Creative Agencies, Want to Win & Keep Clients? Be the Lobster
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A-Z Glossary of Online Marketing Terms (Infographic)
SEO, SEM, CMS, PPC, CPM…. Many industries have their own language, but the marketing world takes the acronyms and buzzwords to a new level. For the uninitiated, the marketing terms glossary can be confusing, to say the least. To help you out, we put together this infographic with a list of common online marketing terms, from anchor text to vanity metrics. Check out the full infographic below to unscramble the online marketing code and never feel lost in the middle of important work conversations again. Share this infographic with fellow marketers with this embed code:
4 Strategies for Developing a World-Class Creative Team
What's the one main challenge for anyone trying to create a world-class creative team? Finding the time to develop the team into an internal powerhouse that can compete with external agencies for the best and most inspiring work. According to a 2016 Paychex survey, 53% of employees claim they left their previous jobs because their "employers didn't care about employees," and 29% left due to "lack of skill development." . On top of that, survey responses from the 2014 In-House Creative Services Industry Report show that managers typically do not have the time to step away from the firehose of production work to identify career paths for the best and brightest. . Without the proper attention from managers, staff turnover increases, creating a vicious cycle where the team loses its star performers and remains too junior to compete for the best work. . We spoke with some of the most successful internal creative agency leaders in the business about how they're helping improve employee retention by focusing on career growth and development. Here are four of their tried-and-tested strategies for developing and coaching creatives: 1. Commit to Developing a World-Class Agency People development does not happen by accident. Creative leaders must embrace an existing company-wide commitment to people development, or form their own programs. This means finding ways to develop contract/freelance workers as well. This is one distinct advantage of being an internal agency within a larger organization: leaders must communicate this commitment. . Find out what your creative team is interested in, both together and individually. Help them strengthen their skill set by promising to cover the cost of an online course or creating a sandbox where the team can go in and play around with a new tool. Investing in their interests will benefit both their career and yours as a leader. 2. Know the Nature of the Work A prerequisite for structuring a talent development program is finding the time. The best leaders have a thorough, up-to-the-minute understanding of all production work and all true development work in the pipeline; including the people doing that work day in and day out. Creative management software solutions become invaluable when it comes to visualizing a team’s workload and efforts. . Don't be afraid to get your hands dirty. When your team needs design or production support, jump in and assist where needed. Make sure you're agile enough to shift workloads around or call for all hands on deck when there's a hiccup in a project or deadline approaching. At the end of the day, your objectives are dependent on them meeting theirs. 3. Create Opportunities to Flex Creative Muscles All production work and no development work makes Jane an unhappy designer. Great managers address staff fatigue by moving people across teams as necessary to ensure they are exposed to the right mix of development and production work. Allowing your team to gain experience in all aspects of creative will help them not only build out their skill set, but provide you with a well-rounded, talented team (not to mention a force to be reckoned with). 4. Use Work Clusters to Build Career Paths Identifying large "clusters" of work helps you recognize the superstars within your own team. . For example, if the majority of your team's work consists of event marketing, sales region support, and web development, you've just identified three main clusters. This means you've now created opportunities to raise your top performers to team/cluster leads. . By delegating leadership and trusting your team members to step up and shine, you've addressed their need for career growth and given yourself time to focus on the strategic aspects of building your world-class creative team. But First, Check Your Vantage Point None of these four strategies are possible without a clear view into the work coming through the pipeline. . Creative management software solutions offer this view with the click of a mouse. By implementing software solutions, there is less time spent on weekly reports, email updates, and management check-ins. And it gives leaders the tools they need to properly assess the development of each person on the team. . When we invest time and effort to understanding the work process and its patterns, we build the scaffolding for proper talent development, and the career satisfaction of each member. 4 Biggest Challenges for Creative Teams from Wrike Download our comprehensive eBook to discover a thorough process for building a world-class internal team from scratch: The Definitive Guide to Building a World-Class Internal Creative Agency. Author Bio:Kate Thome is a writer and consultant. In over 15 years in banking and payments in various marketing, analytics and risk-related roles, Kate developed a keen understanding of the internal workings of marketing and creative organizations. At Visa, she served clients as the Head of US Risk Services. Also at Visa, she was a Consumer Credit consultant supporting clients in developing their card product strategies and in managing their marketing cost structures. She led direct marketing teams at HSBC and Capital One (formerly Hibernia National Bank). Kate was a participant in the Management Development Program at MBNA. She holds an M.B.A. in Marketing and Finance from the Freeman School at Tulane University and a B.A. in Philosophy from the College of the Holy Cross. Her writing appears on LinkedIn, Mutha Magazine and Talking Soup. She blogs about her memoir in process at http://irememberthatnight.blogspot.com. Kate lives with family in Northern California. Follow Kate on Twitter @kthome219.
