When it comes to project management, people often focus on the planning, implementation, and results of the project. And it's no different for marketing projects.
But did you know that way you start the project is just as critical to its success as the other steps during the process? In fact, a project intake process is closely linked to the success of the project. Why? It's simple. It ensures consistency.So, it's vital to have a marketing briefing process, commonly known as a project intake process that promotes consistency across your teams and business. With a consistent workflow, the quality of your marketing projects will improve. But what exactly is a project intake process? How does it help creative projects? Let's take a look.
As the name implies, the project intake process is the process where new projects are initiated. This could be, for instance, when a creative agency gets a project brief from a client to do a new project. It could also be when a company's management gives the marketing team instructions to begin a new branding campaign.
The problem is that, more often, the intake process begins with an email, a message on Slack, or a conversation around the coffee machine. You can imagine that with each of these, the process will start off differently, and the steps following the request will differ and the information that is gathered will more often than not be incomplete. And that's where a standardised project intake process shines.
Sure, an email or a quick phone call is much faster for the briefer. Sure, it may take some work to develop a standard project intake process. But developing and implementing one will solve a lot of problems marketing teams face.
It, for instance, can:
So, it's clear. The process is consistent, and there are no more "I didn't get the mail" or "Sorry, I forgot" excuses. And by including the right information in the request, there's no more guesswork or hassle to find additional details. In simple terms, it saves time and starts off the project on the right footing every time.
Looking at the problems the project intake process solves, it's easy to see what the benefits are. Let's look at these in more detail.
1. It Improves Consistency
By getting the same information for every project, it starts off in the same way. Also, everyone on the team will know what happens after the request. This not only makes the process consistent but also eliminates any confusion about what is required.
2. The Right Information
Project requesters often don't know what information they should give. What happens then? You have to waste time trying to track down the vital details. A proper project intake process ensures that it clear what information is required at the start of the process and ensures it is provided before it moves to the next phase of reviewing the project requirements.
3. Saves Time
If each project has its own form of request and steps that follow after that, it's basically a new process for every project. This means everyone on the team has to figure it on each project. Having a consistent intake process and getting the right information every time saves you a lot of hassle and time.
4. Streamlines the Process
Ultimately, it streamlines the process, with everyone knowing exactly what is required, what needs to happen, and what will happen next.
Now, you're definitely on board in creating a consistent project intake process. But how do you go about creating your own project intake workflow?
The first step is to develop a project request form. With this form, you'll gather all the information you need for the project.
Keep in mind that these forms might look different depending on the nature of the project. For example a rebranding campaign would be different to a video or digital project. Here are some questions that a creative project intake form should include:
The answers to these questions will give you everything you need to start working on the project.
The second step is to designate a central place where requests will be received. This ensures that none are lost or forgotten in the process. The best solution here would be to use marketing project management software that keeps all work centralized for all team members to see.
The third step is to designate who on the team will be responsible for checking the centralized intake location.
And finally, formalize the process. This ensures that everyone knows how a project starts, when it starts, and what happens after that. Because let's face it, you could have the best process, but it doesn't mean much if no one knows about it.
Chances are that, if you're reading this, your project intake process is falling short. Marketing project management software lets you formalize the project intake process and receive requests in one central location, making for an overall better process.
Starting off, you could create a request form or project briefing template that will record the necessary information and feed it to whoever needs it, when they need it. From there, large parts of your marketing management process can be automated, making it easier for teams to manage.
By formalizing the process with software, also lets you see which parts of your intake process are repetitive that you can automate. This, ultimately, makes the entire process more streamlined and efficient.
The pros of using marketing project management software don't stop with a more streamlined intake process, though. It also has other benefits like:
admation, marketing project management software simplifies the project intake process with online briefs, predetermined project teams and templates. Check out how this admation feature can benefit your creative team.
You want the best campaigns with the highest chances of success, right? Then you need a proper plan, and a proper plan always kicks off with the first step.
So, create your own project intake process that ensures consistency and the right springboard for winning campaigns.