Download the PDF: https://www.demandmetric.com/content/marketing-resource-management Marketing Resource Management (MRM) systems control the administrative processes that support customer-facing marketing programs. This distinguishes MRM from marketing execution systems that store customer databases and deliver marketing messages through email, Web ads, and other channels. MRM may be sold independently or as a component of comprehensive marketing management systems that also provide execution. MRM functions fall into two primary clusters. The first involves functions related to company-level marketing management, including program planning, scheduling, budgeting, and cost reporting. The other cluster relates to program management, including task lists, purchasing media and materials, content creation, approvals, storage, and distribution. Some MRM systems specialize in a few of these functions. Others specialize in additional functions such as customizing content for local offices or dealers, or in marketing reporting and analysis. Systems may also be tailored to specific industries or companies of a certain size. Companies buy MRM systems when their marketing programs become too complicated to run in a less systematic fashion. This, along with the systems' high cost, originally meant that MRM was used almost exclusively by large marketing organizations with hundreds of marketers in multiple offices. More recently, the growth of digital marketing means that even small marketing organizations need to manage many different programs and content versions across multiple channels, and to quickly introduce new versions. This expanded complexity has rarely been accompanied by a corresponding expansion of staff, adding to the pressure for more efficient operations. At the same time, costs have decreased as MRM capabilities were added to integrated marketing suites and as stand-alone MRM products became available as vendor-hosted services (Software as a Service, or SaaS). The result has been increased use of MRM systems among companies of all sizes.

1. MARKETING
RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT
HOW-TO GUIDE

2. 2 Marketing Resource Management How-to Guide
Marketing Resource Management (MRM) systems control the administrative processes that support
customer-facing marketing programs. This distinguishes MRM from marketing execution systems
that store customer databases and deliver marketing messages through email, Web ads, and
other channels. MRM may be sold independently or as a component of comprehensive marketing
management systems that also provide execution.
MRM functions fall into two primary clusters. The first involves functions related to company-level
marketing management, including program planning, scheduling, budgeting, and cost reporting.
The other cluster relates to program management, including task lists, purchasing media and
materials, content creation, approvals, storage, and distribution. Some MRM systems specialize
in a few of these functions. Others specialize in additional functions such as customizing content
for local offices or dealers, or in marketing reporting and analysis. Systems may also be tailored to
specific industries or companies of a certain size.
Companies buy MRM systems when their marketing programs become too complicated to run in
a less systematic fashion. This, along with the systems' high cost, originally meant that MRM was
used almost exclusively by large marketing organizations with hundreds of marketers in multiple
offices. More recently, the growth of digital marketing means that even small marketing organiza-
tions need to manage many different programs and content versions across multiple channels, and
to quickly introduce new versions. This expanded complexity has rarely been accompanied by a
corresponding expansion of staff, adding to the pressure for more efficient operations. At the same
time, costs have decreased as MRM capabilities were added to integrated marketing suites and as
stand-alone MRM products became available as vendor-hosted services (Software as a Service, or
SaaS). The result has been increased use of MRM systems among companies of all sizes.
HOW-TO GUIDE
Marketing Resource
Management

