MarOps
Connection
by Jillian
What's inside:Practical perspectives on brand & marketing strategy, marketing operations, and the work that keeps marketing organizations moving with intention.
Written for my fellow practitioners, rising leaders, and business builders who are already in it and want to think more clearly about what comes next.
The Real ROI of a Marketing Audit as Your Next Move
Moneyball was not just a story about baseball. It was a story about what becomes possible when you stop assuming the conventional approach is the only one, and start asking what the data is actually telling you.
A marketing audit is that same question, applied to your function. No, it isn’t a report card, or a reckoning.
It’s a structured, honest assessment of what exists, what is working, and where the gaps are between what is happening and what the business strategy actually needs.
Here is how to use it, and who should carry it out.
How to Build a Marketing Budget from Strategy Instead of Habit
A marketing budget built from strategy is not a bigger ask or a bolder vision.
It requires a different first question. Not "what did we spend last year" but "what does the business need marketing to accomplish," and the discipline to let that answer drive the numbers rather than the other way around.
That shift changes what the marketing budget document is, what it argues, and what it makes possible in the room where it gets approved.
Here is how to build one.
Buttons and Zippers, Right? (Hint: Not Exactly)
Thing is, you’ll have a hard time finding a fashion designer who yearns to sew on buttons & zippers, dreams of perfect seams & securely attached closures. No, the dream is iconic looks preserved in museums, having defined an entire fashion era.
Similarly, there is a reason the best KPI Trackers in the world is a list of tools, and the best Marketing Strategists in the world is a list of people.
I Am A Strategist.
YesJillian! founder, brand and marketing pro, operations leader, and author of this blog. And… I am a strategist. A strategist is part researcher, part architect, part communicator, and part artiste. I’m excited to get to know you. You’re sharp. You’re courageous. And best of all, you love questions, too!