Hey! 👋
Hope you’re doing well!
I can’t believe it’s already July…it feels like June went by in a week!
Today we’re talking about Clay, a topic that has been highly requested by The Marketing Operations Strategist community.
In the spirit of full transparency, I am a Clay Partner, BUT — they are not aware that I am making this post, nor do they have any part in it. This is only due to how often this topic is requested.
First, I want to share the results of our poll from last week:
What level of AI maturity are you in?
POLL: What level of AI maturity are you in?
🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Baby steps (haven't really touched AI yet)
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Beginner (tinkering with ChatGPT or Claude)
🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ Intermediate (using iPaaS like Clay, Zapier in conjunction with AI)
🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Advanced (using tools like v0, Lovable to code custom apps)
Here’s a common theme I’m seeing in the “beginner” responses:
(Beginner) I am finding it quite overwhelming if I'm honest. I am thinking of taking an AI course but the choice out there is immense and it's quite hard to know which course would be the best fit.
I’d recommend checking out free content first — Datacamp has some free course content, and you could always sign up for Claude or ChatGPT to start playing around with AI prompting. Everyone is still learning, the key is to not let yourself feel like you’re behind!
Before we dive into the main content, please check out a quick word from our sponsors, who are kind enough to support the creation of this free-to-you MOPs content 💖:
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Okay, now my guide to AI in marketing operations! 👇
Here are the key takeaways I want you to focus on:
Clay is a tool that can help you leverage AI, formulas, and enrichment vendors in one place. To me, this is the key selling point — I can activate plays really quickly, without having to manage tons of integrations on my own or log in and out of tons of platforms.
BUT, as with all tools, it needs a strategy. Plan out your use cases before you purchase!
I’ve found Clay to be one of the more user-friendly GTM AI tools to learn in. It has built-in AI assistants that can help you with prompting. They aren’t perfect, but they have really helped me learn how to prompt better.
If you are just looking for simple entire-database data enrichment like ZoomInfo, that will typically be cheaper (on a credit-by-contact level) than a solution like Clay. I recommend using Clay if you are looking to:
Use non-typical data enrichment vendors (like Google Ad usage or AI web scraping)
Leverage custom data enrichment waterfalls (which can be cheaper if you are buying tons of disparate vendors right now)
Set up automations that will either generate your business money or save your business more money than the tool costs
Set everything up in one place, rather than have disparate tools/integrations — or are part of a lean team and need to activate plays quickly
You can do really cool stuff with Clay, way outside of the typical box one might think about in B2B. The use cases I’m showing you today are somewhat introductory use cases…you can get really sophisticated and complex if the use case requires it. LMK if you want to see more complex use cases, reply to this email letting me know. 😄
By the way, the guide is a living doc for the community…please send any feedback you have!
What I’m up to/what I’m studying 💭
Love Island USA has been a true rollercoaster this year…WOW 🎢
Dear Sara ✍️
New to marketing operations? On a team of one at your company? Shy/introverted? Wish you could ask a question to an experienced marketing operations professional, without them knowing who you are? Here’s your chance! Submit an anonymous question to me here and I’ll answer a new question in every issue.
Here’s my answer to a question from last week:
I am a Senior Marketing Automation Specialist and feel stuck. I want to transition to a more operational role, but I’m not sure how. I have 10 years of experience with MAPs such as Eloqua, Dynamics 365, and Salesforce CRM. I manage programs related to routing, lead assignment rules, some third-party integrations, lead scoring, etc., but most of the time, I execute campaigns. Internally, I’ve exhausted my options. Applying for a new job in this role feels challenging, as I feel I lack some experience. How can I bridge the gap and land a job in marketing operations?
This is a bit tricky to answer without knowing you better, but let me take a shot.
A few tips for you:
Make sure you aren’t siloing yourself. I know this sounds silly, but so many ops peers silo themselves by:
Not telling their managers what they want in terms of career path and learning experiences
Not networking internally and externally
Being far too good at their job (and therefore irreplaceable — in a bad way)
If you don’t advertise to your manager what you want to be doing, if you don’t network and get to know peer teams who may be able to offer you those opportunities, and you are too good at your current job — your manager won’t find growth projects or activities for you.
If you feel you are missing experience, create your own career growth map and plan out how you can get experience either internally or externally. For example, I gained Salesforce Admin experience by doing freelance work, which opened a lot of doors for me!
More on this overall topic here, in a previous edition: https://the-marketing-operations-strategist.beehiiv.com/p/marketing-operations-strategist-welcome-stand-marketing-operations-job-applicant
I hope this was helpful!
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Thanks for reading,
❤️ Sara