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- MOPs vs AI: Part 3
The Rise of the Prompt People: How the future of Marketing Ops belongs to those who ask better questions The tools are getting smarter. The dashboards are prettier. The workflows practically run themselves. And yet, marketing is more confusing than ever. Why? Because we’ve hit a strange tipping point: The barrier to execution has collapsed. Now, the only thing that really matters is what you ask the machine to do. Welcome to the era of the Prompt People - a new breed of Marketing Ops professional who isn’t valued for what they build, but for how they think. The fall of the button-clickers Once upon a time, if you could navigate the quirks of a MAP or build a multi-step nurture in your sleep, you were golden. Your inbox was full of "quick questions," and you were quietly keeping the whole thing from falling apart. But that’s no longer enough. Because now, AI can: Build the nurture. Generate the email copy. Write the subject line variants. Select the audience. Set the send time. A/B test the results. Spin up a report and deliver it before you’ve finished your coffee. Execution is no longer a bottleneck. It’s a commodity. Which means the game has changed. And the winners are the ones who know what to say to the machine - and more importantly, why they’re saying it. Prompting is the new programming Here’s the secret: Prompting isn’t about syntax. It’s about thought clarity. Anyone can type: “Write me a welcome email for new customers.” But it takes a Prompt Person to think: “Write me a welcome email that acknowledges their buying pain, sets a tone of trust and maturity, positions us as a long-term partner, and uses a voice that matches our brand archetype: ‘The Wise Guide.’ Limit to 100 words. Include a soft CTA.” See the difference? Prompting isn’t just a new skill. It’s a reflection of strategic depth - and it separates the operators from the orchestrators. Discover our Podcast Why Prompt People are dangerous (in the best way) Prompt People aren’t dangerous because they write better prompts. They’re dangerous because they: Question the brief. Understand the strategy behind the execution. Translate vague stakeholder nonsense into clear, actionable machine instructions. See five steps ahead - and bake that foresight into every input. They’re not bound by tools. They float above the tech stack. And that makes them indispensable - but also deeply threatening to old-school hierarchies built on “I know how to use Eloqua.” Not everyone makes the leap Let’s be honest. Some folks in MOPs aren’t going to make it. They’ll cling to the old tools. They’ll complain that “AI isn’t ready yet.” They’ll run manual reports like it's 2018 and wonder why they’re not being invited to planning meetings. The truth is: Prompt People are replacing Platform People. Because it’s no longer about what you can do with your hands. It’s about what you can direct with your mind. This is the rise of the meta-marketer. The orchestrator. The systems thinker. They’re not writing SQL queries. They’re writing instructions that direct an ecosystem of AI agents - each one doing work that used to take a team of specialists. The new career currency In this new world, the best Prompt People have: Customer empathy (they think in buyer journeys, not just campaign steps) Strategic precision (they know what the business actually cares about) Language mastery (they can translate big ideas into clear machine instructions) Operational fluency (they know what’s technically possible — and how far to push) And crucially: They’re curious as hell . Because prompting is a creative act. You can’t coast. You have to think. And thinkers are about to get very, very valuable. It’s not man vs. machine. It’s mind + machine. Marketing Ops was never about the tools - it was about what we did with them. Now the tools can do almost anything. The only limit is the quality of the prompt. So here we are. Execution is infinite. Ideas are scarce. Strategy is king. And the people who can speak clearly to AI - with context, precision, and intent - they are going to take over. This is the rise of the Prompt People. And if you’re not one of them yet? You’ve got about 90 days before your job description becomes… predictive. Discover our Services
- MOPs vs AI: Part 2
Why Marketing Operations is the last line of defense (and offense) Let’s just admit it: The robots are coming... Not with Terminator-style laser eyes and bad Austrian accents - but with sleek UIs, cheeky SaaS branding, and sales reps who insist, “It’ll free up your time for more strategic work.” Right. That old chestnut. Welcome to the sequel no one asked for but everyone saw coming: MOPs vs The Machines. Spoiler alert: This one’s not a clean win for either side. Scene 1: The automation arms race Every vendor in MarTech is racing to slap “AI” on their product like it’s an avocado sticker - a sign of premium quality, even if what’s inside is a slightly overripe workflow builder in disguise. But the arms race isn’t about tech. It’s about control. Control over execution. Control over data. Control over who gets to define “success.” And if Marketing Operations doesn’t wake up to that power shift, they won’t just be replaced - they’ll be rerouted. You’ll still be in the org chart. You just won’t be in the room when the decisions get made. Scene 2: The quiet rebellion Here’s what the machines can’t handle: Context. Chaos. Culture. AI is great at optimising what’s already defined. But MOPs has always lived in the messy middle - the land of “this wasn’t scoped properly,” “legal wants changes,” and “Sales changed the pricing model... again.” It’s easy to automate perfection. It’s much harder to automate reality. And that’s where Marketing Ops becomes not just relevant - but critical. Because someone has to hold the line between tech promise and human reality. Someone has to know that just because a campaign fires doesn’t mean it’s aligned, on-brand, or even appropriate. Scene 3: The fall of the functionaries This is where it gets bloody. The people in MOPs who only ever ran playbooks, who never questioned the inputs, who stuck to the tickets and avoided the meetings? The machines are coming for you first. If your job can be turned into a prompt - “Build this email, segment this list, analyse this report” - guess what? That’s exactly what agentic AI is going to do. With fewer errors. And no sick days. The MOPs professionals who survive - and thrive - will be the ones who: Understand why a campaign exists, not just how it runs. Know how to interrogate AI logic, not blindly accept it. Can translate between technical teams, business stakeholders, and AI systems without dropping the thread. This isn’t the end of MOPs. It’s the end of mediocre MOPs. Discover our Podcast Scene 4: The ethical landmines Let’s not pretend AI is just a neutral helper. It reflects our inputs - and amplifies our blind spots. Imagine this: A segmentation algorithm that accidentally excludes minority groups. An AI-generated subject line that sounds like it was written by a sociopath. A predictive model that nudges users toward conversions… but in a way that feels manipulative. These aren’t bugs. These are features - of poorly governed systems. And guess who’s going to be held accountable again? Not the data scientist. Not the AI vendor’s support rep. You. Marketing Ops is quickly becoming the ethical watchdog of modern marketing - whether you asked for the job or not. Scene 5: The strategic uprising Here’s the real plot twist: The best MOPs teams aren’t fighting the machines. They’re training them. They’re the ones feeding better data. Designing smarter workflows. Building feedback loops that reflect actual business outcomes, not just click-through rates. They’re not just users of AI - they’re architects of how AI fits into the business. This is where MOPs flips the script. Not from executor to manager - that’s too small. From executor to strategist . From implementer to integrator . From ticket-taker to truth-teller. Because in a world where AI can do anything, the real value is knowing what should be done. The final scene: Choose your role MOPs vs The Machines isn’t really a battle. It’s a test. A test of whether you see this shift as a threat or a turning point. You can hide behind tools and hope no one notices you’re no longer necessary. Or you can stand up, grab the whiteboard pen, and redefine the function before someone else does. The machines are moving fast. But MOPs? You’ve always been the one who knows how to fix the machine when it breaks. You’re not obsolete. You’re essential. You just need to stop acting like support - and start acting like mission control. Discover our Services
