Which tool is better for your marketing agency?
In today’s complex marketing world, choosing the right project management tool can significantly impact an agency’s productivity, efficiency, and success. Managing projects, communicating with the team, and tracking progress are all essential to smoothly executing marketing strategies and delivering client results.
Two popular tools often considered by marketing agencies are Jira from Atlassian and ClickUp. Both offer a rich set of project management features but differ in key aspects that can affect their suitability for your agency.
In this article, we’ll take an in-depth look at both tools. Given the unique requirements and challenges marketing agencies face, we’ll compare the capabilities of Jira and ClickUp to help you decide which is best for your agency.
Let’s start with a brief overview of both tools. Often, marketing agencies work on their prepared document templates and various types of boards. However, it turns out that tools such as Jira or ClickUp, which were created for developers, have developed extensively over the years, increasing the pool of their potential audience. Thus, among other things, the two tools discussed today can be successfully used in the work of a marketing agency. However, if you haven’t heard of these tools yet, let’s start at the beginning.
Jira and Confluence
Jira is Atlassian’s flagship product and the number one software development tool Agile teams use. It allows you to plan, track, deploy, report, and automate tasks in the software development process. You can divide big ideas into manageable chunks, prioritize work in context, deliver faster with always-on information, improve team performance based on real-time data, and automate tasks to save time and focus on the team.
In essence, an inseparable but standalone part of Jira is Confluence. It’s a remote workspace for the team where knowledge and collaboration meet. Using one space to gather documentation makes it easy to stay organized as your business grows. In Confluence, you can create a single source of truth to keep teams aligned, offering a place where ideas can come to life. Confluence links project plans to to-do activities by integrating with your favorite project management applications. It also provides flexible workspaces to create plans using text, tables, images, timelines, code, etc.
ClickUp
ClickUp, like Jira, is a versatile project management tool that is particularly valued for its flexibility and adaptability to the needs of diverse teams, including marketing teams. It offers features that allow you to schedule, track, and automate tasks. Still, it also excels at integrating all these functions in one place, eliminating the need for multiple separate tools.
In marketing project management, ClickUp allows users to break down large projects into smaller, manageable tasks, set priorities and deadlines, and track progress in real-time. Advanced reporting tools are also available to help analyze team performance and project efficiency.
ClickUp also offers “Docs,” functionality similar to Confluence, allowing users to create, share, and collaborate on documents within the same platform. Users can easily create rich documents that integrate directly with tasks and projects, supporting knowledge management and team collaboration. Docs in ClickUp provide a central place for all project assets, making it easy to stay consistent and organized as your business grows.
In addition, ClickUp offers integrations with many popular tools, allowing you to combine different aspects of project management and communication in one place. It also provides flexible workspaces that can be customized to meet your team’s specific needs, including text, tables, images, timelines, and more, which is especially useful in a dynamic marketing environment.
Available features
Jira
Different tools have different feature sets that can be useful in other contexts. For example, Jira offers the ability to plan, track, release, report, and automate work, which can be helpful in a marketing agency environment. On the other hand, Confluence is designed as a collaborative space for teams, allowing you to organize information, create a single source of truth, implement ideas, and create flexible workspaces.
How can this be used during project development?
Let’s start by noting that you can give the client a role in the project in Jira, such as requester. This role lets you view the project’s status and submit your requirements. You can also comment on individual tasks or the project at the acceptance stage.
Beforehand, you can write project requirements with the client, propose solutions, and keep all this documentation in confluence. You can also organize and conduct status meetings with the client, relying on the space in confluence. Separate authorizations can be given to each space created in confluence. This allows us as an agency to work in a single environment, with clients seeing only as much as we will enable them to see.
Regarding streamlining work, by writing down requirements with the client in confluence, they can be easily transferred to Jira, where tasks will be created based on those requirements, and task statuses in Jira will appear in confluence space.
ClickUp
ClickUp offers many project management features that are helpful in a marketing agency environment. For example, Jira enables scheduling, tracking, publishing, reporting, and work automation. In addition, its platform is highly customizable, allowing you to tailor your workspace to meet the specific needs of both teams and clients.
