Collaborative marketing project management software

Project management for successful marketing is vital for the marketing and advertising sectors, who are operating in some of the busiest industries, where time is the primary asset. Marketing collaborative project management software has been a key to success for many teams who see it as a way to improve processes and communication between team members and clients, as well as creative teams and business teams.

This new guide from the Aproove team explains the benefits of marketing project management software, and also offers critical tips for you to make it work with regards to team productivity and marketing performance.

The current climate brings new challenges and opportunities in digital marketing, and many teams are looking for ways to keep up with the technology and make the best use of it. While digital marketing trends change at lightning speed, project management approaches have not yet evolved enough to follow suit. This leads to inefficiencies, confusion, and missed deadlines. Utilising collaborative project management software helps teams to stay organised, work together, and successfully deliver the required results.
 

Defining Collaborative Marketing Project Management Software 

In essence, collaborative marketing project management software such as software from Aproove Work Management, is a digital tool that makes collaborative work easier by assisting marketing teams in streamlining their workflows and improving their communications. Unlike standard project management tools customised for general use, collaborative marketing project management software is specifically built for marketing teams and offers many more features that uniquely suit their professions.

Key Features 

Collaborative marketing project management software typically offers a broad array of features and functionalities that are designed to enhance the experience of running a project or task while ensuring maximum results for marketing teams. These key features include:

Project and Resource Management: Most PM tools are designed to allow you to plan projects and allocate resources. But you can't see what's happening to that work from within the PM tool. You have to go into another system to find out how a project is tracking. With Aproove the business process workflows allocated to a task in a Gantt chart can be tracked and automatically updated from inside the PM tool - the work in progress - you can see the work as it's in progress!

Task Management: Centralized task management tools are used for creating, assigning and tracking tasks. This increases accountability and transparency enabling the team to have a clear idea and ownership of the tasks set.

File Sharing and Document Collaboration: Advanced file-sharing features let teams collaboratively edit documents, presentations and other assets in real time, resulting in increased collaboration and the avoidance of lengthy email to-ing and fro-ing.
 
Automated Workflows (BPM): Define your business process workflow automation mapped in detail to your requirements, so that your work-in-progress workflow tasks are routed to the right people at the right time of the workflow process. Hide the complex business process from the stakeholders, who only work on the tasks that magically appear on their own to-do list!

Communication Tools: Integrated chat, messaging and @mention tools make communicating with your team members easy and slick, no matter where in the world they happen to be. Once again, this is another motivating factor for collaboration, meaning that team members stay on top of what they need to do, and on the same page with each other in terms of project tasks and goals. 

Online Proofing: Enterprise Online Proofing, such as the system offered by Aproove, can provide Smart Review Technology that will automatically look for content changes between revisions. 

Analytics and Reporting: Business and KPI reports are essential for the success of the business. The reports provide an overview of the existing areas where improvement is needed, or opportunities can be pursued. It also helps find out the resources to be allocated to various projects and the return on the investment ( ROI ). This kind of data helps teams make smart decisions and make marketing strategies most effective.

Benefits of Collaborative Marketing Project Management Software 

Collaborative marketing project management software boosts marketing teams productivity and efficiency in various ways: 

• Improved Collaboration: Centralized platform encourages teamwork and breaks down silos. 
• Enhanced Productivity: Streamlined workflows and task prioritization increase efficiency. 
• Better Communication: Real-time tools reduce misunderstandings and promote clarity. 
• Greater Accountability: Clear task assignments and progress tracking ensure accountability. 
• Enhanced Visibility: Shared calendars and reporting tools give stakeholders project insights for better decision-making. 

All the above describes the tremendous marketing power that marketing project management software can offer you and your team. After all, this software is a tool made for you, so it is important to get deeply familiar with it and use it to its full potential in order to achieve your marketing goals.

Best Practices for Successful Implementation 

Collaborative project management software is a serious commitment. It requires a careful planning and execution stage in order to successfully incorporate the software into the team’s process. Below we outline best practices of implementing a collaborative software application, from selecting the right software tool to training team members and encouraging adoption. By following these best practices, teams are guaranteed to have a smooth transition, and realise the full potential of such an application.

1. Define Clear Objectives and Goals:

Define objectives and goals Prior to the implementation, it is important to determine what the objectives and goals of adopting the CPMS is. What specific problems are the software trying to resolve? What is the level of success that will be measured? What are the objectives and goals of adopting the CPMS in your organisation? What are the problems that we anticipate the CPMS will solve? What are the measurable success criterias that will support the strategic goals of the organisation? 

2. Conduct Thorough Research and Evaluation:

To choose the best collaborative marketing project management software solution for your company, research well in advance, evaluate the various options available, and then make an informed decision based on your organisation's requirements and preferences. Find out which software best meets your needs in terms of features, scalability, usability, integration, and price. Ask the vendors for free demos, see the case studies, and request references from their customers to experience the software and see if it is a fit for your organisation. 

3. Involve Key Stakeholders from the Beginning:

Implementation success requires ongoing buy-in and leadership across the organisation. Begin by recruiting stakeholders representing the major groups within the organisation – marketing, IT, finance and senior-level leaders – to help make early decisions about which technologies to purchase and implement. Sought-after owners are those who will proactively provide buy-in and support as you move through the process. By soliciting input and inviting feedback, you can address concerns and anxieties early in the process to alleviate fears and ensure that everyone is committed to successfully implementing WFM.

4. Develop a Comprehensive Implementation Plan:

Prepare a detailed implementation plan outlining the phases, timing and deliverables, and ownership for the deployment of a collaborative marketing project management software suite across the organization, complete with milestones, checkpoints and key deliverables for tracking progress, resources and budget to support the implementation and execution. 

5. Provide Training and Support:

Invest in training and support to ensure that team members have the knowledge and skills to use the collaborative project management software. Make team training sessions, workshops or online resources available so that users can understand the capabilities of the software, how it can be used, and best practises. Make user support readily available to answer questions, support users and address any issues that may arise with using or integrating the software. 

6. Encourage a Culture of Collaboration and Accountability:

Make sure your company has a culture of collaboration and accountability for the success of your new collaborative marketing project management software. Encourage teamwork, communication and transparency to drive project success. Foster open communication, knowledge sharing and feedback among your team to encourage collaboration and communication. 

7. Iterate and Adapt Based on Feedback:

Continuous improvement, then, is the key to successfully implementing and adopting marketing project management software. Be sure to regularly solicit feedback from users on what works, what doesn’t, what hurdles are still being encountered and, if need be, adjust your implementation strategy accordingly. Iterate processes, workflows and configurations based on user feedback or evolving business needs to ensure the software dynamics are optimised to meet your organisation’s needs. 

8. Measure Success and Celebrate Achievements:

Measure the implementation against the established criteria for success and key performance indicators (KPIs) set at the beginning of the planning phase; metrics such as adoption rates, time to project completion, productivity gains, and return on investment can be used to measure the impact on organisational performance. Celebrate reaching milestones and making progress to celebrate with and reward team members, and to reinforce the software’s value to the organisation.

The implementation of expensive collaborative marketing and project management software also necessitates work and preparation to get right, such as establishing stakeholders, training, planning and providing support. If marketers follow the aforementioned best practices, they will stand a better chance of leveraging the potential of project management software to help drive their marketing plan and achieve their business objectives.

Collaborative marketing project management software can empower marketing teams with the opportunities and tools needed to perform and deliver results – and that’s the core of any truly successful marketing campaign.