Good marketing project management is the process of planning, executing, and controlling the resources, time, and costs of a marketing project. In marketing projects, task management is ensuring that all of the different elements of the project come together seamlessly. This includes everything from the initial conception and planning stages to the execution and delivery of the final product. Without strong project management, it would be very difficult to coordinate all of the different moving parts involved in a marketing project. As such, marketing project management is a critical function in ensuring the success of marketing projects.
There is a reason why working in a marketing agency is associated with multitasking. Sale support, running the social media or website engineering-even though there are specific people behind all these actions, the successful result of the effectors of the entire team is what matters most. Since all employees of a marketing agency have their scope of responsibilities, common effectiveness is built on the foundation of timely performance of entrusted duties. How to dot the i’s and cross the t’s in the perspective of all these specific dependencies?
Timeliness is the keyword of marketing project management
Terms like “deadline”, “due yesterday” or “asap” are almost an everyday thing in marketing agencies. The battle with time and deadlines appears to be an inherent component of work, frequently causing stress. The studies of the World Economic Forum that analyzed, in cooperation with the Gallup organization, the relationship between productivity and the wellbeing of employees show there is a strong correlation between the monitored data. Thus, a good organization seems to be the basis of productivity and, at the same time, a guarantee of a good atmosphere among the team members.
Therefore, to take good care of the performance of tasks in a marketing organization, the use of various sources of help should be considered. Specialized marketing project management programs, CRM software, or, in the case of excessive workloads, outsourcing allow you to stay in touch with the rhythm of the enterprise.
Contact with the customer and the CRM system
According to the Right No study, customers who most frequently terminate their cooperation with a given company are those complaining about a lack of engagement on the other end of the telephone line. Thus, inattention and ignoring the contractors’ needs seem to be some of the biggest flaws of employees who, preoccupied with loads of responsibilities, sometimes fail to take care of systematic contact. Therefore, how to make sure that the relationship between customer and employee results in mutual satisfaction?
In this case, using CRM software is recommended to streamline message exchanges between the engaged people. Automation of customer service is conducive to ordered activities and allows for the monitoring of contact records on an ongoing basis. The effect of the discussion, actions taken, and stage of negotiations-you are only several clicks away from all that. Thanks to information storage, CRM also helps in effective work, even in the case of personnel rotation, which is not so uncommon in creative industries.
How not get lost in the tangle of tasks?
Proper task management is the key to success in marketing agencies. The task load in this industry is so high that a sheet of paper and some colorful sticky notes are no longer enough to deal with it. With the current technological advancements, a great solution is various tasks and even project management tools. The functionalities of this type of software include, without limitations, a delegation of specific tasks, status management, or ongoing updates of work progress. It is also crucial that all information is collected in one place and will never get lost. Do you think you can forget about a task? The software will not let you. Notifications will remind you about the deadline and all work will be done on every single task. You can find all this, for example, in the Polish IC Project or foreign Monday, Trello, and Asana.
A calendar is a must. How to deal with it?
In a marketing agency, everything must go like clockwork. After all, the reputation of the company is based mostly on the customers’ opinions, who love sharing their experiences online. One of the functions that allow you to effectively tame the chaos is a transparent and interactive calendar. The assigned tasks include daily, weekly, and monthly views as well as the option to keep a personalized schedule. A common calendar for all employees is also worth noting as it allows you to quickly check someone’s availability when assigning tasks.
In such a case, if you wish to combine task management with a calendar, you can choose a tool like IC Project, Flow, or Zenkit. If you only care about the calendar, check the Google Calendar. appointments, events, business meetings, and other situations known from marketing and working with customers. A good interactive calendar lets you add all events, assign available people to them, and will remind you about the deadline.
Marketing project management tools are also frequently equipped with such functions as work time measurement and the option to create chats with co-workers, streamlining information exchange, and task deadline planning in the agency.
Outsourcing-a method for flexibility
Although time constraints can be motivating, working with the expectation of never-ending tasks can be depressing rather than motivating. If the graphic rebranding tasks or copywriting orders pile up, using external sources might be a solution.
In the case of outsourcing, as an increasingly frequently selected option, long-term relations are of key importance. This type of cooperation allows the agency to reach partners who will support the company in highly specialized activities. Third-party experts can also provide valuable support in the case of unexpected orders requiring quick and professional action. Outsourcing is also often chosen as it allows one to keep the employment level low and reduce operating costs.
Choose proven solutions
Regular contact with the customer, running social media channels for the given company, and creating its visual identification—the comprehensiveness of services offered by marketing agencies is a great proposal for an enterprise entering the market. But to prevent the comprehensiveness of the activities of the marketing agency from becoming the reason for neglecting its structure, using professional help should be considered.
The outsourcing will prove itself in the case of a sudden overload of tasks. The CRM system will help you maintain good relations with your customers and the marketing project management tool will improve your self-organization.
Individual customer service
By providing individualized customer service, project managers can build strong relationships with clients and ensure that every project is a success. In business, the customer is always right. This adage is especially true in the world of project management, where individualized customer service is the key to success. By taking the time to get to know each client’s needs and preferences, project managers can ensure that every project is executed flawlessly. In addition, regular communication with clients ensures that any changes or concerns are promptly addressed.
I bet all of us like to be treated specially — we like it when we enter the barber’s and get a cup of coffee or a small glass of something stronger and then have a chat with the barber, who gladly listens and replies. We like individual offers, personalized packages, and all kinds of such products. We can have a personal consultant in banking and a personal salesman in telecommunications. Why do I mention this? Because specially treating our customers may prove to be our key to success.