How to Set Up an Editorial Calendar in Wrike
Wrike is introducing more and more features to help marketing teams manage and track all their work in one centralized place. Our marketing team completely relies on Wrike to collaborate and get work done, so we're doubly passionate about making Wrike the best workspace for Agile marketers. One of the many ways we use Wrike is to track our blog's publishing calendar. For example, this post has been on our editorial calendar since March, and we've been tracking its progress from just an idea all the way through the publishing date today! Now we want to show you how we use Wrike as an editorial and marketing calendar, so you can efficiently manage your company blog, too. 5 Steps to Set Up Your Marketing Editorial Calendar with Wrike 1. Create a folder to hold every post that you'll publish on your blog. Our folder is called "Blog Posts". Every time you create a new task to write a blog post, make sure it's tagged into this folder. 2. Create a Custom Workflow that accurately reflects all the different stages that your blog posts go through on their way to being published. For example, at Wrike our Custom Workflow for our blog calendar looks like this: Sometimes, posts jump back and forth between "In Review" and "Writing", if the author has received feedback on their post for additional edits, and Wrike makes it easy to adjust your task to that back-and-forth workflow. 3. Create a Shared Dashboard to give your team visibility into the publishing schedule. We call our Shared Dashboard "Editorial Calendar". It will look like this when you're done with every step: 4. Now you need to create the two widgets for your Dashboard: a. One for all posts that have yet to be scheduled, e.g. "To Be Scheduled". These will be tasks in your folder without due dates. i. Create the widget by filtering inside your Blog Posts folder for tasks that are BACKLOGGED. ii. Also select all Custom Statuses you care about for this widget. At Wrike, we filter for 'planned', 'writing', 'in review', 'in design', and 'ready to post' because we want a list of everything that is definitely going to be published at some point. We leave out 'idea', since those ideas may never make it to the publishing calendar. iii. Once you've filtered for tasks to show only what you want to see in your widget, add the widget to your Dashboard! b. Now create a widget for your current publishing schedule, e.g. "Publishing Schedule". These will be tasks in your folder that do have due dates. i. Create the widget by filtering inside your Blog Posts folder for tasks that are PLANNED and MILESTONE ii. Also select all custom statuses you care about for this widget. At Wrike, we filter for 'planned', 'writing', 'in review', 'in design', and 'ready to post' because we select publishing dates before posts are fully ready. We choose NOT to show posts that are already 'published', but you can decide to show them if you'd always like to see previously published posts on your Dashboard. iii. Finally, make sure you organize your task list "By Date" to make sure the widget lists your tasks in the correct order, and then add your widget to your Dashboard! 5. Now you're all set up! When you're looking at your Dashboard, you can click the quick scheduling button on your task card to choose publishing dates. If you've set up your filters as described above, your task will automatically move from the "To Be Scheduled" widget over to the "Publishing Schedule" widget once you've selected a date. You can use the same button to quickly rearrange posts in your publishing schedule, in case new posts need to be added into the mix and things need to move around. It gives your marketing team the ability to stay agile. Note: Because our Editorial Calendar system uses task due dates to set publishing dates, we cannot use due dates to note when we'll be done writing, when editing needs to be completed, or anything except the final publishing date. If your team relies heavily on due dates to move work through every stage of your workflow, you will need to modify our process described above to fit your needs. More Tools to Make Your Marketing Team More Agile Learn more about how today's marketers are using Agile techniques in our survey report: How Marketers Get Things Done: The State of Agile Marketing in 2016. Then, start a free trial of Wrike to get your Agile marketing team running at peak performance.