In the context of client collaboration, ClickUp allows clients to be given roles such as “Guests” or “Viewers.” These roles enable clients to view project progress, comment on tasks, and track statuses without having to see the entire workspace. This is beneficial because it allows the marketing agency to control what the client can see and do within the project.
ClickUp also integrates features similar to Confluence. With built-in “Docs,” users can create documents as a central repository for project knowledge and specifications. These documents can be directly linked to tasks and projects, making it easier to manage project documentation and communicate with clients.
Regarding streamlining work, documents created in ClickUp can be directly transformed into tasks, and their statuses are automatically updated and visible in the documentation. This makes the entire process smooth and transparent, from writing requirements to completing assignments. In addition, ClickUp allows you to conduct status meetings and share updates with customers in real-time through powerful communication features and integration with external communication tools.
In ClickUp, the flexibility of workspaces allows for creating personalized views and dashboards tailored to specific project needs and client preferences, further facilitating project management and communication.
Integrations
Jira
The number of integrations that Jira offers is huge, but let’s focus on the integrations that a marketing agency can benefit from the most:
Confluence: this Atlassian tool is excellent for creating and managing project documentation, meeting notes, project plans, and other essential information. Confluence’s integration with Jira makes it easy to link Confluence documents to specific issues or projects in Jira. Failing to take advantage of Confluence’s capabilities with Jira should be considered a fatal oversight.
Trello is another popular project management tool that can be used in parallel with Jira. Jira’s integration with Trello allows tasks to be synchronized between the two platforms, which can be especially useful when you want to give the ability to submit topics to the client. He can add new requests and needs to Trello, and in it, he can check what is waiting in the queue, prioritize tasks accordingly, and view which tasks are currently in progress.
At the same time, the agency’s staff can assess the status of each task in Jira, assign subtasks, staff responsible for completion, tie tasks to notes, comment on tasks, and have a dedicated workflow for each type of task, which the client may not necessarily be aware of.
Integrating Trello with Jira has another advantage. If the team is working in sprints, the order in which tasks are to be completed can be determined by the client in Trello based on established priorities. In an agency, we often want everything done yesterday because the client demands it. This generates misunderstanding and nerves on both sides.
You may want to sit down with the client for an hour-long meeting, show him the list of tasks he has ordered, and assign deadlines and priorities to these tasks while informing the client of the capacity of the project team. If the client doesn’t agree to stagger the work based on the data presented in the meeting, they may look for another agency.
Google Analytics: Integrating Google Analytics with Jira can help marketing teams track and analyze data related to their marketing campaigns directly from within Jira. This is a very convenient connection for quickly discussing the results of individual activities during daily status meetings. It also allows you to conveniently add subtasks to the tasks concerned and make further decisions based on the breakdown of tasks to be completed.
Salesforce: is a popular CRM (Customer Relationship Management) tool that can be integrated with Jira to help marketing and sales teams manage customer relationships and run marketing campaigns. With this integration, it is possible to combine tasks in Jira with specific activities to acquire new customers and service existing ones. The sales team will be equipped with full knowledge of what orders have been placed by the customer and the stage at which each order is being processed. Moreover, the sales team can directly add tasks for completion in Jira during the sales call, significantly simplifying the work with the customer.
Slack: This is a famous team communication tool that can be integrated with Jira to allow users to directly receive notifications of issue updates on Slack. What’s more, for specific tasks in Jira, specific channels on Slack can be plugged in, allowing project team members to find themselves in the current project situation quickly. Integration with Slack also allows you to automatically send notifications to Slack when a specific action is performed in Jira. For example, a task has gone to testing, so a notification will appear on the channel for quality officers that there is a new task to check.
Zapier: umożliwia integrację Jira z setkami innych narzędzi, takich jak narzędzia do zarządzania mediami społecznościowymi, narzędzia do tworzenia formularzy, narzędzia do zarządzania e-mailem i wiele innych. Genialne połączenie, dzięki któremu praca agencji staje się łatwiejsza. Raz konfigurujesz automatyzację procesu i od tego momentu dzieje się magia, bo narzędzia wykonują pracę za Ciebie. Na przykład: przygotowujesz wsad merytoryczny do kampanii reklamowej, a następnie konfigurujesz Jira i Zapier, tak żeby kolejne kroki kampanii działy się same. Połączenie idealne.
