Investing In A Marketing System Is One Of The Best Decisions You’ll Make

How many times have you set up what you thought was a great marketing campaign only to see if fizzle out on the back end?

Probably more often than not, especially if your internal processes lack a marketing system.

What is a marketing system?

Just as stereo systems have various components like volume control buttons and speakers – all designed to amplify the sound coming from the system – marketing systems consists of the various components of your marketing toolbox. They help you amplify your message, monitor the feedback, and filter out the noise.

But when the wires cross or parts are missing, there can be no sound, thus no impact.

Why should you consider a marketing system?

Marketing underpins every business. In some form or fashion, communicating the value of that business – which is all marketing is – is necessary for long-term success.

But the tools you use to communicate your marketing message cannot exist in silos. They have to talk to one another, be linked, and have a common place to reside. If they don’t, your marketing will translate into disjointed attempts that are rarely effective.

Are marketing systems worth the effort?

Creating a marketing system that works for your business is a worthy endeavor. But the larger your business, the more work it will take to set up, especially if there’s no existing infrastructure.

But the pros far outweigh the cons. Establishing a sound marketing system will make a remarkable difference in the way you work internally and communicate with your audience, thus giving you more control over the outcomes.

Key benefits of a marketing system

A well-managed marketing system can provide you with:

Repeatable processes, less wasted time

Creating repeatable marketing processes empowers you with the information needed to be proactive, set priorities, align the right resources, and utilize the right channels.

To get started, you’ll need to think through what you currently do. Identify primary and supporting tasks. Assign the appropriate action owners, reasonable turnaround times, and define expected results. Weed out any unnecessary actions.

Using a simple spreadsheet program, you can now map or flow out your process, moving things around until it feels right. Then adopt it as law within your organization.

Project management apps like Asana and Basecamp are also helpful here. And if all else fails, head to the nearest whiteboard and draw it out.

A well-stocked content library

Organize the content for blogs, social media posts, emails, graphics, and other collateral pieces in one central location, like a Dropbox folder. This newly formed content library is now the hub of all of your branded content.

Commit to storing all of your content in this folder which will enable you to access this information quickly for immediate use or easily share it with internal/external team members.

In addition to descriptive filenames and subfolders for revisions, consider maintaining a rolling spreadsheet that lists all the content saved in the folder as well as the purpose for each piece of content. This high-level view helps you to understand quickly how each piece should be used.

Less ambiguity, more peace of mind

Finally, knowing that your marketing house is in order relieves a tremendous burden. Not only when it comes to the day to day management of your current marketing routine, but also as you look to increase your marketing efforts down the road.

No more second guessing how to kick off that next marketing campaign or scrambling to find pieces of content you’ve created. You know exactly where everything is and how to get it where it needs to go.

And as a bonus, when you get ready to bring on new hires, all you have to do is pull out your flow, open up the Dropbox folder, and start training.