- MOPs vs AI: Part 1
What exactly will be left for Marketing Ops to do once Agentic AI gets ‘Full Self Driving’? It’s a question that sounds like a punchline. But for anyone working in Marketing Operations right now, it feels a bit more like a gut punch. Because let’s face it - if the vision playing out on vendor pitch decks and keynote stages comes true, the future of MOPs is one where AI plans the campaign, builds the assets, chooses the segments, runs the tests, watches the results, and optimises the next round - all without a human ever touching the keyboard. No more QA cycles. No more tagging spreadsheets. No more tickets to fix dynamic content rendering in four different ESPs. Just click "Run" . Sit back. Let the machine drive. And then what? The death of the doer? Marketing Operations has traditionally been the engine room of execution. It’s the place where strategy gets translated into actual campaigns, with all the logic and logistics in between. But if AI becomes not just a co-pilot, but a pilot , where does that leave the people who used to fly the plane? There’s a brutal honesty needed here: A lot of what MOPs has done over the past decade is ripe for automation. Not because the people weren’t valuable - but because the work was often undervalued. Under-supported. Repetitive. Mechanical. The dream of “Full Self Driving” AI in marketing isn’t just about efficiency - it’s about finally eliminating the slog that so many MOPs professionals were quietly drowning in. But there’s a second layer to that dream - and it’s more of a nightmare if you’re not ready for it. Because once the execution becomes invisible, the people behind it often do, too. The uncomfortable truth: AI doesn’t replace bad Ops. It replaces bad strategy. But here’s the twist no one’s really talking about. As AI takes over more tactical work, the real test for Marketing Operations isn’t survival . It’s relevance . For years, MOPs has been asked to make broken processes work, connect fragmented systems, and deliver results from half-baked strategies - often while sitting miles away from the real decision-making table. Now, with AI executing faster and cleaner than any human ever could, the flaws in the upstream strategy are being exposed in full, merciless 4K. It’s not that MOPs has nothing to do - far from it. It’s that the real work - the valuable, strategic, make-or-break work - is going to happen without them. And that’s the existential threat. Discover our Podcast So, what’s left? Let’s assume the AI future unfolds as promised. Let’s assume your tech stack doesn’t crash the second someone sneezes. What’s left for MOPs? Here’s the uncomfortable, liberating answer: Only the work that actually matters. Architecting data flows that make AI smarter, not just louder. Designing ethical guardrails and governance models that balance speed with accountability. Orchestrating cross-functional alignment between GTM teams, platforms, and AI decision layers. Interrogating the outputs of AI and asking: is this just fast? Or is it right? Championing customer trust when AI’s default setting is “optimisation,” not empathy. And most crucially: Reclaiming a seat at the strategy table - not as order-takers, but as sense-makers. Because here’s the kicker: AI can do a lot. But it still doesn’t know what your business really cares about. It doesn’t understand brand nuance. It can’t navigate office politics or sales drama or the weirdness of your fourth-tier product line that nobody wants to admit exists but still makes 30% of your revenue. Those human inputs? They matter more than ever. Will everyone in MOPs survive this shift? No. And we need to say that out loud. Just like any seismic tech shift, there will be a painful weeding-out. Those who clung to executional mastery without building strategic muscle - they’ll be left behind. The checkbox champions. The process purists. The ones who treated Marketing Operations as a service desk, not a power seat. But that doesn’t mean MOPs as a whole is doomed. Far from it. It means we’re about to see a renaissance - one where the function evolves from machinery maintenance to marketing architecture. The illusion of control (and the reality of consequences) There’s a final, philosophical wrinkle here that no AI roadmap covers. As we hand over more control to machines - and pat ourselves on the back for how “streamlined” everything’s become - we also invite more unintended consequences. Poorly trained models. Bias baked into optimisation logic. Privacy violations at scale. Brand messages that technically work but feel wildly tone-deaf. And when that happens - when something breaks, when trust is lost, when metrics nosedive - someone still needs to take responsibility. Guess who’s going to get that call? It won’t be the AI vendor. It won’t be the CMO sipping cocktails at Cannes. It’ll be the Marketing Ops leader who approved the workflow, nodded along in the enablement session, and didn’t push back. This is the paradox of “Full Self Driving”: You’re still the driver. The wheel just looks different. The future isn’t AI or humans. It’s AI + humans who know what the hell they’re doing. So, what exactly will be left for Marketing Ops to do once AI takes the wheel? Plenty - if you're ready to stop driving and start navigating. This isn’t about resisting the future. It’s about refusing to be erased by it. Because AI may be brilliant at getting you from A to B - but only humans can decide where B should be in the first place. And that? That’s the job. The real one. The one that doesn’t go away. Discover our Services
- If it doesn’t land, it doesn’t matter: The real cost of poor email deliverability
Let’s be blunt: even the best email strategy in the world isn’t worth much if your emails never make it to the inbox. You can have beautifully crafted subject lines, laser-focused targeting, and the best AI-driven segmentation MarTech money can buy - but if your deliverability is off, you’re shouting into the void. And yet, deliverability is still one of the most misunderstood - and under-monitored - pillars of email success in Marketing Operations. 1 in 6 emails never makes it to the inbox Let that sink in. According to Validity’s 2023 benchmark report , 1 in every 6 marketing emails never reaches the inbox . That’s nearly 17% of your carefully orchestrated messages being junked, filtered, blocked, or lost to the spam abyss. It’s not a minor technicality - it’s a direct hit on performance, ROI, and reputation. Add to that: 70% of marketers rank deliverability as a top priority (Validity, 2023) Poor deliverability can reduce engagement rates by over 20% , even among loyal audiences (Litmus, 2023) Every percentage point of deliverability gain equals measurable increases in opens, clicks, and conversions - especially for high-volume senders Major mailbox providers are now using AI to score your sender reputation in real time , meaning yesterday’s tactics might already be today’s red flags (Google Postmaster Tools, 2024) In short: Deliverability is no longer just a hygiene metric. It’s a strategic lever. How to track deliverability (properly) Many teams still rely on outdated proxy metrics to "guess" deliverability health. But opens, clicks, and bounces only tell you part of the story. If you’re serious about performance, you need real tools that diagnose and solve deliverability issues at the source. Here’s what the top MOPs teams are using: Validity’s Everest platform Gives a full 360° view of inbox placement, bounce