Best Project Management Software for Marketing Agencies (Campaigns, Clients & Creative Workflows)
Marketing agencies run on repeatable workflows “campaign planning, content production, multi-stage approvals, capacity planning, and time-to-invoice”.
When those pieces live in separate tools (boards, spreadsheets, chat, and a standalone billing app), you feel it as launch slippage, scope creep, and unbilled work. The fix is centralizing delivery and revenue so briefs, tasks, resources, and invoices stay in one flow
💡 Why Avaza fits marketing agencies: Avaza unifies multi-view “project planning (List/Kanban/Gantt/Calendar), client collaboration, resource scheduling, online timesheets with flexible rates, and invoicing”, so you can plan work, balance creative load, capture time, and bill accurately without glue code or add-ons.
Alternatives like Asana, Monday, and Trello excel at task execution, but often need extra components to cover approvals, resourcing, or billing end-to-end.
In this guide, we compare the top options, highlight trade-offs, and map features to real agency use cases like campaign timelines, content calendars, client approvals, resourcing, and time→invoice.
What Is “Marketing Agency Project Management Software”?
It’s a single platform where agencies plan campaigns, coordinate creative tasks & approvals, manage resources, centralize files/feedback, track time vs. scope, and invoice clients in one flow. That means fewer tool handoffs, clearer ownership, better capacity planning, and faster quote-to-cash.
The Best Project Management Software for Marketing Agencies
Below are popular agency project management tools used by digital marketing agencies, creative studios, performance shops, and PR teams. Each mini-review includes who it’s best for and watch-outs for growing agencies.
Tool
Best for
Standout strengths
Watch for
Avaza
Agencies needing one system for delivery + revenue
Limited resourcing, approvals, and financials at scale
1️⃣ Avaza (Best all-in-one for agencies: projects + resourcing + time + billing)
Why do agencies choose Avaza?
With Avaza, everything connects from the first brief to the final invoice. You can plan campaigns, manage creative work, schedule resources, and handle billing, all in one place.
Prefer Kanban, List, Gantt, or Calendar? Take your pick as they’re all ready to go.
Use templates and approvals to keep projects consistent, and track time and expenses right where the work happens. When it’s time to bill, just turn your quotes into invoices (yep, even retainers) without ever leaving the platform.
For growing teams, scheduling boards and capacity heatmaps make workload balancing concrete thus, giving PMs & Ops the visibility to protect deadlines and margins.
If you’re tired of stitching tasks, proofs, timesheets, and AR across tools, Avaza becomes your one source of truth for delivery and revenue.
It’s a strong fit for digital, creative, and PR agencies that want reliable execution discipline and commercial clarity in the same place.
As with any comprehensive platform, you’ll get the best results by defining conventions early “shared naming, a global status taxonomy, consistent custom fields, and unified rate cards” so templates behave predictably and reporting stays apples-to-apples across accounts.
Avaza for Agencies: Feature Deep Dive?
1) Build Repeatable Campaign Templates
Treat templates as your operating system. Model the real path work takes “Strategy, Creative, Build, QA, Launch, Optimize” and wire in the metadata your team needs for governance and reporting: channel, asset type, reviewer, due date, budget bucket, UTM link, priority, and SLA expectations.
Keep brand kits and messaging frameworks attached at the template level so every clone starts with the right scaffolding.
The effect is immediate! Faster kickoffs, predictable cycle times, and far less scope ambiguity when work scales across brands and markets.
2) Visualize Timelines & Capacity Together
Plan interdependencies in Gantt, from “Concept Approved” to “Shoot,” “Edit,” “QA,” and “Publish”, then validate staffing in resource scheduling before dates are promised.
Capacity heatmaps by person and role expose over-allocation at a glance; dragging a task, swapping an assignee, or shifting a milestone becomes routine risk management instead of weekend triage.
Keep an eye on utilization, load versus capacity, at-risk milestones and treat the timeline & the schedule as a single planning surface that protects both delivery and margin.
3) Streamline Approvals & Handoffs
Design a status model that matches the real review path “Draft, Internal Review, Client Review, optional Legal, Approved, Published” and enforce it with SLA timers and explicit approvers.
@Mentions keep clarifications in-context, while proofs and comments live on the task to preserve a clean audit trail. For clients, expose scoped views or a portal so stakeholders can review, comment, and approve without navigating your internal workspace.
You’ll see tighter ownership, fewer email threads, and shorter time-to-value on deliverables.
PMs approve time, Ops enforces role- or client-level rate cards, and budget burn alerts surface risk before scope slips.
