There’s a lot of moving pieces when it comes to running a business, and without a marketing resource management system (MRM), those moving pieces can be overwhelming. While it’s certainly possible to run a business without an MRM, it can become terribly inefficient as the company grows; the more successful you become, the more moving pieces there are to oversee. 

Marketing Resource Management Overview

The concept behind an MRM is relatively easy to digest: it’s a software designed to help companies maneuver the complexity of modern marketing. But what does that actually mean?

Wedia defines marketing resource management as a series of processes and means aimed at improving a company’s ability to orchestrate and optimize its marketing and communications. In layman’s terms, marketing resource management is a software application used to simplify your organization’s back-end transactions; it organizes, stores, and streamlines the communication, marketing and PR processes.

Let’s break it down word by word:

• Marketing: referring to all of your marketing, PR, and communication needs
• Resource: all of the vital clutter – collateral, style guide, templates, emails, proofs, ads, etc. 
• Management: putting it all in one place that’s easy to access, share and govern

What Should an MRM Platform Do

Of course, every marketing resource management system will be a little different, and which program is best will depend on your companies specific needs. However, most MRM systems should do the following:

Manage digital assets/resources

All marketing resource management systems should provide a platform to manage all your company’s digital assets, including brand templates and guidelines. This is the crux of an MRM – keeping all of your important files in one easy-to-access location. 

Budgeting 

In a company of 5 or 10, it may not be too challenging to keep track of where and how your funds are spent. As a business grows, this will change. If every department (or even one department) doesn’t have a clear idea of what the budget is and how it is to be spent, you could find yourself in a financial disaster. MRM systems show each project or department exactly what their allocation is, making it easier to see where those funds are going.  

Media planning 

Another great feature your marketing resource management system should offer is media planning: the art of determining when, where and how to run your companies advertisements in order to augment your ROI. Having your media planning in an organized system that all the necessary players can see should help make sure everyone is aware of the critical deadlines.  

Measure success

Though success looks a little different for every company and every project, your MRM system should give you some way to track that success – however it may look (clicks, conversions, ROI, likes, calls, new clients etc.). What’s important is that you can see how each project is doing so you can make adjustments and informed decisions based on what you find. 

How Else Can MRM Benefit Companies 

While not every company needs MRM, virtually every company could benefit from it. Organizing your assets, making sure everyone is on the same page and approving all your employees’ projects takes time – and in today’s market, time is an asset that can’t be wasted. These repetitive, monotonous tasks are crucial to running a business, but with an MRM, they can be done without human labor – freeing up more time for you and your employees to get more actual work done.

Another huge benefit of marketing resource management is having all your brand templates and guidelines in one location, accessible to all that may use them. This not only prevents fatal mishaps (such as using an old logo, the wrong font, speaking in an off-brand tone, etc.), but ensures that every piece of material you and your employees produce is cohesive and on-brand. For instance, if you have multiple employees who prepare your company newsletter, you could end up with inconsistent layouts and designs every time you send it out – but with everyone looking at the same templates and brand guidelines, this issue is alleviated. 

Ashore + Zapier

If you’re ready to take the plunge with a marketing resource management system, Zapier could be a great asset to you and your business. Zapier is an online automation tool that allows you to connect software to software. The concept behind Zapier is simple; you tell it a trigger (ex. signing up for an event), then you tell Zapier what action you want to happen in response (ex. add that person to your email list in Mailchimp). By connecting Zapier to your MRM system, you can cut out a good portion of those tedious, dread-inducing tasks.

By connecting your marketing resource management system with Ashore through Zapier, you can automate your approval process even further. With your MRM + Zapier + Ashore integration, you can set a trigger in Ashore, such as “proof approved” or “proof created,” that automatically tells your MRM system to complete an action, such as updating your project timeline or notifying the design team. The main goal of an MRM system is to make your life easier, and that’s Ashore’s goal too. So if saving time, money and headache is something you’re interested in, sign up for free today!