In last month’s blog, we shared ideas for how an in-house marketing team can manage daily responsibilities while simultaneously launching a new website. This article will provide you with some project management tips to help you remember all the little projects that are brainstormed in any meeting and scheduled with a vague “we’ll work on that next quarter,” or “let’s put a pin in it.”
Tip 1 – Write Down Your Ideas
The first step is to write your ideas down (no surprise there). How you capture them is entirely up to you, but here are a few suggestions:
- Keep a physical file folder – one piece of paper per idea
- Keep a digital list – Word, Google Doc, Excel, whatever makes you happy
- Add to a project management tool – one task per idea so you can reschedule as needed
- My favorite project management tools: ClickUp, Asana, ToDoist
It’s really that simple: Just write it down. You may think “this is an amazing idea; I’ll never forget it.” However, you’re human and your mind will fill up with other things like remembering that time you slipped in Jell-O in the high school cafeteria. That little memory, among others, is cluttering your brain, despite your best intentions to stay focused on the present and the future (instead of the past).
Tip 2 –Read the List Every Quarter
Revisit the collection of ideas every quarter and look for duplicates and like-minded projects. The more times you or your team says, “we need that,” the higher it needs to be on the priority list.
Tip 3: Talk About the List Every Quarter
It’s essential to do more than read the list; dedicate time to talk through the ideas, too. They’ll come to life, and you’ll discover which ones are a “need-to-have” vs. a “want-to-have.” Even if you’re a marketing team of one person, there’s probably someone else in the company open to having a collaborative discussion.
Things to consider:
- How many times was a single idea raised? (This is a top priority)
- Which ideas get you the most excited? Are you excited because they’ll be helpful, or simply because they’re fun to produce?
- Which ideas are the easiest to implement? Achieve small wins by knocking out the easiest tasks first.
- Which ideas cost money? Is it cost-prohibitive or should you put it in next year’s budget?
Tip 4 – Consider Outside Help
Sure, you’re cost-conscientious, so you may not think of outsourcing big projects. But here’s the thing – a project worth doing will take multiple skills: writing, design, programming, automation, etc. You might know how to do some of this, but a truly impactful initiative will need input from multiple professionals. So, consider working with 8Bend Marketing. We’re here for one-off projects as well as long-term engagements. You stay focused on being the subject matter expert and we’ll help you with the strategy and execution, making you look like the rock star that you are.
8Bend Marketing Can Help You Strategize and Execute
8Bend Marketing understands how difficult it is to take your great ideas from paper to real-life. We are on a mission to help business owners break the cycle of frustration from bad marketing. 8Bend Marketing helps companies develop inspirational brand messaging, create powerful sales and marketing plans, and then execute them with precision. We believe that supercharged sales and marketing are the keys that will help our customers achieve unprecedented growth.
Did you find these project management tips valuable? Schedule a discovery call with one of our experts today!
Paul Dzik is 8Bend Marketing’s Campaign Manager. A critical thinker and problem solver, Paula oversees the 8Bend Marketing team’s projects to ensure they are done in a timely manner and helps keep the day-to-day of the agency running smoothly.
