30 Best Ad Agency Project Management Software

Consider your ad agency lands a vast project, and everyone is pumped to get started. But as you start assigning tasks and mapping out a project timeline, you realize there are so many moving parts that it's hard to track them all. Suddenly, you feel overwhelmed, and so does your team.

This scenario is just one of the many challenges ad agencies face regularly. Luckily, ad agency project management software can help you tackle them efficiently. In this guide, we'll explore the ins and outs of this essential tool and how it can help you achieve your objectives, like growth productized services.

As you read, you'll discover how Orchestra's solution, 'grow your productized service,' can help you achieve your goals. It's an all-in-one toolkit built for agencies that want to streamline operations and improve profitability.

Importance of Project Management Software For Ad Agency

Project management is crucial for ad agencies. It helps keep track of an entire project’s progress and ensures that everything will be delivered within a set timeline. Successful project management allows an agency to allocate resources, manage risks, control costs, and provide quality work.

Agency project management also plays a critical role in enabling marketing agencies to streamline their processes while ensuring that all stakeholders are aligned toward achieving common goals. It allows managers to identify potential problems early and take corrective measures before they become significant.

Good marketing agency project management allows for better decision-making, ultimately improving profitability. Using practical project management tools and techniques, agencies gain a competitive edge by delivering high-quality services promptly. They also minimize risks and maximize profits in this way.

What Is Ad Agency Project Management Software?

Ad agency project management software helps advertising agencies manage client projects and improve overall business performance. The software enables agencies to organize projects, track progress, and automate tedious tasks to enhance team efficiency. The result is that projects are delivered on time, within budget, and with fewer errors.

How Project Management Software Benefits Ad Agencies

Project management software is essential for ad agencies because it can help with:

Collaboration

Ad agency project management software can help teams work together by centralizing communication and storing critical documents in one place.

Visibility

Project management software can provide real-time updates on progress so everyone involved can stay informed.

Efficiency

Project management software can automate repetitive tasks, freeing time for teams to focus on more important work.

Planning

Project management software can help plan projects effectively, including creating schedules, defining scope, and calculating costs.

Resource Allocation

Project management software can help allocate the right resources to the right project.

Budgeting

Project management software can help optimize spending by providing real-time insights from digital ad channels.

Managing Multiple Projects

Project management software can help with managing multiple campaigns and projects simultaneously.

Identifying Delays

Project management software can help identify potential delays.

30 Best Ad Agency Project Management Software

1. Orchestra

Orchestra is an all-in-one growth toolkit that helps agencies quickly launch productized services. The software is designed for creatives ready to scale their operations. With Orchestra, you can set up a branded, white-labeled client portal, manage tasks, and analyze data in real-time, with no coding or fuss, just your Stripe account.

Whether you’re a designer, developer, or copywriter, Orchestra streamlines your workflow, letting you collaborate with clients seamlessly while maintaining a private workspace with your team. Add integrations like Slack and webhooks to customize your setup and deliver a branded experience. Enhance your service with a platform built to grow alongside you. Try Orchestra for free to develop your productized service today.

2. Asana

Asana is a versatile project management tool that helps teams orchestrate their work. It’s highly visual and offers a range of ways to view projects, from Kanban boards to timelines, calendars, and more. Asana can be a perfect solution for cross-functional teams that work with agile methodologies, such as website project development companies. However, agencies with more robust needs might find that certain features, especially regarding budgeting and financial performance, could be more developed.

Pros

It offers a free plan. Asana's primary concern as a project management software is helping small and medium-sized businesses. However, it is not limited to them. Thanks to its free plan, small teams on a tight budget can still have access to affordable project management software.
Several integrations. This feature more than makes up for Asana's lack of some features. Several third-party apps and software can be integrated with Asana, including Salesforce, Slack, Dropbox, Google Calendar, and many more.
Time tracking. The Asana app also helps companies and teams see where their time is being spent. Jobs, tasks, and responsibilities are all sorted into different projects, ensuring you will notice everything.

Cons

We know new users need help understanding the Asana interface. To that end, we've created an online tutorial to guide users through the software and ensure their comfort with it.
Asana could be better for small teams or single projects. Its overloaded features Can become overwhelming for an elementary project. When you add new features, you have to balance the application's complexity, and that's where the problems start to happen.

3. Workamajig

Workamajig is a fair project and agency management tool that integrates essential financial tracking and support with project management features. However, the most notable downside of Workamajig is the somewhat outdated user interface and occasionally poor platform performance, as reported by multiple reviewers. This can make some features more complicated than they initially seem.