5 Steps to Implementing a Collaboration Tool for Creative Teams
You're a creative director. You have too many projects, your staff is already working overtime, and you have no idea how to get it all done quickly and efficiently with your current system. Where do you turn? Collaborative work management solutions help cut down on the time your team loses attending extra meetings, managing an overwhelming amount of email, and searching aimlessly for the latest attachments and updated creatives. More importantly, an efficient collaboration tool will allow more time for your creatives to BE creative, instead of tracking down project specs or sending emails. Creative teams are busy, busy folks, whether they're bringing on new clients or juggling endless requests. They don't have time to try new tools just for the effort to fail. Before you commit to a work management solution and jump in head-first, read this guide to help you make sure your choice is successfully adopted by your busy creative team. And then go forth and create! 1. Define your processes for using the tool You know how you do what you do. So as the first adopter and ultimate champion for the tool, take that knowledge and create a set of clearly defined rules for how your team will use the new tool so they know what to expect. Create a document that outlines: What features you will use — and how. Some tools come with a lot of features, but you may not need them all. Make a list of the features your team will take advantage of, and exactly how they will help your team get work done. How to organize your work. Your collaboration tool should offer a system for organizing tasks into folders or projects, so your work isn't scattered aimlessly throughout the tool. Decide if your team will organize work by the kind of deliverable(s), requesting client, assigned designer, or all of the above. Whichever works for you. How to name your work. Setting up a consistent naming convention will make it easy for your employees to understand what they'll get when they open a task. Set up a system to include rules like: Start/end tasks with [Client name] Start tasks with a verb, e.g. "Create" or "Update" Start/end with a time estimate for how long the task will take, e.g. [2hrs] How to organize your attachments. Align your team around where documents and creative files should be stored to make sure assets don't get lost.Will they be housed in one folder all together? Will they be attached at the folder level, project level, or at the individual task level? Is there a shared drive where all the files are currently stored? After a project has been completed, will final versions of creatives be housed somewhere specific? Setting up recurrent meetings. If your team has recurrent meetings, set them up in your tool. (Check out this article to learn how to conduct meetings in Wrike). This is not 100% necessary, but doing so will keep all your collaborative work (and meetings should be collaborative) in one cohesive space. Our suggestion: Create a folder called "Meetings" with subfolders for different types of meetings (if desired). Then, in this folder, create a task with the date and title of your meeting, assign it to attendees, set the date, and make it a recurring task. When these meetings are held, take meeting notes in this task, so everyone has immediate access to the notes, and can add further input as required. 2. Introduce a small core group for testing Once you have outlined your processes for using the tool, it can't be automatically assumed that you've created the best way for your entire team. Just as you would with your customers on a project, get feedback. Bring a small core group of early-adopters into your tool, explain your outlined processes, provide trainings on the features, and ask them to start using it immediately to collaborate on a project. Sell them on the benefits of the new tool and processes in order to minimize the risk that they'll revert to their previous style of working. 3. Adjust your processes to improve them As the collaborative project goes on, ask your team to add to or modify your preliminary processes as they see fit before rolling the tool out to the rest of your team members. If they have suggestions for better ways to use features, name folders, name tasks, etc., incorporate their feedback into the process document. It is the team that should have final say on how to use their new collaboration tool, as they will be the ones working with it every day. 4. Deploy the tool to the entire team After you and your small group are confident that you have created a sustainable way to implement and use the collaboration tool, it's time for the big reveal! Roll out the tool to your entire team in the same way that you rolled it out to your small test group. Share your process documentation, provide trainings for your team, and ask them to start using the tool immediately to collaborate on new projects. 5. Continue adjusting processes as necessary As always, keep getting feedback. If someone has an idea on how your team can better make use of a feature, consider every idea for the betterment of the team and reaching your end goals. When a process isn't working, create a solution and check in with the team once per month or quarter as you make adjustments. If you are using a SaaS collaboration tool, it's likely that the company will release regular updates, improvements, and new features. Always consider if you should implement these new features into your workflow for better team collaboration. Not every feature will suit your team's needs, so only update your processes if you think it will improve the way your team works. Help your team work better together Use these 5 steps to make sure your creative team is able to successfully adopt your new collaboration tool, so they can work better and spend more time CREATING instead of maintaining their inboxes. If you have more advice on what does or doesn't work when rolling out a collaboration tool to a creative team, please add your advice to the comments section below! In the market for a new collaboration tool? Give Wrike a try for free — all you need is an email address.
