If you read this blog, you’re familiar with terms like “employee service management” and phrases like “every department is a service provider.” These are important mentalities in creating a positive work environment, where employees feel enabled to do their best work. Recognizing the importance of employee experience is a great start, but now it’s time to create specific practices that make life easy for employees. In this series, we’ll travel department-by-department throughout an organization to look specifically at services that can be automated and improved for maximum efficiency, and ultimately, maximum employee satisfaction.
In this post we’ll focus on the marketing department, and help your organization avoid “random acts of marketing.”
Also see:
20 Employee Services to Automate: Human Resources
20 Employee Services to Automate: Facilities
Random acts of marketing are ad hoc projects that don't necessarily connect to a larger strategy. They're difficult to prioritize and account for. These are the last minute requests for which a marketing team wants to create streamlined processes for delivery.
Campaigns need supporting content. Leadership might change pricing, which is communicated through the website. Sales depends on documents and carefully packaged proof points for meetings. The marketing department is responsible for projects with deadlines, and also for long-term brand initiatives that include multiple supporting pieces. It needs carefully constructed workflows to keep projects on track. The
service catalog is a great way to turn service requests into organized projects with built-in tasks and approvals, preventing random acts of marketing from derailing the department.
Let’s take a look at some specific services we can prepare in marketing:
Events/Promotions
1. Order Promotional Items
It’s hard to believe, but you can’t just slap a corporate logo on anything. What’s the item? How many do you need? What purpose will this order fulfill? Collect all the information up front in this request.
2. Trade Show Exhibit Shipping
The moving pieces in a trade show can be overwhelming without a workflow, task list, and notifications. There are creative elements, signage, survey materials, demo materials, and don’t forget the bolts to the booth. Make sure everything is accounted for and headed to the right convention center.
3. Swag Shop
Surprise and delight your customers, prospects, or vendors with a t-shirt or coffee mug, but make sure marketing knows the specifics… like the shipping address.
Website Requests
4. Web Domain Renewal
Don’t let that domain renewal fall through the cracks. Get the approval you need and tasks sent out to make sure you don’t lose it.
5. New Web Content
Critical change to the website? This is high priority. It’s the first place people find information on your organization. Don’t let an outdated page linger for one second.
6. Website Edit or Typo
It can happen to any organization, even with all of the layers of editing. Create an official request to empower the entire team as editors.
7. Website Link Broken
While that super creative 404 page is fun to see every once in awhile, you need to know what links are driving to it. Create an official path to alert the web team.
Operations
8. Collateral Request
Sales needs flyers, lead generation needs emails, and HR needs creative for an internal campaign. Prioritize and submit the requirements up front, and make sure the appropriate parties are automatically notified of a request.
9. Email List Creation
These lists can be grouped by any number of factors, and strategy is constantly evolving. They can include hundreds or thousands of people, so make sure this request receives the right priority level.
10. Email Send Request
Sometime things happen in real time that require a message from your organization. An Outlook or Gmail email just won’t cut it when you need a specific combination of creative, informative, and engaging.
The service catalog is a great way to turn service requests into organized projects with built-in tasks and approvals, preventing “random acts of marketing.”
Written Content
11. Technical Writer Review
Every industry has its own jargon. The fastest way to lose credibility is to use it incorrectly. Schedule periodic reviews and training sessions for anyone who publishes written content.
12. Marketing Content Review
Not everyone is born to write. Request a second set of eyes before you hit send.
13. Social Media Mention
Any big promotion or campaign push needs the appropriate support on public-facing channels. Create a service request so the social team knows who to target on different platforms.
14. Blog Post Request
Need a quick write up on a timely subject? The content team can get this together more quickly than an official document, and you can send it to the appropriate customers or prospects.
Design
15. New Business Cards
This could be part of an interdepartmental service. HR might lead the way for an onboarding request, but your new hire will also need business cards. Include this task for marketing so your new employee has a box of professional looking business cards on the first day of work.
16. Presentation Design
Presentation deserves time and care, whether it’s a big sales meeting or a new hire orientation. Let your marketing team work its magic!
17. Logo Design
That company logo will show up in a lot of places! Don’t let a distorted image appear on a partner or customer website. Bring the marketing team into the loop so your company’s brand always looks the way it should.
18. Data Sheets / Infographics
Sometimes you need a visually appealing value proposition. How do your products stack up with the competition? How much time and money can a customer save with your service? The right language is a well-crafted design, chart, or graphic.
Customer Materials
19. Customer Quote
Need more information from a customer or a proposal to take up the ladder? Get approvals from one manager or multiple managers at the same time.
20. Customer Welcome Kit Request
Each and every customer is special and deserves a little special something. Make sure the package has everything you want.
The marketing department exists to enable the members of the organization who drive revenue, which makes it a unique internal service department. Marketing wears many different hats, so they need documentation, reminders, due dates, and other organizational tools. The service catalog is a great way to organize requests, automate tasks and approvals, and build out the workflows that keep these projects moving.