classifications, sender reputation, and engagement by ISP Includes seed testing (aka: simulated sends to test inbox placement) and blocklist monitoring Real-time alerts if anything starts to wobble - before your metrics fall off a cliff Dedicated IP Monitoring Especially important for high-volume senders using platforms like Eloqua, Marketo, or SFMC Shared IPs can tank your deliverability due to bad neighbors - yet many teams don’t even know if they’re sharing Remember: You can’t fix what you don’t track. And once something breaks, recovery is slower than most teams expect. How Sojourn helped Citeline cut undelivered emails by 75% Deliverability challenges aren’t just theoretical. They’re costing real businesses real revenue - and for Citeline, the problem was snowballing fast. Before working with Sojourn, Citeline was seeing undelivered rates of 20% , meaning 1 in 5 emails was never seen by the intended recipient. And this wasn’t due to lazy copywriting or forgotten authentication. It was a mix of technical misconfigurations, inconsistent monitoring, and under-optimized infrastructure - issues that had built up over time. What Sojourn did: Ran a comprehensive deliverability audit , using Validity and in-platform Eloqua diagnostics Identified major DNS and authentication misalignments Helped move Citeline to a dedicated sending IP to protect reputation Implemented best practices for list hygiene , engagement filtering , and domain alignment Delivered training and playbooks for internal teams to keep the momentum going The result? Undelivered rates dropped from 20% to just 5% , and audience engagement climbed 30% . For a company with high-value contacts and long sales cycles, this wasn’t just a nice metric - it was a business advantage . 📖 Read the full case study → Final thought: Deliverability is a team sport Fixing deliverability isn’t a “once and done” project. It’s a living part of your MOPs strategy . It sits at the intersection of technology, data, content, and process. It needs visibility at the leadership level, ownership in the trenches, and constant optimization. If you’re not monitoring deliverability, you’re flying blind . If you're not prioritizing it, you're leaking ROI . And if you’re not sure where to start - well, that’s where we come in. Want to know how Sojourn can help? Let’s talk. Whether you're bleeding engagement from poor inbox placement or just want to futureproof your sender reputation, our team has helped many clients like Citeline rewrite the rules - and see incredible results, fast. Discover our Services
- What is the role of a MarTech Manager today?
At Sojourn, we’re regularly asked by clients to help define roles and responsibilities within the Marketing Operations function - especially as the field continues to evolve and blur traditional boundaries. One of the most requested areas? Guidance on the MarTech Manager role. The MarTech Manager isn’t just a technologist. Nor are they “just” an ops lead, vendor wrangler, or part-time firefighter. The modern MarTech Manager sits at the center of marketing’s ability to perform - part strategist, part systems architect, part diplomat, and part fixer-in-chief. It’s one of the most misunderstood - and most critical - roles in any B2B organization with a serious marketing function. So what exactly is the role today? What does it look like on the ground, what kind of mindset does it demand, and how should organizations onboard and support someone stepping into it? The soul of the role: Value, not just velocity The MarTech Manager is the custodian of marketing’s most powerful (and expensive) tools. That means their primary responsibility is not just to keep the lights on or make sure the latest platform is integrated - it’s to ensure MarTech is delivering tangible value to the business. This is about enhancing performance, not just enabling it: Is the tech stack contributing to pipeline or revenue? Is it accelerating campaigns or clogging them up with process debt? Is each platform used to its potential — or just a shiny checkbox? It’s the MarTech Manager’s job to connect the dots between tool and outcome, investment and return. It’s where strategy meets accountability. The day-to-day reality: No two days the same Despite the high-level vision, the day job of a MarTech Manager often ranges from the deeply technical to the highly relational. It’s a role of constant translation - between IT and marketing, vendors and users, vision and feasibility. Some of the day-to-day and near-term responsibilities include: Auditing the ecosystem : Mapping tools, integrations, gaps, duplications, and risks. Stakeholder interviews : Understanding needs and pain points across marketing, sales, data, IT, and leadership. Vendor management : Handling renewals, roadmaps, and relationship health. Documentation : Use cases, adoption data, product usage levels, success metrics. Measurement : Defining KPIs across the stack - adoption, usage, ROI, contribution to business outcomes (e.g., leads, AQLs). Roadmap development : Short-term wins and longer-term vision, aligned to business goals. Enablement : Supporting users with training plans, onboarding guides, and practical tools. Governance : Supporting change management, data quality standards, integration protocols. It’s fast-paced, cross-functional, and at times chaotic. But it’s also high-impact - especially when managed proactively rather than reactively. The mindset that makes it work You can’t run this role on a checklist. The best MarTech Managers combine a rare mix of traits - strategic clarity, technical curiosity, and a diplomat’s finesse. Here’s what that mindset looks like: Strategic yet scrappy : They need a long-term plan - but they also know how to ship quick wins that move the needle now. Challengers of the status quo : Not afraid to ask, “Why are we doing it this way?” - and then change it. Data-minded and business-aware : They watch KPIs like a hawk but can translate numbers into business stories. Relationship builders : Able to connect with stakeholders from junior marketers to exec sponsors to grumpy sysadmins. Detail-oriented : Yes, the whole stack should be documented down to version number and integration flow. Technically fluent : They don’t need to code - but they need to speak the language of platforms, APIs, and increasingly, AI. Future-focused, but grounded : They stay on top of trends without chasing every shiny object. This isn't just a “platform owner” role - it's someone who blends art and science, helping marketing become more effective and more efficient. What good onboarding looks like MarTech Managers aren’t plug-and-play. They need structured onboarding that sets them up for success - and helps them map a complicated landscape fast. Here’s what a smart 90-day onboarding plan can look like: Days 0–30: Discovery and diagnosis Conduct full audits (stack, stakeholders, vendors, documentation) Prepare an initial roadmap with quick wins and longer-term ideas Build a risks/issues log for the current state Days 31–60: Alignment and planning Socialize findings with stakeholders Prioritize roadmap items and finalize the plan Develop budget requests for the upcoming fiscal year Deepen audits into key priority markets or teams Days 61–90: Expansion and KPI definition Complete full ecosystem audits Define what “MarTech success” looks like - adoption, productivity, ROI Set and socialize clear KPIs Month 4 onwards: Execution and enablement Create a training and enablement plan by audience Establish governance standards with architecture/data leads Start AI pilots or automation experiments Create dashboards to track ROI and stack health Develop and maintain: Platform scorecards Stakeholder maps Vendor evaluations Risk/issues log Roadmaps with project timelines Enablement materials (cheat sheets, videos, playbooks) Final thoughts: Why this role matters more than ever In 2025, marketing teams are under pressure like never before. Budgets are tight. AI is exploding. Tech stacks are bloated. And yet, the demand for impact hasn’t slowed. That’s where the MarTech Manager proves their worth - not just keeping tools running, but transforming MarTech into a measurable driver of marketing performance. It’s not an easy role. But with the right mindset, support, and onboarding, it’s one of the most rewarding - and business-critical - roles in the modern marketing org. Discover our Services Discover our Podcast