When work is approved, convert time and expenses straight into invoices “retainers, fixed-fee, and T&M can coexist across your portfolio” closing the loop from delivery to dollars, reducing leakage, clarifying margins, and shortening DSO.
5) Keep Clients in the Loop (Without Chaos)
Swap status-chasing for proactive, transparent communication. Share read-only boards, calendars, or dashboards scoped to contract “in-flight progress, budget vs. actuals, and the next five milestones” so clients always know what’s done, what’s next, and where you need input.
Expect fewer ad-hoc pings, more predictable approvals, and cleaner renewals.
6) Automate the Busywork
Let rules handle repetitive coordination.
When a task moves to Client Review, automatically notify the stakeholder and assign the approver; when a task closes, nudge the assignee to submit remaining time and expenses; when budget burn crosses 80% and the status isn’t “Final Review,” alert AM and Ops to re-scope before you over-service.
These small guardrails compound into healthier projects and steadier margins. Ready to centralize delivery and revenue?Plan Marketing Projects in Avaza
Try Avaza For Free
If you feel that Avaza might be the right project management software for your marketing agency, sign up to start using Avaza for free. If you need any help with your Avaza subscription or want to better understand our pricing, please contact chat support or email support@avaza.com.
2️⃣ Asana
Asana gives marketing teams clean UX, fast task capture, and reliable automations across List/Board/Timeline/Calendar. It’s great for moving briefs through statuses, handling dependencies on creative assets, and keeping channel owners aligned with due dates and SLAs.
Rule-based triggers (e.g., status → notify reviewer) help reduce handoff lag, and custom fields make content calendars workable.
Best for: Teams prioritizing day-to-day task execution, campaign checklists, and collaboration without heavy resourcing or billing needs.
Watch for: Native resource scheduling, rate cards, and invoicing aren’t core except workarounds or extra tools to manage utilization, retainers, and budget-to-actuals.
Wrike shines with configurable workflows, request forms for intake, and enterprise-grade permissions. For agencies dealing with multi-stage approvals (internal QA → client review → legal), custom statuses and proofing help maintain audit trails.
Blueprints and automation rules support repeatable campaign ops at scale.
Best for: Complex approval paths, multi-brand portfolios, and teams that need granular controls, SLAs, and change management.
Watch for: Steeper onboarding curve and admin overhead; costs can climb with advanced features and large seat counts.
ClickUp bundles tasks, docs, and dashboards so you can build a unified campaign tracker with custom fields (channel, asset type, publish date), goals, and workload views.
It’s extremely flexible—great for power users who want to model deep hierarchies (client → brand → campaign → asset) and wire up automations.
Best for: Tinkerers who want to custom everything “from intake to OKRs” and visualize performance in custom dashboards.
Watch for: Setup can get intricate; approvals, retainers, and billing typically need add-ons/third-party tools to close the loop from time to invoice.
Monday offers visual boards, templates, and integrations that make it easy to spin up campaign pipelines and editorial calendars. Teams like the color-coded status fields, automation recipes, and simple reporting to show in-flight work to account stakeholders.
Best for: Visual planners who want quick wins, modular apps, and easy stakeholder visibility across channels.
Watch for: Time tracking, budgeting, and forecasting often rely on add-ons; advanced capacity planning and native invoicing are limited compared with all-in-one PSA platforms.
Notion’s docs + databases are ideal for creative briefs, messaging frameworks, and content hubs. You can stitch together calendars, kanban boards, and wikis into a single source of truth for brand and campaign knowledge.
Best for: Content-heavy teams that value documentation-first workflows and want flexible knowledge architecture.
Watch for: True approval workflows, resource scheduling, and invoicing require manual builds or external tools which expect more ops overhead as you scale.
Trello’s lightweight kanban is perfect for simple pipelines (Backlog → Doing → Review → Done) and quick collaboration. Labels and checklists make basic content and ad ops easy to visualize without over-engineering.
Best for: Small teams, pilot projects, or straightforward editorial workflows that don’t need capacity planning or financials.
Watch for: Limited native support for resourcing, multistage approvals, time/budget tracking, and client-facing financials, constraints become apparent as volume and headcount grow.
Great project management software should mirror how agencies actually operate “from multi-channel campaigns to content pipelines, client sign-offs, resourcing, and billing”. Use the scenarios below to map pains to the capabilities that resolve them, and see how Avaza closes the loop.
Campaign & Channel Planning
Pain: Timelines live in different tools, dependencies get missed, launches slip.
What to look for: Gantt with real dependencies & milestones, reusable campaign templates, structured briefs, and fast view switching (List ⟷ Board ⟷ Calendar).
