The History of Marketing Operations

As of now, an average organization uses about 80-90 cloud services. Over the past decade, marketing operations have evolved a lot. And today, for each organization, marketing operations are the backbone. Starting from planning to process, resources and technology is everything today.

Traditionally marketing operations were an IT-centric role with a couple of people in the team. However, marketing tools and tricks have become vast and overwhelming in recent years. And if we look back, you can see what difference it makes than before.

But before we jump to the evolution, first, let me give you an idea about marketing operations.

What are marketing operations?

Marketing operations is the function marketing organization. It includes marketing programs, campaign planning, and annual strategic planning activities with people, processes, and technology. Marketing operation includes technology, performance measurement, reporting, and data analytics.

Marketing Trends Evolution:

1. 1920’s- Radio era:

Radio was the initial force in marketing communication. The promotion was done on the radio. It was the only option for the contact. Companies hired spokesperson who told the story about the company. Jingles were part of the campaign. It costs $100/10minutes to get a spot on the radio.

2. 1930’s- P&G branding:

In 1930, Proctor & Gamble was the first name for the brand name. It was founded in 1837. James was the one who invented the Ivory Soap & Proctor was the name behind Advertising and the role of Sales Manager.

He was the first in name due to his expertise in marketing. From 1930 to now, they have been the leader in marketing strategy. They have 83 brands now and are ranked at $1 billion.

3. 1960’s- Marketing science:

In the 1960s, the time came when one needed to introduce marketing strategies. And Marketing Science Institutes (MSI) was the one who introduced it to marketing operations.

It creates surveys and looks for feedback. After that, the result compares to their competitors. Companies send their product line sample, and at the end of the survey, Good Housekeeping gave products their seal of approval by comparing results.

4. 1970’s- Profiling customers:

Profiling of customers was to analyze customers’ needs and wants. Companies want to reach the target audience. Market research and consumer panels conduct in-depth research. Through research, they were looking for patterns and demographics, including preference, lifestyle, socioeconomic status, product use, etc.

5. 1980’s- Metrics Statistics

1980 was the new age of market planning. Marketing technology was rapidly growing. It began with Computer Identics Corporation (CIC). They installed the first barcode system at General Motors. After that universal product code was introduced in the market. Food coupons were the first step towards consumer product purchase tracking for marketing purposes.

6. 1990’s- Customer retention:

With all available data, the company wants more with data. The bar is rising for the marketing department as companies wish for a high return on investment. So, the next focus is customer retention. Thus, automatic software is introduced for marketing departments and agencies for strategic marketing research.

7. 2000-2014’s: Digital era

The 21st century is known as the digital era. It aims to add more processing of metrics technology to marketing procedures. SEM offers more options. Ad channels are created with personalized message directories; in 2003, google released ADWORDS. In 204, Facebook was born and hence the mobile revolution. In 2005, YouTube was born and became the number one video media source.

In 2006, Twitter became the second member of the mobile revolution. As a result, social media has become a vital part of marketing operations. In 2013, Programmable Media Buying became available. And in 2015, global ad spending on digital platforms crossed $171 Billion.

And today, new technology is developing each day, making marketing operations more advanced and precise. What’s your view on this evolution of marketing operations? Do share with us.

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The History of Marketing Operations