Welcome!

Each week we bring to you a discussion on the latest trends in digital marketing and how you can actually implement these strategies into your organization.

#152 The Future of Marketing Ops with Mike Rizzo

“Marketing Operations is the practice of taking people, understanding what it is that the business is trying to do from a go-to-market perspective, and working to align those people to a process that enables that go-to-market through technology. And it’s always in that order. People, process, and technology.” -Mike Rizzo
Mike Rizzo is the Founder and CEO of MarketingOps, MO Pros, and MartechGuru—platforms dedicated to empowering Marketing Operations professionals and advancing the Revenue Operations field. With a background spanning ad tech, growth hacking, and beyond, Mike has built his career around aligning people, processes, and technology to drive effective go-to-market strategies. He also co-hosts Ops Cast, a leading podcast that explores industry insights and emerging trends. Through his community-driven approach, Mike has created innovative resources and a collaborative environment where Marketing Operations practitioners can grow, share knowledge, and thrive. In this episode, Mike dives into his perspective on branding and what it means both strategically and personally.

About the Episode

Welcome to an inside look at the world of Marketing Operations, inspired by the NTM Growth Marketing Podcast’s conversation with Mike Rizzo, CEO and founder of MarketingOps.com. In this lengthy, practical guide, we’ll explore the real, behind-the-scenes work of marketing ops, why branding matters (even down to wall stickers), what keeps these unsung pros up at night, and how the job is changing in the era of AI and rapid digital transformation.

Pull up a seat and join in — whether you’re a seasoned marketing ops pro, a CMO figuring out why marketing automation matters, or someone who just wants to peek behind the digital marketing curtain.

Meet Mike Rizzo: Community-led Founder of MarketingOps.com

Let’s kick things off with a little background. If you’re picturing a stiff CEO in a suit, think again. When Mike Rizzo hops on a Zoom call, you’ll spot not just an energetic attitude but a huge “MarketingOps” sticker proudly stuck above his stylish shelves at home. That’s branding — and a subtle bit of fun that tells you a lot about both Mike and his approach.

Who is Mike?

  • CEO and founder of MarketingOps.com
  • Self-described “community-led founder”
  • Passionate about giving marketing ops practitioners a voice and space to connect

In Mike’s own words:

“None of this would have happened without the community guiding us towards what it all means and what we should be doing together — how to make it better for everybody.”

Mike’s journey started in a now-familiar way: “Back when I was launching… MarketingOps.com, I was like, well, what could I do that could be kind of fun and interesting because we’re in this virtual world right now? So, I bought a giant vinyl sticker and stuck it on my wall.” Even his wife had input — and ended up liking it for the branding boost it gave his setup.

Branding with Stickers: The Power of Subtle Touches

“Why the MarketingOps sticker?” might seem like a random question, but it opens the door into a cornerstone of how modern marketing — and especially marketing operations — works.

The story:
When Mike was getting MarketingOps.com off the ground, he wanted to put a memorable, fun touch into his video setup. Enter the MarketingOps.com sticker, smack above some beautiful shelves (his wife’s handiwork).

Was it a risk?
Sure. Even his wife was like, “Are you sure you want that there?” But, as Mike points out, these small, quirky touches get people talking and help brand identity stick.

“I think branding in general is important—regardless of the inability to track branding, it’s an important thing. Subtle touches really work.”

Takeaway:
Whether it’s a sticker, a pair of signature glowing headphones (another of Mike’s tricks!), or a unique virtual background, small consistent branding details become your signature. Folks remember the headphones and ask about them. Maybe they even buy their own.

Lesson for marketers:
Don’t underestimate the power of a little fun, creativity, or style in your workspace, especially in a world where most meetings are virtual. It’s memorable. It’s you.

What Is Marketing Operations Anyway?

Let’s break it down, because “marketing operations” (aka “marketing ops” or “MOps”) often gets mixed up, misunderstood, or even ignored within broader marketing teams.

The MarketingOps.com Elevator Pitch

Mike describes MarketingOps.com as:

  • A private network and community for marketing operations professionals
  • A platform to connect and elevate people practicing the vocation of marketing operations
  • A home for folks just discovering the role (and realizing, “Oh, that’s what I’ve been doing all along!”)

With thousands of members chatting, venting, and problem-solving together, it’s a place for both seasoned pros and brand-new practitioners.

So… What Do Marketing Operations Pros Actually Do?

Here’s Mike’s definition:

“Marketing operations is the practice of taking people, understanding what the business is trying to do from a go-to-market perspective, and working to align those people to a process to enable that go-to-market — often through technology. And it’s always in that order: people, process, technology.”

What does that mean in practice?

  • Start with people: Who are the users, stakeholders, and customers?
  • Build out processes: How do we reliably, effectively, and ethically reach business goals?
  • Support with technology: Which tools make the processes work, and who will own/manage them?

It’s a role about orchestrating all three.

Pro tip:
Marketing ops is not just about buying cool tools or running the shiniest automation platform. All that comes at the end – after you know who’s using the tool and why.

