Many marketers today rely on a host of marketing tools to help them create, distribute, and manage their marketing efforts. This may be in the form of marketing automation software, a brand management system, or any number of social following/sharing tools.

A lot of work goes into setting up these systems when they’re first implemented. However, the routine upkeep can sometimes fall short as more pressing priorities outweigh things like cleaning up data or reviewing permissions.

From wide format to technology, see what we predict to be some of the biggest print trends of the new year.

Your team just spent weeks researching, designing, writing, and tweaking new marketing materials and are excited to roll them out to your end users. You add them to your distributed marketing platform, and they sit there unused for several weeks. What gives? 

Editor's note: The USPS promotion mentioned in this article has expired. To view current promotions from the US Postal Service, click here.

Direct mail continues to be a strong medium for many of today’s marketers, and the emergence of new technologies is just one of the ways it has remained competitive in an increasingly digital world. Advances in technology now allow the recipients to engage with a mailer via their smart phone or tablet, seamlessly blending the world of print and digital.

New software systems are great – when your team knows how to use them. When they don’t, one of two things typically happen (and in some cases, both):

1. The data in the system gets messy, or
2. People don’t use it all 

Unfortunately, these aren’t always easy problems to fix once they’ve happened. Investing time and energy into training at the onset, can save you headaches down the road.

This is part one of a 12-part blog series on making the most of your marketing resource management (MRM) system. Take a second and subscribe to our blog for email updates as we unveil the rest of our series over the next few weeks!

Whether you call it a MRM, a marketing resource center, or something else entirely, all of these systems help companies accomplish a crucial goal: Better control over marketing efforts across multiple locations.

But as helpful as these tools are, they’re only as good as the managers and administrators that keep them running smoothly. Whether it’s keeping users engaged, updating products, or making improvements to the features users rely on most, managing a marketing platform effectively can be a big task.

A few years ago, showrooming sent shockwaves through the retail world as shoppers started showing up at stores only to whip out their phones to find lower prices online.

The FCMC is one of just a handful of annual events that bring franchise marketers together to share successes, solve problems and give those with great ideas a soapbox to stand on. But as with any conference, it can be tough to take insights and advice and turn them into a real-life action plan back at the office.

Despite ecommerce’s steady growth, most companies still rely on driving customers into actual stores.

Reaching people on the ground requires a smart approach to local marketing––a task quickly becoming more digitized every day.

Each year, over 4,000 franchise CEOs and marketing executives are surveyed to reveal the biggest trends happening in local franchise marketing across all industries.

The feedback is published in an annual report to give franchisors valuable insight into:

• The most effective lead generation activities companies are utilizing
• How much money companies are allocating to local marketing efforts
• How businesses are measuring their return on investment
• How well brands are utilizing emerging channels and media to reach more customers