ClickUp
ClickUp also offers rich integrations that can significantly support a marketing agency’s business, as can Jira:
Google Drive & Docs: ClickUp can be integrated with Google Drive and Google Docs, enabling easy management of project documentation, just like Jira’s integration with Confluence. Users can store all project documents in one place and easily share them internally or with clients.
Trello: Like Jira, ClickUp enables integration with Trello, synchronizing tasks between the two platforms. This allows customers to add new requests and needs, and marketing teams can manage priorities and monitor task progress.
Google Analytics: Integration with Google Analytics allows marketing teams to analyze data from marketing campaigns directly from within ClickUp, just like in Jira. This enables more effective action planning and appropriate responses to campaign results.
Salesforce: Integration with Salesforce allows you to manage customer relationships and synchronize campaign and customer data between Salesforce and ClickUp. This helps sales and marketing teams manage campaigns and customers more consistently.
Slack: ClickUp also integrates with Slack, allowing you to receive notifications and updates on tasks directly in the communication channel. This makes it easier for teams to communicate and respond quickly to changes in a project.
Zapier: Like Jira, ClickUp integrates with Zapier, allowing you to automate tasks between ClickUp and hundreds of other tools. This dramatically streamlines managing ad campaigns, social media publishing, and emails.
Zoom: ClickUp also offers integration with Zoom, making it easy to organize online meetings directly from within a task. This allows sessions to be organized quickly and information about them to be saved and shared within a project.
These integrations make ClickUp a highly flexible tool adaptable to the needs of dynamic environments, such as marketing agencies, where speed and efficiency of communication and project management are essential.
Method of adjustment
Jira
Some tools allow customization to meet a user’s specific needs. For example, Jira enables users to start with simple templates and customize the tool to their particular needs as their complexity increases.
You can start your Jira adventure with a single project, realized from the available templates. You will see if this environment suits you if your team sees value in using Jira and Confluence, and if they like the tool.Once you’ve decided that Jira suits your marketing agency, you can configure the design flow according to your agency’s needs. Almost everything is configurable, from the number and content of fields in a specific submission type to advanced design flow automation. Jire can be configured to meet any client requirement to support the project process.
ClickUp
ClickUp also features high flexibility and customizability, making it ideal for marketing agencies looking to tailor processes to their unique needs.
Templates: Like Jira, ClickUp offers several ready-made templates that can be used to get projects started quickly. These templates cover different activities, from project management, human resources, marketing, and sales to specific tasks such as content management or advertising campaigns. This makes it easy for teams to get started and customize the templates to suit their needs.
Configurability: ClickUp allows extensive workspace configuration, including custom task statuses, fields, views, and dashboards. Users can customize every aspect of their workspace, creating a perfectly tailored work environment that supports a marketing agency’s specific processes and workflows.
Automation: ClickUp has powerful automation options that allow teams to set rules that automatically assign tasks, update statuses, send notifications, and perform other actions, significantly reducing the need for manual task management. This automation can be configured to support specific agency and client needs.
Integrations: ClickUp can integrate with many third-party tools and applications, enabling a cohesive work ecosystem where data is easily accessible and manageable in one place. Like Jira’s, integrations allow smoother workflows and better project management.
Accessibility and Collaboration: ClickUp also offers advanced collaboration options such as comments, document sharing, collaborative editing, and other features that facilitate communication and collaboration within teams and with clients.
All in all, ClickUp is a tool that can be effectively customized to meet the very diverse needs of marketing agencies, both in terms of project management and day-to-day collaboration and communication. It provides a wide range of functionality that can be modified and expanded as the agency grows and requirements change.
Time to practice
Jira
Let’s move on to an actual project, which is standard for an agency. Suppose a company enters and places an order to promote its new product.
First, we define the scope of the order. Confluence is remarkable for this. It can be used to keep contractual records, starting with the agency’s template. This template can be copied as another page in Confluence and shared with the client. The client fills in the missing fields. At the meeting, the scope of work can be completed, and then a PDF can be generated from that page and signed PDF. The subject of the contract is taken care of.
