Marketing Asset Management: Turn Marketing Assets into Powerful Business Tools

 

Source: Brafton

By Joe Weller

This article offers the most useful tips, templates, and worksheets to help you understand the business value of marketing asset management.

Included on this page, you'll find a marketing asset audit template, a marketing asset management template, and marketing asset management tool comparison, and many more helpful resources.

What Are Marketing Assets?

Marketing assets include anything used by an organization to promote its products, services, or brand. Emails, brochures, datasheets, presentations, sales letters, blog articles, website content, videos, and images are some of the most popular assets available to external customers. 

The company’s marketing strategy determines the type of assets that are most valuable to its audience. Inbound marketing focuses on the most modern buyer — one who researches the product before contacting the company. Inbound marketing activities are designed to attract prospects that are in the market for the product or service you offer. 

For example, a blog article that includes tips and best practices on organizing closets will attract people who are likely in the process of decluttering and organizing their homes. If your specialty is building custom closets, this thought leadership blog will help you attract prospects and communicate to the buyer that you are an expert in this industry. On the other hand, outbound marketing markets to people regardless of whether they are looking for a product or service that you offer. Television commercials, online ads, and billboards are some outbound marketing tactics. 

Some marketing assets are used only for the internal purpose of motivating and empowering employees to promote the company and product to customers. For example, an internal brand guide might advise employees on the consistent use of logos, colors, fonts, image style, and language, while a product messaging presentation might train the sales team on product messaging. Below is a list of internal and external marketing assets:

Internal:

• Training materials
• Brand guide
• Cheat sheets
• Emails
• Messaging matrix
• Competitive sell sheets

External:

• Emails
• Brochures/datasheets
• Whitepapers/ebooks
• Case studies
• Blog articles
• Logos
• Videos
• Images
• Audio podcasts
• Website content
• Infographics
• Social media
• Advertisements
• Annual report
• Business cards
• Trade show/event/billboard displays
• Commercials

Commonly stored in a repository for easy access and usage, marketing assets move through a lifecycle, from creation to the point at which they are outdated and no longer useful. Below is an example of the marketing asset management lifecycle.

What Is Marketing Asset Management?

Marketing asset management is the administration of marketing assets in a central location for easy distribution and usage.

Marketing asset management is related to enterprise content management, digital asset management, brand management, and media asset management, but is not to be confused with asset management marketing, which is the marketing of investment assets. Although the terms are similar, they mean vastly different things.

Why Is Marketing Asset Management Important?

The marketing department is responsible for contributing to a business’s bottom line. One of the department’s responsibilities is to produce critical business assets that support global campaigns and empower staff to promote and sell products or services. However, tracking and monitoring all these materials can quickly become overwhelming. Eventually, after your company has developed numerous assets, it becomes impossible to remember every asset you’ve created. It also becomes too time consuming to find assets and too complicated to collaborate without a central repository. 

Imagine a company that distributes a brochure to its entire sales team via email. The team uses the brochure to attract prospects and sell the product. But, what happens when that brochure needs to be updated? Who has the original design? Who is using the brochure and requires the updated version? Decentralized and fragmented marketing asset management degrades the ability to maintain brand consistency and accurate information. Moreover, team members end up wasting time searching for information and performing redundant work to recreate assets.

Globally distributed marketing organizations that interact with print providers, agencies, cross-functional team members, partners, vendors, franchisees, IT staff, HR staff, branch managers, and contractors require a more robust management of marketing assets.

“Managing marketing assets typically doesn’t seem important until people start to have trouble finding previously created resources,” says Jennifer Holtvluwer, Senior Director of Marketing and Inside Sales at Alcatel-Lucent Enterprises. “Employees spend countless hours searching for content and are sometimes forced to reinvent the wheel. This frustration is usually the catalyst for a structured marketing asset management solution. I strongly urge all organizations to develop a strategy to manage marketing assets before those assets become unruly. With a well-developed strategy, most companies will net an almost immediate ROI.”