Why Smart CMOs Are Making Workflow Automation Their Top Priority
Imagine this: You’re sitting in a meeting, discussing progress on a new campaign. The creative director, Julie, says she’s still waiting on final approval for the design budget. "Oh, finance approved that last week," you say. "Didn’t you see the email?" Then Mark, the Head of Product Marketing, announces, "I’ve just heard from Sales that they want all new collateral, including an updated PDF. Who has the time to work on that, and how will it affect our schedule?" Crickets. You head back to your desk, only to find three emails asking you to approve new campaign assets. But you have no idea who on the team has already looked at it or what edits have already been requested. And should you be reviewing the attachment or the slightly different version provided in the body of the email? Scrolling through the message thread doesn’t help either— it’s just a mess of edits and revisions. Wish things could be simpler? Workflow automation isn’t just for boring business processes. Automating your creative workflows is a smart way to make creative collaboration run smoother, and finding the best professional services automation software for you can boost your processes for maximum productivity. Top reasons to automate your marketing team's workflow Less busywork How much of your team’s day is spent updating spreadsheets, generating reports, and adjusting campaign schedules? Automating these routine tasks can be a significant time-saver, freeing hours in the day for them to focus on CMO responsibilities that are value-adding creative work. Automation also ensures reports and updates are based on accurate, up-to-date information, so you have all the details you need to make smart, timely decisions. Fewer errors and inconsistencies You know that sinking feeling when your website redesign tanks your SEO rankings? Or the headache of launching a campaign with outdated pricing information? As CMO, your job is to make sure your marketing initiatives go off without a hitch. But it’s all too easy for important details to get missed, with costly results. With automation, creative briefs are standardized, contain all the details needed to get the job done, and are automatically assigned to the appropriate party. No important details are miscommunicated, left out, or overlooked. Processes and policies are consistent, fewer tasks fall through the cracks, and everyone is clear on responsibilities and deadlines. Automation also makes it easier to provide a consistent customer experience across all your channels. Tools like Hootsuite and Buffer, for example, automate your social media publishing schedule so that prospects and customers always see an active page and your brand identity stays true across your networks. Wrike Requests Faster reviews and approvals Has everyone signed off on the final version? How long should you wait for someone to leave comments before moving on? If two people leave conflicting feedback, whose edits are implemented? Automating the review and approvals process can eliminate all the last-minute scrambling and second-guessing. Reminders, alerts, and notifications keep reviews moving forward since everyone can see the status of each asset. It's easy to stay up to date, a clear process is followed, and nothing gets mistakenly published without the proper approvals. Try Wrike's Proofing & Approvals for Free Fewer process headaches You can’t fix what you don’t know is broken. Automating your workflows makes it easier to see where tasks get stuck, which tasks eat up the most time and resources, and where you can make some simple changes to help work run more efficiently. And automatic notifications that alert colleagues when they can begin work on a task make handoffs faster and easier, so work keeps flowing. Higher revenue All of these benefits add up to one thing: a boost for your bottom line. By automating your creative workflow, your team is able to spend more time on high-value creative work instead of routine administrative tasks. Collaboration is more efficient, with fast hand-offs and requests that contain all the context necessary for work to begin. Teams avoid the frustrating cycle of rework and revisions due to miscommunications. Costly errors are caught in an efficient and thorough reviews and approvals process. If you're in the market for a new collaboration tool, download our free collaboration software buyer's guide. It includes questions and features you should think about carefully before you purchase. Start automating your marketing team's workflow Give Wrike for Marketers a try to see how it can help relieve your biggest work headaches — all you need is an email address.
