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Business Tips & How To's
WHAT’S UNIQUE ABOUT A MARKETING MANAGER’S ROLE IN A SMALL BUSINESS?

In large organisations one is likely to find a plethora of people dedicated to various marketing roles, such as a Market Research Director, Social Media Manager, Content Strategist, Marketing Analyst and so on.


In a small business however, as Marketing Manager, you might find yourself having to don several of these hats simultaneously, while also working in tandem with your Sales team.


The great part about this is that your job is NEVER ‘boring’; there’s always something new to learn and experiment with and you begin to see the marketing function from a more holistic angle, as well as understand the intricacies of each function – something that’s good for you, as well as for the business.





As interesting as the role is, it requires you to:

1. Be very good at planning ahead.

2. Focus not only on the marketing strategy, but the actual management, execution and measurement of it as well.

3. Continuously coordinate with a variety of people both internally, as well as outside the company.

4. Be on top of a lot of schedules, metrics and timelines ALL the time.



USING TECHNOLOGY TO SIMPLIFY YOUR ROLE

So what do you do when you have all these wheels spinning at the same time, each with their own momentum, while you are required to steer your marketing plan through the uncharted waters that are a startup’s market?





You employ the assistance of smart productivity tools and for me this tool is the G Suite by Google – one of the most user friendly productivity and collaboration products out there – perfect for any job that requires teamwork.


Now, many (or most) of you probably already use, or at least know about, G Suite; it is vastly popular. This article is intended for those of you who don’t use it yet.
I’d like to specifically share my experience with how it has helped me in my role as the marketing manager of a small sized startup.


I’m not here to tell you about the features and benefits of the G Suite – that’s been done many times over, which a simple Google search will reveal to you. I’m here to tell you about how it can help you, specifically, if you are the Marketing Manager, CMO or Marketing Director of a small startup. Maybe as the owner of the startup you are the CMO, Sales Executive and Social Media Manager all rolled into one! If so, you are just the kind of audience this article seeks.



WHAT’S IN G SUITE?



G Suite consists of several tools such as Gmail, Calendar, Google+ and Hangouts for communication and Drive for cloud storage.


Docs is a word processor, Sheets is a spreadsheet, Slides is a presentation programme, Forms is for surveys and questionnaires and Sites is a wiki and web page creation tool.


Granted, you may not use all that the G Suite has to offer (and there are a few more tools that I haven’t even mentioned) but there are some tools that can really help simplify your everyday work life.



THE VALUE THAT G SUITE BRINGS WHEN JUGGLING SEVERAL ROLES



G Suite allows you to:


Collaborate Easily

Internally, I do a lot of work with our Graphic Designer and 3D Visualiser to create content, and to showcase our work. With our Sales team I need to create or edit marketing material like ppt sales presentations, vet emails etc. Externally, I work closely with our Web Developers to regularly update our dynamic website to showcase our latest work. This means a LOT of files need to go back and forth! I simply create a folder for a particular task on G Suite’s Drive and share it with all the people who are party to the project – they can upload their bit when it’s ready.

With the Comments function one can add a comment / suggestion and assign a person to resolve it. The person automatically receives an update that lets them know they have something pending.


Share And Locate Files Effortlessly

Like me, I’m sure you’ve often been stuck sifting through a bizillion emails to find a file someone sent you a month ago. With G Suite, files can easily be shared on the Drive, and the person creating the file or folder can also set editing rights – so you can allow others to either edit or just view the files.

It saves a LOT of time as everyone knows exactly where to find something when they need it. Your Sales Manager urgently needs to show a client he’s with a brochure or a cost benefit analysis? All he needs is the online link to the Drive where it’s stored!

The cloud storage allows you to also easily upload large sized files, without clogging up someone’s inbox – great for sending those high resolution print files!


Create, Monitor and Share Schedules

If you’re managing the marketing of more than one brand within your company it means you need to be on top of a lot of schedules – content calendars, advertising campaigns, sales targets etc. I find Sheets very useful for this. While some people prefer preset schedule management software, I like the flexibility Sheets offers to customise a schedule exactly the way you want it – so you can develop and modify a system to create one that works best for you and for the task at hand.

Again, with functions like different levels of authorisation, role assignment and all the other features a spreadsheet offers, down to the simple things like colour coding options, it helps you stay on track and know where you’re at, at a glance.


Work On-The-Go

I travel a lot and thus a fair bit of my work needs to get done when I’m on the move. I use the G Suite app, which means I can work on a lot of things from my phone. This saves me time and I don’t necessarily need to have my laptop in front of me all the time.


Make Reporting A Breeze

It’s easy for top management, such as my Board of Directors to always knows where we’re at on a particular project, without necessarily having to get in touch with me, as long as they have access to the reports via the Drive, which I can update at any time to let them know where we’re at.



NOT SURE ABOUT MAKING THE SWITCH?

In case you’re thinking – but I’m so used to working on Word, Excel and PowerPoint, how will I make the switch? – that was my thought exactly when I was first introduced to G Suite.

But guess what, you CAN upload compatible files like Word and Excel onto the Drive and then edit and share them from there! The operational features are also very similar to what you’re familiar with in Word, Excel and PowerPoint. So the transition really is a breeze – so let that not be factor that stops you from trying it out.



G SUITE – HELPING YOU DO MORE

I haven’t managed to list out all the plus points I’ve come across while using G Suite and I know the functions that I use of G Suite are not even the tip of the iceberg! I’ve only scratched the surface – there’s so much more it has to offer; I learn something new everyday about how it can enhance my productivity at work.





But I’ve truly come to look at it as my online buddy that helps me get things done quickly and easily. Most importantly, it helps me keep those clubs (or knives, balls or fire torches – depending on how you view your work!) in the air all the time, and prevents them from coming crashing down around me.


If you’re finding managing more than one role at work overwhelming, try the Google Suite – it could be the answer you’ve been looking for.




Gitanjali Singh Cherian
Marketing Manager




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