- Demandbase named #1 in G2’s Enterprise Grid for Account-Based Advertising
We’re delighted to share some well-earned recognition for one of our key partners: Demandbase has been ranked #1 on G2’s Enterprise Grid® for Account-Based Advertising. 🎉 This isn’t just a marketing trophy - it’s a customer-powered endorsement. G2’s rankings are built on real user reviews, which makes this recognition especially meaningful. It reflects what actual marketing teams are experiencing day to day: that Demandbase delivers measurable results at scale . At Sojourn Solutions, we’ve seen firsthand the value Demandbase brings to enterprise Marketing Operations. In a space where targeting, personalization, and performance tracking need to be seamless and scalable, Demandbase continues to set the standard. Their platform empowers marketers to move beyond traditional lead-gen and fully embrace Account-Based Marketing as a driver of revenue . From tighter alignment between sales and marketing, to more efficient budget use and smarter campaign execution, our joint clients are unlocking serious value - and this G2 ranking just confirms what the data’s been saying all along. We’re proud to collaborate with technology partners like Demandbase who don’t just follow the industry - they push it forward. Congratulations to the entire team on this well-deserved honor. Here’s to even more impact ahead! Discover our Services
- Marketing Ops: What’s changing, what isn’t, and what the hell to do about it
Let’s start with the obvious: Marketing Operations today is not what it was even three years ago. The tech stack is fatter. The acronyms are more confusing. And now - because the gods clearly thought we weren’t juggling enough - AI is in the mix, rewriting the rules faster than most of us can update our dashboards. So what does this mean for Marketing Ops (MOPs) leaders? Short answer: It’s complicated. Long answer: It’s complicated, evolving, full of opportunity - but only if we stop trying to play yesterday’s game with tomorrow’s tools. Let’s unpack the state of MOPs in 2025, how AI is shifting the center of gravity, and what it means for the folks responsible for keeping the whole circus running smoothly. The MOPs role: From backstage tech wrangler to strategic linchpin Historically, MOPs has been the unsung hero of B2B marketing. The team that made the campaigns run, the leads flow, and the attribution dashboards look vaguely believable. MOPs pros were the Swiss Army knives of the org - masters of systems, workflows, integrations, and polite-but-firm “no, you can’t just add a field to the form and expect it to work.” But as the MarTech stack exploded and AI swept in, something fundamental changed: MOPs stopped being just operational. It started becoming existential. Why? Because the business finally realized that without a properly configured, AI-ready, data-clean ecosystem, none of the flashy stuff - personalization, predictive journeys, generative content - actually works. MOPs is no longer just supporting marketing; it’s enabling modern marketing. Scratch that - it’s defining it. And with great relevance comes great responsibility. AI has entered the chat… and it’s not just another tool Let’s clear this up right now: AI isn’t “just another shiny object.” It’s not another platform you can duct-tape onto Eloqua or Marketo and pretend everything’s fine. AI is fundamentally altering the way marketing works - from how content is created, to how audiences are segmented, to how results are measured. For MOPs, that means a few things: 1. Your data plumbing matters more than ever AI is greedy. It wants clean, structured, up-to-date data - and lots of it. If your CRM is full of dead leads, duplicates, and free-text job titles like “marketing wizard,” your AI output is going to be… creatively awful. MOPs teams now need to play data steward, ensuring their org’s data hygiene is tight enough to make AI usable, not laughable. 2. Workflows are getting smarter - but more fragile AI can help you build dynamic campaigns that adjust messaging and channels in real time. Great, right? Sure - until someone updates a tagging taxonomy and breaks five downstream workflows because no one thought to loop in MOPs. As AI automates more, the margin for error shrinks. MOPs must evolve from workflow builder to workflow architect, designing systems that are resilient, explainable, and (ideally) future-proof. 3. Measurement is moving beyond attribution Goodbye, linear attribution. Hello, probabilistic models, propensity scoring, and hallucinated insights if you’re not careful. MOPs teams are being asked to validate AI-generated insights, explain where predictions are coming from, and ground marketing performance in reality - not just pretty charts. This means MOPs needs to understand enough about AI models to ask smart questions, spot nonsense, and bridge the gap between “model says” and “what actually happened.” Shifting roles: What MOPs leaders are now expected to own The AI era hasn’t just added new responsibilities - it’s also blurred a few old ones. Here’s how the MOPs leader role is expanding, whether you signed up for it or not: Strategic advisor : You’re not just configuring tools - you’re shaping how marketing works. AI initiatives need your buy-in, because they depend on your data and processes. Tech translator : You need to explain AI projects to CMOs without a data science degree, and explain campaign needs to data scientists without causing eye-rolls. You’re the human Rosetta Stone. Risk manager : AI decisions carry reputational and compliance risk. Is that chatbot hallucinating GDPR violations? Is that AI-generated lead score missing key context? MOPs is now part of risk mitigation. Talent enabler : As AI automates tasks, it also widens the skill gap. Your team will need retraining, upskilling, and frankly, some reassurance that they’re not about to be replaced by a large language model that doesn’t complain about Jira tickets. What this means for MOPs leaders (and your sanity) First, let’s address the elephant in the room: this is a lot. You’re not imagining it. The pace of change is insane, and the expectations placed on MOPs leaders are rising faster than most orgs are prepared to support. Here’s the truth: You can’t do everything - and you shouldn’t try. Part of your job now is triage: what matters today, what can wait, and what needs to be killed with fire. You need executive backing . AI projects that skip over MOPs inevitably fail. Be vocal. Demand a seat at the table. You're not “the tech person”—you’re the backbone of modern marketing. You should upskill strategically . You don’t need to become a machine learning engineer. But you do need to understand enough about AI to vet vendors, guide implementation, and sanity-check the outputs. You have to build cross-functional trust . AI doesn’t live in a silo. Data, IT, legal, content, sales - they’re all stakeholders now. MOPs is the natural integrator, the one team that sees the full picture. Use that to your advantage. The bottom line: Your value is only increasing - but so is the complexity AI isn’t coming for your job - it’s just making it harder to fake competence. The good news? If you’ve been quietly running the show from behind the curtain for years, this is your moment. Marketing Ops is no longer “operations support.” It’s strategy execution. It’s risk mitigation. It’s the engine behind real marketing transformation. So embrace the chaos. Own your new role. Laugh when the AI writes terrible subject lines. And when the CMO asks, “Can we make the chatbot sound more human?” - you can smile knowingly and say: “Only if you give me budget.” Discover our Services Discover our Podcast
- Oracle's major update on Eloqua AI - and it’s a game‑changer for your Marketing Operations.
