Coffee with an Expert: Project Management for Digital Marketing Campaign Planning

Welcome to the sixth edition of Coffee With an Expert, a series of interviews with TSL Marketing's subject matter experts about their areas of expertise.

Throughout these interviews, you'll gain some valuable insights into our approach to digital marketing and lead generation for B2B technology companies.

Today’s Q&A is with Kerri Vardon, our Senior Director of Strategic Account Management.

Kerri, what is your responsibility in the campaign creation process for our B2B tech clients?

Kerri: 

I’m on the operations side of things, managing the project plans and execution of our clients' digital marketing campaigns. Most of the time, projects that I manage are already pre-scoped by our sales team, meaning that the client already knows their general campaign path and which assets (website pages, infographics, eBooks, etc.) will be a part of that digital marketing campaign.

For other clients, I manage their website's continuous improvement efforts from a retainer of funds on a monthly basis, which could include search engine optimization (SEO) or working from their wish list of digital content features, improvements, or additions.

I’m introduced during the kick-off meeting with the client and serve as a one-stop-shop, setting expectations and timelines for the completion of content marketing and agile design projects.

Who is responsible for meeting those project timelines and expectations?

Kerri:

Both our internal production team and our clients. I first check on our team members’ availability and consult their schedules. I may ask them something like, “Hey, what do you think is a reasonable launch date for this website?” Then, we need to communicate that timeline to the client for their approval.

Included in those project milestones are specific junctures to gather feedback from the client, collecting their team’s proposed copy edits or design suggestions. The client plays an important role in ensuring our internal team meets its deadlines by sticking to their feedback turnaround time.

TSL specializes in helping companies create content that is optimized to attract target personas.

I think the key to success for any marketing engagement is for the client and TSL's production team to have an understanding of the entire scope of the marketing campaign and its timeline.

What are the campaign management skills required to launch a successful B2B marketing campaign?

1. Organization: This includes keeping track of what’s been done and what still needs to be done and the owners for each action item.
2. Communication: Communication is key for the integrity of the project, whether that be project updates, expectation setting, or gathering feedback.
3. Resourcefulness: Knowing when to tap your internal SMEs and utilize their expertise keeps the progress moving forward for the entire project. I regularly solicit ideas and feedback from our internal team members, such as the SEO department or our LinkedIn ad gurus, while working on a campaign.

How do you convey to our clients what benefits they will reap from a particular campaign?

Kerri:

TSL Marketing prioritizes understanding what the client is trying to achieve so we can align our products accordingly to secure that end goal. I explain to our clients how each asset plays off the other to achieve the desired lead generation and ROI.

It’s important to have an over-arching understanding of digital marketing efforts and how they work together. There are many pieces of the puzzle interconnected and working off each other.

Describe the importance of experimenting with ad strategies and developing fresh ideas.

Kerri:

I think the beauty of marketing is A/B testing and trying different variations. The goal should be to constantly evolve, not staying static. I regularly work with our strategists to test different landing page variations, as well as circling up with our responder follow-up teams to see exactly what type of audience is filling out the form, for example, to view an infographic: Are these qualified leads or college students doing research for a term paper?

As a project manager, you must be agile enough to change what’s not working and do research on what you can improve.

Let TSL help you keep your digital marketing campaigns on track. Contact us today!