{"id":4053,"date":"2024-10-21T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-22T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/clickup.com\/blog\/?p=4053"},"modified":"2025-08-08T05:03:21","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T12:03:21","slug":"digital-marketing-agency-project-management-software-quest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clickup.com\/blog\/digital-marketing-agency-project-management-software-quest\/","title":{"rendered":"Chasing Productivity: A Digital Marketing Agency’s Quest to Find the Right Project Management Software"},"content":{"rendered":"

This post is from Ericka Marett, a project manager with Adhere Creative<\/a>. Here\u2019s her story about finding the right project management software<\/a> for their digital agency! Go here to learn about how ClickUp can help your digital marketing agency<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Anyone who has experienced agency life knows that a good marketing<\/a> project management system<\/a> can make or break a project. And though the issues agencies encounter when managing clients may be similar, the ideal solution will depend on their unique needs. <\/span><\/p>\n

Over the years, our needs evolved, leading to frustration over some of the limitations we encountered with what we\u2019d always used. So, we began our quest: we took a step back, rolled up our sleeves, and the great project management software<\/a> search commenced.<\/span><\/p>\n

Starting Our Journey<\/b><\/h2>\n

Our agency, Adhere Creative<\/a>, used Basecamp for about 8 years, and for a long time, we loved it! It allowed us to easily communicate with clients, work on projects as a team, and keep due dates in order. However, slowly but surely we outgrew it. Though we\u2019d been building toward a change for a while, the real turning point came when we implemented <\/span>agile project management<\/span><\/a>. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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We closed shop for about a week and took a deep dive into sprints, Kanban boards, retrospectives, and so much more. At the end of our <\/span>week intensive<\/span><\/a>, we emerged a lean, mean fighting machine lead by yours truly, the scrum master (insert evil laugh.) Though we saw a pretty significant increase in our efficiency after implementing Agile, we quickly realized Basecamp couldn\u2019t accommodate our new processes.<\/span><\/p>\n

The first red flag was <\/span>Kanban<\/span><\/a>. If you\u2019re not familiar with Kanban, imagine a chalkboard divided into several columns that represent phases of a project, such as in progress, client review, and completed. All projects are moved across this board to visually represent the progress of the entire agency. <\/span><\/p>\n

Unfortunately, Basecamp<\/a> couldn\u2019t accommodate this type of structure, so while we were working on projects in Basecamp we were \u201cmoving\u201d projects on a makeshift Kanban we built in Excel. As you could imagine, it was a mess. <\/span><\/p>\n

Simply put, we outgrew Basecamp. The platform is simple to use and cost-effective for a budding agency, but as we evolved, it only held us back. As Basecamp created more problems than it solved, it became apparent to everyone on the team that we needed a new project management platform\u2014and fast. <\/span><\/p>\n

Making a List, Checking it Twice <\/b><\/h2>\n

There are hundreds of project management platforms available, and the thought of sifting through them all to find the perfect fit was daunting. So, like any good project manager, I began the task by making a checklist.<\/span><\/p>\n

For a few weeks, I observed the agency and made a list of all the project management-related problems I noted. Over time, a pattern emerged. I identified about 15 core problems and matched them with project management solutions. Looking back, the items that made it on the list seem obvious, but for months we only saw the problems and not the solutions that could fix them. Here\u2019s a preview of my list: <\/span><\/p>\n