The AI paywall just came down Oracle has just done something rare in enterprise software: It gave something valuable away for free. As of June 2025, every Eloqua customer can access its Advanced Intelligence suite - including both Classic and Generative AI features - at no additional cost . No “premium add-on.” No “AI license uplift.” Just submit a service request (SR), and you're in. In a MarTech world where new AI features often come with hidden fees and bloated sales decks, this move is a big deal. And if you're in Marketing Ops or campaign management, it's not just welcome - it's strategic ammo. The big reveal: Free AI for all Eloqua users Here’s what Oracle announced: All Eloqua customers - regardless of package - can now access Advanced Intelligence features for free . This includes: Classic AI : Predictive modelling, lead scoring, send-time optimisation. Generative AI : Content suggestions, email drafting, dynamic personalisation. To activate, you submit a simple support request (SR) via My Oracle Support. That’s it. The rollout started on June 12, 2025 . Oracle will proactively reach out to customers throughout June and July , pod by pod, to help them enable and adopt the new functionality. Bottom line: if you're an Eloqua customer and not using AI yet, you just ran out of excuses. Why Oracle did this: Competitive pressure + AI arms race Let’s call it like it is: this isn’t just generosity. Oracle’s move is a strategic response to: Salesforce’s GPT push across Marketing Cloud HubSpot’s relentless AI positioning for SMBs Marketo/Adobe’s own AI personalization and journey building tools Oracle knows that if Eloqua doesn’t keep up - or better yet, outflank - marketers will jump to platforms that are cheaper, smarter, and easier to automate. Giving away AI isn’t Oracle going soft. It’s Oracle going to war. By removing the cost barrier, Oracle is forcing the conversation back to value realisation - which AI features are actually making marketers faster, smarter, and more efficient? Spoiler alert: If your team is still hand-scoring leads in Excel, the answer’s obvious. Your marketing advantage: What AI unlocks in Eloqua Here’s what you’re now sitting on: Classic AI (predictive, rules-based) Lead scoring with predictive modeling : Move beyond static rules and let the model learn from conversion history. Segmentation insights : Discover new high-converting segments based on behavioral data. Send-time optimization : Hit inboxes when your audience is actually reading them. Generative AI (LLM-powered) Email writing suggestions : Draft subject lines or full emails with contextual cues from past performance. Form and landing page copy : Get AI to propose on-brand, conversion-optimized content. Dynamic personalization : Tailor messaging at scale without manually creating dozens of versions. This isn’t toy-level AI - it’s strategic enablement for any marketing team that wants to operate like it’s 2025, not 2015. How to get started Oracle made this part simple: Log in to My Oracle Support Submit a Service Request asking to enable Advanced Intelligence Wait for confirmation (and possibly onboarding instructions) Start testing and exploring Oracle will also reach out proactively throughout June and July - but don’t wait. Be the team that’s already live when the rest are still stuck in meetings about “AI readiness.” Best-practice tips: Make AI work for you Getting access is the easy part. Getting results? That takes some intention. ✅ Start small, scale fast Don’t roll AI out across everything. Start with one high-impact campaign or program and use it as a proving ground. 📊 Measure everything Run A/B tests comparing AI-generated content vs. human-only versions. Benchmark conversion rates, engagement, time saved. 🧠 Train your team Fear of the unknown will stall adoption. Run short enablement sessions, demo features, and frame AI as augmentation - not replacement. 🔁 Tune and iterate Classic AI models improve with data. Generative AI gets better with prompts. Don’t set it and forget it. FAQ: What marketers are asking “Do I really get this for free?” Yes. No cost. No strings. Just file an SR and activate it. “What’s the catch?” No catch - but there is some effort required : You need to request it You may need to train your team You’ll want to adjust workflows to make use of the new tools “When do I have to act?” Now. Rollout started in June, and Oracle plans to reach all customers by July. But you can beat the queue by submitting your SR today. Strategic implications: This changes the MarTech table stakes This isn’t just about Eloqua - it’s about what we now expect from enterprise MarTech vendors. AI is no longer a paid premium. It’s the baseline. If Oracle can offer predictive and generative AI across its entire user base, every other platform is on notice. Licensing models will shift. Adoption curves will flatten. And the excuses for not using AI will vanish. For B2B teams especially, this opens the door to faster campaign production, better segmentation, and higher ROI - without needing to double headcount . Final call-to-action: Don’t wait for the AI memo If you’re running Eloqua, this is your moment to: File the SR Test the tools Become the internal AI success story Treat this like an opportunity to lead - not just another tech update. Marketing teams that embrace this early will look smarter, ship faster, and spend less time reinventing the wheel. The Eloqua AI paywall is gone. What you do next is entirely on you. Need help setting this all up? We are here to help. Let's chat. Discover our Services
- What’s hype, what’s helpful, and how to actually get started - AI in Marketing
