Is content generation becoming an ongoing process? So it's time to attract an additional service for managing creative teams. A creative management platform (CMP) will facilitate collaboration, simplify communication and help increase the productivity of the creative department through the use of thoughtful functionality and a wide set of tools. How to choose the ideal service, and what factors to pay attention to? More about this in the article.
When the company grows, the team automatically increases, and with it, communication and interaction between participants becomes more difficult business processes. But, without growth, the brand risks losing opportunities for scaling, not getting the attention of potential buyers and not realizing all the ambitious goals. That is why every growth is a big work on optimization, adjustment and unification of all processes.
Managing creative processes? Absolutely! The development of a banner or advertisement entails more structure and intricacy than one might initially assume. Each task is a sequence of logical steps guiding us toward the desired outcome. Whether it's crafting social media posts, display advertising, website design, or promotional development, a collaborative team effort is key. Optimizing processes is essential to efficiently churn out content that generates a consistent flow of potential customers to your resources.
Creative Management Platform (CMP) was created for these tasks — software solutions that manage the full cycle of creative processes, from the idea to the launch of creatives in rotation. It is CMPs that directly and effectively influence internal cooperation teams, manage digital assets and automate repetitive tasks. How to choose an effective platform for your business and what factors should be paid attention to in the analysis? Let's talk about everything in more detail!
Creative Management Platform (CMP) — a special software, the main task of which is to organize and optimize the creative processes of creating advertisements. Users have access to a full set of tools that allow them to manage and automate action algorithms and effectively communicate with all members of teams or third-party partners.
Why is it important to use CMP?
The contemporary information landscape is saturated with brands and companies vying for consumer attention. This underscores the need for companies to be consistently attentive and produce creative content that not only meets high-quality standards but is also aligned with the relevant resources and opportunities. CMPs assist companies in optimizing their marketing endeavors and meticulously tracking the performance of each process.
In addition, work planning in CMP saves time and money by automating processes that have simple algorithms (sharing files, receiving feedback, transferring documents between departments) while enabling extensive analytics and real-time reporting.
Therefore, CMP is an important tool for brands that aim for wide coverage of the information space and provide:
tools for planning tasks and interaction formats;
design possibilities for creating layouts and ads right inside the platform;
a platform for effective communication in real time;
analytics to track the effectiveness of advertising campaigns.
Creative Management Platform helps companies stay competitive in today's oversaturated digital space.
Every business has its own needs and requirements for building processes. This is a key factor in choosing a relevant platform that will boost the team and not become the same annoying factor that will create problems at every step.
This information will be relevant both for marketers and heads of creative departments, and for brand owners who want to improve work efficiency. A detailed analysis of the above factors will help you choose the best option for your tasks.
Let's kick things off from the start: why do you need a CMP? To ensure optimal effectiveness, it's crucial to first consider:
Examine the current status of the company's business needs – this step lays the groundwork for future effective endeavors. Following that, align your objectives with the features and functionalities offered by various platforms to pinpoint the most fitting one.
Creative management platforms are cloud-based and autonomous. Let's consider in more details advantages and disadvantages of each.
Cloud CMP is a software solution that is hosted on remote servers and offers access from anywhere in the world. The software owner is responsible for server maintenance and updates, and users use a browser for authorization.
Advantages:
no need to maintain the infrastructure locally;
can be accessed from anywhere as long as there is stable network access;
often, such solutions are more budget-friendly and offer several pricing options.
Disadvantages:
effective work depends on high-quality Internet;
user data is stored by the platform owner, so it is worth taking extra care of their security;
the tools of the platform are limited by the owner's offering, so there may be difficulties with the integration of the necessary tools.
Local CMPs are installed on the company's own servers. In this scenario, the onus of system updates lies with the owner, while the company takes charge of maintaining the servers and ensuring seamless operations.
Advantages:
greater control over data security;
lack of dependence on a stable Internet;
integration with local systems and work processes.
Disadvantages:
higher costs for initial installation because you need to create a working environment for CMP;
more time and resources for service and updates;
limited scalability.
Summing it up: cloud-based solutions usually come with a more cost-effective and budget-friendly tag, whereas on-premise alternatives provide greater control and customization options. Ultimately, the choice of CMP type directly hinges on the specific needs and resources of the company.