How Avaza solves it: Plan the critical path in Gantt (with true task dependencies & auto-scheduling), switch to Board for day-to-day flow, and reuse campaign templates so every launch starts 80% done. Keep briefs/files on the task which are never buried in email.
Content Production & Editorial Calendar
Pain: Drafts stall because ownership/status are opaque.
What to look for: Explicit status pipelines, real Content Calendar, custom fields (content type, channel, brand), task-level file versioning/proofing, and SLA-based due-date alerts.
How Avaza solves it: Use custom fields for type/brand/channel, enforce stage-based workflows, attach files & versions to tasks, assign reviewers, and visualize deadlines in Calendar view so editors, creatives, and channel owners stay synchronized, no side spreadsheets.
Client Approvals & Proofing
Pain: Email threads are a terrible system of record, no one remembers who approved what or when.
What to look for: Structured approval steps, shareable links, threaded comments, audit trails, and client-visible views that keep internal notes private.
How Avaza solves it: Invite clients into scoped views, run approvals with assigned approvers & timestamps, keep internal notes private, and centralize decision history. Faster cycles, clean audit trail.
Resource Scheduling & Capacity Management
Pain: Overbooking star creatives causes overtime, missed SLAs, and margin erosion.
What to look for: Drag-and-drop scheduling, capacity heatmaps, utilization by role/skill, and integrated time-off.
How Avaza solves it: The resource scheduling board shows who’s at/over capacity in real time; drag to reassign, shift, or split work before deadlines slip. See portfolio-wide availability at a glance, then level workloads.
Time Tracking, Budgeting & Billing
Pain: Leakage happens when time is captured late, scope is fuzzy, and invoices lag.
What to look for: Task-level timers, weekly timesheets, billable vs non-billable flags, rate cards, retainers, budget burn alerts, and a clean quotes → invoices path.
How Avaza solves it: Creators start timers from tasks; PMs approve timesheets; Ops enforces role/client rate cards; budget thresholds trigger alerts before you overservice; approved time/expenses convert to invoices retainer, fixed-fee, or T&M.
Reporting & Client Transparency
Pain: End-of-month is a spreadsheet scramble; clients want visibility between QBRs.
What to look for: Custom dashboards, saved reports, shareable links, and scheduled sends that show progress, utilization, and budget vs. actuals without manual compilation.
How Avaza solves it: Build shareable project health, utilization, and financial reports so AMs can keep stakeholders aligned in a click no ad-hoc data pulls.
How to Choose Project Management Software for Marketing Teams
The right platform should feel like an operating system for your agency, not another dashboard to babysit. In practice, that means one place to plan multi-channel work, capture decisions, balance capacity, and turn approved time into clean invoices.
Use the essentials below as your filter during demos; if a vendor can’t show these natively (not via plug-ins and exports), you’ll pay later in delays, over-servicing, and billing friction.
Must-have criteria (deal makers)
Check these off live in a demo. If any box stays unticked (or needs third-party add-ons), expect delays and margin leakage.
Multi-view planning with real dependencies — List, Board, Gantt, and Calendar that switch seamlessly without breaking dates or assignments.
Reusable campaign & content templates — briefs, assets, SLAs, milestones baked in so every kickoff starts on rails.
Native approvals & proofing — stage gates with timestamps, version history, and an auditable trail, client-safe views (no email archaeology).
Resource scheduling + capacity heatmaps — drag-and-drop allocation, time-off awareness, and utilization by role or skill.
Time → Budget → Invoice chain — task timers and weekly timesheets flow through rate cards and budget thresholds to retainer/fixed-fee/T&M invoices, no CSV gymnastics.
Client-safe collaboration — scoped, shareable views or portals that separate internal chatter/costs from client-visible updates.
Ops backbone — shareable dashboards, role-based permissions, fast onboarding, and first-party integrations (Drive/OneDrive/Dropbox, Slack/Email, Xero/QuickBooks).
Nice-to-have accelerators
Custom fields & automation rules for SLAs, budget thresholds, and handoff nudges.
Skills tagging & workload forecasting to match talent to demand a few weeks out.
Public read-only links & shareable dashboards for zero-friction status and QBRs.
API/warehouse access for bespoke reporting without manual exports.
▶️ Bottom line: If any must-have is missing “or if approvals, resourcing, or the time-to-invoice path depend on third-party add-ons” you’re signing up for tool sprawl and margin leakage. Choose the platform that runs your loop end-to-end: Brief → Create → Review → Publish → Report → Invoice.
Turn ad ops into a repeatable production line. Model the flow end-to-end (Strategy → Creative → Build → QA → Launch → Optimize) so media and creative stay in lockstep.
Set it up in Avaza (3 steps):
Start from a campaign template and pre-load stages, tasks, and dependencies.
