If this article headline caught your attention, you’re likely part of the intriguing and uber-fast-paced world of marketing. And as you know very well, marketing is a key driver of any business. In many ways, our success in the marketing game is largely driven by our ability to consistently execute a wide variety of marketing strategies, campaigns, tactics, etc.
The pace can be…exhausting.
Thus, an entire industry (a.k.a. martech) has emerged over the last few decades, filled with dozens of different software categories and literally THOUSANDS of tools to help marketers get organized and execute more, better, and faster.
Inside Baseball
As software categories mature, you tend to see software developers take their products in one of two directions. On one hand, Software Company A decides to provide a large breadth of basic features to support a large market with many use cases. On the other hand, Company B decides it’s better for them to be more specialized and build deeper functionality that supports a smaller number of use cases.
This may be a little “inside baseball”, but we often refer to these two approaches as the swiss army knife vs. the specialized, niche tool.
But there are also mature software categories where products end up somewhere in the middle of that spectrum. Project Management (PM) software is a good example of this, where you have a wide range of tools, from generic (you can manage any type of project, think Asana or Trello) to highly specialized.
What’s Your Use Case?
We’re providing this context because there are functional differences between general PM tools and more specialized sub-categories, namely: marketing project management software, and even content operations platforms.
We’re going to dig into many of these differences below, but often, marketers don’t always have the final say in the tools they get to use. Ideally, you’d acquire and use tools that are perfectly tuned for your day-to-day use cases. But many departments within a company have “projects” to manage. So you might have to make do with a generic platform that, while better than nothing, only gives you some of the benefits.
If you’re one of the lucky ones who has the autonomy and resources to deploy a more specialized tool, keep reading. What is your use case? Think about it this way. When you think about the full scope of what your marketing organization produces, what percentage is content-centric vs. non-content-centric?
If much of your company’s marketing strategy focuses on content development and delivery, having a system that offers both project management and content management features in one platform will likely be a game changer for you and your team.
Understanding Marketing Project Management Software
Applications that can help you organize, plan, and manage a project or initiative are not only helpful for project managers; they can also help marketing teams complete their tasks efficiently.
With project management software, you can set up different user roles to help organize your team and assign duties. This should make it easier for your team members to collaborate, share ideas, and stay informed about the progress of each project.
You can use your software to organize your projects into different categories, such as marketing campaigns, sales activities, or company-wide objectives. This allows you to break down your marketing campaigns and initiatives into smaller tasks, helping you stay organized and get more done in less time.
Project Management Software and Marketing
A common misconception about marketing is that it’s a one-time event. The reality is that you need to constantly market your products and services to stay relevant in your industry.
With project management software, you can plan future projects and track the resources needed for those projects. This helps you maximize your efforts across all marketing channels and achieve better results.
However, standard project management software lacks content management functionality. DivvyHQ’s platform has project management capabilities while providing robust tools for efficient content delivery, including:
- Content requests intake (via customizable request forms) from throughout your organization
- Centralized storage of content ideas
- Campaign and content planning via shared content calendars
- A dedicated creation and editing environment
- Content strategy metadata management and reporting
- Production team metrics and reporting
- Content performance analytics.
Data Analysis With Marketing Project Management Software
Marketing Project Management and Content Operations tools are unique regarding the data and insights they can provide. Unlike other martech tools that only focus on how your campaigns and tactics are performing, PM system data provides more internal insights around resource management and operational performance. Sure, it’s important to know if your latest video is getting views, or if your latest email campaign is driving conversions. But are you able to answer questions like these?
- How long did it take us to produce that video? Tracking time/cost is key to closing the ROI loop.
- That email doesn’t seem to be performing well. Was the content aligned with our target audience?
Marketing PM tools and Content Operations platforms like DivvyHQ take analysis a step further than general project management platforms. In addition to tracking standard return on investment measures, our tools let you analyze strategic alignment and dive into your content’s key performance indicators without having to aggregate data from multiple sources.
Selecting Your Marketing Project Management Software
There are many different software options available, but they aren’t equal. The first step is to select the right solution for your organization.
Before choosing a new piece of software, it’s important to understand your current workflow and areas where you could be more efficient. Conduct a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis and complete a time audit to identify where you can improve and which project management software would be best for your organization.
Versatility
An important feature to look for in marketing project management software is versatility. You should be able to configure the software so that it aligns with your structure and operational processes. It would also allow for integrations with other tools or extensions you may already be using, such as customer relationship management software, marketing analytics software, and email marketing tools.
DivvyHQ features a wide range of native integrations and an open API for connecting to hundreds of third-party applications.
Functionality
Once you’ve identified a few software options that could be a good fit for your organization, we highly recommend you get demos and/or take them for a test drive. This will allow you to go through the software with a fine-toothed comb and see how it works in action.
As with any other investment, make sure you’re getting the best return on your money. While price isn’t the only factor you should consider when choosing project management software, it’s a significant one. A major upfront investment is only worth it if it helps you generate more revenue in the long run.
Also keep in mind that the best software in the world won’t do you much good if your team doesn’t use it. Be sure to choose a tool that matches the specific needs and skill sets of your team members.
Utilizing Your Marketing Project Management Software
While marketing software can be very helpful, it can also be difficult to figure out at first. You must know how to use it properly to make the most of it.
It’s important to set up the right user roles in your software. Each team member will need a different level of access depending on their role in the organization, but having too many user roles can make it difficult to collaborate efficiently.
Keep It Manageable
When you first implement marketing project management software, it can be tempting to try to log every single task and project that you do. Remember that you don’t have to put everything in the platform from the start.
Start small and choose the most important projects, tasks, and initiatives that you want to focus on. As your teams grow more comfortable with the system, you can incorporate higher levels of functionality.
Keep It Organized
Divvy’s content operations platform allows you to create a content library, giving you a centralized hub for producing and storing your content assets. You have to organize your library to avoid misplacing files and to keep track of important content assets.
Create different calendars for all of your content channels, properties, and initiatives, and then follow your schedule to produce each piece of content. You can also use your project management software to link relevant information for increased organization.
Screenshot: DivvyHQ’s Content Types admin – Manage any type of content
It’s also common that you’ll need to adjust your content calendar whenever there’s a change in plans, such as an extended deadline or a team member taking on someone else’s project. Good software will make it easy to pivot in the middle of a campaign, so use this to your advantage.
Achieve Your Goals With Marketing Project Management Software
Hopefully after reading this you have a better understanding of the nuances among different types of project management platforms. Earlier in the article, we asked: What percentage of your marketing projects are content-centric? If your answer was more than 75%, then why would it make sense to use a general project management system that lacks so many of the content-centric features?
DivvyHQ covers every aspect of content marketing, from content strategy and content planning to project management and content analytics. Our powerful software can help you and your team hit your milestones with less effort. Request a demo to see DivvyHQ in action!