The functionality of creative platforms should match the business tasks of your company. Analyze which functions you need for effective management and choose the key ones:
The main task of CMP is to provide the full functionality of working tools for the implementation of a smooth team work. These include real-time collaborative project work, commenting and approval, version control and change history.
Key advantages:
improving cooperation between members of team and reduction of time spent on coordination;
increasing productivity and efficiency by automating routine processes;
full functionality for work teams and facilitating their interaction.
CMP provides storage facilities for all creative assets. These capabilities include: libraries of graphics, templates, brand personalization and search capabilities.
Key advantages:
optimizes work with materials and improves their availability;
makes it easy to find, share and reuse designed layouts;
ensures consistency and accuracy in design usage across channels.
CMP can have customizable workflow templates, connect automatic messages, and create a list of tasks for teams, or its individual participants.
Key advantages:
reduces the influence of the human factor on work processes and reduces the probability of errors;
increases efficiency and productivity by optimizing repetitive tasks;
allows you to manage deadlines and keep the sequence of actions.
CMP can provide statistics and relevant reports to help brands analyze the performance of creative content. The most relevant functions are real-time analytics, special reports and A/B testing.
Key advantages:
enables marketers to make data-based decisions and optimize content creation processes according to effectiveness;
ensures a direct relationship between advertising formats and their distribution channels;
allows you to quickly and reliably measure the effectiveness of advertising campaigns.
Which functionality is critical for you, and which is non-priority? Choose a platform that can accurately and qualitatively fulfill all the marketing tasks facing the brand.
Choosing a creative management platform that integrates with work systems and tools is critical. This will help to achieve the maximum efficiency of creative processes in crafting of creative. By choosing a CMP that has integration with other systems, you ensure the automation of tasks, the reduction of errors and the optimization of creative processes.
*example of a Jewelry template by BannerBoo
Why is this important?
Collecting all data in one place is convenient and efficient. When you don't have to enter the resulting performance indicators manually, the possibility of errors is reduced and their processing is accelerated.
Automating tasks and workflows reduces manual effort, freeing up time for more important tasks. Productivity increases, which means that the team can create more content in less time.
Setting up automation will be able to ensure that all technical features of networks are taken into account, as well as coordinate each advertising campaign with branding tasks.
What functionality should you consider so that the integration capabilities meet your needs?
social media platforms (Facebook, YouTube, Twitter or Instagram to automate mockup posting and get performance data);
email newsletters (Mailchimp, Constant Contact or another resource to manage email campaigns);
project services (for example, Asana or Trello, to automate the workflow);
digital databases (Box or Dropbox, to create capabilities of managing version history).
If CMP has the ability to integrate with popular services, then the company will have maximum process efficiency.
The Creative Management Platform (CMP) should evolve into a user-friendly and highly functional space. Interactions ought to be smooth and swift, enhancing scalability without morphing into an additional resource for merely formal team engagement.
What opportunities does the use of effective СMP provide?
What advantages does the utilization of an efficient CMP bring?
Swift Implementation: A user-friendly platform swiftly transforms into a favored resource for content creation, while a less user-friendly one tends to be seldom used.
Cost-Efficient Training: A well-designed system like BannerBoo diminishes the time required for learning and adaptation, subsequently reducing training costs.
Enhanced Productivity: CMP minimizes errors and streamlines work activities, leading to a notable improvement in overall productivity
How to choose a convenient CMP? We recommend trying the demo version of the platform to try all the functionality in real time. This will help you evaluate many factors that are key to your brand.
When analyzing the usability of the CMP:
look for visual cues (which will facilitate team collaboration with a platform);
review the support resources (tutorials, forums, instructions). Make sure if they describe typical questions from teams;
evaluate the possibilities of personalization (custom templates, customization of workflows);
A CMP must be both user-friendly and highly efficient. If the team encounters any inconsistency between the resource and the brand's tasks, your initiative might end up collecting dust on the shelf. The functionality of the CMP should comprehensively address the needs of all participants in the creative process, resolving issues encountered with existing systems.
Evaluate exactly which parameters you can adjust. Does the functionality have opportunities to personalize the platform, would it be possible to integrate your own workflow, are there opportunities to integrate the desired structure of the team? All these factors directly affect the results of using CMP!