Pros

Comprehensive project management features
Ideal for creatives and well-suited for freelancers
Provides analytics and reporting in real-time
Teams can collaborate from a single message portal

Cons

Some users have concerns about slow customer support response
The software loads slowly at times

4. Clickup

I tested ClickUp’s Free plan to explore its features and capabilities, and I discovered that this marketing project management software provides a centralized hub for handling sprints and adjusting to evolving project requirements. Whether it’s campaign tasks, resources, or deadlines, everything’s in one place for easy access.

I liked the freedom to set weekly, monthly, quarterly, or yearly goals. Tracking progress became significantly easier with different project views, including Kanban boards that enhance task visibility. I could schedule daily tasks and reminders to stay on top of project deadlines. Custom widgets also made it possible to measure ROI efficiently.

Pros

You can streamline affiliate sign-ups and requests from clients with ClickUp Forms
Access to Docs, wikis, and more for seamless team collaboration
Resource management capabilities to track resource workload for best optimization
‘Assigned Comments’ help establish clear task responsibilities

Cons

It does not offer agile reporting in the free plan
Too many features on the dashboard can overwhelm users

5. Hubstaff

A simple, highly efficient time-tracking app that pulls no punches, Hubstaff is the ideal way to determine how much time it takes for teams to complete different tasks. There are apps available for Chrome, desktops, and mobiles, so you can easily keep track of performances. Hubstaff is designed to improve productivity, and with over 40 integrations, it works like a charm.

It automates team management and frees your time, thus allowing you to focus on things that matter. You no longer have to worry about check-ins, and you will receive detailed activity reports for each employee. It’s one of the most popular marketing agency management software programs. You can easily plug in money leaks by checking profit margins for different projects. It’s an excellent tool for project management.

Pros

Affordable enterprise plan
Mobile app
Free version and trial
Screenshots are available even on free plan
A balanced approach to employee privacy and monitoring

Cons

One-user limit in the free plan
No video screen recording
Many features are only offered via an add-on in lower-tiered paid plans
No add-ons available in the free plan

6. Wrike

Wrike is a powerful work management platform built for teams and organizations looking to collaborate, create, and exceed daily. Wrike's solution for agencies creates a central hub that allows teams to monitor all client projects and resources in one place, improve workflow, and track progress. Key features include real-time collaboration, time tracking, cross-tagging for complete visibility, proofing and approvals, resource management, insights, and analytics. Wrike is where agencies unite to delight their clients by completing more projects in less time.

Pros

Unlimited projects in a free account
Unlimited subtasks with unlimited levels of nesting
Kanban, Calendar, and Table views
Unique customization for marketing/creative teams and professional services
20 free external collaborators

Cons

Gantt chart view is available only in paid plans
An in-app timer for time tracking is only available on Business plans or higher

7. Airtable

Airtable is a cloud-based collaboration and project management tool that combines an easy-to-use spreadsheet with the power of a database and the flexibility of custom applications. With Airtable, small teams can create highly collaborative workspaces for teams to work together on projects. The platform also integrates with other apps and services like Slack, Zapier, and Dropbox to provide a complete client management system for customer management.

Pros

Actions to goals linking functionality to streamline reporting
Shareable forms to populate records into the Airtable base
Timeline View to track events, resources, and projects
Automation with Javascript functionality
Form View for contact management

Cons

Limited sorting and filtering options compared to other client management software tools
Limited customization options for workspace appearance

8. Brafton

The Brafton Content Marketing Platform is a project management tool that aims to simplify content marketing for any organization or business. It accomplishes this by streamlining any content team’s workflows, organizing marketing collateral in an easy-to-use system, and giving all pertinent stakeholders visibility into all past and current projects.

Pros

They cover multiple industries and have writers who are experienced in producing content for each.
They are a one-stop shop for all of your marketing needs. They will create your marketing plan, make your content, and then help you promote it.
Brafton ensures that the content they produce for you is 100% unique and checked for plagiarism.
Brafton guarantees that your content is formatted correctly and ready to publish immediately. You won’t have to worry about things like using the correct font sizes, headings, and if the layout is correct.

Cons

The main downside of working with Brafton is that they charge much more than freelancer platforms and other marketing agencies. However, you have to weigh the extra cost against the quality of the content you will receive and the higher level of service you will receive.
You can’t build direct relationships with any of the writers who produce your content as you deal with a client manager. This makes it difficult to bring your marketing operations in-house at a later date if you wish.

9. Kantata

Kantata is an agency management system that can manage everything from client relationships to workflows and project tracking. This highly customizable tool allows agencies of all sizes to streamline operations and increase profits. This guide will explain how you can use Kantata for successful agency management. Kantata has various features designed specifically for agencies, including tools for client onboarding, project planning, time and resource tracking, invoicing, contracts, communication management, and more.