The Classic “People-Process-Technology” Triangle

Most teams make mistakes here, especially when they get dazzled by a new MarTech product. As Mike puts it:

“Often, we see companies and teams invest in a product before they ever think about who manages the tool, or who’s interacting with it…”

Remember:
Marketing ops is basically managing a go-to-market product (your tech stack). That means knowing your “users,” setting up repeatable processes, and letting that strategy drive your tech choices — not the other way around.

Why MarketingOps.com Exists: Finding Your People

You might wonder: With so many marketing communities out there, what makes MarketingOps.com unique?

It’s about solving for a very real problem:

  • Marketing ops professionals are deeply involved in most company go-to-market systems
  • Their jobs involve intricate, high-stakes, and often invisible work
  • They usually get extra, unrelated stuff piled onto their plates — like demand gen
  • Most times, they’re enablers for things like campaigns, but not the folks actually running them

That’s a recipe for confusion, stress, and sometimes a sense of isolation.

“We’re trying to establish the guardrails of what it truly means to be in marketing operations.”

With executives, practitioners, and newbies all in the same space, the community provides guidance, resources, and a place to talk shop (and, sometimes, just vent).

Who it’s for:

  • Practitioners working day-to-day in marketing operations
  • Folks just realizing, “Whoa, this is what I’ve been doing for years!”
  • Executives trying to actually understand what MOps is really about

Night Sweats and Tricky Tokens: The Realities of Being in Marketing Operations

Let’s get real: the life of a marketing operations professional isn’t all flowcharts and MarTech roundups.

So what actually keeps these folks up at night?

Daily Worries From the Marketing Ops Front Lines

Mike shares a story about his own spouse learning the ropes of marketing automation:

“She was laying in bed one night, and it was 11:30, and she hit me on the shoulder and said, ‘Honey, I don’t know if I scheduled that email right.’”

Sound familiar? The basics can be surprisingly stressful:

Checklist of Nighttime Worries

  • Did I schedule that email/campaign properly?
  • Was the list right? (Did I target the right people? Oops.)
  • Did I forget a personalization token? (You know, “Hi, {First Name}” where the tag didn’t convert.)
  • Did I add the right opt-in/consent field to that brand-new lead form?
  • Am I compliant with privacy rules and policies?

All those little details matter — and slipping up means sending the wrong info to the wrong people, or even breaking the law.

“You know, someone says, ‘Hey, can I send an email campaign to the customers?’ The answer is, ‘Yeah, but which customers?’”

The Deeper Layer

Even with “yes” answers, there’s always a caveat:

  • Can I even access that data?
  • Does it exist in the system?
  • Can I pull that list without breaking something else?

Quick anecdote:
It’s not uncommon for marketers to wake up in a cold sweat, remembering an email blast still labeled “Test” going out to 10,000 customers or realizing they’ve sent “Hi, FIRSTNAME” to the C-suite.

The Real Value of Community for Marketing Ops Pros

Why join a professional community? For marketing ops folks — especially those working solo or on tiny teams — it’s about way more than just swapping war stories.

Community Benefits: Personal & Professional

Mike sums it up well:

“Much like any other community, it really just boils down to camaraderie and a sense of kinship… you go from being a team of one to now you’re a team of, call it, 5400.”

Top Reasons to Join a Marketing Ops Community

  1. Instant Team Upgrade: Move from feeling solo to being part of a 5,400-strong brain trust on Slack (or similar).
  2. Peer Problem Solving: Bump into a weird automation or need a process sanity check? Ask others who’ve “been there, done that.”
  3. Swap Tips Across Silos: Sometimes, internal company teams are just too small (or siloed) for real brainstorming.
  4. Career Growth: Pick up new skills and advice from folks advancing in their own paths.
  5. Event Access: Regular events, topical conversations, and sometimes even job postings.

Standout quote:

“It’s pretty special to be able to go to somebody and say, ‘Hey, I’m encountering this strange thing with this product or this process I’m building out. Has anybody encountered this before? How have you tackled this challenge?’”

The feeling? Relief — realizing you’re never actually alone.

How The Marketing Ops Role Is Evolving (and Why That Matters)

Digital marketing pivots at lightning speed. Not long ago, TikTok was pegged as a “dance platform for teenagers.” Now? Multi-billion dollar marketing channel.

If marketing platforms change so quickly, what about the pros who manage the tech, processes, and people behind successful campaigns?

How the Role Has Shifted

Old school:
Marketing ops started with a heavy focus on platforms — think “I run the HubSpot/Salesforce/Marketo” shop.

Now:
The shift is toward being strategic go-to-market enablers and product leaders.

The Four Pillars of Modern Marketing Operations

Originally, industry leaders mapped out four “core responsibilities” for MOps pros. Now, the focus has widened:

  • Platform Operations: Managing MarTech systems (the backbone tech)
  • Campaign Operations: Orchestrating campaigns and go-to-market workflows
  • Strategic Enablement: Supporting business expansion, launching into new markets
  • Analytical & Data Leadership: Building the infrastructure for targeting, reporting, and decision-making

Example:
If your exec wants to expand into the EMEA region, it’s not just about running ads. Legal, compliance, list building, data structure, and technical integrations all need to slot perfectly into place.