The Benefits of Marketing Asset Management

Fast-changing market demands and competitive conditions put pressure on marketing teams to respond more quickly and with more agility. Marketing asset management helps streamline the tracking and monitoring of essential business materials. The ability to digitally control marketing assets ensures that all assets are accessible, easy to find and share, brand compliant, and available for global campaigns.

The most significant benefit of marketing asset management is quick, uncomplicated accessibility. What good is an asset if no one can find it? If you have ever dealt with the annoyance of trying to find a critical campaign or program asset, you know the frustration and loss of productivity all too well.

Time is money, and marketing asset management provides a fast return on investment. Proper management of your marketing assets means no more digging through file folders, emailing the entire team, or logging into an old server to perform a search.

With the ability to locate a branded, current asset, you’ll reap the following benefits:

1. Increase business performance and revenue growth.
2. Improve communication, productivity, creativity, and collaboration.
3. Create autonomy for local marketers, partners, sales, resellers, and third parties.
4. Reduce time searching for assets.
5. Reduce redundant recreation work.
6. Maintain brand consistency.
7. Repurpose assets for improved ROI.

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How to Organize Marketing Assets So They Are Easy to Find

The number one goal of organizing marketing assets is to get them all in one centralized repository or marketing asset library. Ideally, you’ll have an online system that supports a variety of file types and is easy for users to access from any location. Below are tips for organizing marketing assets, so they are simple for any user to locate:

1. Standardize file names and include a date and version.
2. Implement a marketing asset repository or marketing asset management system.
3. Categorize assets. 
4. Apply a status to each asset, such as current, needs update, or archive.
5. Archive outdated assets.

Simply starting with standard file naming conventions can help you get more organized. For example, you could name your files according to asset type, asset name, and creation date, respectively so that the result would look something like this: blog_5tipsforbettermarketing_12172019.docx.

Tips and Best Practices for Marketing Asset Managers

An abundance of marketing assets can quickly make the most seasoned digital marketing asset manager or content manager’s head spin. Below are some tips to help you take control of marketing assets:  

Audit All Marketing Assets: An examination will help paint a clear picture of the assets you have on hand. Assign each asset a status of current, outdated, or requires update. 

Gather Marketing Asset Management System Requirements: Identify the features and functionality that are essential for managing marketing assets. Look at your current system and establish a list of what works for your business, what is unnecessary, and what is missing. For example, do you need asset usage reports and sharing through email? 

Decide on the Solution Delivery Model: Cloud, hybrid, or on-premises options are available based on budget needs and your organization’s infrastructure.

Provide Training and Guidance: Establish usage guidelines that span the creation of content, version control, and proper use of assets. These guidelines include how to identify relevant assets and share them securely. Consider tagging assets as approved to ensure they are fully compliant with business requirements.

Monitor Usage: Use integrated reporting and monitoring tools to understand asset usage and interactions.

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This marketing asset audit template will help you audit your existing marketing assets. List all your assets, assign each one a status, link to its current location, and include notes. Use this spreadsheet not only to gain visibility into what you have, but also to identify gaps and spot opportunities for new, valuable assets.

Marketing Asset Management Technology and Tools

The audit information is beneficial for both streamlining the organization of assets and finding a suitable system. For example, have you ever worked in a company that organizes its files, but has an unclear file directory structure? Where would you look if you needed an advertisement that was part of a marketing campaign? It could be in the images folder, marketing assets folder, or campaign assets folder. 

A marketing asset management tool will help you in all the areas of managing marketing assets that can be challenging — organization, naming conventions, searching, sharing, and much more. Let’s look at some of the most popular marketing asset management solutions on the market:

Company	Category	Founded	Target Audience	Customers
Bynder	Digital asset management	2013	Brand managers, marketers, and creatives	Puma, Icelandair, Five Guys
Canto	Digital asset management	1990	Marketing teams	NASA, Harvard University, United Airlines
HubSpot	Content management	2005	Professional marketers	Atlassian, DoorDash, VMware
MarcomCentral	Marketing asset management	2000	Modern marketers	Subway, Chevron, Volvo
Widen	Digital asset management	1948	Marketing, sales, and technical teams	Yeti, Brooks, Indiana University
Smartsheet	Work management and automation	2006	Managers, teams, information workers	Office Depot, PayPal, Cisco