With these features in place, you can easily monitor your team’s progress against deadlines or budgets and track the status of clients or projects at any given time. You’ll also have access to key performance data such as team utilization rates or revenue forecasts. Kantata's core function is to provide users with comprehensive data management solutions. It allows you to store customer information, generate reports, manage tasks and projects, track expenses, collaborate with colleagues or partners remotely, and share information organizationally.

Additionally, it offers real-time insights into customer trends and market conditions so that you can make informed decisions quickly. This makes Kantata an excellent solution for businesses that need to stay ahead of the competition by utilizing data-driven insights.

Pros

Intuitive Task Management: Kantata simplifies work organization by allowing easy assignment and tracking tasks and subtasks.
Real-time Collaboration: It supports immediate communication and file-sharing among team members, ensuring everyone stays updated.
Robust Reporting: Kantata offers comprehensive reporting features that aid in making informed decisions and tracking project progress effectively.

Cons

Limited Integrations: Kantata doesn’t support many third-party integrations, which may limit its flexibility and usability.
Learning Curve: Some users might find Kantata challenging to navigate initially, requiring time to grasp its functionalities fully.

10. Smart Sheet

Next, let’s talk about Smartsheet, another excellent pick for managing marketing projects. Smartsheet Rocks, a spreadsheet-style setup, is handy for sorting tasks. Need collaboration? Using this tool, you can chat with your team in the comments, whether about a whole sheet, a row, or even a piece of content. Never miss a deadline again with automated alerts and reminders. And if you’re curious about where your team’s hours go, this tool covers you with time tracking. Here’s a fantastic bonus: using comments, you can scribble notes on images and docs.

Pros

Project baselines help compare planned and actual statistics to stay on track
Report grouping and summary to get real-time project insights
Client portals and dashboards to keep them up-to-date with project progress
Projects can be broken down into tasks, sub-tasks, paths, milestones, etc.

Cons

It can be expensive for freelancers, startups, and small businesses
Tool navigation can be a bit complex initially

11. Bitrix24

Although Bitrix24 may be outlined as a CRM tool, it also doubles as a fantastic piece of client management software. The solution is a well-designed collaboration tool for communication and project management. Beyond lead generation, Bitrix is a valuable tool for customer support, making it ideal for client management. The platform has its own Customer Contact Center, so you can answer client queries and solve problems in real time, whatever channel they come through. Bitrix can also help businesses set up automated support if needed and offers help with creating company websites or setting up a chat network on your homepage.

Pros

Comprehensive business suite
Affordable pricing
Unlimited contacts with all plans

Cons

Very steep learning curve
It doesn’t support chatbots for sales or support

12. Proofhub

ProofHub is the perfect tool for marketing project managers. It puts you in charge of tasks, resources, and deadlines, making project and team collaboration a breeze. With customizable templates, you can start your marketing project in no time. Just tweak the project name, add tasks, assign resources, and set due dates, and you’re good to go! ProofHub lets you create project plans, milestones, and goals.

It even offers chat and discussion boards for quick, real-time communication, saving you from cluttering your inbox. ProofHub made marketing project management much more straightforward. It clarifies daily tasks, helps me track resources and workload, and makes it easy to turn ideas into action.

Pros

ProofHub lets you set deadlines, prioritize tasks, and keep everyone in sync
It supports various file formats like PDF and JPEG, making it easy to collaborate on documents, images, and other assets
Teams can track their time spent on tasks and projects, helping with accurate billing and cost estimation.
A shared calendar allows teams to schedule events, meetings, and deadlines

Cons

The mobile version falls short compared to the web version
Customer support lacks prompt responsiveness

13. Workable

Workable is excellent for recruitment agencies. It makes hiring easier with job postings, candidate tracking, and team collaboration. Plus, it uses AI to help you find the right candidates faster.

Pros

Comprehensive candidate evaluations: Workable provides all the necessary data for reporting, visualizations, and understanding the basics of hiring strategy and recruiting metrics, enabling a more thorough assessment of candidates
Swift and straightforward onboarding: The onboarding process with Workable is quick and easy, making it less time-consuming for new users to get started
User-friendly interface: Workable, intuitive, and easy to use, reducing the need for extensive training for new employees
Unlimited collaborative options: The software allows for real-time updates and comments from team members, fostering a collaborative hiring process
Cost-effective: Compared to other options, Workable is more affordable, making it a financially sound choice for businesses.

Cons

Incompatibility with virtual conferencing services: Workable does not integrate with Zoom or other virtual conferencing services, making it difficult to schedule interviews
Email syncing issues: Emails from users' inboxes do not automatically sync or appear immediately on Workable, causing delays in communication

14. Base Camp

For remote teams seeking improved campaign tracking, Basecamp has you covered. It offers a platform to align goals and manage projects seamlessly, regardless of team members’ locations across different cities or countries. You can set project schedules, assign tasks, and monitor progress effortlessly. Plus, real-time messaging and chat features enable instant communication to overcome obstacles. Easy access to files ensures you can find what you need when needed. To-do lists help you stay organized and focused, ensuring nothing falls through the cracks. Also, with data backup, you can work confidently, knowing your project information is safe and sound.

