As the marketing industry grows increasingly fast-paced, with the expectation of producing more content and campaigns across a growing number of channels, burnout is becoming more common, and many marketers are considering leaving the industry, as reported by Forbes.
In light of this, it's clear that adopting the best tools, processes, and culture to support marketing and creative teams is essential. Businesses still relying on outdated systems such as email and spreadsheets, and managing projects without dedicated creative project management tools, need to consider the negative impact these inadequate tools can have.
To improve efficiency and better support your most valuable assets, your people, it's worth exploring more advanced, collaborative tools.
1. A lack of cohesion delays marketing projects
Is your typical week plagued by briefs submitted with little information and being sent to the wrong person? Do you struggle to find available resources for urgent tasks due to uncertainty over the accuracy of your resource spreadsheet? Are you lacking transparency over projects, making it difficult to update your manager without having to ask around first? Do approvals get delayed due to constant changes, leaving you unsure if you'll meet your deadline?
Fortunately, project management software can alleviate these issues by consolidating all aspects of your projects into one convenient platform. With the software, you can store all files and documents in one place, creating an automatic audit trail of work and allowing you to track who has completed what. Additionally, the software includes a range of features for marketers to manage everything from briefing and resourcing projects to approval workflow management and storing final assets.
2. Email approvals lead to high artwork revisions
Email approvals often result in multiple revisions to artwork, causing delays and wasted resources. While email is a useful tool for simple messages, it falls short when it comes to obtaining feedback from multiple reviewers on several deliverables. It can be confusing to sort through numerous email threads with missed changes, versions that are difficult to track, and conflicting feedback.
In contrast, a marketing project management or online proofing tool provides a single collaborative interface for gathering feedback quickly and easily. Approved reviewers can log in, mark up artwork, and add clear and concise text comments. All changes are visible to all reviewers, allowing for transparency and conflict resolution. When finalizing changes, simply batch them up and send them to the creative team. This intuitive feedback system helps eliminate the need for high artwork revisions, saving time and money.
3. The daily grind of spreadsheets
Many marketers and project managers still use spreadsheets to plan and track their projects. This means that every time a change occurs, the information has to be manually updated on a spreadsheet. If the creative team or other stakeholders need to be updated, a new version has to be created and usually distributed via email. This labour-intensive task can steal hours of anyone?s day.
Wouldn't it be easier to use a tool that allows you to set up a project and have it automatically appear on a realtime Dashboard? Status icons will keep you in the loop with how projects are progressing. Whenever a task is assigned, the resource is automatically notified. To get a project update, approved users can log in and view the Dashboard at any time, which eliminates the need to create multiple versions and send email updates. If someone requests a WIP report, you can generate one in no time at all sans the gruelling work.
4. Losing creative time to repetitive admin
Using traditional tools for content production management can result in poor briefing, manual updates of spreadsheets for project and resource scheduling, difficulty interpreting handwritten markups, lengthy email trails, and constant follow-up with stakeholders for feedback.
On the other hand, marketers who have adopted marketing management software have been shown to be 7x more efficient. This software solution streamlines project management by automating and customizing repetitive tasks. It includes features such as online brief and approval templates, a centralized dashboard, task lists, resource planning tools, automatic reminders, reporting tools, and more. These features make it easy to manage projects, streamline workflows, and improve efficiency, resulting in better content production outcome.
5. Lack of resource visibility leads to errors in resource allocation.
Using spreadsheets to manage resources can lead to errors such as double booking or inefficient use of available resources. It's challenging to quickly assign or reassign work when urgent jobs arise, and resource capacity is not readily visible to the team.
Adopting a tool with integrated resource management provides greater visibility and transparency over available resources. Planning and scheduling tools offer a complete overview of resource capacity, and drag-and-drop features make it easy to assign or reassign tasks within seconds. The system highlights any issues, such as overloading a resource with a 100% workload meter, to avoid errors. Stakeholders can also view resource capacity for upcoming projects without needing to contact the team. This integrated resource management system ensures efficient resource allocation and reduces errors.
6. Compliance issues occur when old assets are used in campaigns
If brand assets aren't filed in an organised manner on the server, it's easy for a designer to get confused about which is the most current asset. If an old brand asset gets used in a campaign, you then have an internal compliance issue on your hands. If old messaging goes public, you might have an even bigger problem with an external compliance issue.
Project management software with integrated Digital Asset Management features enables you to save only your most current assets to ensure that the correct assets and messaging are always used in your marketing campaigns. In terms of licensed imagery, the system will send an automated reminder when the license has expired. You can also view a download history to ensure only the right users are accessing your assets.