3. 3 Marketing Resource Management How-to Guide
HOW-TO GUIDE
Program Planning and Scheduling — Users are able to set up a list of marketing programs
or campaigns, often building a multi- level hierarchy, such as multiple campaigns within a
program and multiple events within a campaign. Programs are often assigned to categories
based on purpose (acquisition, retention, cross-sell, etc.), brand, product line, region, and
other attributes. These categories are used for reporting roll-ups and to limit access, to
the people responsible for a particular type of program. Programs, or their components,
typically have other attributes, such as start and end dates, budgets for cost and response,
and owners. Most MRM systems let users define these attributes and their labels, making it
easier to adapt the system to their particular organization. Nearly all systems can produce
a marketing calendar showing programs and their dates, often with options to display the
calendar in different formats and to filter which programs are included.
Budgets and Actual Costs — Budgeting options can range from a single value per program
to detailed estimates by cost category and time period. Some systems can calculate program
cost based on user-entered quantities and cost per unit. This approach may extend to stan-
dard assumptions, such as postage cost per piece, that are applied to all programs auto-
matically. Beyond cost budgets, the system may allow users to enter other estimated values,
such as number of messages sent (direct mail pieces, emails, telephone calls, ad impressions,
etc.) and responses received. Actual costs and other values may be entered manually by the
user, or posted automatically from accounting and customer management systems. Some
systems let users enter overall budgets for program categories, which can then be compared
with budgets for specific programs to see how much of the total budget has been spent or
allocated.
Task Management — Some systems provide project management features to track the
development of individual programs. These can be anything from simple checklists to
templates that automatically create a project schedule based on the start date and number
of work days between tasks. An advanced system could include dependencies of one task
on others, standard cost and labor hours, automatic task assignments to roles or individuals,
notification of new tasks to the assigned person or department head, posting of actual labor
time and task status, workload analysis, notification of completed tasks, approval tracking,
and alerts for tasks that are overdue. The system might be linked to corporate human
resources and security systems to automatically update roles and responsibilities.
Here is a closer look at the main features found in MRM systems.
MRM Components
Marketing Resource
Management

4. 4 Marketing Resource Management How-to Guide
HOW-TO GUIDE
Reporting and Analytics — Because MRM systems capture plans and cost information, they
sometimes provide a platform for reporting on marketing results. This reporting may extend
to marketing performance, but only if the system can import response information from the
customer database or accounting systems. Typical MRM reports would cover planned vs. actual
expenses, show costs over time, and possibly calculate return on investment. The systems also
provide operational reporting on functions they manage, such as project tasks, purchasing
activities, content creation, and utilization. MRM analytics would rarely extend to detailed
analysis of program results, customer profiling, segmentation, or predictive modeling.
Marketing Resource
Management
The goal of MRM is to control the internal business processes of a marketing department. This
means that any MRM deployment must focus on process change first and technology second.
It also means that MRM is only adopted by organizations whose leaders recognize the need for
process change and, in most cases, are willing to make the investments needed to ensure success.
Because MRM is about process management, your action plan can draw on the extensive body of
techniques developed to improve manufacturing and other production processes. Your organiza-
tion may already have its own process improvement experts such as "six sigma black belts," who
can help manage improvements to marketing processes. If not, there are many external resources
including services staff at the MRM vendors.
In general, the stages in process improvement are understanding the process, identifying sources
of problems, and making changes to eliminate the problems. Problem areas are identified by
setting standards for the cost and outputs of each step in the process and comparing the stan-
dards with actual costs and outputs. Managers then research the causes of major variances and
make changes to reduce them. The long-term goal is to continuously improve performance by
removing problems and finding improved approaches that allow you to raise the standards.
Where MRM projects diverge from generic process improvement is that most MRM projects are
triggered by a specific problem the organization needs to solve, such as better control over budgets
or easier access to content. This makes MRM more focused than an approach that looks at the
entire process and addresses the most costly problems first. The action plan combines standard
process improvement methods with the unique requirements of MRM. Follow the steps below to
implement your MRM plan.

5. 5 Marketing Resource Management How-to Guide
HOW-TO GUIDE
Marketing Resource
Management
Bottom Line
The complexity of today's multi-­channel, highly segmented marketing programs means that nearly
every company needs a systematic approach to managing its marketing processes. Marketing
resource management supports this approach, whether it is delivered in a stand-­alone MRM
system or embedded in a larger marketing management suite. But marketers must realize that
MRM technology is only as good as the processes it manages, and ensure they devote enough
effort to defining the processes they want and training the staff to implement those processes
correctly.