Pros

Real-time task reminders ensure nothing slips through the cracks
Collaborate on files to get work done faster
Transparent workflows to track project schedules from anywhere and anytime
Its remote team management features like automatic check-ins, Campfire chat, and Pings make it ideal for marketing project management tool

Cons

Limited customization ability with poor drag-and-drop capabilities
No time tracking ability to track where team members are engaged

15. Insightly

Insightly delivers a lot of bang for your CRM buck. It's one of the easiest to use among the tested systems, even if it could be more feature-rich than some. Importing data is a smooth process. Insightly's built-in reporting engine is AI-powered, providing one-button data export to Microsoft Power BI.

Pros

Smooth data input and sharing
Slick interface that's consistent and easy to pick up
Highly customizable
Easy integration with Unsightly's help desk and marketing apps

Cons

Expensive high-end tiers
Lacks advanced features like custom workflows

16. Jira

Jira is a flexible tool that fits well with marketing teams. It supports agile methods like Scrum and Kanban, which help manage marketing campaigns effectively. Its Sprints dashboard offered me a structured way to plan and execute marketing iterations for my company’s campaigns. I also used epics and stories to organize my marketing projects into manageable tasks.

Another benefit is customization. Jira can be adapted to your marketing team’s needs with custom fields, workflows, and issue types. Whether you’re a small team or a large enterprise, it scales easily to meet your unique marketing project and campaign requirements.

Pros

Backlog feature to keep track of marketing tasks, ideas, and user stories
Comments, notifications, and tags make it easier to communicate about tasks and projects
Seamless integration with Trello, Confluence, and third-party apps from the Atlassian Marketplace
Rich dashboard features to track and analyze your marketing project’s progress and performance

Cons

Weak team chat functionality, such as struggling to connect with colleagues online via the platform
It takes time to set up projects

17. Bonsai Agency Software

Bonsai Agency Software is an all-in-one agency management tool that simplifies agencies' lives. It handles everything from project management to client collaboration so that you can focus more on the creative side and less on admin headaches. This integrated approach makes it easy to organize tasks, track progress, collaborate with your team and clients, and clearly understand how your agency is performing.

Bonsai also includes time tracking, client onboarding, resource management, and automated workflows to keep your operations running smoothly and ensure projects stay on schedule and within budget. It offers various visual tools like Gantt charts, Kanban boards, and list views to help you stay organized and see everything at a glance. Real-time reporting gives insights into profitability, resource utilization, and your agency’s overall health.

Additionally, Bonsai simplifies the process of managing agency finances. You can track expenses, send invoices, and handle budgeting in one place. Bonsai is a solid pick if you’re looking for a tool to streamline your agency’s operations and boost productivity.

Pros

User-friendly interface
Client-centric focus
Strong focus on small businesses
Affordable pricing plans
There is no need to switch between several tools as Bonsai offers an all-in-one approach

Cons

Limited advanced project management features for larger enterprises
Bonsai integrations are fewer compared to some competitors (although Zapier integration expands its possibilities)
The mobile app could be further enhanced with additional features and functionality

18. Confluence

I found Confluence to be a fantastic tool for my team. It enabled us to create, edit, and organize documents and knowledge bases as a group. No matter where we were, we could all pitch in, which is especially handy for virtual teams. Take, for instance, the times I’ve used this feature extensively for our marketing efforts. Whether crafting blog posts, coordinating social media campaigns, or putting together email newsletters, Confluence has been a lifesaver. It allows multiple team members to simultaneously work on the same document, leave comments, and track changes. All in all, it’s made collaboration a breeze for us.

Pros

Mobile apps for iOS/Android allow team members to collaborate on the go, which is vital for virtual teams
Customizable workspaces where teams can create specific spaces for different projects, departments, or teams
Access to various templates and macros that simplify everyday tasks, such as creating meeting notes, project plans, and product requirements
Powerful search functionality makes it easy for team members to find the information they need quickly

Cons

Some advanced features come at a premium price
Occasional sluggishness and technical glitches

19. Pipedrive

Pipedrive is a CRM system designed to help sales teams increase productivity and close more deals. It offers various features that help streamline the sales process, including contact management, email tracking, call logging, lead scoring, sales forecasting, and automated workflows. With Pipedrive, a sales team can quickly organize their leads, contacts, and deals to stay focused on the tasks that matter. The client management app allows users to easily create custom pipelines and automated emails to help nurture leads and increase conversions.

