As companies consider an investment in marketing asset management, Web to Print, communications portals, marketing automation, or other marketing systems, they eventually get to the stage where financial justification is required.  Based upon years of guiding companies through these calculations, we are proud to offer a guide to help you determine the true cost/benefit of these systems.

Read “How Much Are You Really Spending On Marketing Collateral?”

Although this paper was written specifically for marketing asset management and collateral management, it is relevant to the majority of new marketing technologies on the market.  In this concise paper (it is a quick read), you’ll find ideas and plans to justify the investment in new marketing systems.  The three main ideas are:

• Learn how to identify invisible costs in your organization
• Review a real life case study of a company saving over $80,000 per year
• Develop a cost savings estimate for your company using the template and example provided

Soft Vs Hard Cost Savings

Here’s something to think about that’s not included in the white paper: whether or not to make a marketing technology investment is often a question of how human resources are utilized.  A substantial portion of the savings comes from freeing up human resources.  Some companies look at this as a “soft cost” and simply redeploy the freed up human resources on activities that are more valuable to the company than deploying marketing materials.  Companies that are looking to reduce “hard cost” create a plan to reduce human resource costs through attrition, promotions, transfers or staff reduction.

Human Resource Planning Plays a Vital Role

An important second part of the cost justification process is to know how and what you plan to do with these soon-to-be “additional” human resources.  Plans that are presented without giving clear insight into how you will handle this are often disqualified as fluffy or inaccurate, and can ruin the possibility of gaining new marketing systems.