Marketing Asset Management Solution Features and Infrastructure

Deciding which solution is the best fit for your organization depends on your business model, infrastructure, and business requirements. A large enterprise may find a digital asset management solution that extends beyond marketing to provide the most ROI, whereas a small firm may only need basic functionality that supports the management of marketing assets and is easy to implement. As you evaluate solutions, consider the following features:

• File Management: Use a central collection hub that stores a variety of file types, enabling easy search, share, distribution, and collaboration.
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• Workflow Automation: Streamline the creation, proofing, and approval of assets.
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• Configuration: Possess the flexibility to use predefined templates and personalize system configurations in order to meet your unique business requirements.  
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• Security: Ensure secure authentication with the ability to designate user roles with predefined permissions.
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• Brand Management: Brand management is a byproduct of marketing asset management. The ability to manage assets in a single repository provides control over brand consistency.
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• Publishing: Publishing gives you the ability to deliver assets across platforms, including social media, websites, and email.
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• Integrations: Integrate with creative tools, social media solutions, email systems, and other software solutions.
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• Metadata: Title, category, creation date, keywords, and author are a few examples of metadata that make searching for assets much more efficient.
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• Reporting and Analytics: Usage measurements, printing trends, and other shared data provide insight that is useful for continual improvement.
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• Mobility: This feature allows on-the-road workers to access, create, edit/customize, and share assets via a mobile device.

Do You Need a Marketing Asset Management System?

We have looked at the benefits of marketing asset management, so we know why it is essential. We have also included a list of some of the most popular marketing asset management products, but you may still be on the fence about whether this kind of management is right for you. Use this “Do I Need a Marketing Asset Management System?” template to help determine if you need marketing asset management.

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Principles of Marketing. Unit 1 Setting the Stage. Chapter 1 Marketing and Customer Value. 1.5 Determining Consumer Needs and Wants

 

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

• 1 Explain how an organization identifies consumer needs and wants.
• 2 Describe the process through which an organization satisfies consumer needs and wants.

Identifying Consumer Needs and Wants

We’ve repeatedly mentioned satisfying customer needs. But understanding those needs and/or wants isn’t always as simple as it sounds. For example, some customers have needs of which they’re not fully aware; others can’t articulate their needs, or the words require some degree of interpretation. Consider this: what does it mean when a customer asks for a “restful” hotel, an “attractive” bathing suit, or a “powerful” lawn mower?

Let’s consider an example to illustrate this concept. A customer comes into your car dealership and indicates that she wants to purchase an inexpensive hybrid vehicle. That description is broad and subject to interpretation, so it’s essential that the marketer probe further, because there are really five types of customers needs38

• Stated Needs. Stated needs are those that are clearly specified by the customer. It’s what the customer requests. For example, you go into a big box store such as Best Buy and tell the sales associate that you “need a new phone.”
• Real Needs. Real needs are one level above stated needs; they are more specific and define the parameters that are immediate to defining and fulfilling the need. In other words, real needs are what the stated needs actually mean. What are our phone buyer’s real needs? Are they looking for a phone with long battery life, a high-resolution camera, or a lot of internal memory?
• Unstated Needs. Unstated needs are what the customer also expects but doesn’t ask for. Once again, using our phone example, the consumer may expect but not express the desire for good service from the carrier and/or the big box store.
• Delight Needs. Delight needs are those that provide the “wow” factor. These needs, like unstated needs, can make some products more desirable than others if they meet those needs. Going back to our phone example, delight needs can be something like a phone case or other promotional gift.
• Secret Needs. Secret needs are those that a customer may not state or realize but can be one of the main reasons for choosing a particular product to fulfill the basic stated need. Do customers want a new cell phone as a status symbol but won’t admit that status is important to them?

The bottom line is that responding only to a customer’s stated need may not satisfy the customer. The marketer needs to understand what the customer really wants.