Pros

Segment leads to create personalized, targeted communication
Drag-and-drop interface to quickly update deal statuses
Activity reminders and team collaboration
Customizable web forms
Revenue forecasting

Cons

Limited customization for user permission settings compared to other free client management software
Project scope and document management tools are paid add-ons.

20. Creatio

Sales Creatio has undergone several name changes, but it remains a top CRM choice. Its specialty is larger sales organizations, and it excels at catering to their needs. Creatio also offers tools for business process management (BPM), marketing automation, and help desks, enabling customers to address multiple business objectives in a unified way.

Pros

Multifaceted and highly customizable unified business solution
Rooted in solid CRM functionality
Creatio CRM helps SMBs streamline processes from lead management to closing

Cons

Relatively short trial period
Hefty feature set
Customization can be daunting at the outset

21. Accelo

Thanks to its CRM and management features, Accelo can be a good choice for agencies interested in supporting their entire project lifecycle, from client acquisition to project delivery. However, Accelo’s entry price is less affordable than comparable solutions on the market, such as Productive, which similarly offers integrated sales and management features. Additionally, some users have noted that the tool can be somewhat inflexible.

Pros

Easy to learn to use.
Feature-rich.
Billing and expenses management capability.
Quality and responsive customer support.

Cons

Expensive compared to its competitors.
Core and Professional plans lack ticket and retainer management features.
Limited integrations.

22. Less Annoying CRM

Less Annoying CRM is an affordable turnkey system for small businesses and sole proprietors. It offers a good collection of essential features and flat-rate pricing, making it among the cheapest products we tested. Its key selling point is ease of use, which is excellent for companies with limited CRM experience. Its user interface is straightforward and approachable. Also, Less Annoying's responsive web UI works on mobile devices and desktop browsers.

Pros

One affordable plan
Plenty of support and help options
Looks great on mobile

Cons

Limited reporting capabilities
No way to add dedicated leads

23. Screendragon

Screendragon is agency management software designed to manage projects, people, processes, and profitability in one place. It is easy to use and offers powerful customization. The world’s top agency groups, such as Omnicom, WPP, and IPG, rely on Screendragon to power their agency operations.

Screendragon is smoothly integrated, offering project management, workflow management, resource management, forecasting, time-tracking, budget management, and asset management. The tool is highly configurable, allowing users to customize forms, dashboards, templates, workflow rules, permissions, notifications, reports, and even the terminology used on the platform. Screendragon’s integrated budget module enables users to build SOWs and estimates and forecast future revenues and resourcing needs.

Reviews and approvals are made simple with features for visual proofing, real-time collaboration, version control, and granular permissions. Screendragon’s advanced automation capabilities facilitate the secure and efficient approval of assets and can adapt quickly to support scaling agencies. Intuitive task management allows users to switch between Kanban boards, interactive Gantt charts, and list views.

Pros

Screendragon offers flexibility to deliver a solution that is fully aligned with the organization’s needs. Brands can create and edit their terminology, templates, forms, workflow rules, notifications, reports, and rates.
It provides an enterprise-class hosting environment and service levels. Moreover, its sophisticated permission controls ensure that the right people see only the right data at the right time.

Cons

Some users encounter occasional system slowness.

24. Zapier

Zapier isn’t a regular AMS but is excellent for automating tasks between apps. It connects software for you, so you don't need coding skills. For example, you can create a “Zap” to add new leads to your CRM from your website or get a Slack alert when an invoice gets paid.

Pros

Free forever plan and low-cost paid plans starting at $5.99 per month
Deep level of customization
Easy-to-use automations
Agency-oriented nomenclature and features
Built-in time tracking

Cons

A minimum of three users for the low-priced paid plan
Slower run time once more work gets added
Most features are only unlocked with the Deliver plan or above

25. Teamwork

Teamwork is a project management platform built to help agencies manage the entire lifecycle of their client work in one place. Teamwork provides all of the features you’d expect, as well as integrated time tracking, financial management, robust reporting, and free access for clients to ensure your projects are delivered on time and within budget. Forget crossed wires, unread Slacks, and endless emails.

Collaborate in real-time with your team and clients to get your questions answered. Keep clients, teammates, and leadership on the same page. Centralize your work, communicate easily with your team, and reduce the complexity of collaboration so your team is free to focus on what they do best.

Teamwork lets you keep your team members and clients in the loop. Communicate with colleagues and clients without having to switch platforms. Update the team, ask for input, and get feedback in context. Working as a team has always been challenging.

