What is a project management tool?

When it comes to marketing campaign management, everything can seem simple enough until campaigns become more complex and marketing teams get larger. To say there are a lot of moving parts in this process is an understatement! If you’ve been in marketing for any length of time, you understand that executing a flawless campaign takes planning, collaboration and (a LOT of) communication.

Once your team reaches a point of critical mass, you have to scale operations and should rely on a project management system to help organize all of those moving parts and people. Simply put, a PM tool is a software platform that enables the planning, tracking and management of all aspects of your campaigns. Many platforms even have mobile applications that allow you to work seamlessly from any device and integrations that can automate actions across your tech stack!

Why should a MOPs team consider a PM tool in favor of other options?

If you’re desperate to optimize your team’s productivity and want to speed up your go-to-market execution, a PM tool and related process (and the right high performing team) can help you get there. A PM tool can help streamline process management, making it easier for marketing teams to manage complex campaigns with multiple stakeholders, timelines, and deliverables.

When does a company need one?

If your marketing team struggles to manage projects and tracking task details is becoming too complicated, a PM tool could be a game-changer. There are several indicators that your current process is getting too cumbersome to handle.

Here are just a few telltale signs that you may need a PM tool:

• Missing deadlines
• Wasting time managing spreadsheets
• Getting campaigns out the door takes longer than it should
• Communication breakdowns within and across teams
• Slow or undefined approval process

These are major signals that your campaigns are outgrowing your process. However, that can be a good thing – it means your team is growing, too! You just need to control the process change before it controls you.

How should a company research and evaluate potential tools?

Here are a few questions that MOPs teams should ask when evaluating different PM tools:

• Is it user & mobile friendly?
• What type of customization does our team need? (Think fields, dashboards and work views)
• What type of seats do we need? (Does it have different access for approving stakeholders and external consultants that may be cheaper than a traditional seat?)
• What type of time-saving automation does it have?
• What notification options does our team need for optimal Service Level Agreement response times?
• Does it integrate with our other tools?
• What type of reporting does it have?
• Is there a support team to help with issues or with implementing this new tool?
• What’s the cost? (Also…what’s our budget?)

Once you define your team’s specific needs, stack rank the importance of the items. Set your non-negotiables at the top and your nice-to-haves towards the bottom. Make a side-by-side comparison of these details and pricing and get your stakeholders’ buy-in on which to choose.

Conclusion

As your marketing campaign production process and related planning gets more complicated, you need a dynamic project management tool that can scale with your organization’s growing needs. If the thought of implementing a new tool feels overwhelming, Etumos has proven methods of turning your PM tool into a Center of Excellence. If you want to know more about how we can help you impress your execs and get your team excited about campaign execution again, contact us any time!