3 Disastrous Marketing Horror Stories to Avoid
Marketing teams battle chaotic workflows, long review & approval processes, and poor cross-team communication, not to mention changing priorities and ever-growing workloads. Read our cautionary tales of killer marketing catastrophes, and learn how to avoid them yourself. Chapter 1: Bad process purgatory Vague requests, muddled processes, and confusing priorities kill Kate’s genius marketing campaign stone dead. Everything’s due yesterday and it’s all mission-critical priority — that’s the typical day in the life of marketing manager Kate. Deadlines and priorities change hourly, as if someone’s purposely testing her just to see if she can keep up. Kate’s pretty capable, but she’s so constricted by red tape and convoluted business processes that it’s impossible for her to juggle incoming work, meet every changing deadline, or jump on fleeting opportunities. Even though her team has great ideas, they’re not able to execute them into a functioning marketing strategy or fulfill their campaign’s potential because they’re so restricted by the marketing machine. Don’t make the same mistake! Tip 1: Simplify and standardize all your work processes. Requests, planning, tracking, reporting — everything should be streamlined and straightforward. Agile marketing methods create a truly collaborative environment that enables teams to perform efficiently, deftly manage heavy workloads, and quickly respond to changing customer needs. Tip 2: Set up templates and recurring tasks to make your team more efficient, clarify roles and responsibilities, and create a reliable workflow. Everyone can forget the process and just focus on being creative. To set up workflows for your team, start by: - Listing your major project types - Documenting the steps, responsibilities, and necessary approvals - Creating those steps in a work management tool - Using the tool to monitor progress and get status updates via notifications - Eliminating unnecessary status request emails and meetings so you can get more done. Tip 3: Save your sanity with a shared digital workspace. Real-time messaging, file sharing, task management, and an accessible knowledge base free you from searching for project information and sending time-consuming emails — which can be easily lost, overlooked, or buried in an overflowing inbox. Chapter 2: Work requests roulette Marco frantically tries to respond to every new request, and ends up totally losing sight of top priorities and deadlines. Marco’s a brilliant marketing manager, and he’s just landed on a genius idea for a new paid ad campaign. He’s pumped to roll up his sleeves and dig in… when he gets a new email notification. And then an incoming Skype message. Marco understands that it’s all about teamwork — and his colleagues are wonderful designers, developers, and product marketers. But when they need something from him… well, they quickly start to resemble children begging for candy. Soon, he’s fielding a swarm of incoming requests, shifting gears to accommodate new priorities, and scrambling to meet changing deadlines. His own high-priority projects are suddenly being pushed farther down his to-do list. Don’t make the same mistake! Tip 1: Give your teammates an easy tool for submitting new work requests, so that even the summer intern knows how to initiate new projects, and no one can submit a vague request that requires you to chase them down for clarification or redo completed work. Use Wrike Request Forms, Google Forms, or Wufoo. Tip 2: Consider implementing Scrum. It's a popular Agile project management methodology with defined work sprints, daily standup meetings, and a public “to-do” list Backlog where new tasks and requests are logged and prioritized. While it takes effort and patience to implement, you'll soon wonder how you managed to survive without it. It could save your time, resources, campaign deadlines — and nerves. Tip 3: Schedule, prioritize, and adjust your entire campaign plan to ensure you stay organized and focused on your most important projects, even when new requests come in. With online Gantt chart software, you can quickly adjust your plan to accommodate inevitable surprises and incoming tasks while making sure you'll still hit important deadlines. Gantt charts visualize your project schedule, display the sequence of tasks and milestones, note task dependencies, and show when work is on track or overdue. Chapter 3: Digital assets anarchy Nadia is about to send the final, fully designed campaign files to the printer for production. But which document is the latest, approved version: “complete-Final(V8).jpg,” or “final-draft-campaign-Oct-17.jpg”? Stefan, the marketing director, feels like banging his head against the wall after receiving yet another “final” design that completely disregards both the creative brief and his latest round of edits. Nadia, the designer, nearly strained a muscle rolling her eyes at Stefan’s vague feedback. She can’t understand why he insists on needlessly complicating the original design plan. Creative collaboration inevitably involves rehashing and revising work, resulting in dozens of files and a complicated mess of drafts, mockups, and version histories. Keeping everything organized so old, unapproved versions aren't used accidentally in final deliverables can feel like an exercise in futility. Don’t make the same mistake! Tip 1: Improve your creative briefs. Add all the relevant details, including clear objectives and full context so that designers understand your marketing goals and can support them. The creative department should know exactly what you expect from them and when, with no guesswork. Provide examples of similar projects or samples of your likes and dislikes: share Behance portfolios and/or Flickr images to create a clear picture of what you're looking for and save designers from producing work that misses the mark. Tip 2: Simplify review processes by limiting the number of revision rounds your teammates can request. Start by listing all your current steps, then decide which are truly necessary and which you can eliminate. Then build a repeatable workflow that your team members can follow every time they start creative asset production. Don’t compromise your productivity by not having a defined approval process in place. Tip 3: Name your files properly — let drafts stay drafts, and mocks be mocks. Then make sure your teammates can access all the files they need in one place, ideally a shared work environment or file repository that supports file editing and versioning. That way you'll achieve one 'Final' file nirvana across the team. Achieve happily ever after with your marketing team Share your tales of marketing madness in the comments below, then start a free trial to see how Wrike can help your marketing team coordinate efforts, adjust to changing priorities, and keep every campaign organized.