Pros

Free forever plan and low-cost paid plans starting at $5.99 per month
Deep level of customization
Easy-to-use automations
Agency-oriented nomenclature and features
Built-in time tracking

Cons

A minimum of three users for the low-priced paid plan
Slower run time once more work gets added
Most features are only unlocked with the Deliver plan or above

26. Freshworks CRM

Freshworks CRM makes it easier for teams to track leads, automate marketing campaigns, segment customers into different categories, manage customer data in one place, and quickly build customer relationships.

Businesses can increase revenue and better understand their customers through features like contact management, lead scoring, customer segmentation, task automation, and customer insights.

The CRM tool also helps teams stay organized by providing detailed reporting on customer interactions and allowing users to set up rules-based workflows to automate repetitive tasks. Additionally, Freshworks CRM integrates with popular third-party applications like Google Apps, Zapier, and Mailchimp, making it even easier for teams to get the most out of their customer data!

Pros

Pipeline management to visualize the entire sales process organized by stage
Sales Goals to set and track goals based on revenue or the number of deals
Filter, sort, and search functionality on the mobile app
Deal performance dashboards
Drag-and-drop interface

Cons

Project management features are only available on expensive plans
Limited reporting capabilities to customize key metrics

27. Zoho CRM

One of the areas where Zoho CRM stands out as a client management tool is its omnichannel approach. This allows firms to engage with clients via whichever medium they prefer, whether email, telephone, or something else. Zoho CRM makes a great effort to be an all-in-one platform.

It allows businesses to monitor lead activity and customer buyer preferences and view price lists or documents without changing applications - everything your company needs for client management is right here. Given that AI is such a hot topic right now, it should come as little surprise to hear that Zoho offers users its assistance. You won’t find ChatGPT levels of intelligence here, but personal assistant Zia Voice can retrieve information, update accounts, and generate performance reports.

It’s certainly a handy addition that improves Zoho’s ease of use. Although there is no free tier with Zoho CRM, a free trial is available. Given that the platform is currently used by more than 150,000 businesses across 180 countries, a free trial may be all you need before you’re convinced this is the right client management software for you.

Pros

Workflow automation
Customization
Email marketing

Cons

Steep learning curve
Limited customer support

28. Hubspot CRM

HubSpot CRM is a customer relationship management platform designed to help businesses grow. It offers a comprehensive suite of tools to help teams manage client relationships and interactions, from tracking leads and deals to managing customer data. It also features automation capabilities to help streamline workflows for sales reps, customer service agents, and marketers.

The platform’s integration capabilities allow businesses to connect HubSpot CRM with various third-party tools, such as email marketing platforms and payment processors. With its intuitive user interface, comprehensive suite of features, and integration capabilities, HubSpot CRM is an ideal tool for businesses of all sizes.

Pros

Contact and pipeline management
Email and prospect tracking
Contact website activity
Email template builder
Landing page builder

Cons

Expensive pricing plans compared to other client management software
Lacks intuitive tools for workflow automation

29. Productive

Productive is a well-rounded agency management software with powerful functionality that gives you the tools and data to keep an agency running smoothly. The tool was built by a team with a decade of experience in founding, managing, and scaling a software development shop, so it's especially well-suited to digital agencies. The tool's features fully satisfy my criteria for agency management tools.

You'll find client and prospect management in the Sales Pipeline (manage deal flow, get sales organized). The Resource Planning feature, time tracker, and task collaboration tools fit the resource and project management criteria I look for in an agency tool or platform. Billing and invoicing can also be managed straight from the tool, along with valuable reports on profitability and costs to help with finance management.

The reporting feature goes beyond that, with real-time reports on margins, utilization, and much more, including reports on individual employees' or contractors' history with the company, salary reports, etc. Productive's integrations include Zapier and Jira, Open API, QuickBooks Online, Xero, and Exact.

Pros

Customizable Dashboards: Enhanced customization allows users to tailor their workspace to their needs, providing a more personalized and efficient management experience.
Integrated Financial Management: This feature integrates financial tracking with project management, offering a seamless experience for budget and expense oversight.
Client Portal: Including a client portal sets Productive.io apart, enhancing client engagement and transparency.

Cons

Learning Curve: New users may find the platform slightly complex, requiring time to understand and fully utilize all its features.
Customization Constraints: While customizable, some users might need more customization options for their specific needs.

30. Scoro

Scoro project management offers a range of features to help you manage your projects and resources. It’s a good option for service-providing businesses looking for a single platform to manage their day-to-day operations, but it can be difficult to onboard. Users like Scoro because it’s good business management software with many features to help teams collaborate and manage tasks. Since it focuses on project management, time tracking, and invoicing, it can be a good choice for businesses looking to automate daily processes.

