The more complex marketing becomes with more digital channels, with more customer segments and global campaigns, the bigger the need for teams to collaborate and work together more effectively. BPM software has been adopted by many companies for that sole purpose: to make teams work better together and be more effective and efficient.
On the Aproove blog today we show you how the right marketing management software can transform the way marketing teams collaborate, resulting in more successful campaigns.
The Importance of Collaboration in Marketing
Marketing is collaborative by nature. It requires people to work together, whether that’s to generate new campaign concepts, plan the production of content, or agree on how the company is going to ‘say’ things through its various marketing channels. However, collaboration within marketing teams can often be hampered by the following.
Siloed workflows: Content, design, social and analytics teams are trapped in silos with unclear goals and no checking for cross-channel disconnects.
Communication breakdown: With team members working across various time zones, particularly in the age of remote working, communication can get fragmented with mixed messages, as well as subject to delays.
Process Inefficiencies: Duplicate work, missed deadlines and wasted resources is a price companies pay if their processes aren’t standardized.
Low visibility: If teams don’t know what everyone else is up to, ultimately the organization’s strategy and execution suffer.
These challenges can be eased by using the best business process management software, which introduces a recognizable, formal process structure to business operations, while also enabling better communication and collaboration.
Streamlining Workflows and Reducing Silos
Perhaps the most immediate benefit is to ‘automate workflows’ across various marketing functions. With processes streamlined, every team member involved at any given point in the project knows what they are working on and what is expected of them, and how it fits into the bigger picture of the project.
Process Mapping: With BPM software, it can create process maps that detail every step of a campaign, from brainstorming to roll-out to analysis. When put ‘on the wall’, everyone on the marketing team can get a better sense of the end-to-end process. In addition to pushing team members to think holistically, this view also helps to break down silos: if something has to go through the company’s marketing management software to get from one team to another, staffers must specify what it is, what it’s for, and who it’s for.
Standardized Processes: Through BPM, companies set different processes across the teams to be standardized and followed by all the teams to avoid any error or mismatch in communication. A simple example of this would be setting a team-wide content approval process to which all content would have to conform before it gets published.
Task Automation: Marketing management software can automate routine tasks such as sending approval requests or updating statuses on projects which saves time, frees up the time for creative work and ensures that target processes are not being halted due to some unnecessary delays. This helps in reducing the bottlenecks and keeps the team focused on work that adds value.
Improving Communication and Collaboration
Creating a collaborative environment is also crucial in marketing teams, where ideas need to be shared, reviewed and developed at speed. BPM software plays a crucial role in enhancing such communication:
- Encouraging innovation: Communication can take place in various formats, such as email, group chat and meetings. The best business process management software allows for multiple channels, which makes the process of sharing ideas and innovations more streamlined and efficient.
- Spreading information: Marketing often involves dealing with ideas from different individuals in different locations. A distributed company could have offices not only in different countries but also continents. BPM software makes it easy for all workers to access the latest information efficiently.
- Centralized communication: Many BPM tools also provide a centralized communication portal where groups can share ideas, information and feedback in real-time. This helps eliminate some of those tedious email threads that we are all so familiar with, while also avoiding the risk of team members getting caught up in endless conversations that are not focused on the key issue at hand. For example, they could be a simple hub for anyone to pose questions, make contact, seek help or provide feedback around specific BPM campaign ideas, suggestions, draft designs etc.
- Integrated Tools: BPM software often comes with the ability to integrate with other tools that the marketing team works with. These other tools could be project management, content management, or customer relationship management (CRM) systems. The integration allows all the information to be available in a single place, so the user doesn’t have to switch between different platforms.
- Real-Time Status Updates: Members of a team can receive real-time updates on tasks and projects when marketing management software is employed. This also helps all team members to stay up-to-date on projects and reduces the chance of miscommunication. For instance, if the status of a social media post changes, team members can instantly see the update and make any necessary adjustments.
Facilitating Cross-Functional Collaboration
Marketing campaigns, for example, typically involve people from several departments, including sales, customer service and product development. Marketing management software makes it easier for all these different functions to work together because it provides a structure for collaboration.
Shared Goals and Metrics: The best business process management software also enables teams to share goals and metrics, so everyone knows what they’re working towards. For example, a marketing team can work with sales to identify the metrics of a lead generation campaign so that both teams know what the goal is.
Collaboration Between Teams: Because BPM tools model the entire process, separate teams can work on distinct steps within the process. For example, the product team can work on the technical aspect of the new product launch campaign, while the marketing team develops the messaging and promotion. This way, there is a better chance for the campaign to be well-rounded and successful.
Accountability and Ownership: Tasks can be mapped clearly with BPM software. Team members know what they have to do and that this is registered, which makes them feel more part of the project’s success.
Improving Project Management and Execution
Good project management is essential to a successful marketing campaign and BPM software helps this by offering tools to manage resources, deadlines and deliverables.
Resource Allocation: Marketing management software can help marketing managers make better decisions about assigning resources to projects by providing an overview of the number of tasks assigned to team members and their workloads to ensure each team does not become overwhelmed.
Timeline Management: BPM offers teams the ability to create timelines for each campaign, and each campaign task is assigned a deadline. The software can be programmed to send out various alerts and reminders as deadlines near to assist in keeping projects on track and completed on time.
Performance Tracking: If the BPM software has analytics and reporting tools, it can provide teams with a real-time view of their campaign’s performance, which informs decisions and course-corrects along the way.
Enabling Continuous Improvement
Marketing is a discipline that is constantly changing, and teams need to continue to improve their task, process and output performance to stay ahead. Marketing management software enables continuous improvement by providing feedback mechanisms and allowing teams to learn from experience.
Process Analysis: Many BPM tools will include reporting on the behavior of your process instances. Your team can use this information to identify problems with the process, such as bottlenecks, inefficiency, etc. For instance, if your process for getting document approvals always results in delays, then you can change the process to make it more efficient.
Feedback Loops: Often built-in to BPM software, this perspective allows for the creation of feedback loops, where a process is reviewed by the team and they can suggest improvements to the process itself. In this way, the team becomes self-managing and continuously evolving as it faces new challenges and realities.
Scalability: If BPM software fits well in a small team, it should be scalable enough to accommodate large teams that scale up over time as marketing teams grow or particular campaigns require more employees.
For those operating in a marketing space that demands them to be faster, more creative, and more precise in how they get things done, the best business process management software is fast becoming a key enabler of team collaboration. With its capabilities to improve workflows, collaboration among team members, communication, cross-functional collaboration, project management, and learning, the best business process management software enables marketing teams to work together more effectively.
This is reflected in more cohesive and productive campaigns, and also a more highly-engaged team. That’s why, as marketing evolves, so will the role of BPM software (such as that from Aproove!), in improving collaboration and making it an essential tool for any forward-thinking organization.