Marketing Resource Management How-To Guide
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The document discusses Marketing Resource Management (MRM) systems, which manage administrative processes for customer-facing marketing programs, differentiating them from marketing execution systems. MRM supports company-level marketing management and program management functions, addressing the complexities of modern digital marketing that require more efficient operations. The document outlines a structured approach for implementing MRM, emphasizing the need for process improvement alongside system technology.
Marketing Resource Management How-To Guide
- 1. How-‐To Guide © 2013 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Marketing Resource Management By David Raab, CEO at Raab Associates December 2013 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Marketing Resource Management (MRM) systems control the administrative processes that support customer-facing marketing programs. This distinguishes MRM from marketing execution systems that store customer databases and deliver marketing messages through email, Web ads, and other channels. MRM may be sold independently or as a component of comprehensive marketing management systems which also provides execution. MRM functions fall into two primary clusters. The first involves functions related to company-level marketing management, including program planning, scheduling, budgeting, and cost reporting. The other cluster relates to program management, including task lists, purchasing media and materials, and content creation, approvals, storage, and distribution. Some MRM systems specialize in a few of these functions. Others specialize in additional functions such as customizing content for local offices or dealers or in marketing reporting and analysis. Systems may also be tailored to specific industries or companies of a certain size. Companies buy MRM systems when their marketing programs become too complicated to run in a less systematic fashion. This, along with the exclusively by large marketing organizations with hundreds of marketers in multiple offices. More recently, the growth of digital marketing has meant that even small marketing organizations need to manage many different programs and content versions across multiple
- 2. How-‐To Guide © 2013 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved. channels, and to introduce new versions more quickly. This expanded complexity has rarely been accompanied by a corresponding expansion of staff, adding to the pressure for more efficient operations. At the same time, costs have decreased as MRM capabilities were added to integrated marketing suites and as stand-alone MRM products became available as vendor-hosted services (Software as a Service, or SaaS). The result has been increased use of MRM systems among companies of all sizes. MRM COMPONENTS Here is a closer look at the main features found in MRM systems. Program Planning and Scheduling Users are able to set up a list of marketing programs or campaigns, often building a multi- level hierarchy such as multiple campaigns within a program and multiple events within a campaign. Programs are often assigned to categories based on purpose (acquisition, retention, cross-sell, etc.), brand, product line, region, and other attributes. These categories used for reporting roll-ups and to limit access to the people responsible for a particular type of program. Programs or their components typically have other attributes such as start and end dates, budgets for cost and response, and owners. Most MRM systems let users define these attributes and their labels, making it easier to adapt the system to their particular organization. Nearly all systems can produce a marketing calendar showing programs and their dates, often with options to display the calendar in different formats and to filter which programs are included. Budgets and Actual Costs Budgeting options can range from a single value per program to detailed estimates by cost category and time period. Some systems can calculate program cost based on user-entered quantities and cost per unit. This approach may extend to standard assumptions, such as postage cost per piece, that are applied to all programs automatically. Beyond cost budgets, the system may allow users to enter other estimated values such as number of messages sent (direct mail pieces, emails, telephone calls, ad impressions, etc.) and responses received. Actual costs and other values may be entered manually by the user or posted automatically from accounting and customer management systems. Some systems let users enter over-all budgets for program categories, which can then be compared with budgets for specific programs to see how much of the total budget has been spent or allocated.
- 3. How-‐To Guide © 2013 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Task Management Some systems provide project management features to track the development of individual programs. These can be anything from simple checklists to templates that automatically create a project schedule based on the start date and number of work days between tasks. An advanced system could include dependencies of one task on others, standard cost and labor hours, automatic task assignments to roles or individuals, notification of new tasks to the assigned person or department head, posting of actual labor time and task status, workload analysis, notification of completed tasks, approval tracking, and alerts for tasks that are overdue. The system might be linked to corporate human resources and security systems to automatically update roles and responsibilities. Purchasing The MRM system may manage the purchasing of marketing materials and advertising. Some can maintain lists of approved vendors, issue requests for quotes based on standard specifications, create purchase orders, release payments, manage physical inventory, traffic advertising materials, and manage response codes or telephone numbers. The purchasing module may integrate with marketing budgets elsewhere in the MRM system, with accounting systems, with specialized media buying software, or with open advertising systems such as Google AdWords. Content Creation and Customization Some MRM systems provide tools to create materials such as emails or Web pages. Nearly all, recognizing that many agencies and designers already have tools they prefer to use, can import materials created externally. Regardless of how the materials are created, MRM systems typically provide workflows to track comments and approvals, manage revisions, and store old versions. In addition, many offer ways to enhance content by inserting information about the recipient, such as customer name, or about the sender, such as salesperson or dealer contact details. Some systems also create templates with sections that can be modified by end-users while still maintaining brand consistency in the over-all presentation. Specialized systems may use templates to create different versions of the same materials, such as different size advertisements or email and Web pages with the same content. Content Storage and Distribution Nearly all MRM systems maintain a library of content that is approved and available for
- 4. How-‐To Guide © 2013 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved. use. Most provide security features that limit which users can access or change which items. These user rights may reflect management levels or division of labor among functional groups. They can also give product managers or geographic regions control over their own materials. Contents are often tagged with additional attributes such as owner, program, start and expiration dates, product, offer, descriptions, and audience constraints based on language, product compatibility, or regulatory rules. Systems vary considerably in the types of contents they can manage, ranging from static documents to dynamic print templates, video, audio, and mobile apps. Some apply a formal taxonomy to further classify documents and simplify access. On a more practical level, systems vary considerably in how easily users can find documents based on title, contents, author, format, and other characteristics. Reporting and Analytics Because MRM systems capture plans and cost information, they sometimes provide a platform for reporting on marketing results. This reporting may extend to marketing performance but only if the system can import response information from the customer database or accounting systems. Typical MRM reports would cover planned vs. actual expenses, show costs over time, and possibly calculate return on investment. The systems also provide operational reporting on functions they manage, such as project tasks, purchasing activities, and content creation and utilization. MRM analytics would rarely extend to detailed analysis of program results, customer profiling, segmentation, or predictive modeling. ACTION PLAN The goal of MRM is to control the internal business processes of a marketing department. This means that any MRM deployment must focus on process change first and technology second. It also means that MRM is only adopted by organizations whose leaders recognize the need for process change and, in most cases, are willing to make the investments needed to ensure success. Because MRM is about process management, your action plan can draw on the extensive body of techniques developed to improve manufacturing and other production processes. Your organization may processes. If not, there are many external resources including services staff at the MRM vendors.
