How Project Management Is Contributing To Modern Marketing
Why are other departments such as accounts, distribution and development more organized than marketing?
Given today’s business efficiencies, the marketing function may represent the greatest leverage opportunity in your company for overall revenue expansion and company innovation.
And the marketing manager feels the pressure – yet lost at sea amongst promising new fads and new tactics such as web 2.0, social media, twitter…
But it’s no one’s fault. Business has to take more responsibility to the point of absorbing marketing as a centre piece of modern strategy, rather than leaving it strategically floating. Only then can the marketing function do what it can and must.
Said the great Peter Drucker: “Because the purpose of business is to create a customer, the business enterprise has two-and only two-basic functions: marketing and innovation. Marketing and innovation produce results; all the rest are costs. Marketing is the distinguishing, unique function of the business.”
And what is the most glaringly obvious option for marketing to improve with? Marketing Project Management.
MPM can come from self-study resources for project management… or it can come from formalised academic project management (most of which I would not recommend), or a comprehensive study and implementation of critical chain project management which is way ahead of standard project management techniques.
The Way Into Marketing Project Management
No matter how you approach developing marketing project management, or the scale of MPM required in your company, here is a 6-part model for MPM.
1. Preparation – Customer focus orientation, productivity training
2. Research – Market, customer, product, company competencies, etc.
3. Development – Web site, NPD, teamwork training, etc.
4. Conversion – Promotion, advertising, landing pages, sales videos, events, etc.
5. Traffic – Search engine optimisation, affiliates, list procurement, social marketing.
6. Tracking – Web tracking, ROI analysis, etc.
Those six categories of practical marketing project management are guided through the trialectic of management:
1. Outcome – Get clear on the targets that are possible and are needed for maximum marketing performance.
2. Process – Understand the constraints and how to mitigate them.
3. Performance – Managing daily productivity and overall ROI of all marketing projects.
With this protocol any marketing manager can construct a unique approach to marketing project management.
