Let’s start off with a quiz. Is this you? Check all that apply.
- You have an extensive collection of marketing collateral (brochures, product sheets, or spec sheets) cluttering your office.
- You manage a budget for sales materials for multiple field reps, retail locations, departments, or regions.
- You provide marketing collateral and sell your products through dealers or resellers.
- Your business has numerous locations across different geographies (franchise, retail, restaurant, offices, etc.).
- You process and track multiple orders for marketing collateral on a daily basis.
- You struggle to ensure your team has the most current sales materials.
- Your company produces updated POP or sales campaign materials for multiple locations regularly.
If you answered YES for any of these questions, you may need a marketing asset management portal (MAMP). In this post, we will describe what a MAMP is and does and how it can make your daily workload easier. Let’s get started with a detailed description of a MAMP, including the features and benefits it provides.
What is a Marketing Asset Management Portal (MAMP)?
A MAMP is a software solution that centralizes, organizes, and streamlines the management of marketing assets and resources. These assets can include digital files and physical examples of branding materials, marketing and sales collateral, images, videos, internal documents, and more. Collateral can consist of signage, sales sheets, brochures, promotional materials, event displays and materials, direct mail elements, digital files for digital channels, and more.
What Can I Do With a MAMP?
At the core, a MAMP should make it easier for business leaders to provide branded marketing and sales materials to relevant internal and external users that are updated, high-quality, and consistent with the brand. Here are the primary features that make that possible:
Asset Organization
A MAMP provides a centralized repository for all sales and marketing assets, making storing, categorizing, updating, and finding files easy. The best MAMP can store and organize a wide range of marketing assets in various forms including print-on-demand, pre-printed collateral, branded merchandise inventory, digital assets and trade show materials. This includes both modifiable and non-modifiable items that can be categorized for easy search and use.
Access Control
The best MAMP allows you to control who has access to particular assets, ensuring brand consistency and compliance. There is role-based access control to manage who can view, edit, or download specific elements.
Version Control
A MAMP labels and tracks every version of your sales and marketing materials to ensure that the latest and approved versions are always used. It should be a simple process to update and change versions for asset management so that end users understand and access the correct one every time.
User-Friendly Interface
An intuitive and easy-to-use dashboard and navigation are critical to the success of a MAMP. Users must be able to conduct a quick and efficient filter and search to find and retrieve assets. Support for mobile devices to access and manage assets on the go is also critical.
Asset Distribution
One of the most critical features of a MAMP is the ability to share and distribute internal and external assets. This function should distribute print-on-demand, pre-printed materials, inventory items and digital assets of all sizes and to all destinations. Distribution could include picking, packing, and shipping all over the world.
Customization
A good MAMP allows end users to customize sales and marketing materials while adhering to brand guidelines. It includes easy-to-use tools and templates for creating localized branded content.
Collaborative Workflows
A MAMP often includes digital tools for collaborative work and approval workflows. This feature streamlines the creation, design, review, and printing process of new sales and marketing materials and assets.
Analytics
A MAMP should offer robust analytics and reporting features to track asset usage and performance. Reporting capabilities should assess the effectiveness of each asset and track budget use and allowance.
Integration
A MAMP must integrate with other marketing and design tools, content management systems, or spend management platforms to enhance overall business operations and streamline workflows.
Other Elements to Consider
We've covered what you can do with a MAMP daily. Now, let’s discuss some of the features you should consider that will benefit your overall business and make using a MAMP a game-changer for your organization.
Physical Inventory and Distribution
Some MAMP vendors also provide a warehousing location to store physical materials, including signage, event equipment and materials, printed sales and marketing materials, and more. These repositories may also provide picking, packing, and shipping solutions.
Security and Compliance
Because MAMPs deal with confidential and proprietary brand information, a MAMP should include strong data security measures, including encryption and user authentication. It also should comply with all relevant data privacy regulations.
Scalability
Look for a MAMP that will accommodate your organization's planned and unexpected growth patterns and the corresponding increase in your need for sales and marketing assets.