Further, if you break down the contract scope in Confluence as a table, you can use a single macro to generate tasks in Jira from the contract points. This is a very fast and convenient solution, plus the client has access to the document, so he can see in real-time how the work is progressing on the agency side.
In Jira, subtasks can be generated for each task if needed. These tasks and subtasks can be linked to pre-prepared workflows, where you trigger the assignment of designated people to complete the work, depending on the task’s status. What’s more, in Jira, you can assign tasks depending on the workload of individual team members.
If we don’t want to share space or comments in Jira, the client can pick up tasks with comments in Confluence for functions.
All work can be linked in comments in Jira to find what was completed and how easily.
Finally, the acceptance protocol can be prepared similarly to the contract in confluence. Copy the ready-made template, substitute the appropriate scope of tasks, and generate a PDF, which the client can sign. Done.
ClickUp
ClickUp effectively handles project management, offering functionality to enable smooth project execution in a marketing agency, as described in Jira.
Defining job scope: In ClickUp, you can start by creating a document in the “Docs” function, which serves a similar purpose to Confluence in Jira. You can use ready-made document templates customized for a specific project. The customer can fill in missing fields directly in the document, making collaboration easier and communication transparent.
Generate Tasks from Documentation: Once you’ve defined the scope of your project, you can quickly turn the items you’ve written in your documentation into specific tasks with Tasks. ClickUp allows you to create tasks directly from documents, automating the process and saving time.
Task and subtask management: In ClickUp, each task can be further expanded with subtasks, and each task can be assigned a corresponding workflow that automatically assigns tasks to team members based on their workload and specialization. All this is within a single platform without jumping between different tools.
Customer Communication: The customer can track the progress of tasks directly in ClickUp, where they can also leave comments and feedback. If the client cannot access the main ClickUp interface, you can provide them with views or documents that will be updated as the work progresses.
Project Final Documentation: At the end of a project, just like in Confluence, in ClickUp, you can prepare an acceptance report using a document template. Then, this document can be easily exported to PDF format for the client to sign, formalizing the completion of the project.
By integrating all of these functions into a single platform, ClickUp offers a comprehensive solution that streamlines project management and customer collaboration, reducing the need for additional tools and applications, making the process more consistent and efficient.
Summary and recommendation of a tool for a marketing agency
Jira’s strengths:
- Advanced project management: Jira offers robust planning, tracking, and reporting features, which are crucial for teams using Agile methodologies.
- Integration with Confluence: This enables the easy creation and management of documentation, which is important for keeping projects organized.
- Flexibility in customization: Jira can configure workflows and automation in detail, allowing you to fine-tune the tool to fit your agency’s needs.
- Wide integration capabilities: From Trello to Salesforce, which increases functionality and makes it easy to synchronize with other platforms
ClickUp’s strengths:
- Comprehensiveness and feature integration: ClickUp integrates project management, document management, and communication in one place, reducing the need for multiple tools.
- Highly customizable: It allows customization of workspaces, views, and dashboards, which promotes work organization according to team preferences.
- Process automation: ClickUp allows you to automate routine tasks, which increases work efficiency.
- Variety of integrations: Like Jira, ClickUp offers integration with popular tools, streamlining the team’s workflow.
Recommendation:
Both platforms offer a range of features that can significantly improve project management efficiency in a marketing agency. The choice between Jira and ClickUp depends on your agency’s specific needs, team preferences, and current IT infrastructure.
- Jira will be an excellent choice for agencies using other Atlassian tools or those needing advanced project management features and detailed process customization.
- ClickUp is ideal for agencies looking for a more integrated and flexible solution to manage all project aspects in one place and for teams that value intuitiveness and ease of use.
In a dynamic marketing environment, where speed of adaptation and flexibility are key, ClickUp may prove more suitable. It offers the ease of integrating various functions and the simplicity of managing tasks and documentation in a single tool.
Sources used in this article:
Atlassian: https://www.atlassian.com/teams/marketing
ClickUp: https://www.clickup.com/