Marketing Resource Management Guide
A company’s marketing department is one of its busiest and most complex. Marketers manage a range of campaigns and a variety of events using internal staff and external freelancers and vendors. Anyone managing a high-functioning marketing department needs to be able to shift budget, resources, people, and focus — both regularly and flexibly. That's where marketing resource management can give you an edge as you shape your marketing activities to meet goals and objectives.
What is marketing resource management (MRM)?
Marketing resource management (MRM) is an approach to marketing management that focuses on the marketing team’s entire pool of resources, from marketing team staff to the marketing budget. It also includes the management of external vendors, production processes, and even digital asset management. MRM is a holistic marketing approach that aims to increase efficiency, cut costs, optimize output, and organize information, all with the goal of a marketing department that runs at maximum capacity.
What is MRM 2.0?
MRM meaning has changed over time. In the past, marketing resource management solutions have relied on all-in-one software to address the above brand-management requirements. However, in 2017, industry research leader Gartner updated its definition of MRM 2.0 to include marketing tools and software that fall into three streams of marketing management: asset management, work management, and performance management. These three components collectively allow marketers to manage money, people, content, and brand strategy.
MRM in marketing covers all of the processes that are key to a marketing department’s success, from strategic planning to budgeting, production to project management. MRM includes approvals, contracts, reporting, and metric tracking. Accordingly to the MRM approach, managing all of these elements helps a marketing department run more efficiently and effectively.
What are the benefits of MRM?
As an approach to marketing management, MRM offers many benefits to a marketing department and can streamline processes that suck up time and resources.
- Increase efficiency: MRM aims to increase efficiency, cut costs, and save time across the entire marketing department, often by using task automation and process replication to give marketers back valuable time.
- Cut costs: MRM should give managers the bird’s eye view that will enable them to see where costs can be cut, where bottlenecks are causing projects to run over budget, and how maximum productivity can be achieved throughout marketing activities.
- Eliminate silos: In creating a single source of truth for marketing departments to operate from, MRM solutions can help increase collaboration across teams and eliminate silos that can stunt communication between teams.
What are the challenges of MRM?
Marketing departments can run into challenges when implementing MRM systems. For instance, they sometimes have difficulty estimating what the budget will need to be to implement and design an MRM system that works for the marketing department. MRM software also needs to be adequately integrated with the marketing department’s project management software, or important data or assets could be overlooked. A tool like Wrike for Marketers would serve as both project management software and MRM solution, eliminating this challenge and potentially bringing costs down.
MRM in marketing also requires a shift in mentality from those using it. This is because, in order to work effectively, each team member needs to commit to recording regular data in the MRM software, and team members need adequate training to maximize its use on a project basis. A MRM tool with a user-friendly interface can help mitigate user adoption issues from the start.
What is MRM software?
Marketing resource management is software that helps a marketing department manage the work, assets, or even a performance audit. MRM software helps marketing managers manage these three areas and their components, from asset approval to vendor contracts, budgeting, and campaign planning.
Who would use MRM software in a project?
MRM software can be used by any size marketing team, whether that team is part of an enterprise company or a smaller agency. In fact, any marketing department, especially those that regularly work with other departments, freelancers, and remote workers, can benefit from using MRM software. Marketing teams that work across a range of locations can specifically benefit from MRM software as it can help them create streamlined processes and define a single source of truth for information related to branding and assets.
Features to look out for when choosing MRM tools and software
Marketing managers searching for MRM software and tools should be on the lookout for a specific set of features that will ensure that using MRM software is successful for the entire marketing team. The following are key components marketing resource management software should include:
- Budgeting: Budget tracking across campaigns and projects is a basic element of any MRM tool. However, marketing managers also need to be able to pull detailed data from campaigns and accounting software as well.
- Planning: Marketing departments need to be able to plan projects as well as allocate staff, freelancers, and vendors. An MRM tool with Gantt chart capability is essential for ease of project planning and deadline management.
- Creative review: Marketing departments should be able to use their MRM solution for documents and assets that need approval from internal and external stakeholders.
- Process management: Often referred to as workflow visualization, MRM software should allow managers to identify problems and obstacles with individual and team workflows.
- Connection to digital assets: All team members should have access to the library of digital assets they need for their daily roles. An MRM tool should offer the additional benefit of incorporating data about the use of these items across geographies and departments.
- Media channel optimization: MRM software should show marketers which channels they are using most and which are performing best. This will allow them to adjust budgets and resources and maximize success on those channels.
Each of these elements should be considered when you’re researching MRM software.
How do MRM tools work within a marketing project?
Within a marketing project, MRM tools help teams get on the same page by creating effective and efficient processes that streamline their work. Here are a few processes and functions MRM tools can optimize within a marketing project:
- Analyze metrics that help marketers understand what activities worked and what can be optimized in the future
- Organize proofing and approvals, project requests, and a regular scheme for reviews
- Create an easily accessible source to store digital assets, from photos and video to graphics and testimonials
MRM should help teams bring their marketing projects to fruition in a timely and cost-effective manner that utilizes all potential resources.
Best practices for implementing MRM software
Implementing an MRM software solution for your company can be a large undertaking that comes with a considerable price tag. However, undertaking best practices when implementing the MRM tools can ensure that the MRM is worth the investment.
- Create an implementation team: Assemble a team of stakeholders who can help create the core processes that will be used and improved throughout the marketing department.
- Determine pain points: Determining a marketing department’s pain points is the proper place to start when implementing MRM software. Knowing what information marketers need to have access to do their jobs more efficiently can help you choose the best MRM software option for your team’s needs.
- Design and document processes and workflows: Understanding your team’s current workflows, as well as their optimal workflows, will help you implement the right MRM option for your marketing department.
- Secure IT support: MRM systems often require additional support from an IT department. Having this system in place as the software solution is being sourced is critical for smooth implementation.
- Allocate financial and human resources for implementation: MRM software typically requires an annual or monthly cost. Top-level executives will need to determine the potential ROI of implementing an MRM system. Additionally, a marketing department needs to allocate human resources or secure vendor training to ensure that each member of the team is trained properly.
- Review regularly: As with any system, a marketing department’s MRM system will need tweaking and improving over time. When implementing MRM software, a company should also decide how often the system should be reviewed, by whom, and with what goals in mind.
Can you use Wrike as an MRM system?
Yes, Wrike can be used as a powerful MRM tool for a marketing department. Wrike functions as a single source of truth that marketers can return to daily to inform their budgeting, planning, workflow management, asset organization, and approvals processes. With Wrike, you’ll be able to integrate even more specific MRM solutions that can help your marketing department achieve more than ever before.
