Marketing operations

The Hard Truth About Fractional CMOs Nobody Talks About hero shows a woman standing on a ladder facing a wall of operational gears

The Hard Truth About Fractional CMOs Nobody Talks About
The Hard Truth About Fractional CMOs Nobody Talks About 1000 563 Cyndie Shaffstall

As a fractional CMO, you and others in this role are having a moment transforming marketing departments everywhere. A quick LinkedIn search reveals hundreds — if not thousands — of experienced and partially available marketing executives. Case studies paint a successful picture. But as an operations person, I tend to peek under the hood, and…

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You’re already paying for AI. Is it paying off? hero shows a line graph with percentages of reported AI ROI based on multiple studies

The AI ROI Divide: Why Marketing’s AI ROI Numbers Don’t Add Up
The AI ROI Divide: Why Marketing’s AI ROI Numbers Don’t Add Up 1000 563 Jessica Burruss

Marketing leaders are sweating bullets right now. You invested in AI tools, built the dashboards, launched campaigns, and reallocated budget to make it all happen. And as the numbers roll in, you’re hard-pressed to prove your AI investment is paying off. The divide between rising AI-driven martech spending and unclear, inconsistent returns is pervasive. Executives…

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Wasted Personalization Opportunities hero shows a male marketer holding up a target

Wasted Opportunities in Personalization
Wasted Opportunities in Personalization 1000 563 Cyndie Shaffstall

Are you using personalization to connect or just to fill a placeholder? A friend recently suggested I write about the most memorable email I’ve ever received. Interesting idea, but the truth is, what makes an email memorable to me might not be what makes it memorable to you. I’m captivated by development, design, and strategy…

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When All Hell Breaks Loose hero shows an abstract person with chat bubbles containing exclamations

When All Hell Breaks Loose
When All Hell Breaks Loose 1000 563 Cyndie Shaffstall

Automation can be a beautiful thing — until it turns into a digital stampede. With automation comes risk. Anyone who’s worked with complex workflows long enough knows that awful moment when your perfect program decides to fire 37 emails in 14.6 minutes to the same 1.2 million recipients. Suddenly, the tools built to save time…

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Security Is Everyone's Responsibility hero shows a woman holding up a security badge

Security is Everyone’s Responsibility
Security is Everyone’s Responsibility 1000 563 Cyndie Shaffstall

In marketing/web ops your team members often need to trust you with their digital keys. Are you doing all you can to educate them on best practices and keep their credentials safe? How securely we receive them, store them, or share them internally is ops 101. Modern marketing campaigns are multi-touch by default: social, web, landing…

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It's Time to Move On hero shows a hand moving a chess piece and a pie chart in the background.

It’s Time to Move On
It’s Time to Move On 1000 563 Cyndie Shaffstall

Email automation is a wondrous thing — I’d be lost without it — but like most relationships, it requires communication, collaboration, and the occasional reality check. What once felt like the perfect partnership can, over time, lose its spark. And if your platform no longer meets your needs, it might be time to start swiping…

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Um, Gee, Thanks for Subscribing. Now What hero shows a person with a conversation bubble welcoming you.

Um, Gee… Thanks for Subscribing. (Now What?!)
Um, Gee… Thanks for Subscribing. (Now What?!) 1920 1080 Cyndie Shaffstall

Welcome emails continue to outperform every other marketing email type — by a lot. According to the Klaviyo 2025 Email Marketing Benchmarks Report, welcome emails see open rates more than 200% higher than typical campaigns and generate up to 5× the click-through rate. Yet many marketers still skip them. Here’s how to make sure your…

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Gosh, I've Missed You hero shows a telephone handset with a conversation bubble that displays the word hello

Gosh, I’ve Missed You!
Gosh, I’ve Missed You! 1000 563 Cyndie Shaffstall

Are you giving up on your subscribers too soon? A new wave of research suggests that win-back campaigns can re-engage subscribers long after many marketers have written them off. Recent findings on the effectiveness of win-back (also known as re-engagement, lapsed-customer, or reactivation) campaigns show this tactic deserves a strategic spot in your marketing-automation playbook.…

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Buy Now. Buy More. Buy Again. hero shows an abstract ecommerce page with a hand holding a magnifying glass and another hand pointing to the screen.

Buy Now. Buy More. Buy Again.
Buy Now. Buy More. Buy Again. 1920 1080 Cyndie Shaffstall

Your website isn’t just a storefront—it’s prime real estate for validating claims, educating customers, and guiding them through decisions. Yet so many marketers toss up a landing page and call it a day. With ecommerce steadily replacing brick-and-mortar sales, it’s time to re-evaluate how your drip and nurture campaigns support the cart experience. Ecommerce has…

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Don't be a focus group of one hero shows a woman leaning on a monitor that displays a vertical bar chart

Rule #1: Don’t Be a Focus Group of One
Rule #1: Don’t Be a Focus Group of One 1000 563 Cyndie Shaffstall

If you’re sending marketing campaigns without A/B or multivariate testing — and most companies admit to running fewer than five tests a month — you’re effectively acting as a focus group of one. You’re assuming everyone feels the same way about your campaign as you do. Big mistake. Most of us have at least a…

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