Details. Deadlines. Multi-disciplined teams. Clients. Suppliers. Multiple projects.

The life of any marketer.

On top of that, technology, social media, marketing tactics – our world is constantly changing. That means that us marketing professionals need to be always on top of our game. It’s not enough to just know the basics; marketing has evolved into a field where you must stay up to date with changes in technology, consumer behaviors, and marketing trends.

So how do you stay organized and on top of everything? I recently had a conversation with a colleague as they wanted to know my “system” of doing things. First off, if it’s in the computer (and phone), I don’t have to remember anything. Let technology work for you.

During our conversation a couple basic things came up

• Organize your project folders and email folders in a similar way
• A creative brief will help on any project, even a basic one
• Prioritization – keep track of deadlines
• Use a project management tool (like monday.com) to keep everything in one place

My approach to projects

• Gather information
• Organize information into an outline format
• Do you need other information from others? Reach out to them to get things in motion
• Go back to your outline and start filling in the blanks with content, messaging, visuals, etc.

As a marketer of 20+ years, always be proactive. Get things started by taking the initiative. Come to your teammates or leadership with solutions and ideas.

The marketing world is constantly changing, and it can be hard to stay on top of everything. The more organized you are, the better chance you have at staying ahead in a fast-paced industry that’s always evolving.

As a recap:

• Organize your project folders and email folders in a similar way so that when something needs to get done for one marketing initiative, there won’t be any confusion about where it goes or if its been completed yet.
• Get creative briefs created for all marketing initiatives so you’re clear on what is needed and what needs to be done. This will help save valuable time which means less stress!
• Hit your deadlines and keep track of all marketing deliverables. Use a project management tool (like monday.com) to help with this.

I hope these tips are helpful and let me know if you have any questions on how I go about things.

Just a quick outline of some key elements

Brand

• Nail down templates for everything that coordinate with the new website coming
• Landing pages, letterhead, PowerPoint presentations, forms, etc. – that way you don’t need to think about that

Prioritization

• Hard deadline vs soft deadline
• What will you be waiting on from others? Get them going as soon as you can

Notes

• Bullets instead of narrative – quick and to the point (like this outline)

Organization

• Naming & file structure consistency (I use Year/Month/Day – Project Name, for example “211201 – Project Name”
• Monday.com (or something digital) as a project management tool
• Apple Notes or a “quick” summary of projects/dates/status

Projects – Start with a Creative Brief

• Who
• What
• Where
• When
• Why
• How

Be proactive as opposed to reactive… get things done and show concepts, drafts and bring ideas.

Metrics… tie everything to something you can measure. Did it work and to what degree? Start looking at sales data overlayed with what marketing is doing and look for trends and correlations.