Please tell us what your job as a Marketing Project Manager was
My marketing project management job consisted of overseeing all projects from start to finish. This included regulating all deadlines, managing employee project schedules, tracking budgets, as well as initiating new projects assigned by our marketing director to me. I normally started each marketing project by gathering proper information for generating creative briefs for the various departments working on the projects. It also included collaborating with writers and graphic designers to create advertising content. It was very important to create and manage a content calendar and to maintain scheduling deadlines. A big part of the job was determining marketing campaign budgets and ensuring that all project team members adhere to them.
Project Managers are Always Busy
A as a digital marketing project manager a typical day of mine would consist of checking what projects had upcoming deadlines, and communicating with the proper person to see the project status. If any new projects came in, all the appropriate team members would be scheduled a kick-off meeting and given a creative brief to outline the project.
Constant Decision Making is a Part of the Job Description
I also made sure that all client feedback regarding their marketing strategies on all projects were properly implemented. In addition, as part of my time management responsibilities, I facilitated all schedules and budgets for any projects that needed any printing production.
What was unique about managing projects within a marketing agency?
Managing projects within a marketing agency allowed me to be involved with each project from many angles. As a marketing project manager, not only did I manage the deadlines and assign tasks for each project, but was also able to see the process from creative conception to the final end product. I used various project management tools to monitor and manage all of the various project team members.
Soft Skills Were Critical to Success
In addition, I was able to be hands on with all departments involved with the project including the creative, media, account, and interactive teams. This not only required having a clear picture of what the goal of each of the marketing campaigns was, but also an ability to collaborate productively with every member of the marketing agency's team.
Please describe some of the typical projects you worked on? Television, Print, etc.
Typical marketing projects that came through the marketing agency were diverse and catered to many of our clients marketing strategy and advertising needs. Many of the marketing projects focused on traditional media including creating logos, billboards, direct mailers, and print ads for newspapers and magazines as well as creating commercials for TV and radio. In addition, we had many interactive focused assignments which consisted of developing websites, microsites, and smartphone apps.
How long did a typical Marketing Project take?
The length of a typical marketing project depended on various factors. Such factors included: the client's deadline, number of revisions, and whether creative concepting was needed for design and copy. Normally, any projects consisting of print ads, direct mailers and billboards could take up to two weeks, and bigger projects such as websites and commercials could take up to 3-6 months. This kept our marketing teams busy, and they liked the variety of tasks that were required to successful execute these often complex projects.
How was Project success measured from the client’s perspective?
The project success was measured in a number of ways and also varied from project to project. Normally, the success was weighed based on positive feedback from upper management as well as the increase in volume of calls. public awareness, and referrals.
Key Performance Indicators
Every successful marketing campaign had clearly defined Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). While ultimately, revenue and ultimately, ROI, was the top line measurement, many marketing campaigns had higher-in-the-funnel goals:
- Website Visits
- Lead Generation
- Marketing Qualified Leads (MQL)
- Sales Qualified Leads (SQL)
- Sales Accepted Leads
- Closed Deals.
Multiple Marketing Channels
Marketing campaigns usually involved multiple marketing channels, including Social Media, Websites, Print, Broadcast and even Radio. Our agency had marketing experts with strong analytical skills who helped us setup measurement plans and to set up the digital tracking tags.
Did your Project have a charter. If not, what was the initiating document for a Project?
The initiating document that kicked off our projects consisted of a creative brief which outlined the objective of the project, how success is measured, conveyed the overall message and other project specifications.
What Project Management Tool(s) did you use?
The main project management tool we used was a software program called Workamajig. This program assisted in managing the project timelines and deadlines, budgets, and tracking the amount of hours spent on each project.
How would you compare what you were doing in your previous agency to what you’ve learned about Inbound Marketing so far?
My previous agency work focused more on the concepting and delivering of the product for the clients, and not necessarily reflecting on the results afterwards or really any sort of social media. In addition, my marketing agency focused greatly on traditional marketing venues for client marketing and advertising.
Using Hubspot's Inbound Marketing Automation Platform
What I have learned from inbound marketing so far is that really analyzing the results of a project or campaign allows one to approach the next project with a wealth of new information to increase the number of contacts and clients. You also get an idea of how or whether your initial content strategy was on-target.
Delegate Tasks
As our projects have grown more complex, I have also had to become much better at delegating tasks. You really have to be a detail oriented individual, as there are so marketing activities going on at once, it is easy to overlook tasks.
Setting Deadlines
Setting deadlines and ensuring that they can both be met and are met has become a top priority. This is just one of the many skills you have to master as a marketing project manager.
Social Media
I also have learned that social media can open up a whole new business network if you know how to use it in a correct way.
Until Next Time...