We never know who our customers are – individual customer service
It’s not that we do not know whether our client is a woman or a man, but rather that they can turn out to be a famous person, a blogger known to a certain group of people, or even a writer whom we don’t have to be familiar with. This is why it is worth specially treating every customer of ours, which improves their experience with the brand. In addition, it is worth noticing that, according to the data provided by Xerox, over 4% of the respondents would be glad to pay more for better treatment and better customer service.
Why don’t we try out individual customer service, then? It results in building long-term relationships, which are critical in business. Thanks to such an approach, we gain the following:
- customer’s loyalty which translates to new orders – thanks to flawless service, which the customer is fond of, we may be sure that when the consumer is selecting a product in the future, a signal will appear somewhere in their mind reminding them about the good times which you “had” together;
- So-called brand evangelists are fans of the brand who willingly share experiences with their loved ones and friends. They do it not only face-to-face but also on social media. This is a free form of promotion for us and it is extremely effective.
- This is an excellent representation of a brand that cares about its customers – this way, our customers know that we not only sell good products or services, but we also have a high organizational culture, which translates into quality customer service.
After all, brands built this way have a much easier time dealing with crises and obstacles if they occur; they can always count on support from their loyal customers.
Solid ideas
In the current market, many brands have offerings that are identical and differ only in price or additional services, which do not always draw clients closer. This is why it is so important to give the buyers something more — a feeling of exclusivity and specialness that no other brand can offer. Let’s take a look at some examples. In some hotels, the receptionist has been replaced by a host who greets guests in the very vestibule: the reception desk no longer separates the host from the guest; everything is discussed in comfy armchairs; and so on. This is the case, for example, in the Andaz hotels.
The right people in the right place
Our employees are our strength. Note that the personnel’s mood depends on the way we treat and reward them. All this is felt by our customers. Let’s take a look at Richard Branson, who, even though he does not rank among the richest entrepreneurs in the world or have an innovative company, is an inspiration for many people.
Branson said, “Customers are not the most important thing.” The employees are the most important. If you take care of your employees, they will take care of your customers. ” In his book, he wrote another important thing that should be engraved in every entrepreneur’s mind and head: “You cannot make everyone happy. Even if you manage your company in the best way possible, there will always be some eternally displeased customers, the keeping of whom will cost you more than just losing them. This means that sometimes it is worth giving up on a customer who generates high keeping costs. It is worth considering whether we would be better off transferring these resources and measures to another customer who would appreciate our efforts.
Let’s get to the point. Two companies can be an example. The first one is the Sunglasses Hut shop in SoHo. One of the customers described a situation where they had been trying to find glasses that would fit him for quite some time. The same thing happened in this shop as well. They declined the personnel’s offer of help and we’re looking for a perfect pair themselves. In the meantime, the Sunglass Hut employee took the liberty of selecting two pairs, which – as it turned out – fit perfectly. Of course, the customer described the entire situation on social media. What worked in this situation? The knowledge and experience of the personnel who were very good at their jobs
The other example is the story of John DiJulius, who stayed at the Ritz-Carlton hotel. When leaving the hotel, he forgot his laptop charger. The customer wanted to call the hotel but decided to do it after he arrived home. The following day, he found his lost charger waiting for him in the office, accompanied by an extra charger sent as a bonus from the hotel.
Yet another interesting story deals with the Warby Parker brand, which is known for quality customer service. Warby Parker is a brand of glasses that is a socially responsible business. For every pair of glasses sold, they donate one to a child in need but unable to afford them. In addition, the company introduced a system for trying the glasses on at home if you want to buy them online. All we have to do is order frames that are appealing to us; we will receive them at home, and if we choose the ones we like, the rest will be collected by the courier, and we will pay only for those which we keep. All this without any additional costs. By the way, let us take a look at the story of Michael John Mathis.
The man forgot his pair of glasses on the train. Sometime later, he received a delivery from Warby Parker containing those glasses and a spare pair. As it turned out, a company employee was sitting opposite him — they noticed what happened and moved heaven and earth for the loss to be returned to the customer.
There are a lot of such stories about brands. These are no exceptions because companies like those described above, or the Zappos shop known around the world for that matter, have high standards of service embedded in their organizational culture. Even unprecedented situations employees find themselves in are solved in a subtle, skillful, and unique manner. There are also companies in the Polish market that value customer satisfaction above everything else. There is no need to search. Coffeedesk or Hard Beans Coffee Roasters are like this: these are places where the customer is put first.
Individual customer service in the teal organization
The teal organization is based on the idea of self-management. This means that each individual is responsible for their work, and there is no need for a traditional hierarchy. This can lead to more efficient and customer-focused organizations, as each individual can make decisions that are in the best interest of the customer. In teal organizations, customer service is not just a department – it is everyone’s responsibility. This means that every employee is focused on providing the best possible experience for each customer. As a result, teal organizations can provide a higher level of customer service than traditional organizations.
Marketing project management with freelancers
Freelancers are often brought in to help with marketing project management. This is because freelancers are generally more flexible and can work more quickly than full-time employees. In addition, freelancers usually have a more diverse skillset, which can be beneficial when managing a marketing project. However, some challenges come with working with freelancers. For one, it can be difficult to build trust with someone who is not an employee of the company. In addition, freelancers may be less reliable than full-time employees, as they may have other projects that they are working on at the same time. As a result, it is important to carefully consider whether freelancers are the right option for a marketing project before hiring them.
The road to success leads through the client’s hearts.
Maybe the above slogan is a bit lofty, but it’s true that the way we build relations with our customers indeed translates into their feelings towards our company. Building long-term relationships are very important in marketing project management because satisfied regulars will more keenly buy our products if there have been no problems with them so far and the buyer has received something more — exceptional individual customer service.
