Focus on operational marketing

Operational marketing is a set of strategies designed to improve a company's sales, support its growth, launch new products or enter new markets. The business world can no longer do without these absolutely crucial marketing techniques! Let's take a look at this fabulous sales tool that you can master at business school.

What is operational marketing and what is its objective?

The objectives of marketing tools are often the same: to improve sales, to infiltrate new markets, to communicate and build customer loyalty around a brand image, to monitor the communications strategy, and so on.

The "marketing mix" (another name for "operational" marketing) aims to increase a product's chances of success. It can also aim to improve customer engagement on a one-off basis by encouraging them to buy at the best price.

Although operational marketing is presented as the opposite of strategic marketing, this is not quite the case. Operational marketing provides the necessary support for strategic actions.

What is the relationship between operational and strategic marketing?

Operational marketing refers primarily to actions taken to obtain short- and medium-term results. Strategic marketing is more concerned with long-term actions.

Yet these two types of marketing are complementary. Strategy provides a framework and direction, while operational marketing executes and implements strategic plans.

These two branches of marketing can be summarised as follows:

• Strategic marketing: long-term planning, definition of objectives and overall strategies. Examples of strategic marketing: market research, competitive research, setting annual targets, etc.
• Operational marketing: implementing strategies, managing day-to-day activities, advertising, sales. Examples of operational marketing: paper flyers, email campaigns, behavioural studies on social networks, etc.

Marketing professions therefore cover both types of operation.

What are the tools of operational marketing?

The main tools of operational marketing are numerous and can be disseminated via all types of media and channels: advertising, promotion, direct marketing, television, radio, press, telephone, etc.

Obviously, with the digitalisation of practices, the tools of operational marketing are also becoming digital. We even talk about digital marketing. The Internet, websites, e-mail and social networks all have their place in supporting the sales strategy created by a professional marketer.

Students can acquire in-depth skills in these operational marketing tools from their first years of study, as their use is taught in business schools.

On graduating, each student will not only be able to diagnose a company's marketing needs and draw up a sales action plan, but also support the implementation and monitoring of operational marketing actions.

What are the key performance indicators for operational marketing?

KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) are used to track the progress of operational marketing actions and their impact on a company's results.

Here are a few examples of indicators used in operational marketing to study the impact of actions on the target market:

• Conversion rate: this measures the percentage of prospects who carry out the desired action (purchase of a product or service, registration, etc.). This is the indicator that best reflects the effectiveness of marketing campaigns.
• Return on investment (ROI): this operational marketing indicator determines the financial return (profitability) of marketing expenditure.
• Cost per acquisition (CPA): this indicates the average cost of acquiring a customer. It is a useful KPI for assessing the effectiveness and profitability of operational marketing advertising and promotional campaigns.
• Customer retention rate: this indicator measures the percentage of repeat customers. It is important for assessing customer loyalty and satisfaction.

But there are other digital marketing and communication tools too:

• Click-through rate (CTR): this indicates the percentage of users who click on an ad shown in digital advertising campaigns. It helps to assess the attractiveness and relevance of online advertising.
• Engagement rate on social networks: this measures user interaction (likes, shares, comments) with published content. This is an important KPI for assessing the impact of content strategies on social networks.
• Audience retention rate: used specifically for content marketing, this measures how long users remain engaged with the content.
• Reach and impressions: these figures quantify the number of people exposed to a campaign. They indicate both the visibility and the extent of the marketing reach.
• Customer satisfaction score (NPS, CSAT): this KPI assesses the degree of customer satisfaction and recommendation. It is therefore the key indicator of the performance of customer service and after-sales services.
• Sales volume: this highlights the monitoring of direct sales; it is a direct indicator of the commercial success of a given market or product sales.

All these indicators and figures can also be used to readjust marketing mix projects in line with the objectives being pursued, always in line with the development of the strategy.

What skills do you need to work in operational marketing?

Would you like to become a future marketing manager with sharp communication and commercial skills? As well as being a career that can develop over time, it's also a job that pays well.

But you'll need to familiarise yourself with a few key skills that will make you an expert in operational marketing:

• versatility and adaptability
• a sense of method and organisation
• analysis and observation ;
• responsiveness,
• trend-following ;
• project management and teamwork;
• management of operational teams ;
• good interpersonal skills, communication and diplomacy
• commercial skills: persuasion, negotiation, knowledge of markets;
• fluency in English.

A facility with mathematics and statistics is a plus. To learn all this, IPAG Business School offers a highly advanced master's degree in marketing.

Are you still wondering why you should work in marketing ? Launch yourself into a successful career in business thanks to operational marketing! By following our business school course, you can learn to master all the tools you need to take strategic action for your company. To find out more and continue your training in this exciting field, contact us.