Newbie’s Guide to Marketing Resource Management Software (MRM)
Struggling with your marketing assets? Give it time, you will. Or you can avoid the struggle with the right marketing resource management software or (MRM).
No matter the size of your organization or what industry you’re in – it may seem like you’re always plagued by a lack of resources. Whether that means a limited budget, lack of available team members to complete projects, or even time constraints. For marketing teams, whose goals often know no bounds, the cap on the activities you complete (and how much you’re able to grow) really comes down to what resources are available.
That means in order to help you reach new audiences, sell more products and services, and grow as an organization – it’s necessary to invest in tools which will help achieve your goals. Marketing resource management software (MRM) are tools that promise to do just that. As they give marketing teams a way to manage all of your company’s marketing resources, assets, and progress in one place that keeps things organized, and easy!
If you’re new to the world of marketing resource management we got you covered. Here we’ll answer all your burning questions. As well as show you the benefits of implementing the right Marketing Resource Management Software in businesses just like yours. Helping you get started right away.
What is Marketing Resource Management?
Marketing Resource Management (MRM) is a set of tools that helps you manage your physical and digital resources. But contrary to popular belief, it’s not necessarily one piece of software. According to Gartner, MRM can encompass any of the following: asset management, work management, and performance management.
Meaning it may be an all-in-one platform, but as many marketing teams have specific goals in mind, more likely than not this tends to be different specialized software which is used in conjunction with one another.
What this all boils down to is that MRM is a system used to track, schedule and assign tasks to your marketing team, so they can work more effectively and efficiently. And in addition to streamlining repetitive tasks like social media posting or emailing customers, MRM systems can also help you save time and money by automating those same tasks. All by giving you insights into how much time certain activities take up in order for you to adjust accordingly.
What’s a Marketing Resource?
A marketing resource is any asset that can be used to help you market your product or service. This can include the people on your marketing team, affiliate marketers, or freelance agents helping with a piece of content or a service.
Resources can also be non-human. This may include technology (cameras, computers), digital assets (images, promotional materials, brand books), or even more intangible resources such as time and budget.
How Does an MRM Work?
By creating a pool out of all your available resources – MRMs provide a unique overview of organizational elements. Connecting the dots and making it clear what order things need to occur in.
Here’s what you can expect from the most popular MRM:
- Project planning – whether it includes a Gantt chart, Kanban board, or other project management tool, it’s important to be able to plan out projects in the long-term and monitor progress along the way.
- Resource scheduling – what resources are involved in which activities. As well as eliminating bottlenecks amongst resources such as doublebookings or unbalanced workloads.
- Team collaboration – not only is this a space that all employees should be able to access and use, but it should create transparency amongst the team.
- Budgeting – you should be able to track budgets for different campaigns and across different channels.
- Access to digital asset libraries – it’s imperative that everyone on the team has access to marketing materials and digital assets. This leads to consistency across channels and reduces roadblocks.
- Process Management – establish a chain of command and
How Does an MRM Help Marketing Teams?
An MRM is a powerful tool that can help any sized marketing team be more productive. It allows you to track all of your marketing efforts, from the time you spend on each project to the number of leads generated and sales made as a result of each activity. And help you find the answer to common questions that arise during different marketing activities. This can include things like:
- What tasks need to be done?
- Who is working on what?
- How long before tasks will be completed?
- What’s the status of on-going projects?
- Which activities were successful or unsuccessful?
- What channels offer the most bang for our buck?
Why Does Your Business Need a Marketing Resource Management System?
An MRM can help you save time and money, make better marketing decisions, and be more efficient with your marketing efforts. With a system in hand you can expect:
- Smoother workflow – It’s easier to track the effectiveness of different marketing channels by using an automated system. If a channel isn’t working as well as another one, then you can quickly switch gears before it starts costing too much money or taking up too much time.
- A better way to measure success -An MRM helps you track progress and record KPIs as you plan. That gives a clearer picture of all your marketing activities and metrics you can take to the bank.
- More efficient use of resources and budget – You won’t waste money on ineffective strategies anymore. That’s because if something isn’t working out as planned, you’ll know to stop wasting resources on it right away.
- Better team dynamics – Your team members will be happier because they know exactly what their goals are and how they should be working towards them instead of just guessing what would work best based on past experience alone.
How Much Does a Marketing Resource Management System cost?
The cost of a marketing resource management system depends on the tool you choose. Most tools have a monthly fee, which ranges from $25 to $200 per month. Some tools are free for small businesses with less than 50 employees or those using a limited amount of resources.
The Best MRM Software and Tools
As mentioned above MRM might be a complete system or it might be a mix of individual software that’s all combined in order to achieve your specific goals. Here’s some of the best:
- Trello (Project and Task Management) – A digital whiteboard where you can organize your tasks, set due dates, move cards between boards and add attachments to them (like images, URLs, or documents). Trello is very user-friendly and easy to use, with an added bonus that you can share your board with coworkers so they know what you are working on at any given time.
- Hootsuite (Channel Management) – Offers a single dashboard for all social media channels. Manage assets, track posts, and plan content in a transparent way across all channels.
- Intelligencebank (Digital Asset Management) – One platform that combines digital asset management, a brandhub portal, and a marketing operations platform. Ensuring a one stop shop for brand consistency and speeding up the review process.
- Ganttic (Resource Management) – A visual resource planner to track the jobs your resources are engaged in and plan capacity for long-term projects. Ganttic is great at offering a high-level overview of all your marketing activities and ensuring that each project has the right mix of human and non-human resources capable of pulling off the job.
- Allocadia (Budgeting) – Tracks budgets across all digital campaigns and provides a clear cut way to measure ROIs to better hone in on your strategy.
Conclusion
If you’re looking to take your marketing to the next level, then a marketing resource management system can be a great way to do it. With an MRM in place, you’ll have access to all the information you need in one place so everything stays organized. Plus you’ll be adding a layer of transparency and that makes it easier for everyone involved. Added to your marketing workflow, you’ll see what a difference it makes on your team and your marketing efforts.