6. 6 Marketing Resource Management How-to Guide
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2
3
4
Define Goals
Document
Existing
Processes
Set Priorities
Define Future
Processes
Most MRM projects start with an identified
problem. But because so many marketing
processes are interrelated, addressing this
one problem can easily lead to a project
that touches nearly every marketing oper-
ation. The challenge at this stage is to define
a specific set of goals that can be achieved
without disrupting the entire marketing
department. Your definition should include
metrics that can be translated into business
value, such as reduced expense, higher staff
productivity, or faster project delivery. These
will show whether you have achieved your
goals.
Action Plan
STEP 1 - Define Goals
5
6
Find Software
Execute, Modify,
and improve
Specific Goals Offer Visible
Metrics for Marketing Flow

7. 7 Marketing Resource Management How-to Guide
1
2
3
4
Define Goals
Document
Existing
Processes
Once you have identified your project goals,
the next step is to analyze the existing
processes related to those goals. This
assumes these processes exist; if things are
really out of control, the relevant tasks may
be performed without a consistent process
at all. Even in this case, you'll want to iden-
tify the ideal process under the current
conditions. Once you identify (or for the first
time define) the processes, and the people
who perform them, you'll have a model that
helps you understand the implications of any
future changes.
Action Plan
STEP 2 - Document Existing Processes
5
6
Set Priorities
Define Future
Processes
Find Software
Execute, Modify,
and improve
Develop A Model for Each
Process and Its Expectation

8. 8 Marketing Resource Management How-to Guide
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2
3
4
5
6
Set Priorities
Even a constrained set of goals may include
more change than the department can handle
at once. You'll need to prioritize the project
components based on a combination of
factors, including the value of each improve-
ment, the number of people and processes
affected, and dependencies among changes.
But this may not be possible in practice; even
small changes often impact large numbers
of people across multiple groups. This would
mean that even your first change has a major
impact.
Choose Your Priorities
Wisely for Positive Impact
Action Plan
STEP 3 - Set Priorities
Define Goals
Document
Existing
Processes
Define Future
Processes
Find Software
Execute, Modify,
and improve

9. 9 Marketing Resource Management How-to Guide
1
2
3
4
5
6
Define Future
Processes
Now you are ready to look closely at the
first processes you want to change and to
define how the improved processes will
work. This will require specifying the steps in
the process, and then the inputs, tasks, and
outputs of each step, along with who will
do the work. You'll also need to define the
criteria that determine when each step has
been completed successfully, such as check-
lists to evaluate when a piece of content has
been properly approved.
Test the new processes by running through
them manually to be sure they make sense
and are truly complete. Assign measures to
each correctly and whether costs are in line
with expectations.
Action Plan
STEP 4 - Define Future Processes
Define Goals
Document
Existing
Processes
Set Priorities
Find Software
Execute, Modify,
and improve
Setting Proper Processes
and Steps Along the Way

10. 10 Marketing Resource Management How-to Guide
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2
3
4
5
6
Find Software
Once you've defined the new processes, you
can look for software that fits your desired
process flows and captures the required
data. If you can't find a perfect match, at least
consider revising your process designs to
fit what the software supports. After all, the
software was probably based on successful
processes with earlier users.
Beyond support for your desired processes,
consider ease of learning, ease of use,
compatibility with organizational and plan-
ning structures, control over which users
perform which tasks, numbers of users and
languages supported, and integration with
other systems.
Be sure to look beyond your initial changes
to ensure the system is compatible with your
long-term needs for additional functions.
Of course, standard software purchasing
considerations including price, support, tech-
nology, and vendor stability will also play into
your decision.
Action Plan
STEP 5 - Find Software
Define Goals
Document
Existing
Processes
Set Priorities
Define Future
Processes
Execute, Modify,
and improve
Discover the Right Software
to Get It Done

11. 11 Marketing Resource Management How-to Guide
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2
3
4
5
6
Execute,
Modify, and
Improve
Action Plan
STEP 6 - Execute, Modify, and Improve
Plan your actual deployment carefully,
making sure to allow enough time and budget
for system configuration, testing and user
training. It's always a good idea to start with
pilot projects that ensure the system works
correctly before you switch everything over
from your previous processes.
Provide ample support to ensure that new
users understand the changes and are using
the system correctly. Measure performance at
each stage of the process, and make adjust-
ments as you uncover unexpected problems
and opportunities.
Use the metrics you defined up front to
measure cost, time, and quality across the
entire process to document the value of your
improvements. Once the initial changes are in
place and running smoothly, move on to addi-
tional changes in the planned sequence.
Define Goals
Document
Existing
Processes
Set Priorities
Define Future
Processes
Find Software
Moving Wisely from Pilot
Tests to Full Implementation

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