The Buyer’s Guide
To Marketing Resource Management (MRM) Systems

Discover the Most Important Things to Look for When Choosing a Marketing Portal Technology Partner

CONTENTS

Introduction
Assessing Your Needs – Part 1
Assessing Your Needs – Part 2
Your Search:
What to Look for in a Solution – Part 1
Your Search:
What to Look for in a Solution – Part 2
Your Search:
What to Look for in a Solution – Part 3
Finding the Right Fit
Why Vya
After You’ve Done Your Homework
Vendor Comparison Worksheet
About Vya

Your Search: What to Look for in a Solution Part 2

2. USABILITY

Keep your users’ needs top of mind throughout the process. If the system makes life easier for your users, they are more likely to accept and adopt it, which is essential for you to realize the system’s potential.

With a vendor partner shouldering the intricacies of configuration and ongoing management, you position your organization to derive maximum value and competitive advantage from your technology investment – earning big wins for both you and your company.

Questions to Ask
The system and technology partner you choose should help you and your team work smarter, not harder.
□ Does the system help users save time (minimal clicks/steps)?
□ Is navigation easy to follow (breadcrumbs, easy to understand icons)?
□ Can the system accommodate single sign-on for multi-location, multi-territory, multi-brand management?
□ What complimentary training and support for software updates is available?
□ If ongoing training is not complimentary, what is the cost?

A good technology partner will be responsive to your User Experience (UX) feedback.
□ What development resources does the vendor have?
□ Who controls the product roadmap and how frequently are new features and system updates released?
□ Does the vendor proactively address UX issues and provide a channel for user feedback?

Usability Features to Look For

FEATURE
Single sign-on – Enables your marketing portal to be configured so that users can link to it from your company’s intranet.
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT
SSO provides a better user experience by eliminating the need for users to remember multiple logins for multiple systems.
Branded interface – Skin your marketing portal interface with your logo and brand colors.
A branded interface for your marketing portal puts users in your branded environment, which reinforces your brand and strengthens the connection with your organization.
Simplified multi-brand, multi-location management – Provides corporate administrators and end users the ability to manage multiple brands in one place.
Multi-brand, multi-location marketing asset management in one place saves time, reduces confusion and facilitates opportunities for cross-selling. End users can sign into a single account to access and customize resources for all of their brands and/or locations or territories.
Auto-populated customization – Uses location profile information to efficiently produce corporate approved, locally relevant marketing materials.
A system that automatically populates customized fields with the end user’s profile information (e.g., location address, hours of operation, menu or product pricing) saves time for the end user and results in fewer errors that could be costly. In addition, it ensures data for fields that change frequently and need centralized control, like interest rates, etc., can be set globally.
Minimized clicks – Eliminates unnecessary steps.
A good marketing resource management system is designed to help users save time. Look for a platform developed by a vendor that understands marketing processes, industry requirements and user behavior.
Intuitive – A user experience that makes it easier to use the system.
Make sure the system you choose is intuitive for your users. Navigation should be easy to follow. Breadcrumbs and understandable icons should help guide your users through each step of a process.
Search and filter capabilities – Help users quickly find the assets they need.
Look for a marketing resource management solution that offers control over searches within the system to ensure users can quickly find the assets they need without having to wade through pages of extraneous results. The system should be able to control search terms to provide more targeted results and categorize filters to enable users to refine searches.
Shipping options – Choices should encompass various carriers, costs and timeliness.
Once a marketing item is selected, customized and approved, your system should allow users to select from a variety of shipping options to determine the most cost-effective or time-sensitive method for their needs. Choose a system that can look up multiple carriers and estimate the cost of what is being shipped to the user’s location, while also offering expedited shipping options for each shipper.
Free PDF downloads – An approved digital file of a marketing asset that can be produced/printed locally by an end user.
A free PDF download of a marketing asset enables an end user to print locally for an immediate or urgent need. Some marketing systems charge for PDF downloads, so keep an eye out for this hidden cost when evaluating marketing resource management vendors.
Customer support – Encompasses support channels, materials, and team.
A vital aspect of a good user experience is having access to exceptional support. Make sure the vendor you choose offers multiple channels of support, including phone, email and chat. They should also provide a good knowledge base that can answer many of your users’ most common and pertinent questions. Also, support materials should be specific to your organization (not generic or branded by the system vendor). These materials should include screen shots from your system, providing greater clarity for your users. And ensure support materials are relevant without extraneous information that makes the support center more difficult to navigate. Lastly, your marketing portal system vendor should provide an account team that works closely with your organization to ensure systems are configured and managed effectively.
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