Three steps to building a successful marketing operations model that delivers true content value

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Brands and retailers are facing up to a common challenge in the content creation space. Namely, the need to deliver not just higher volumes, but smarter, insight-driven, contextually relevant content — what we at ITG term ‘Halo content’.

A successful approach to Halo content will reduce your content spend, but it goes far beyond that. It’s about increasing the value and lifespan of each piece of content created, driving significant ROI. Spending less, but simultaneously being more intelligent, agile, and impactful.

At ITG, we believe that there is no “one-size-fits-all” solution to Halo content delivery. Each client we work with requires a different blend of technology and services — a marketing operations model tailored to suit the way they work and the unique challenges within their business that they’re looking to solve.

For some, we provide the technology they need to unite their teams, workflows, and processes, eliminating costly bottlenecks while giving them the autonomy to self-serve content.

For others, off-site production, leveraging the experience and expertise of our own dedicated 24/7 studio team, is the preferable option. For many, it’s a combination of the two.

And there are those that want us on-site, up close and personal with their own teams, getting under the skin of their brand. It’s what we know as the ‘in-house agency’ model, supplementing a brand’s teams with our own people, often alongside our technology, to deliver more efficient and scalable content creation. It’s how we work with brands like John Lewis Partnership and Matalan.

Again, each brand needs something different. Our operational model for John Lewis is different to what we provide for Heineken, which is different to PUMA, Microsoft, KFC, and every other brand we work with.

But within those unique marketing operations models, there are key touchstones that we always revisit, to ensure that changes in technology, process, and even mentality are handled with a human touch, and crystal-clear communication.

1. Set standards and streamline processes

Before you get to the stage of technology implementation, the immediate priority is building a strong foundation, putting processes and systems in place that enhance efficiency. As I’ve touched upon, all retailers and brands are facing similar issues when it comes to content creation — increased costs, stagnant budgets, and a need to reduce waste.

It’s easy to slip into bad habits, particularly in areas such as briefings and workflows. Again, technology can help this further down the line by automating certain tasks — but you won’t know where to start until you’ve applied the correct processes and set standards.

Beyond processes, this is also about setting standards in your culture. Kindness, understanding, and gratitude are all non-negotiables if you want to build an operational model that not only delivers great content, but also attracts and retains the best talent.

Being human in your approach will go a long way towards supporting your success. Show people that you care, and put the technology and processes in place that solve the practical challenges they’re facing, allowing them to do their job effectively.

If you get those core fundamentals right in the opening weeks and months, you’ll be able to test and learn in order to identify any remaining content gaps or inefficiencies. We tighten up the processes, get people into the right mindset, culture, and habits, and then look for opportunities to support them with our tech.

2. Move from reactive to proactive

Marketing can be very reactive, and your operational model needs to account for that. It’s one of the strengths of the in-house structure in particular — being able to flex quickly to different projects, while retaining consistency through that invaluable brand knowledge.

However, there’s a point at which this can tip over and seriously impact the quality of work, when expectations placed on a studio, agency, or in-house team go beyond what is feasibly possible.

As I’ve mentioned, it’s key to break those negative cycles, putting in place clear briefing processes and templates. More than that, though, it’s about empowering teams to reject briefs that aren’t good enough, and setting a minimum standard that must be adhered to every time.

Yes, you may get some grumbles from those used to getting their work rushed through, but you have to focus on the outcomes — and a great brief will save you so much time on reworks and amends. Removing those bottlenecks means you’ll start getting campaigns to market faster, which in turn enhances the cost-efficiency of your operation.

When we do our first audit with a new client, we often find that 80% of work is pulling a rabbit from a hat, and only 20% briefed properly with clear deliverables, KPIs, milestones and realistic deadlines. Our aim is to flip those numbers, first of all by setting standards and cleaning up processes, and later by using technology to streamline and automate briefings and workflows.

If you’re able to get to a space where it’s an 80:20 ratio in favour of the proactive, process-led approach, then you’ll get better quality overall, reduced costs, and have more headspace for the quickfire reactive jobs that inevitably come your way from time to time.

3. Choose tech that solves your key marketing challenges

At ITG, we’re not about technology for technology’s sake. The number one issue we see when brands onboard technology is that they don’t choose a platform designed to solve their specific challenges — or more importantly, the challenges that their staff face every day.

According to industry reports, there are over 14,000 marketing technologies out there, each with interesting and exciting functionalities, but unless they address the tangible problems you’re facing, they’re only going to add complexity.

I’ve spoken to brands who have spent over £10 million on different tech as they’ve tried to resolve issues within their marketing operations, only to find that they’ve got no way to stitch these solutions together. It leaves them with siloed platforms, used by different teams to varying degrees of success, who find it impossible to collaborate effectively — which then leads to serious time and cost inefficiencies.

It’s why our AI-enabled Storyteq Content Marketing Platform, recognised by Gartner® as a Leader in its 2025 Magic Quadrant™, has been built for seamless integration with our clients’ existing technology platforms, as well as working as a standalone, unifying solution.

Ultimately, delivering the right technology comes down to communication. Speak to the colleagues whom it actually impacts, find out what their bottlenecks and pain points are, and then conduct careful research to ensure the solution you choose meets their needs, while keeping them engaged and informed throughout.

You’ll want to consider not just the functionality of the platform, but also the onboarding and training process that is offered alongside it. Plug-and-play platforms are great in certain instances, but they can leave a lot of wasted value if your teams aren’t aware of how to maximise their potential.

Remember — your tech is only as good as the people using it, so give them the tools to do so effectively!

We win as one

I speak from experience when I say that the first few months of a new agency partnership set the tone for what you can achieve together, and navigating them successfully is crucial.

At ITG, our attitude is that when our clients are successful, we’re successful, and the human side of that is just as important as the technologies that we implement. Making an effort to understand people and their challenges, and approaching change from a position of kindness, is paramount to success.

Yes, you’ll hit bumps in the road, but as long as your communication is clear and you treat everyone respectfully as adults, you can overcome these obstacles together — creating a tech-powered operational model that unlocks greater marketing value, balancing efficiency with efficacy while being fully scalable to your evolving needs.

Dan Birks is Chief Growth Officer at Inspired Thinking Group (ITG)