What a freelance marketing project manager can do

By Carsten Bjerregaard, Marketingcapacity.dk (Link to the article. Copying/publishing without agreement is not allowed) 

Behind every successful launch or campaign is a skilled marketing project manager. The marketing project manager is the person who makes sure things happen. On time. Within budget. And in a way that benefits all parties. It's a role that doesn't always get the credit for success, but has often been a decisive factor. A good project manager is like a catalyst; they're essentially not part of the creative process, but without the catalyst, things would slow down or stall.

What is marketing project management?

Marketing project management is all about executing plans. So the project manager sets the goal, figures out how to achieve it - identifies any critical success factors - and follows up to make sure people are doing the right things.

In principle, it's simple. In practice, it requires the marketing project manager to have execution readiness encoded in their DNA.

SMART models

A good project manager starts with one thing. A goal. And a good project manager knows (perhaps instinctively) that a good goal is defined by the SMART model. It has to be:

• Specific (is it sales, awareness, number of participants, image?)
• Measurable (how exactly will we know when the goal is achieved?)
• Accepted (have those doing the work accepted that this is the goal?)
• Realistic (intelligent people cannot work wholeheartedly towards unrealistic goals)
• Time-bound (without a deadline, a goal is just a wish)

Once that's in place, the project manager can get started. And that means the project manager can launch their working methodology.

The universal project management methodology

• Planning the journey from now to the destination
• Project kick-off - everyone needs to know what the goal is, how we're going to get there - and they need to commit to their part of the project
• Launch the project - with milestones and problem solving along the way
• The project is delivered
• You follow up that it works and that the goal is achieved

Any project can be described and solved this way. And with good reason. Because if you don't have checkmarks at all points, things can easily go wrong. A good marketing project manager has this methodology down pat.

Intuition - often based on experience

The project manager is happy to work with:

• Status meetings - in plenary and with individual participants
• Milestones - where we should be at this point
• Lists - all project managers have lists. Either written down or in their head

But marketing project management really comes into its own when the project manager can anticipate potential problems. Almost like a mother or father to the project, the project manager has a sense that something is not running optimally:

• Is the copywriter so busy with something else at the moment that he can't deliver anything good?
• Has video production stalled?
• Are we looking for the right data in Google Adwords?
• Is the new concept strong enough?

Without being an expert in either field, an experienced marketing project manager can 'smell' when something might go wrong or has already gone wrong. Some say that good project managers can 'see around corners'. This attribute is so hard to define - but so worth it - that once you find a marketing project manager who can do this, it's worth its weight in gold.

Empowerment and authority

The next part of the project manager role is about the project manager daring to take responsibility. This is not necessarily easy because the marketing project manager may not have many 'stars on their shoulders' organizationally. There are people with bigger titles and bigger egos involved. But that doesn't stop the good project manager from following through. And getting his or her plans implemented.

Once the groundwork is done and everyone involved has committed in advance to delivering a defined piece of work at a given time, the project manager has the formalities in order. So any issues can be escalated to a higher level. But the experienced project manager rarely lets it get that far. Because they have certain personal qualities.

Empathy and sales talent

One of the most important personal qualities of a project manager is the ability to understand the parties involved. Being able to see situations from their side - and at the same time, being able to get the parties to see things from the other side - and thus make ends meet. Maybe the busy copywriter will realize that even though he has a lot on his plate right now, he should prioritize this particular project because there's a graphics department just waiting for his input. Or maybe you can get a video producer to understand that the agreed video may not be able to be shot at a planned location due to unexpected problems.

When we talk about marketing and sales, we're also talking about people with strong personalities and perhaps big egos. Project managers who can execute in this space have empathy combined with a strong will to get things done.

Anyone who has experienced the iron fist in a velvet glove of a good marketing project manager knows how important this skill is. The ability to create a team spirit where everyone knows it's a give-and-take game where you play each other well. To use a cliché.

