Most marketers that take the Myers Briggs personality test would probably be ENTPs. They have a strong creative streak, but are weak when it comes to organization and attention to detail. This is often a liability, because project management is a very important aspect of any online marketing campaign.
Here are some reasons project management is crucial to marketing your website.
Quality Control
When you are scaling a website marketing strategy, you will need to delegate most of your tasks to subordinates or contractors. They may not share your quality standards, so it is important to oversee their work. Without a quality control system in place, your marketing results and brand image may suffer, which will adversely affect your long-term growth.
Even major companies can run into trouble if they aren’t monitoring their marketing team. Search through some of the largest websites on the internet and you will find typos, broken links and incorrect information in copy. These mistakes in quality control may seem small but can be the difference between making a big sale or just another website visitor who leaves.
In 2007 a famous example of a spelling error resulting in a loss of a half million dollars took place. An eBay auction listed a 155 year old bottle of unopened Allspopp Arctic Ale which is one of the rarest bottles of beer on the planet. The antique bottle of beer was listed with a description that read, “Allsop’s arctic ale. Full and corked with a wax seal.” The owner listed it with a missing “p” in the name which led to only two people making an offer to purchase it. This was due to the fact that the eBay search was not returning the listing since there was a spelling error. The bottle was purchased for $304. Eight weeks later, the person who won the bid with $304 relisted the ale with an updated description, “Museum Quality ALLSOPP’s ARCTIC ALE 1852 SEALED/FULL.” This time the auction received 157 offers and closed with the winning bid of over half a million dollars.
Even major companies can run into trouble if they aren’t monitoring their marketing team. Search through some of the largest websites on the internet and you will find typos, broken links and incorrect information in copy. These mistakes in quality control may seem small but can be the difference between making a big sale or just another website visitor who leaves.
In 2007 a famous example of a spelling error resulting in a loss of a half million dollars took place. An eBay auction listed a 155 year old bottle of unopened Allspopp Arctic Ale which is one of the rarest bottles of beer on the planet. The antique bottle of beer was listed with a description that read, “Allsop’s arctic ale. Full and corked with a wax seal.” The owner listed it with a missing “p” in the name which led to only two people making an offer to purchase it. This was due to the fact that the eBay search was not returning the listing since there was a spelling error. The bottle was purchased for $304. Eight weeks later, the person who won the bid with $304 relisted the ale with an updated description, “Museum Quality ALLSOPP’s ARCTIC ALE 1852 SEALED/FULL.” This time the auction received 157 offers and closed with the winning bid of over half a million dollars.
Making Sure Expectations are Clearly Communicated
Every marketing campaign requires a detailed strategy. Unfortunately, only 24% of organizations have a formal strategy in place. A good project manager will make sure the right strategy is developed and communicated to the rest of the team.
Aligning Projects with the Right Talent
Matching the right employee to any given task is crucial for any project. Website marketing is no exception.
You may find that one employee is gifted with writing PPC copy, while another is more suited for creating press releases. Another employee may have a knack for producing high quality engaging blog posts.
A good project manager pays close attention to every employee and tries to assess their skill sets. They will make sure the right employee is in the right position to help your marketing strategies succeed.
You may find that one employee is gifted with writing PPC copy, while another is more suited for creating press releases. Another employee may have a knack for producing high quality engaging blog posts.
A good project manager pays close attention to every employee and tries to assess their skill sets. They will make sure the right employee is in the right position to help your marketing strategies succeed.
Legal Risk Mitigation
Legal risks are an unfortunate reality of running any marketing campaign. Many contractors don’t understand enough about the regulations in place to stay compliance. They may unwittingly violate a number of laws, such as CAN-SPAM, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and regulations against marketing certain services across state lines. Avoiding intellectual property infringement is one of the biggest concerns that marketers need to keep in mind. Buzzfeed, Twitter and other companies have provided a list of guidelines. However, these guidelines are meaningless if you don’t have a project manager that adheres to them.
You need to be aware of these risks and establish protocols to ensure these laws aren’t violated. A project manager should coordinate with an attorney to establish a list of acceptable practices and a system to ensure they are followed.
You need to be aware of these risks and establish protocols to ensure these laws aren’t violated. A project manager should coordinate with an attorney to establish a list of acceptable practices and a system to ensure they are followed.
Tracking and Improving Results
Website marketing campaigns rarely perform as well as you would hope. Testing and optimizing is key to building successful marketing campaigns.
A good project manager will establish metrics to monitor progress. If their system isn’t performing well, they will optimize it for better results.
A good project manager will establish metrics to monitor progress. If their system isn’t performing well, they will optimize it for better results.
Megan Totka Megan is the Chief Editor for ChamberofCommerce.com, which helps small businesses grow on the web.
