How marketers manage their work today
We're updating our report on the tools marketers use to keep their work on track. Please fill out our brief survey.
It seems like an eon since we originally published our Martech Intelligence Report guide to what we then called project and workflow management. At the time, we were already in the throes of the COVID pandemic, but we hadn’t yet settled into the “new normal.”
Complete our brief survey on marketing work management.
And now, as large companies begin to announce back-to-the-office plans, it’s clear that the new work habits accelerated by COVID are here to stay. Already, many businesses — including Google, Microsoft and Facebook but also more traditional players like JPMorgan Chase and Ford Motor Company — have said they’ll let many employees work from home at least part of the time going forward.
JPMorgan Chase went so far as to tell workers, according to the New York Times, that the five-day office workweek is a relic. (We at Third Door Media would tend to agree, as we’ve been a “virtual company” from day one.)
All of these developments underscore the importance of the tools we use to connect with colleagues, clients, etc. when we’re separated geographically. One fundamental type of platform we’re relying on is now being called, by many, a marketing work management platform (MWM), and these tools are poised to become indispensable.
Marketing work management tools becoming “required” and “primary”
“By 2023, 60% of marketing teams will fully operate a marketing work management platform and will consider it both a required and primary platform in their adtech and martech stack,” Gartner analyst Sally Witzky wrote in the firm’s first report on the category last year.
That’s why we covered tools for managing marketing work in our Martech Intelligence Report last year, and why we’re currently updating our report to reflect the current players and state of the game.
We urge you to help us do that by filling out a very brief (mostly box-ticking) survey and telling us how you manage your marketing work these days. (Pretty please!) We’re eager to hear about it and plan to include the results in the summer update to that report.
In the meantime, you can check out the current version, which takes a deep dive into the capabilities offered by a variety of tools and provides guidance on making a purchase decision. Thanks in advance for filling out our marketing work management survey! Your input is invaluable!
Marketing work management: A snapshot
What it is: Marketing work management platforms help marketing leaders and their teams structure their day-to-day work to meet their goals on deadline and within budget constraints, all while managing resources and facilitating communication and collaboration. Functions may include task assignments, time tracking, budgeting, team communication and file sharing, among others.
Why it’s important today. Work environments have changed drastically due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This has heightened the need for work management tools that help marketers navigate these new workflows.
Marketers have been at work developing processes that allow them to work with those outside their own offices since marketing projects—campaigns, websites, white papers, or webinars—frequently involve working with outside sources.
Also, with marketers required to design interfaces, write content, and create engaging visual assets today, more marketers are adopting agile workflow practices, which often have features to support agile practices.
What the tools do. All of these changes have heightened the need for marketing work management software, which optimizes and documents the projects undertaken by digital marketers. They often integrate with other systems like digital asset management platforms and creative suites. But most importantly, these systems improve process clarity, transparency, and accountability, helping marketers keep work on track.
Read next: What is marketing work management and how do these platforms support agile marketing
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