Pros

Data-focused and detailed, perfect for project managers,
Offers a continuous and logical flow, from quote to project to invoice to final project delivery, suitable for many different business processes,
Provides a good onboarding experience,
Although there’s a lot of data presented, it manages to put the most essential information upfront, like the profit margin for all issued quotes,

Cons

It is a lot to take in, quite overwhelming at the beginning,
Moving to Scoro will take quite a bit of time due to the amount of data we will have to transfer, and the time it’ll take to introduce our team to Scoro,
The UI, although modern, could use some improvements to package the amount of data it presents or requires better, like in the many numbers we can enter when working on our quotes,

How To Choose An Ad Agency Project Management Software

Task Management: Your Project's Roadmap

When picking ad agency project management software, task management features help break down a project into manageable tasks, assign responsibilities, set deadlines, and track progress. Task management ensures clarity on individual responsibilities, deadlines, and task dependencies, preventing bottlenecks and promoting a structured workflow.

Time Tracking: The Budget's Best Friend

Time tracking tools record the time spent on each task or project, providing insights into resource allocation and project timelines. Time tracking enables accurate project scheduling, identifies areas of improvement in time management, and ensures that teams stay on track to meet deadlines.

Collaboration Tools: Keeping Your Team on the Same Page

Collaboration features facilitate communication, document sharing, and real-time interaction among team members. Collaboration reduces miscommunication and fosters a cohesive work environment by providing a centralized space for discussions, updates, and feedback.

File Sharing: Seamless Document Management

File-sharing capabilities allow team members to upload, share, and collaborate on documents, images, and other project-related files. File sharing eliminates the need for email attachments, reduces version control issues, and ensures all team members can access the latest project files, promoting seamless collaboration.

Reporting and Analytics: The Key to Improvement

Reporting tools provide insights into project progress, resource utilization, and overall team performance. By analyzing project metrics and performance trends, reporting enables data-driven decision-making, helps identify bottlenecks, and allows continuous improvement.

Try Orchestra for Free to Grow Your Productized Service Today

Launch your productized service effortlessly with Orchestra's all-in-one growth toolkit. Designed for creatives ready to scale, Orchestra provides a branded, white-labeled client portal, task management, and real-time analytics, with no coding needed—just your Stripe account.

Whether you’re a designer, developer, or copywriter, Orchestra streamlines your workflow. It lets you collaborate with clients seamlessly while maintaining a private workspace with your team. Add integrations like Slack and webhooks to customize your setup and deliver a branded experience. Elevate your service with a platform built to grow alongside you; try Orchestra for free and develop your productized service today!

9 Effective Tips For Ad Agency Project Management

1. Get Started with Ad Agency Project Management Software: Use Orchestra

Orchestra is an all-in-one growth toolkit designed to help creative professionals launch productized services. The platform provides a customizable client portal to organize all client communications and deliverables; task management features to help your team stay on track, and real-time analytics to track your progress. You can productize your services with Orchestra and enhance your ad agency’s operations.

2. Get Buy-In from Your Team

Getting your team on board before implementing project management in your ad agency is essential. Start by introducing the idea of organizing and streamlining creative projects to reduce stress and improve efficiency. Next, discuss how the new approach will work and what role each team member will play. Finally, explain the benefits of using project management software and how it will improve team and client communications. Getting buy-in from your team will help ease the transition and ensure everyone is on the same page moving forward.

3. Define Project Goals and Objectives

The first component of project management is defining project goals and objectives. Here, you’re not yet defining what you’re making — at least not entirely. That comes in step two. Instead, you’re defining How you’ll define success (project goals) and Why you’re doing a project at all (project objectives). You could also describe the outcomes you expect the project to deliver.

Or, more accurately, the outcomes your client needs from the project. The project goal could be to increase a client’s reach via a new ad campaign. Objectives could be specific targets or metrics you expect the project to achieve. At this stage, you’ll also want to decide which project management methodology or style is best for you and your agency. There are several to choose from, like Agile or Waterfall, each with strengths and weaknesses.

4. Establish Project Scope and Deliverables

Next is establishing what you’re creating and what you’re not within the project's scope. Here’s where you determine and commit to the kinds of ads you’ll be making, how many of them, what the budget for the project looks like, and so on. The goal here is that every project team member and stakeholder (including internal and external stakeholders) understands and agrees on what is and isn’t in the project's scope. While you’ll almost certainly hold one or more meetings to accomplish this phase, make sure the information doesn’t die with the meeting.

Creative project management often means working with professionals who are big on ideas but light on specifics, and you could both leave a meeting with very different ideas about what everyone committed to. Be sure to document every decision in your project management software. You should also create and distribute a project scope document so all stakeholders can see what’s being agreed to. So you have a written record to refer back to when someone inevitably disagrees!