Project management tools

Most project managers have their own toolbox. In addition to the personal tools mentioned above, these will typically be:

• Office suite (the project manager creates plans and budgets in Excell, helps make presentations look sharp in PowerPoint and writes in Word)
• Lists - which can be on paper, in Notes or anywhere else
• Outlook (the project manager is a whiz at creating groups, calling meetings, etc.)
• Zoom or Teams is a gift for the project manager. As a valuable addition to the phone and texting.
• Monday, Notion, Slack and other project management and innovation tools are being adopted in more and more places - to ensure transparency and agility across

Quite a few marketing project managers also develop into proficient users of various CMS and CRM systems, just as they can make a few corrections in InDesign.

What else is a marketing project manager called?

Because every marketing department is set up a little differently - and because roles tend to be defined by the people who hold them - the exact boundaries can vary. But marketing project managers are related to marketing coordinators, marketing assistants and the smaller siblings of marketing managers, marketing managers and brand managers.

How does the marketing project manager create value?

The marketing project manager creates value by:

• That projects are implemented so that goals are achieved
• Staying on budget and avoiding extra bills
• That marketing delivers materials in the quality you want
• People working on the project work as a team
• Maintaining a good working relationship - even under pressure

What does a marketing project manager need to know?

In addition to the aforementioned personal skills needed to get things done in a complex and often busy environment, the marketing project manager must understand the process. From initial ideas to executed marketing.

Any general project manager would struggle to understand or anticipate where things can go wrong in marketing without this understanding.

So the project manager must have a general knowledge of:

• Customers
• Media - both in-house media such as websites, blogs and So-Me channels, and external media
• Creative development, copywriting, art direction, graphic design, UX
• SEO/SEM
• Production, such as front-end development, printing, banner ads production
• Analytics, from Google Analytics to focus groups and desk research
• Effect hierarchies such as AIDA (Awareness, Interest, Desire, Action)
• Terminology: Strategy, positioning, concepts, roughs, wire-frames etc.
• Marketing assets such as websites, landing pages, blogs, posts, articles, videos, flyers, seminars, webinars, events ...

And on top of it all, the marketing project manager must have a character that is characterized by being conscientious. A project manager hates loose ends. They want to be able to check off a project and move on to the next project. Without this drive to deliver, things fall apart.

Why a freelance marketing project manager?

In the past, most people might have thought of freelancers for one-off projects. However, many companies have now realized the benefits of working with freelancers on a long-term basis:

• You can cover needs that don't justify a permanent position
• In periods when you don't need it, you don't pay for the skill
• In a long-term relationship, the freelancer gets to know the company almost as well as a permanent employee
• Compared to buying the desired skill set from an agency - such as an advertising agency - working with freelancers is usually much cheaper
• You have the flexibility to rethink the overall competency profile of the person responsible for an area
• More and more really talented people prefer to work freelance
• A freelancer can still look at your business 'from the outside' - which is a valuable thing when thinking about creative
• Freelancers can bring fresh, outside inspiration to your business

How do you find a good freelance marketing project manager?

Finding the right freelancer can be difficult. And above all, it can take a long time. Because there are many freelancers within the same field, and even if they boast the same skills, there can be a big difference when it comes to the way they work and the work they deliver. When you ask Marketingcapacity.dk to help you find a freelancer to work with, the process is simple:

1. You describe your needs to us (either in writing or verbally - we'll confirm in an email)
2. We screen the thousands of profiles on Marketingcapacity.dk and, if necessary, the market through our channels
3. We nominate a list of candidates and talk to them according to your needs
4. You will be presented with 3 candidates that seem to meet your needs
5. During the 3 meetings (at your location or digitally) you can ask questions and see examples of their work
6. You choose the freelancer you would like to start working with
7. We set it up in our systems with time tracking etc. so you have an overview and full control

In other words: After describing your needs, simply set aside 2 hours to meet with 3 hand-picked and screened candidates. That's your guarantee of a good result with reasonable effort.