Why Marketing Operations teams need to think differently about AI - and how to do it without the noise, panic, or perfectionism. The AI buzz has officially reached “louder than a toddler with a drum kit” levels. Depending on who you ask, it’s either revolutionising marketing or just a shiny distraction. Teams are either racing to build entire AI strategies or hesitating at the starting line, unsure what’s real and what’s just another clever automation dressed up in buzzwords. Here’s the truth: Most B2B marketing teams are somewhere in the messy middle. Curious, cautiously optimistic, but quietly overwhelmed. This article is for them. First, let’s be honest about what AI really is (and isn’t) Now we've already written other articles on this - we even have an in depth whitepaper on the topic - but it helps to strip away the smoke and mirrors. AI, at its core, is software that can perceive, decide, and act - ideally learning and improving as it goes. But that definition gets stretched beyond recognition in marketing circles. Some systems are barely more than fancy “if this, then that” logic trees - rule-based engines that look clever but never actually learn . Others use machine learning to find patterns and make predictions, which feels smarter… but still has guardrails. Then there’s generative AI - the kind that writes your subject lines, drafts landing pages, and churns out halfway-decent blog intros. It mimics creativity using statistical patterns from its training data. It sounds human. Sometimes it even fools humans. But don’t confuse mimicry with intelligence. And finally, there’s the new kid on the block: Agentic AI . This is where things get interesting. Agentic systems aren’t just reactive - they’re proactive. They don’t just wait for prompts; they flag problems, take action, and even course-correct without needing a human to point the way. If you’re wondering whether something is actually AI or just marketing fluff, here’s the test: Can it change its behaviour without you telling it to? If yes, it’s probably real AI. If not, well… it might just be a clever trick in a shiny box. Download our Whitepaper So where does that leave us? Right now, agentic AI is starting to take real shape in Marketing Operations - and not just in the “labs and keynote slides” kind of way. Think about your campaign workflows. How much time gets eaten up by briefing, building, QA’ing, adjusting, launching, and monitoring? MOPs teams are often stuck juggling 100 spinning plates, just trying to keep things from falling over. Now imagine an AI agent that can take a campaign brief, build the campaign itself, monitor performance, and suggest improvements - all while you’re in your 1:1s or trying to eat lunch without another Slack notification. That’s not science fiction. That’s where this is headed. And the early adopters are already reaping the benefits. Same goes for analytics. We’ve all lost days to pulling reports, tidying up data, and trying to extract insights from dashboards that seem designed to hide them. Agentic AI flips that. Instead of just answering “what happened?”, these systems start to answer “what should I do next?” And they do it while scanning your goals, your targets, and your previous performance - then recommending actions that actually move the needle. This isn’t about replacing humans. It’s about finally giving humans the breathing room to think, create, and lead instead of constantly cleaning up after the machine. Meanwhile, the software landscape is shifting under our feet. One of the most under-reported shifts in AI is that it’s accelerating software development itself. Thanks to low-code tools, no-code platforms, and AI assistants like ChatGPT or Claude quietly writing software behind the scenes, we’re entering what some are calling the “Hypertail” era. In short: there are going to be billions - maybe trillions - of tiny apps, agents, and automations, many of them custom-built by non-technical users. What does this mean for Marketing Ops? It means the gatekeeping around software is crumbling. You no longer need a dev team to build a tool that helps you work smarter. And when AI is added to that mix, the cost and complexity drop even further. Great. So how do you actually start? Here’s where most companies get stuck. They want to “do AI,” but haven’t figured out what that actually means in practice. So let’s break it down. Start by asking: Why are we doing this? Is it about productivity? Process improvement? Changing how the business works? Are we racing to build AI, or are we adopting it to achieve outcomes? What pace are we comfortable with - steady, or accelerated? How mature is our data environment? Are we training our teams to use AI confidently? These sound like basic questions, but skipping them leads to half-baked strategies and a lot of wasted budget. Then get specific - and small You don’t need a 12-month roadmap to get started. What you need is a well-framed experiment. Pick a use case with visible impact but low risk. Write a performance summary with a generative AI tool. Try a prompt-based briefing workflow. Use AI to surface anomalies in your campaign data. Just don’t try to change the entire engine at once. Keep it small, move quickly, and document everything. Share wins. Share failures. Share what you learned and how you’d do it differently. The teams that build this reflex - experiment, learn, repeat - will outpace the ones that try to build the perfect AI plan before touching a single tool. A final word of caution: AI isn’t just a technology problem It’s a strategy problem. It’s a people problem. It’s a leadership problem. The biggest risks aren’t rogue bots or hallucinating models. They’re vague goals, misaligned teams, and the slow erosion of trust when experiments aren’t communicated clearly. The companies that thrive in this next era won’t be the ones with the most tools. They’ll be the ones with the clearest intent - and the courage to start small, move fast, and keep learning. In closing: AI won’t save your Marketing Ops. But it might just unlock them. Used well, AI can free up your people, clean up your processes, and speed up your execution. Used poorly, it’ll just give you another tech headache to manage. Start where you are. Ask better questions. Run smarter experiments. And don’t wait for perfection. Your future campaigns will thank you for it. Discover our Services
- Why are Marketers using less of their MarTech?
