Rather than hire a marketing coordinator, the marketing department at Eli Lilly Federal Credit Union filled the headcount with Smartsheet. "We needed a well-organized resource to rely on to keep us on top of the flurry of inter-departmental projects. Smartsheet has filled this role in staffing," explained Michelle Payne, communications and education manager for the large credit union. "Smartsheet helps us manage, collaborate and complete marketing requests from the rest of ELFCU – it's an integral part of our marketing team today."
Eli Lilly isn't alone – thousands of marketing teams are using Smartsheet to streamline processes and collaborate more efficiently including Behr Paints, Magnolia Bakery, the Port of San Diego, Habitat for Humanity and more.
We’ve pulled together some advice specifically for marketers managing their work in Smartsheet. Use these handy suggestions to save time, keep the big picture in mind, and stay organized even during your busiest seasons. (And we're just getting warmed up – there are many, many more to share!)
1. Collect requests with web forms.
Ever feel inundated with website change requests or new graphics inquiries from all over the company? Tired of searching through your inbox to find the RSVPs for that upcoming conference – or even more frustrating, sifting through scribbled post-its? Web forms are a great tool to simplify and streamline request processes and work great for social media/content requests, data inquiries, creative briefs, and customer reference requests.
Web forms are forms built using the columns of your sheet as a base. They’re easy to create – just click the ‘Web Forms’ tab at the bottom of your sheet and use the Web Form Editor to customize the questions you’ll ask and appearance of your web form.
Next, simply share the link to your web form with others to complete – once submitted, the information they’ve entered pops straight into the rows in your sheet. All those requests are finally centralized in one spot. Next, you can use your sheet to organize the requests, assign tasks, take action, and communicate results.
A few tips for maximizing your web form use:
- Make certain fields required, so a request can only be submitted when it has all the information you need.
- Use them internally in your organization, or externally with clients – the information all comes back to the same place, your sheet.
- Set an alert on your sheet so you’ll be instantly notified when a new form submission comes in – you’ll never miss the latest requests or RSVPs. Learn how to customize alerts here.
2. Use the Calendar view.
Whether you’re at the helm of your website’s editorial calendar or managing a big campaign launch, chances are you have due dates associated with tasks you’ve organized in your sheets. Switch from Grid view to Calendar view for a different visual layout of everything you need to get done.
In Calendar view, you’ll see information from your Primary column reflected in the Calendar dates. Drill deeper into the row by double-clicking any Calendar item to access all of the row data. Here you can update your sheet without switching back into Grid view.
A few tips for maximizing the Calendar view:
- Drag tasks from one date to another in the Calendar view to update due dates.
- Take advantage of the visual power of a calendar. Use Conditional Formatting to make certain categories from your sheet reflect different colors.
- Print the Calendar view of your sheet and take it with you to a meeting or on the road for reference.
- Email your calendar as an attachment to someone not shared to your sheet for an update.
- Publish your calendar to your Google Calendar or iCal and check in on dates without having to login to Smartsheet.
3. Make your life easier with links.
There are three types of links in Smartsheet: cell links, hyperlinks to other sheets, and secure sheet links. Whether you’re using Smartsheet to communicate with clients or keeping your department focused on a major launch, being smart with your links will save you time and stress.
- Use cell linking to create one master “roll up” sheet. Whether you’d like a master view of all of the events during a major conference or all of the projects that your department is tackling each quarter, having one holistic view of important activity is useful for gaining high level insight. Cell linking pulls information from one sheet into another; when the cells in your source sheet are updated, those changes automatically reflect in every sheet linking back to that cell. Check out this post for the step-by-step details for creating your own master roll-up.
- Add in hyperlinks to your other sheets– save time and give direction.
Save time and make it easier for your colleagues to find multiple sheets with hyperlinks to other sheets. You can use sheet hyperlinks in a number of ways:
Make your own Smartsheet index. If you want to cut down on the number of workspaces and folders you have, you can stay organized by keeping hyperlinks to all important sheets in one master, index sheet.
Keep each sheet in context by adding some “help” info in the column next to the sheet links. A sheet like this is a great way to keep details organized when you’re sharing multiple sheets with a client.
Add links to other sheets to your massive project plans. Add links to sheets with messaging guidelines or customer reference examples to make project sheets that much more comprehensive.
- Use secure sheet links to save handy bookmarks. With secure sheet links, you can save links to your sheets directly in your Internet browser as a bookmark or send them in an email to clients or agencies.
For more ideas on how you can optimize Smartsheet for marketing projects and processes check out these templates:
- Event Plan and Budget
- Web Project Timeline with Gantt and Dependencies
- Marketing Quarterly Goals
- Client Creative Brief
- Tradeshow Planner with Budget
- Customer Needs Analysis
- Marketing Campaign Analysis Rollup
- Product Feedback Survey Web Form
- PR Coverage Tracker
- Website Change Request Tracker
- PR Agency Activity Tracker
- Event Registration Web Form