Satisfying Consumer Needs and Wants

You may be asking yourself at this point, “Does marketing satisfy needs, or does it create needs?” Some people feel that marketing creates needs and pressures consumers into buying unneeded products or services. However, marketing does not create needs; rather, it opens consumers’ eyes to their wants, and it’s up to marketers to understand those wants in order to guide consumers on the path to purchasing their products or services.39 Marketing creates value, and value speaks to the satisfaction of customer needs and the benefits customers receive from the product. It’s the customer, however, who ultimately determines how well the product fulfills their needs and how much value the product creates.

The challenge for the marketing team is to succinctly and compellingly articulate a value proposition that speaks directly to the benefits your product or service delivers.

The Value Proposition

A value proposition identifies the quantifiable benefits that customers can expect when they choose to purchase your company’s product or service. A value proposition is, in effect, a promise from the company to the customer, and it can serve as a competitive differentiator to motivate customers to purchase your company’s products or services. In other words, your value proposition should bring together in a brief, concise statement what your customer wants and/or needs and how your product or service will meet those wants and needs better than your competitors.40

That’s a bit abstract, so we thought we’d include a few examples of some good value propositions:

• Bill Ragan Roofing: “Let us take the stress of roof repairs or a roof replacement off your shoulders.”41
• Applied Educational Systems (AES): “Spend your time connecting with students, not planning and grading”42
• DuckDuckGo: “Tired of being tracked online? We can help.”43
• HelloFresh: “Take the stress out of mealtime.”44

The Exchange Process

Marketing facilitates what is known as the exchange process—the act of obtaining a desired product or service from an individual or business by providing in return something of value, as illustrated in Figure 1.10.

Figure 1.10 The Exchange Process (attribution: Copyright Rice University, OpenStax, under CC BY 4.0 license)

The buyer (or customer) initiates the exchange process. The buyer (who has a want or need) is the individual or business who is willing to pay money or provide other personal resources to satisfy this need or want. Let’s simplify that definition with an example. When lunchtime rolls around and you’re on campus or at your job, you’re hungry; you have a need for food and drink. You go to the dining hall or a nearby restaurant to order lunch, and you’re willing to pay money in exchange for your meal. Simple, right?

Keep in mind here, however, that there is a difference between a customer and a consumer. The customer is the individual or business that purchases the product or service. The consumer is the user of the product or service. To put this concept in simple terms, if a grandmother buys a toy for her grandson, she is the customer; her grandson (who will use the product) is the consumer. In the case of going out for lunch, you’re both the customer and the consumer.

The desired object is the product or service itself. It may be a physical good, service, or experience that consumers expect will satisfy their wants and/or needs. Let’s go back to our lunch example. The desired object is the meal. The seller is the individual or organization that supplies the need-satisfying product, service, or experience. Once again, in the lunch example, the seller would be the dining hall or the restaurant.

Inherent in the exchange process is what’s known as value—the benefit to the customer or consumer relative to the cost in the exchange. In other words, value is the monetary worth of the benefits the customer receives in exchange for the product or service. Let’s go back to our backpack example a few sections ago. You may really want that backpack because it keeps your “stuff” organized and it’s lightweight (the benefits), but if the cost is too high, either in terms of the monetary cost or the time you’d have to spend going to the store to buy it, that backpack won’t have value for you. No sale!

Knowledge Check

It’s time to check your knowledge on the concepts presented in this section. Refer to the Answer Key at the end of the book for feedback.

1.

________ needs are those that provide the “wow” factor in a customer’s purchase.

1. Stated
2. Real
3. Unstated
4. Delight

2.

In the exchange process, the ________ is the individual who purchases the product or service, and the ________ is the individual who actually uses the product or service.

1. buyer; seller
2. buyer; customer
3. customer; consumer
4. consumer, customer

3.

Which of the following terms refers to the promised value of a product or service?

1. Valuation
2. Value proposal
3. Value assessment
4. Value proposition

4.

________ is/are the benefit(s) to the customer or consumer relative to the cost of the product or service.

1. Value
2. The exchange process
3. Stated needs
4. Expectations

5.

Which of the following best describes a satisfactory exchange process?

1. One that allows the seller to incur the highest profit possible
2. One that allows the buyer to pay the lowest price possible
3. One that fairly addresses the needs of both the seller and buyer
4. One that is most convenient without regard for either the seller or buyer

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