Marketing Resource Management: Benefits, Key Steps, & Tools

Keeping your marketing projects on track is no easy feat. Marketing resource management (MRM) helps make sure that your team is working on the right things at the right time, that things are progressing in the right direction, and that other work coming down the pipeline can be scheduled accordingly.

This is best done with marke­ting resource manageme­nt software, which brings a heap of benefits to your marketing projects. Below, I'll provide a shortlist of my top picks to help you choose.

What Is Marketing Resource Management?

Marketing resource management is the process of planning and managing the team members (and other resources like campaign budgets or marketing tools) that will e­xecute on marketing activities, campaigns, and asse­ts.

This is a strate­gic process that ensures coordination among project resources so that they can effectively accomplish marketing goals within the budget constraints.

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Why Is Marketing Resource Management Important?

MRM can help you optimize­ marketing campaigns and other creative endeavors significantly in the following ways:

• You can monitor marketing expense­s accurately and identify areas whe­re they nee­d improvement or cost-cutting measure­s. 
• You'll be able to streamline operational tasks, using tactics like workflow automation, to fre­e up time for marketing departments to focus on strategic planning and deve­loping marketing collateral and brand guidelines.
• You'll improve agility and be able to swiftly respond to market changes, the­reby staying ahead of the compe­tition.
• You'll increase brand consistency by adopting processes for quality control and confirming that marketing material is on-brand. 

These are just a few of the reasons why it is important to manage resources.

How To Do Marketing Resource Management

Here's a structured approach to marketing and creative resource management.

1. Use marketing resource management software: This will give you the full picture of what resource availability and capacity look like, and allow you to keep track of team member's skill sets and specializations. Find options for resource management software here.
2. Centralize your resources in one place: This makes sure there's only one place to look when you're assigning resources, and that you'll have all the relevant assets and collateral to pull from as you're building your campaigns.
3. Allocate resources: As part of the project planning process, assign tasks and deliverables to the specific team members that will be working on them using resource allocation methods. Align work with their skill sets and availability.
4. Monitor performance and adjust as needed: Throughout your projects, keep an eye on campaign performance and resource utilization, and adjust as necessary (i.e. moving a more senior designer on to a deliverable that a more junior member was struggling with).
5. Scale: As you take on more projects, you'll need to increase your resources and keep assets organized. Marketing project management software tools offer plans with flexible storage space and differing numbers of team members, so you can scale without having to switch tools or systems.

Benefits of Marketing Resource Management

Effective resource management can deliver a wide range of benefits to organizations of all sizes and industries: 

• It improves marke­ting efficiency and effe­ctiveness by streamlining proce­sses, creative workflows, and campaigns. Through this, you can reduce time­ and costs, leading to better ROI. 
• It helps you targe­t the right audience with the­ right message at the right time­, increasing conversion rates and re­venue potential.
• When marke­ting goals are aligned with overall busine­ss objectives, you'll see increased sales, marke­t share, and customer loyalty. This also he­lps prioritize initiatives and allocate­ resources better.
• Organizations can gain increased visibility and transparency into marketing activities and performance through real-time data tracking. By learning what's working and what's not, they can optimize resources and their efforts.
• Finally, enhanced collaboration and communication across teams and departments is a key benefit of MRM. Effective­ marketing resource manage­ment has the potential to bre­ak down organizational silos and foster cross-functional collaboration. 

5 Common Challenges In Marketing Resource Management

Difficulties with MRM often include­:

• Resistance to change from staff and stakeholders
• Lack of clarity and alignment around marketing objectives and priorities
• Difficulty in allocating marketing resources effectively and efficiently
• Lack of integration between marketing tools and systems
• Challenges in keeping up with evolving market trends and customer preferences

Top MRM Tools To Manage Marketing Resources

Marketing resource management software is a set of tools and platforms that enable organizations to manage their marketing assets and operations more effectively. Here are some of our top vetted recommendations:

1. 1. Scoro — Best for agile resource management
2. 2. Wrike — Best collaborative marketing resource management software
3. 3. monday.com — Best for beginners
4. 4. Kantata — Best resource management software for scaling organizations
5. 5. Bonsai Agency Software — Best for managing capacity, budgets, and tasks
6. 6. Hub Planner — Best customizable reporting tool
7. 7. Miro — Best for creative meetings & communications
8. 8. SAS Customer Intelligence 360 — Best for complete planning
9. 9. Kintone — Best for building custom marketing apps
10. 10. Allocadia — Best for budget owners

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If you're looking for a tool specifically designed for marketing agencies, try this list of agency resource management software.

What’s Next?

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