or chasing UTM links. Instead, Paramark gives you actionable insights across channels, campaigns, and geographies to help you grow.
Paramark's founder & CEO Pranav has been in your shoes as a B2B marketer. He’s so passionate about solving this problem, he’s offering listeners a free brand assessment. Pranav will personally analyze your brand’s performance and share his insights—an opportunity you don’t want to miss.
Slots are limited, so act fast. Head to paramark.com/brand-consult to claim your spot. Trust us, this is worth your time.
***
Thanks to my friends at hatch.fm for producing this episode and handling all of the Exit Five podcast production.
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