Are Marketers Allergic to Project Management?
Not everyone on your team has to be a certified PMP to reap the benefits of project management for marketing. Even an understanding of just a few basic project management principles and processes can help your team be better organized, more efficient, and enjoy improved results. In short, basic project management means you can achieve more with less effort and stress. But project management training can sound like a chore to your team, who may see it as just stuffy processes and restrictive rules — or simply more work than it's worth. So where do you start? Which principles or processes will have the biggest positive impact with the least amount of effort and disruptive change? Start with these three project management tips to get the most bang for your buck: 1. Better Project Planning As every project manager knows, getting all your ducks in an row before your project starts will save you an aspirin-bottle’s worth of headaches later on. Every effective plan starts with determining your goals, and that means sitting down with stakeholders to figure out exactly what their needs and expectations are. Only then can you define your deliverables and chart an efficient path towards producing them. Read: 6 Steps to a Foolproof Project Plan DroneCo's plans for the new HoverPup quadcopter — click to view full size 2. Better Processes Inefficient or broken processes can mean missed deadlines, overshot budgets, and work that doesn’t meet requirements — in short, wasted efforts and project failure. Fix the root cause of your frustrations by adopting a few principles from Lean project management: simplifying your processes and cutting out waste. Do it right, and your team will be able to get things done faster and more efficiently than ever before. Read: The 7 Wastes that Cripple Knowledge Workers (Video) 3. Better Solutions for Next Time Nothing’s worse than the horrible déjà vu of recurring work frustrations. Keep the same old problems from popping up time and again by taking some time at the end of your project to reflect on what went well, what didn’t, and what you’ll change for next time. That way, each project makes your team better and stronger. Read: Recording Project Management Lessons Learned: Tips & Templates So no, marketers are not allergic to project management. It's nurture vs. nature - nothing a little basic PM training can't fix! See how Wrike can help you coordinate your team, adjust to changing priorities, and keep every campaign organized and on track. Follow the DroneCo Comic for More Marketing Laughs! Browse previous episodes of Welcome to DroneCo in the comic archive, then subscribe to the strip to get each new episode. Follow DroneCo on Twitter and keep up with the fun all week long! Share this comic on your own site with this embed code: Webcomic brought to you by Wrike
6 Reasons Your Marketing Plan Isn't Working (+ New Welcome to DroneCo Comic)
Marketing teams have to be flexible in order to constantly adjust to new priorities, goals, tools, and audiences. But sometimes they get a little too used to the chaos, and start believing that creative work naturally feels out of control. Project management doesn't need to mean restrictive processes, frustrating red tape, or creative death for your marketing team. In fact, project management principles can help establish a reliable, efficient system so everyone can actually focus on being creative. Use these simple project management tips to get better payoff for your marketing team's hard work — and suffer fewer headaches along the way! Share the fun! Click the strip to Tweet it. 1. Standardize & simplify processes. Take a good hard look at your marketing process and developing a marketing plan. Does every single step add value? If not, cut it and focus on what does. Then make sure everyone in the marketing department can follow a clear-cut process and use standard formats and outlines as templates to save time and cut common errors. (See also this video on marketing workflows.) 2. Track your time. Aside from making billable and unbillable hours easier to track, knowing exactly how long typical tasks take makes it much easier to plan future projects and set accurate deadlines. 3. Balance your team’s workload. You shouldn’t have a few key team members drowning in deadlines while others are twiddling their thumbs. Keep track of everyone’s assignments and redistribute tasks as necessary to avoid bottlenecks and stalled progress. 4. Make information & resources easily accessible. Put conversations, resources, and work updates in a central location where they’re easy to find. Everyone can stay in the loop since discussions, decisions, and files are all kept where the entire team can find them. 5. Stay organized. Project managers have mastered the art of juggling several projects at once, making sure resources are used wisely, deadlines are being met, and every project is running smoothly. Stop trying to manage all your work via email and spreadsheets. (There's a better way!) Take advantage of popular project management tools, like the Gantt chart, to manage all your campaigns in one place. 6. Record lessons learned. Every project holds takeaways and lessons you can apply to future campaigns. Record and share them with your team to up your game with every new project. Ready to Start Using a Better Marketing Management Strategy? See how Wrike can help you coordinate team efforts, adjust to changing priorities, and keep every campaign organized and on track. Follow the DroneCo Comic for More Marketing Laughs Browse previous episodes of Welcome to DroneCo in the comic archive, then subscribe to the strip to get each new episode. Click here to follow DroneCo on Twitter and keep up with the fun all week long! Share this comic on your own site with this embed code:
