Marketing endeavors can become a digital heap of press releases, blog articles, videos, and infographics all topped off with a long list of follow-ups aimed at influencers and editors. Behind every project is a team of creators, some tasked with writing, others in charge of outreach, and perhaps a group of freelancers to cover what’s left over. Hidden in the wave of the creative flow and project chaos are the managers who oversee the big picture.
The endless stream of tasks can spiral into a whirlpool of responsibilities. So how do you keep up with this seemingly never-ending flow of information and task assignments? If you’re still plugging away at decades-old spreadsheets, maybe it’s time to embrace the marketing life raft known as workflow software
When you need to streamline the project flow to avoid the wave of tasks pulling your team under, here’s how to make workflow software work for your company.
Project Templates with Individual Workspaces
The ideal workflow software should allow your team or company to create individual and customized project templates for every client or agency need. These unique templates reflect not only the needs or requests of the client but also create a space that makes managing each client and each project easier and much more effective.
Project templates allow you to also develop individual workspaces to start new tasks and assignments. A project template could incorporate workspaces for each press release, blog project, video, infographic or article.
These workspaces then allow for even more interaction between team members, the client and managers. Let’s look at how these workspaces can be tailored to simplify each task:
Task Management at the Project Level
Most project management software simply have long lists of tasks assigned to an individual. To keep projects moving forward, it’s important to have the ability to assign tasks to individual projects. Your marketing workflow management software should have the capability of creating custom tasks based on the stages a project needs to go through from conception to completion.
Resource Management
Which team members are maxed out, and which ones have the bandwidth to take on more tasks? Which team members are all caught up and turning tasks around on time? It’s important for your marketing workflow software to give you the capability of managing your resources based on real time data.
File Sharing for Task Data Exchange
Within a workspace or task, there should be a section or file tab that allows for team members to drop in files. In the past, sharing files would require programs or sites like Dropbox. The file would have to be uploaded and then sent to each individual.
If your workflow software is working for you (and not against you!), the software should allow you to easily and quickly drop and drag files to share with team members.
Attaching Emails to a Task
Like file attachments, emails also can be clipped onto a project. Email communiqués may provide vital project directives that specific team members need to do their share of the task.
From your gmail inbox or you gryffin inbox, all you have to do is select an email and “add to project” using a simple click. This will allow you to attach the email to a project for all team members to stay informed.
What if I Don’t Want to Share Files or Emails With Everyone? Sharing is a Privilege!
Sharing files doesn’t have to be an open book option for everyone in the company or on the team. When you set up your workspaces, the software should always give you the option to set privileges for every related task.
Privileges control who can see information. Maybe you don’t want the client to see all the conversations between team members. Set the privilege to only allow team members to view conversations…or specific shared files.
Sharing information on workflow software is a privilege. You are in control of this sharing!
When is it Due? Using the Project Calendar
Not sure what task is due when for the project? A project calendar gives you an overview of all the due dates and lets you know what deadlines are quickly approaching, and what deadlines might have been missed.
The best workflow software should provide each team member with a master calendar that shows all their tasks. With the calendar feature, you can never say “I was unsure of the due date!” Everything is right there for easy reference.
The calendar will reflect all changes instantly. When a task is completed, the updated status will be reflected.
Invoicing: Keeping Track of Costs
Every task on the workspace has an associated cost. Software should allow the team to set billing options, including a per task payment (or hourly payment), and invoicing functions should be featured on comprehensive workflow software. Many agencies utilize freelancers, and an invoicing function allows the agency to approve payments and pay invoices quickly and without error.
Tracking costs is important, too. Every project has a budget, and the software should make it easy to view the project costs. This allows the team to stay on target with costs and not incur additional charges that cause the agency to lose money or go over budget.
Control the Flow of SEO
One of the most important software features for SEO and marketing agencies is the need to track results from Google Analytics and Google Search Console. Workflow software shouldn’t simply track the internal tasks and project elements, but it also needs to help the team evaluate the results of SEO campaigns.
Software should allow agencies to see the results of their work as it relates to rankings. Maybe a phrase hasn’t generated enough clicks or views for a page. This could mean that the keywords weren’t optimized effectively or perhaps the page needs to be revamped with better content.
Seeing the analytics behind each page allows for the team to step back and evaluate a project. Ultimately, the goal is to effectively boost the rankings of the client’s site and pages, and workflow software needs to integrate the results from Google to allow the team to view the big picture of an SEO campaign.
Workflow Software: Streamline the Hiring Process
Do you think workflow software can simplify the workload of your HR team? Of course it can! Use your workflow software to create web forms on your own company webpage that simplify the hiring process. The software will alert you when the form is filled out, and you’ll see all the information from a potential job candidate.
Not sure how this works? You’ve probably seen these forms without realizing how they connect to internal company software. On a company’s web site, the job post may link to a form that allows candidates to drop in their resume, a cover letter and answer a few pertinent questions related to the position. These forms save time and can help streamline your hiring process, too!
Making a Marketing Workflow Software work for YOU
So how do you make workflow software work for your company? The right software should simplify all your everyday tasks, communications and processes.
Each workspace should allow you to set permissions on who can see specific info, drop in attachments, share information and, when you finish, you can check off the assignment as completed. As tasks are marked done, then new tasks are generated so the next team member can pick up the baton and run with the next task, always keeping an eye on reaching completion on or before the project due date.
All these due dates and task changes also should be reflected in one master calendar so team members and managers can view the big picture. Of course, invoicing also should be simplified, too, with invoice functions incorporated within each task and workspace.
For agencies looking for SEO software , viewing analytics for every project is imperative to understanding the success or failure of every SEO campaign. Your software should integrate information from both Google Analytics and Google Search Console to view web data related to keywords and web pages.
Ready to find the best workflow software for your company? Start a free trial with Gryffin today and discover productivity made simple.