“This marketing ops role is really evolving to be a product leader in that space and a strategist.”

Analogy:
Today’s marketing ops pro is a little like a CTO, CIO, and operations chief all rolled into one — thinking about the ripple effects of every field, workflow, or campaign.

Real-World Scenario: Adding or Removing a Data Field

  • Add a field in Salesforce? Who else relies on it? What happens if it breaks downstream?
  • Remove a field? Could it void existing processes, automations, or compliance?

Role evolution takeaway:
MOps pros now have to anticipate the second and third order effects of their decisions (and explain them to everyone else).

The Human Side: Don’t Get Replaced by AI (or Outsourced for Less)

As AI and outsourcing become increasingly common, the best way for marketing ops professionals to stay relevant is to:

  • Think strategically
  • Elevate their skillsets beyond simple “button-pushing”
  • Emphasize business impact

Mike puts it plainly:

“Offshoring and AI aren’t going anywhere. But what’s really special about the MOps role is that, as a strategist who understands how tools work together, you’re uniquely equipped to leverage AI — not get replaced by it.”

The Marketing Ops Pro in the Age of AI: More Relevant Than Ever

AI is the fear (and opportunity) on every marketer’s mind. So, is marketing ops at risk of becoming obsolete?

The answer: No. If anything, it’s becoming more critical.

AI Isn’t New to MOps — You’ve Been Doing It For Years

Paul Wilson, a thought-leader in the MOps space, popularizes this point. As Mike summarizes:

“We’ve been doing this AI thing for a while… Lead scoring, modeling go-to-market strategies, surfacing insights — all AI-adjacent activities.”

What’s changed?

  • AI now means tools that can build out workflows based on your verbal description (“Hey AI, make me a three-branch, seven-touch email nurture”).
  • The bottleneck will always be input quality and system design.

So what’s the real job?

  • Ensuring that all the inputs — from clean data to properly designed fields to process documentation — are in place
  • Knowing how to ask AI to do the right stuff, and to trust (and verify) the output
  • Translating complex marketing asks into both process and technology that AI can execute

Example: Building a Marketing Workflow with AI

Say you want to automate a complex email sequence:

“Build me a seven-step email campaign that automatically puts leads on one of three branches, based on location or industry data.”

AI can handle the build — if you know what to ask, and if the underlying data is clean and accessible.

“AI will be super helpful for the mundane stuff that we don’t necessarily love to do anymore — bulk workflow builds, custom branches, etc. But someone still has to do the work, manage the inputs, and make strategic decisions.”

Don’t Fear the Robot Apocalypse (Yet)

AI doesn’t know your specific business inside and out, not yet — and probably never as well as a human.

“I don’t think we’re getting replaced by AI. Not anytime soon.”

Looking Ahead: The Human Side of Marketing and What’s Next for 2024

After so much “tech talk,” you might expect the big, bold prediction for 2024 to be about the next giant CRM or social platform. But for Mike, it’s simpler — and more human:

“The thing that makes it special is that we’re creating an experience that connects people to our brand, our brand to people, and people to people… I’m most excited about seeing how businesses leverage relationships and bring it back to people.”

Why This Is Huge

As companies look to expand and try new go-to-market strategies, the magic happens where relationships meet brand. Even the most wizardly MOps pro or Ai-powered tool can’t fake real connection:

  • Community will matter even more
  • Brand “touches” (like those vinyl stickers) amplify identity and spark loyalty
  • Trust and kinship in communities make tech adoption and change easier

So, what should MOps pros focus on in 2024?

  • Deepen their people skills
  • Champion meaningful connections between brands and customers
  • Keep using tech and AI as enablers — not replacements — for real relationships

How to Connect with Mike and MarketingOps.com

If you want to dig deeper, join the community, or simply follow Mike and his crew, here’s how:

Website:
https://marketingops.com

Final Thoughts

Whether you’re already living that late-night-marketing-automation life, or just curious about how the digital sausage is made, marketing operations sits at the heart of every modern marketing engine. With the combo of smart people, solid processes, and the right technology (and, yes, the occasional AI bot), MOps pros can enable the possible — and connect the dots between brand, systems, and relationships.

If you take just one thing from Mike Rizzo’s journey and the MarketingOps.com community, let it be this:

“At the end of the day, the thing that makes this as special as it is, is that we’re creating an experience that connects people to our brand and our brand to people, and people to people.”

Ready to step up your marketing ops game? Start branding boldly, connect with your community, and keep your people — not just your pixels — at the center.

More Episodes

The School for Humanity Archive

Explore our archive of NTM’s original podcast, The School for Humanity, created to discuss the greatest challenges humanity faces and help promote those who are helping to find solutions. 

Skip to content