6 Steps to Managing the Marketing Chaos Using Workflows (Video)
The chaos is real: your marketing team is working on complex, long-term plans while new requests keep streaming in. Meanwhile, a global conversation is happening online involving your brand and your industry — yet another thing to track. In addition, your team must be constantly learning new strategies and integrating new tools into what is marketing management for your organization. On top of everything, you need to interface with a variety of internal groups and outside vendors to make it all work. So how do you tame this mess? Watch the video below to discover how to best control the chaos using repeatable workflows: As you just saw, marketing workflows can help your team by making internal processes predictable and easy. What are Workflows? Workflows are repeatable steps that your team members follow each time they start a routine project. It's a formula, a tried and tested recipe. Here are some examples of things that could be turned into standard workflows: Creating a new infographic Launching an email campaign Developing a new web page or section of your website Running a paid marketing campaign Planning and developing a new feature Setting up a customer event See our Marketing Workflows Infographic for a list of workflows and common steps for each. So How Do Workflows Help You? Workflows allow you to: List the standard steps, timing, and approvals needed for each deliverable Know who's responsible for each step Stay up-to-date on the status of the project It's the same process every time. And because of this, you know the handoffs, approvals and timing of each step. This allows your team to focus less on the process and more on being strategic and creative. Setting Up Workflows in 6 Steps To set up workflows for your team, follow these steps: List the major processes that your team completes regularly Document the steps, responsibilities, and approvals Set up those steps in a tool like Wrike (using custom workflows) Manage each process in your project management tool Get status updates within the tool and via notifications Eliminate the extra status request emails and meetings, and focus on getting work done within your project management tool Does Your Marketing Team Have Workflows in Place? Does your team have standard workflows in place? If so, how has it saved you time? If not, which process would you turn into a standard workflow first? Read next:5 Essential Marketing WorkflowsAccelerate Your Business With Custom WorkflowsWrike for Marketing Teams
What Are The Most Outrageous Startup Perks?
Catered meals, in-office massages, free afternoon yoga classes... Cushy employee perks are a famous part of startup culture, especially in the tech industry of Silicon Valley. If you're a founder looking to hire your first employees (or you're just curious about how other organizations create and sustain a unique company culture) check out the latest chatter on the craziest startup perks, which are employee favorites, and whether they actually matter when it comes to attracting and retaining top talent. (You might be surprised at the answers!) Silicon Valley's Craziest Startup Perks $500 weekly drawings, laser tag, paid sabbaticals, and more killer employee perks 10 tons of snow? Office slip 'n slides? Why startups prioritize fun at the office From arcade rooms to ball pits: how successful startups mix work and play The most unique perks (including a custom painting of yourself as a dragon slayer) Employees at these famous tech companies get $2,000/year to take their paid vacations. dog-friendly offices, access to Lego play sets and trampoline parks, and so much more On-site car washes, haircuts, laundry, massages, live concerts, and other perks that help employees manage life outside of work Which Corporate Perks Foster Company Culture & Attract Talent Which perks are actually most popular with employees? Which perks are considered standard, which are great, and which are over-the-top amazing? Morning surfing lessons, daily dog walkers, and other unique startup perks that attract the right talent How smaller companies are turning to personalized perks to compete with tech giants How to bring Silicon Valley's perks to your own office Are Employee Perks Really Worth the Hype? How companies benefit from offering their employees perks What's the actual monetary value of all those perks to employees (and employers)? The downside to providing perks (yes, there is a downside... but for whom?) The million dollar question: do perks actually work? Follow the DroneCo Comic for More Startup Fun Browse previous episodes of Welcome to DroneCo in the comic archive, then subscribe to the strip to get each new episode. Click here to follow DroneCo on Twitter to keep up with the startup craziness all week long! Share this comic on your own site with this embed code: Webcomic brought to you by Wrike