Enforce true dependencies so “Concept Approved” must complete before “Build.” Plan/adjust in Gantt; autoscheduling keeps dates accurate.
Normalize fields & statuses for reporting (e.g., Channel, Ad Set, Asset Type, UTM, Reviewer, Due Date, Status). Model approval flow with custom task statuses/task types.
💡 Outcome: Faster iteration cycles, fewer QA defects, and cleaner handoffs between creative and media. Track cycle time by asset, launch slippage, and iteration count per ad.
2. Content Calendar for Multi-Brand Agencies
Centralize publishing across brands without spreadsheet drift. Capture Brand, Content Type, Publish Date, Platform, Owner, and Stage (Brief → Draft → Review → Publish).
Set it up in Avaza:
Build the Editorial pipeline with custom statuses and task types for article, video, social, etc.
Switch views as you work such as Calendar for scheduling, Board for throughput; Gantt for cross-brand dependencies.
Store briefs & assets on tasks; notify reviewers as stages change (status updates + watchers).
💡 Outcome: Predictable weekly output and fewer missed windows. Watch planned vs. published, stage aging, and first-pass approval rate.
3. PR Pitch & Coverage Tracker
Without an audit trail, follow-ups stall and coverage gets lost. Make outreach traceable: Outlet, Journalist, Pitch Date, Embargo, Assets, Status (Pitched → In Review → Secured → Published).
Set it up in Avaza:
Create a dedicated PR project with task types for Pitch, Follow-up, Asset Request, Coverage.
Centralize email threads by forwarding to the project (every project has a unique email-in address).
Capture approvals & keep internal notes private using client portal scoped views (for client-visible status without internal chatter).
Build a client-facing report (placements by outlet tier, days-to-response), schedule it, and share the link.
💡 Outcome: Traceable approvals, tighter follow-ups, and cleaner client reporting. Monitor pitch-to-placement rate, days to response, and placements by outlet tier.
4. Retainer Management
Margin leaks when scope is fuzzy and invoices lag. Run retainers with budget thresholds, rate cards, and auto-invoicing.
Set it up in Avaza:
Create a monthly retainer project with budget + utilization thresholds (e.g., 70/85/100% alerts).
Auto-convert approved time/expenses to invoices; use retainer subscriptions for advance billing and smooth cashflow.
💡 Outcome: Scope clarity, utilization discipline, and smoother cash conversion. Follow budget burn %, realization rate, and DSO.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is project management software for marketing teams?
It’s a delivery and revenue backbone that organizes campaign planning, creative production, client approvals, resourcing, time tracking, budgeting, reporting, and invoicing, so you ship on time and bill accurately.
How should we handle retainers vs. fixed-fee projects?
Define rate cards and budgets per project or per month. Track burn vs. scope with thresholds (e.g., 70/85/100%). For retainers, set utilization targets and automate alerts before you over-service.
What’s the difference between resource scheduling and workload?
Resource scheduling sets who does what “and when” on a calendar. Workload/capacity shows whether a person or role is over- or under-allocated. You need both to protect deadlines, margins, and morale.
How do we migrate from Trello/Asana/ClickUp to Avaza?
Start with your two most common workflows. Rebuild them as templates with shared statuses and fields, import active tasks, and run a two-week parallel period. Once stable, roll remaining clients into the standardized model.
Can clients review and approve without paying for seats?
Yes. Use shareable views/portals for review and approval so stakeholders can comment and sign off without internal licenses, while your team keeps cost data and internal chatter private.
Bring Campaigns, Clients, and Creative into One Flow
When planning lives in one app, approvals in another, and time and invoicing sit somewhere else, you don’t have a workflow “you have a scavenger hunt”. The outcome is predictable: launch slippage, unclear ownership, and margin leakage.
▶️ The fix isn’t another plug-in, it’s a platform that connects strategy, production, resourcing, and billing end-to-end so briefs become timelines, capacity stays balanced, approvals are auditable, and captured time flows cleanly to invoice. Your team delivers faster, clients stay in the loop, and revenue becomes predictable instead of hopeful.
💡 This is exactly where Avaza excels.
Avaza unifies multi-view planning (List/Kanban/Gantt/Calendar), structured approvals, resource scheduling with live capacity, native time & expenses, and quotes-to-invoices in one PSA-grade platform “no glue code, no spreadsheet gymnastics”.
Agencies adopt it quickly because it maps to real workflows (campaign tracker, content calendar, PR pipeline) and scales cleanly from boutique to multi-team without bolt-ons for the revenue chain.
Client portals keep stakeholders reviewing and approving; integrations with storage, chat/email, and accounting reduce tool sprawl.