5. Create Project Timeline and Milestones

Next up is building out the plan for exactly how and when your team will complete every task in the project. No big deal, right? Seriously, this is a deceptively complex step in the project management process, and it’s much worse if you rely on Excel spreadsheets or pen and paper. The right project management software platform can significantly speed up building your project schedule and even automate repeated task scheduling. Most projects run smoother if you create milestones and internal targets that measure progress and keep teams moving toward an in-sight goal. If you’re making a TV commercial, milestones might look like:

Concept completed/approved.
Script finished
Photography complete
Audio complete
Effects complete

Project complete Whatever milestones you choose look for options that are distinct and, where possible, sequential. Statements like, “We can’t start that until ‘Photography Complete,’” can be significant mental shortcuts that help everyone on the team remember to keep tasks in order.

6. Resource Allocation and Team Management

Resource allocation or resource management is deciding who does what on a project. In the ad agency world, many roles are highly specialized, so you can’t assign your videographer to write copy or your copywriter to close accounts. But depending on your agency’s size, you may have more than one specialist (or freelancer) who could slot into a particular role on the project.

“Team management” is a catch-all term that covers everything from solving interpersonal conflicts to scheduling around vacations to working out process bottlenecks. The project manager doesn’t just plan a project and then step back to watch it run. Instead, the PM sticks with the project—from planning to delivery—and is often called to find and implement solutions when project plans collide with reality.

7. Effective Communication and Collaboration Strategies

Managing a team well requires the communication skills of a master negotiator. But wouldn’t it be great if you didn’t have to rely on your crisis intervention skills quite so often? You can make this happen by helping your team communicate better and collaborate more seamlessly in real-time. When team members have the ability and the tools to communicate effectively, they’ll solve many day-to-day issues before they escalate into hostage negotiations. Of course, strong communication and team collaboration are more than skills that can be taught. There’s a teaching component, certainly, but also an opportunity component.

8. Risk Management Planning

Risk management planning is identifying the risks that threaten a project and then taking steps to manage or eliminate those risks. The potential dangers at an ad agency are as varied as the deliverables you create (and the clients you serve). Start with the most likely risks (like missing a client deadline or having work rejected by a client) and work to develop plans for both avoiding those risks and course-correcting if they become realities.

9. Tracking and Evaluating Project Performance

We mentioned earlier that successful project managers stick with their projects from planning to delivery. One reason is so they can solve problems along the way, and this is the other: Someone has to track project progress for various reasons, like ensuring quality, time management, and profitability.

This work falls to the project leader or a senior member on small projects and small teams. However, time spent tracking and evaluating project performance is time that the project leader isn’t spending doing their primary job. When a project or team is large enough to warrant a dedicated project manager, the project manager oversees this ongoing tracking, reporting, and evaluation.

Concentrating on these elements frees the rest of the team to focus on their unique specialties. In other words, the project manager worries about tracking and evaluating the details so everyone can focus on wrapping up their to-do lists.

Try Orchestra for Free to Grow Your Productized Service Today

Orchestra allows you to launch a productized service and manage projects like a pro. It offers an all-in-one toolkit to help you grow and scale your operations. It has an intuitive client portal, task management, and analytics, all with no coding needed. Just connect your Stripe account and start building your productized service. As an ad agency, Orchestra helps you streamline your workflow and deliver better client results.

The platform features a white-labeled client portal that lets you add your branding and customize the experience with integrations like Slack. You can also create a private workspace for your team to collaborate while keeping client communications organized and professional. Start using Orchestra for free today and create a more efficient operation to manage your next productized service project.

30 Best Ad Agency Project Management Software

30 Best Ad Agency Project Management Software

Importance of Project Management Software For Ad Agency

What Is Ad Agency Project Management Software?

How Project Management Software Benefits Ad Agencies

Collaboration

Visibility

Efficiency

Planning

Resource Allocation

Budgeting

Managing Multiple Projects

Identifying Delays

Related Reading

30 Best Ad Agency Project Management Software

1. Orchestra

2. Asana

Pros

Cons

3. Workamajig

Pros

Cons

4. Clickup

Pros

Cons

5. Hubstaff

Pros

Cons

6. Wrike

Pros

Cons

7. Airtable

Pros

Cons

8. Brafton

Pros

Cons

9. Kantata

Pros

Cons

10. Smart Sheet

Pros

Cons

11. Bitrix24

Pros

Cons

12. Proofhub

Pros

Cons

13. Workable

Pros

Cons

14. Base Camp

Pros

Cons

15. Insightly

Pros

Cons

16. Jira

Pros

Cons

17. Bonsai Agency Software

Pros

Cons

18. Confluence

Pros

Cons

19. Pipedrive

Pros

Cons

20. Creatio

Pros

Cons

21. Accelo

Pros

Cons

22. Less Annoying CRM

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Cons

23. Screendragon