- 5. How-‐To Guide © 2013 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved. In general, the stages in process improvement are: understanding the process; identifying sources of problems; and making changes to eliminate the problems. Problem areas are identified by setting standards for the cost and outputs of each step in the process and comparing the standards with actual costs and outputs. Managers then research the causes of major variances and make changes to reduce them. The long-term goal is to continuously improve performance by removing problems and finding improved approaches that allow you to raise the standards. Where MRM projects diverge from generic process improvement is that most MRM projects are triggered by a specific problem the organization needs to solve, such as better control over budgets or easier access to content. This makes MRM more focused than an approach that looks at the entire process and addresses the most costly problems first. The action plan combines standard process improvement methods with the unique requirements of MRM. Follow these steps to implement your MRM plan: 1. Define goals. Most MRM projects start with an identified problem. But because so many marketing processes are interrelated, addressing this one problem can easily lead to a project that touches nearly every marketing operation. The challenge at this stage is to define a specific set of goals that can be achieved without disrupting the entire marketing department. Your definition should include metrics that can be translated into business value such as reduced expense, higher staff productivity, or faster project delivery. These will show whether you have achieved your goals. 2. Document existing processes. project goals, the next step is to analyze the existing processes related to those goals. This assumes these processes exist: if things are really out of control, the relevant tasks may be performed without a consistent process at all. Even in this case, conditions. Once you identify (or for the first time define) the process helps you to understand the implications of any future changes. 3. Set priorities. Even a constrained set of goals may include more prioritize the project components based on a combination of factors including the value of each improvement, the number of
- 6. How-‐To Guide © 2013 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved. people and processes affected, and dependencies among changes. later knit them together. But this may not be possible in practice: even small changes often impact large numbers of people across multiple groups. This would mean that even your first change has a major impact. 4. Define future processes. the first processes you want to change and to define how the improved processes will work. This will require specifying the steps in the process, and then the inputs, tasks, and outputs of define the criteria that determine when each step has been completed successfully, such as checklists to evaluate when a piece of content has been properly approved. Test the new processes by running through them manually to be sure they make sense and are truly complete. Assign measures to each correctly and whether costs are in line with expectations. 5. Find software. look for software that fits your desired process flows and captures consider revising your process designs to fit what the software supports; after all, the software was probably based on successful processes at earlier users. Beyond support for your desired processes, consider ease of learning, ease of use, compatibility with organizational and planning structures, control over which users perform which tasks, numbers of users and languages supported, and integration with other systems. Be sure to look beyond your initial changes to ensure the system is compatible with your long-term needs for additional functions. Of course, standard software purchasing considerations including price, support, technology, and vendor stability will also play into your decision. 6. Execute, modify, and improve. Plan your actual deployment carefully, making sure to allow enough time and budget for good idea to start with pilot projects that ensure the system works correctly before you switch everything over from your previous processes. Provide ample support to ensure that new users understand the changes and are using the system correctly. Measure performance at each stage of the process and make
- 7. How-‐To Guide © 2013 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved. adjustments as you uncover unexpected problems and opportunities. Use the metrics you defined up front to measure cost, time, and quality across the entire process to document the value of your improvements. Once the initial changes are in place and running smoothly, move on to additional changes in the planned sequence. BOTTOM LINE The complexi -channel, highly segmented marketing programs means that nearly every company needs a systematic approach to managing its marketing processes. Marketing resource management supports this approach, whether it is delivered in a stand-alone MRM system or embedded in a larger marketing management suite. But marketers must realize that MRM technology is only as good as the processes it manages, and ensure they devote enough effort to defining the processes they want and training the staff to implement those processes correctly. ABOUT THE RESEARCH ANALYST With an MBA from Harvard, David is an expert in both B2B & B2C marketing strategy & technology. He has advised The Gap, JC Penney, Lowe's, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Williams- Sonoma, Scholastic, Unisys, Sprint and Verizon Wireless. He also publishes the Raab Guide to Demand Generation Systems and the Marketing Performance Measurement Tool- Kit.