(And what it really says about the state of marketing) According to a recent Gartner’s MarTech Survey , average MarTech utilisation has dropped to just 33% , down from 58% in 2020 . That means two-thirds of the platforms and tools marketing teams are investing in are sitting idle or underused. Let that sink in: despite the explosion of marketing technology over the last decade - and all the promises of automation, personalisation, and data-driven brilliance - CMOs and Marketing Ops teams are using only a third of what they’re paying for. So, what’s going on here? The obvious answer is complexity. But the real reasons go deeper. And they reveal something uncomfortable about the way marketing is structured, resourced, and led today. Let’s unpack it. The MarTech market has outpaced human capability MarTech vendors have been shipping software like there’s a race to cover every pixel of the customer journey. With every product release, a new dashboard, AI feature, or “next-gen” integration promises to fix some broken piece of the funnel. But here's the problem: humans are still required to implement, integrate, and operate these tools - and there simply aren’t enough skilled people (with time!) to do it all. Most organisations don’t have the bandwidth or expertise to squeeze ROI out of more than a handful of systems. And while the CMO may have a shiny MarTech stack slide for the boardroom, most of it gathers dust in the shadows of Excel and PowerPoint. Tool buying has become political, not practical Let’s be honest: a lot of MarTech gets bought not because teams need it, but because someone senior wants to be seen as “transformative.” You know the story. A vendor pitches a slick demo. A few buzzwords get dropped (“real-time orchestration,” “AI-powered personalisation,” “composable CX”). A few competitors are name-checked. And suddenly, you’ve got a new platform that doesn’t integrate properly, doesn’t fit your processes, and now needs five new headcount to operate. What’s left? A team that uses 10% of it while trying not to get fired. The integration tax is real - and it's killing adoption You don't just buy a MarTech platform. You marry it. And like any marriage, integration is where the real work begins. But unlike actual marriages, no one wants to do the hard parts here. Getting different systems to talk to each other - cleanly, securely, and usefully - is still one of the biggest barriers to utilisation. When data isn’t flowing, automations break, dashboards lie, and everyone defaults back to manual workarounds. This is where so much MarTech dies: not in ambition, but in execution. Change fatigue is throttling even the best platforms In theory, new platforms should unlock new value. In practice, they often trigger process chaos , retraining burdens, and morale decay. The average marketing team is on its fourth or fifth "must-have" platform this decade. And after a while, every new implementation feels like a threat, not a win. Ops teams grow jaded. Users disengage. Features go unexplored. Projects stall out halfway. The result? Tools get blamed. Adoption drops. Utilisation follows. (Spoiler alert: the next shiny platform won’t fix this either .) There’s a lack of strategy - and even less orchestration One of the most damning insights from the Gartner report wasn’t just the drop in usage. It was that only 24% of marketers said they had the capabilities to fully utilise their stack . That’s not a MarTech problem. That’s a marketing leadership problem. Too many orgs treat their stack like a list of features instead of an interconnected system of capabilities. There’s no strategic orchestration. No roadmap. No measurement beyond basic campaign metrics. And definitely no real process for rationalising what gets added (or removed) from the stack. In short: We’ve bought the tools without defining the jobs. So what now? If your MarTech utilisation is under 40%, you're not alone - but you are wasting budget, time, and opportunity. The fix isn't more tools. It’s more focus. Here’s what leading orgs are starting to do differently: Audit ruthlessly – Identify what actually gets used, what’s delivering value, and what’s just legacy tech debt. Kill or consolidate the rest. Design around outcomes – Build the stack backward from business goals, not vendor hype or peer pressure. Empower Marketing Ops – Stop treating MOPs as IT’s sidekick. Let them lead on architecture, governance, and adoption. Invest in enablement – Platforms don't drive value. People do. Budget for training, change management, and adoption as much as licenses. Slow down to speed up – Fewer tools, better used, always beats a bloated stack full of features nobody knows how to turn on. Final thought: Maybe it's not MarTech that’s failing. Maybe it’s us. MarTech isn’t going away. If anything, AI and data ecosystems are only making it more powerful - and more complex. But technology alone doesn’t transform marketing. People do. Until we stop treating MarTech like a silver bullet and start treating it like a discipline, the utilisation rate will stay low - and the real cost of underperformance will stay high. It’s time to stop buying tools we can’t use, and start building strategies we can actually execute. Discover our Services Discover our Podcast
- How "Agentic AI" will transform Marketing Operations
In the not-so-distant past, Marketing Operations (MOPS) teams were seen as the mechanics in the marketing engine room - configuring platforms, wrangling data, and manually executing campaigns. But as AI moves from passive tool to active teammate, a new era is emerging: one powered by agentic AI . Agentic AI is more than just automation. It's AI that can think ahead, act on its own , and adapt as things change. These aren’t just smarter tools; they’re digital coworkers with initiative. And for MOPS, that changes the game entirely. What is "Agentic AI" (and why should you care)? Traditional AI is like a vending machine: you punch in what you want, it spits something out. Useful, but not exactly proactive. Agentic AI is more like a trusted colleague who knows your goals, figures out how to get there, and starts working - often before you've even asked. It plans, it decides, it learns, and it acts. Think of the difference between a chatbot that answers FAQs and an AI marketing assistant that audits your tech stack, flags underused tools, and books a meeting with your vendor to sort it out. This isn't sci-fi. It's already here. Where Agentic AI fits in Marketing Operations MOPS pros juggle a lot. Broadly speaking, they handle: Campaign operations Data and analytics Tech stack management Strategic enablement and governance Agentic AI has something to offer in every single one of these areas. Let's unpack it. 1. Campaign Operations: From Manual Execution to Autonomous Launch The current reality: Campaigns require tons of setup: building workflows, tweaking segmentation, testing subject lines, managing approvals. MOPS teams are often the bottleneck, not because they want to be - they’re just overwhelmed. With agentic AI: An AI agent could take a campaign brief and run with it - generate emails, build landing pages, set up automations, double-check compliance, and hit "go." Then it watches the results in real time, adjusts subject lines, tweaks CTAs, and reallocates budget if needed. Picture this: your AI notices Subject Line A is tanking in Germany. It runs sentiment analysis, tests a new variation, and deploys it - all before your coffee's gone cold. Bottom line: Agentic AI turns your campaign engine from manual shift to autopilot. 2. Data and analytics: From reporting to real-time action Today: MOPS folks spend hours wrangling data, running reports, and building dashboards that often answer yesterday’s questions. Actionable insight? That still takes time, context, and follow-through. With agentic AI: Your AI proactively flags unusual trends, surfaces new opportunities, and recommends next steps. It doesn’t just show you that webinar leads are converting better—it reallocates budget to double down and pings the events team with the news. Example: your AI sees a spike in high-quality leads from webinars in EMEA, pauses some low-performing paid search ads, and proposes a regional content plan. Bottom line: MOPS doesn’t just report on what happened. With agentic AI, it helps decide what to do next . 