Vendor Reputation
Your MAMP provider should be a business partner, not just a vendor. Make sure to evaluate each vendor's history, reliability, and commitment to updates and improvements. Choose the one that will be invested in your overall business success.
Data Backup and Recovery
A MAMP will store and maintain crucial business data. Insist on strong data backup and recovery mechanisms in case of accidental deletions or system failures.
Data Ownership
It’s important to clarify data ownership and data portability policies for a MAMP. Complete security and flexibility empower you to make strategic decisions and maintain control over your data, essential for effective marketing and brand management.
In summary, a MAMP is a valuable tool to efficiently manage your sales and marketing assets, ensure brand consistency, and streamline the creative and distribution processes to free up your team for other critical functions. To further demonstrate this point, let's examine some specific benefits a MAMP can provide to individual teams.
Benefits For Field Associates
If your team consists of multiple field sales reps or marketing associates at retail locations, departments, or regions all over the globe, a MAMP can provide benefits like these to them and you.
- Immediate online access to all available marketing materials
- The ability to order new, updated, custom, seasonal, and evergreen materials in one place.
- The ability to view, customize and order materials from any physical location and any device.
- Easily and quickly order what is needed when it is needed without having to go through other departments or workflows.
- Feeling confident that the materials ordered are current and approved to use.
- Knowing that materials can be customized and still stay on brand.
Benefits For Marketing Leaders
If you or your team create and provide marketing and sales collateral for your own use and/or for localized sales reps, dealers, or resellers, here are the benefits of implementing a MAMP:
- Ensures that all sales and marketing materials in the field are current and on brand.
- Easy to update and make available current materials and/or quickly deploy new campaigns.
- Provide controlled access and approvals for team members and field associates.
- Eliminate bottlenecks by allowing associates to create and order branded materials.
- Certain MAMP vendors will maintain an inventory of physical marketing materials, including promo items, sales kits, and trade show hardware.
- Budget management becomes more manageable with a real-time view of orders and order history.
Benefits For Accounting Leaders
If you are in finance, a MAMP can provide several benefits that will simplify the accounting and budgeting functions for you and your department heads. They are:
- Volume pricing for printed sales and marketing materials from the start
- Centralized purchasing and automatic product-based approval system
- Robust reporting and budget management tools system-wide and by department, region, and more.
- Reduced or eliminated expensive print storage and warehousing
- Reduced or eliminated use of costly obsolete sales and marketing materials
- Easy and automatic integration/management with third-party vendors and spend management platforms
Phase 3’s Media:Link
We would be remiss if we didn’t mention that Phase 3 has its own proprietary and customizable MAMP, called Media:Link. Media:Link provides a strategic, cost-effective system that simplifies the ordering and fulfillment process for all sales and marketing materials, both digital and physical. Here are some of the features and benefits you will find when using it:
- Branded, simple user interface across all devices available 24/7
- Customized landing pages and category menu for each end user by department/region/group
- Permission-based access (username and password)
- User account profile management
- In-site access to order histories
- Homepage portal app available (news, messages, links, etc.)
- Integration with your website, intranet or spend management system
- Integration with your third-party vendors
- Backend third-party vendor management control
- Comprehensive inventory management, including real-time inventory visibility and integration with the ordering system
- Print-on-demand order fulfillment, including daily picking, packing, and shipping
- Customized shopping carts (including tax calculation based on shipping destination)
- Dedicated client service partner to support set-up and execution and as an extension of your marketing team.
A robust MAMP like Media:Link serves as a cornerstone for efficient, streamlined, and organized sales and marketing operations. Its benefits and features empower business leaders to centralize, secure, and maximize the value of all company assets. From ensuring brand consistency and compliance to boosting productivity, a strong MAMP simplifies asset management, accelerates campaign execution, and enhances collaboration. By fostering data ownership, customization, and data-driven decision-making, a MAMP can safeguard your assets and propel your sales and marketing strategies to new heights.
For more information on Media:Link or how Phase 3 can enhance your marketing strategies, contact us today.