What should you pay attention to?
the possibility of implementing individual work processes;
productivity improvement (optimization eliminates unnecessary steps and automates typical processes);
improving cooperation (taking into account the specific needs of your team).
What are the individual settings?
fields for users (special possibilities for collecting and saving data);
special workflows (such as, for example, approval of advertisements);
integration with user programs (CRM, social media or marketing automation software);
branding and design (to convey your unique identity and culture of your company through the platform).
The presence of setting parameters will help to achieve the set business goals. However, CMP owners often have additional options available to potential users.
Most often, CMPs have different pricing models:
on a subscription basis (payment of a monthly or annual fee for access to the platform);
with a fee for functionality (several packages at different prices, each with different functions and levels of customization);
with payment per user (payment for each user who gets access);
a mix of previous options.
A number of factors affect the cost of CMP, include:
the number of users (this can be a dynamic number, depending on the number of users who have access, or a fixed fee);
customization detail (probably, the more custom settings available to users, the more expensive the CMP will be);
included functions (for example, there is a basic tariff, and there are packages with additional functions);
implementation and support (additional fee for support or setting up the platform in your company).
Take a close look at your business needs and assess the budget available for implementing a CMP in your company. This evaluation will guide you in selecting the most optimal option.
When choosing a Creative Management Platform (CMP), data security and privacy should be a priority. Platforms usually collect quite a lot of data: creative assets, customer data and business information about the brand, so it is important to protect them from unauthorized access or hacking.
In matters of security, what should you pay attention to?
encryption (both during transmission and statically);
access control (user authentication, authorization and permission management);
compliance (GDPR or CCPA regulations must be met)
regularity of audits (will be able to guarantee that the platform adapts to new threats);
hosting security (physical and network security measures).
Also, look for certifications such as SOC 2 Type 2 or ISO 27001, which demonstrate high security and data protection.
The availability of professional team support is crucial when introducing new platforms in a business. We firmly believe that resolving technical and communication issues should be a matter of a few clicks, further tailoring the CMP to better suit the brand's needs.
When evaluating Custom Care CMP providers, what should you look for?
availability of support by phone or email (how quick team responds to the request? do they actively communicate on social media?);
online documentation (user manuals or FAQs that can help troubleshoot);
educational resources (webinars or manuals that help to use the platform effectively);
forums and communities (a place where consumers can ask questions and share advice).
Furthermore, having a dedicated customer support team is an additional social guarantee of the effectiveness of this business.
*example of a Gaming template by BannerBoo
So, a creative management platform helps companies optimize creative processes, manage assets and collaborate more effectively. You have to be prudent in selecting the CMP for your company, to get high performance for yours business processes.
To make the best choice of platform, you should analyze:
business-tasks of your brand;
CMP types;
key functions that are required for the team work;
branding setting parameters;
data security and privacy capabilities;
pricing principles;
full customer support.
In order for the CMP adaptation process to be successful, we recommend involving creative groups and IT personnel in the process from the first steps. So the new functionality will fully meet the needs of the brand.
Only a real assessment of the factors will help you choose a CMP that is relevant to your needs and will help you achieve the brand's creative goals more efficiently and effectively.
Creative Management Platform (CMP) is a program that helps brands optimize creative processes, manage and store data, communicate with team in real time.
So, the key characteristics are:
tools for collaboration;
asset management;
workflow automation;
setting parameters;
integration with other systems or tools.
In short:cloud and local.
Cloud CMPs are hosted on the provider's servers and accessible via the Internet, while local CMPs are installed on their own resources companies and guided by them internally.
The cost of CMP may vary. For a more detailed assessment, you need to analyze:
number of users;
level of adjustment;
features included.
CMP pricing can be on a subscription basis, or per user, or based on other factors.
The primary goal of CMP is to forge connections between other systems and the advertising creation process. Hence, integration with social media platforms, email marketing, and analytics systems becomes a decisive factor in selecting and implementing the platform.
Only by testing the selected format. Platform demos, test periods of use and video presentations of functionality are ideal for this.
In addition to functionality, we recommend paying attention to customer support: by phone or email. Are there enough online documentation, learning resources, and forums for user communication? It is important to analyze the quality of support and the additional costs associated with it.
Certainly, safeguarding your team's data is paramount. CMP providers should ensure encryption and implement access controls to prevent data leakage and unauthorized access.