3. Tech Stack Management: From Chaos to Clarity Reality check: Today’s MarTech stacks are sprawling. Dozens of platforms, hundreds of integrations, endless opportunities for things to break. Most teams don’t have time to fully optimize every tool. Enter agentic AI: Your AI agent continuously monitors tools and workflows, spots inefficiencies, and suggests fixes. It flags unused features, identifies redundant spend, and even implements improvements (with your sign-off). Scenario: it notices your lead scoring model is out of date. It rebuilds a new one based on recent buyer behaviour, tests it in a sandbox, and recommends rollout. Bottom line: Agentic AI keeps your stack lean, mean, and in fighting shape. 4. Strategic enablement: From process police to growth partner What it looks like today: Governance is vital but often reactive. Playbooks get ignored, naming conventions go off the rails, and new team members unknowingly break things. With agentic AI: AI enforces governance gently but firmly. It catches inconsistencies, prompts users to correct them, and even coaches new hires. It audits usage patterns and suggests where your playbooks need updates or simplification. Picture this: an AI that sees inconsistent campaign tagging, auto-corrects it, and then messages the marketer with a friendly guide and a quick quiz. Bottom line: Your ops team becomes a growth engine, not the "no" department. What Marketing Ops Leaders should do next Agentic AI isn’t plug-and-play magic - not yet. It thrives in environments where goals are clear, data is accessible, and there’s room to learn and improve. But here’s the thing: ignoring this shift would be like ignoring mobile, social, or CRM. It’s happening. The smart move? Start small, learn fast. Try this: Spot the patterns: What repeatable, rules-based tasks could an agent handle? Get your house in order: Integrate your systems, clean your data, and open up APIs. Upskill the team: Teach your folks how to collaborate with AI - not fear it. Experiment: Pick one area (like campaign QA or lead scoring) and run a pilot. Final thought: MOPS just got a seat at the table For years, Marketing Ops has quietly kept the machine humming. But agentic AI changes the game. When your ops team can launch campaigns, fix processes, optimize spend, and scale governance - without needing a task list from above - they become strategic power players . This isn't about replacing people. It's about giving your best people the best teammate they’ve ever had. So no, the future of MOPS isn’t just automated. It's agentic . Curious how to bring agentic AI into your MOPS world? Sojourn Solutions is already helping teams turn vision into action. Let’s talk . Discover our Services
- The burnout loop: Why MarTech innovation is wearing us down
Change fatigue is the new normal in Marketing Operations - here’s how to survive it without becoming the office cynic. Let’s be blunt: Marketing tech is moving faster than sanity There was a time - not that long ago - when adding a new tool to your tech stack felt like progress. Something to be proud of. Maybe even a LinkedIn post. Now? It feels like adopting a puppy every other Tuesday while the old ones are still chewing your furniture. From CDPs to DMPs to AI-powered hyper-mega-personalisation platforms, the MarTech world has become a dizzying alphabet soup of possibility. And while vendors pitch the promise of effortless scale and seamless automation , what Marketing Ops teams are left holding is the mop and bucket of yet another “strategic pivot.” Change fatigue is real. It’s happening. And if you’re a B2B leader responsible for Marketing Operations, integration, or strategy - you probably feel it in your bones. Let’s dig into why this is happening, what it’s doing to your team, and what you can actually do about it (short of moving to a goat farm in Portugal). What is change fatigue, exactly? Change fatigue is the exhaustion that sets in when people are asked to change - constantly, rapidly, and without adequate time to adapt or reflect. In the MarTech space, this shows up as: Yet another platform rollout when the last one is still bedding in Constant re-orgs around “customer experience” or “data-centricity” Competing tech priorities from marketing, IT, and sales leadership Strategic ambiguity: “Why are we even doing this again?” The result? People disengage. Projects stall. Shortcuts become survival tactics. Innovation - the very thing we’re supposedly chasing - gets quietly buried under a pile of Jira tickets. Why MarTech is a perfect breeding ground for change fatigue 1. Innovation cycles are outpacing adoption cycles Vendors now push feature updates monthly (or weekly), and internal teams are expected to just “keep up.” But every new capability means a learning curve, process shift, or a dashboard that looks nothing like last week’s. It’s exhausting. 2. AI is the new FOMO drug Leadership reads one McKinsey report and suddenly your team is piloting three AI tools, building an internal task force, and rewriting your personalisation strategy - all while still dealing with last quarter’s Salesforce sync issue. 3. No one owns the change MarTech changes usually sit in a no-man’s-land between marketing, IT, and ops. That means no clear ownership, vague accountability, and a lot of “we’ll circle back on that.” Change fatigue thrives in the cracks between teams. 4. ‘Strategic’ often means ‘reactive’ Too many companies buy new tools to fix the last mess, not to drive a long-term plan. That knee-jerk buying behaviour (often dressed up as “bold leadership”) leads to a graveyard of half-implemented tech, misaligned teams, and a sense of déjà vu every time a new acronym lands on the roadmap. Discover our Podcast The hidden cost: What it’s really doing to your teams Beyond the missed deadlines and budget overruns, change fatigue in MarTech has a deeper, more insidious cost. Talent loss : Skilled people leave not because they can’t do the work - but because they’re sick of being ping-ponged between priorities that contradict each other. Cultural cynicism : When every tech initiative is pitched as a “game changer,” nothing is. People stop caring, even about the good ideas. Shadow systems : Teams build workaround tools and processes in spreadsheets or Notion docs because they’ve lost faith in the stack. Brand risk : Fragmented data, disconnected journeys, and half-baked campaigns don’t just waste money - they corrode customer trust. How to spot the signs of change fatigue (before it eats your strategy) Team enthusiasm has flatlined – New initiative? Cue the blank stares. Low tool adoption – You’re paying for licenses no one uses (and everyone resents). Increased internal friction – Ops vs marketing vs sales vs IT: everyone blames everyone else. Micromanagement creeping in – Because no one trusts the process anymore. Over-reliance on external vendors – Not because it’s strategic, but because the team is tapped out. So what the hell do you do about it? Let’s get real: you can’t stop change. But you can manage the velocity , the volume , and most importantly, the human impact . Here’s how: 1. Audit before adding Before introducing any new tech, ask: what’s the business problem? If it’s not clearly articulated - and agreed upon cross-functionally - park it. Tech for tech’s sake is the enemy. 2. Create a MarTech change council No, not another committee that meets twice then disappears. A real task force with teeth - cross-functional, empowered, and focused solely on evaluating, sequencing, and communicating MarTech changes. 3. Align change with capacity Roadmaps are only useful if they reflect reality. If your team is already maxed out integrating that CDP, don’t layer on a new personalisation engine . Prioritise ruthlessly. Sequence sensibly. 4. Communicate like it’s your job Because it is. Change fatigue is often a result of poor communication. Treat every MarTech shift like a mini product launch - with messaging, enablement, training, and a damn good reason “why.” 5. Measure adoption, not just deployment Stop patting yourself on the back for “going live.” Track actual usage, team sentiment, and business outcomes. Celebrate meaningful adoption - not checkbox delivery. 6. Give people space to recover If you just finished a big platform rollout, don’t start the next one immediately. Let your team digest, reflect, and stabilize. Recovery is part of the process. Final thought: not all change is progress In B2B Marketing Operations, we’re supposed to be the adults in the room - the calm heads who bridge ambition and execution. But we’re also human. And if your team is burned out, you don’t need another innovation. You need a pause. Change fatigue isn’t a weakness. It’s a signal. Listen to it, and you’ll lead more effectively than any AI tool ever could. Discover our Services