Hawke Media gains new level of project visibility with ClickUp

When Hawke Media shifted to remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic, the growing marketing agency experienced both benefits and drawbacks when it came to client project delivery, and executive project management and reporting. Its existing project management tool, Wrike, wasn’t user-friendly, which exacerbated the already-prevalent low product adoption issues.

At the time, only a few teams within the company were power users of Wrike. The tool’s complex interface, lack of permissions for external project stakeholders, and minimal technical support led Hawke to seek out a new, more robust platform.

One productivity platform to unite a growing marketing agency

Hawke Media decided ClickUp was the best option for the company because it seamlessly allowed for as much or as little customization as needed. This was a game changer for the marketing agency’s growing team, including individual contributors, team leads, managers, directors, VPs, and the company’s executive leadership team.

Today, over 200 employees at Hawke Media are simplifying work and getting more done after a company-wide deployment of ClickUp. Product adoption has been a major focus for the organization—and it has paid off.

"If people can’t understand why a platform is useful for them, they’ll simply revert to the way they used to work,” Lauren says.

To make adoption easier for staff while they were still working remotely, Lauren created an onboarding presentation to help employees become familiar with ClickUp and preloaded the platform with Templates for various teams.

She also offers lunch-and-learns for everyone in the company to get general productivity tips and user information related to ClickUp. These strategies have helped immensely to drive adoption.

"Now, when people can’t get the hang of something, I spend 5 minutes on a screen share with them, and they go back to the platform saying, ‘This changed my life,’” Lauren says.

1. Executive-level reporting and visibility

Hawke Media’s top executives don’t need to be ClickUp power users. However, it’s still essential for them to have visibility into the platform to keep an eye on project progress. This is why it’s a huge benefit that executives can gain insight into ClickUp without ever having to log in.

"Many of our top-level executives have a lot to keep track of and don’t necessarily want to log in to ClickUp. But we can send out View Only links so they–or anyone else who needs to–can see a content calendar or sprint dashboard to quickly understand what we’re working on,” Lauren says.

Thanks to ClickUp, it’s easy for busy executives to stay up-to-date on fast-moving projects. As a result, Hawke Media experienced a 70% decrease in project delays during the first year using the platform.

2. New efficiencies accelerate client projects forward

Hawke Media has leveraged ClickUp to streamline onboarding for both new hires and new clients, increasing efficiency and onboarding speed. The company uses the templates, tasks, and Docs features to create a great experience for new employees.

On the client side, Hawke Media uses ClickUp to house, track, and collaborate on all work activity and client deliverables on every project from start to finish. Features like Milestones and Custom Statuses make this process a breeze.

In addition, ClickUp has given Hawke Media the ability to provide greater transparency into project progress and help clients and vendors understand the time required to complete certain projects, like branding, media buying, and web design.

Company-wide adoption of ClickUp has helped Hawke Media improve alignment, efficiency, and visibility into project progress.

The company can now manage company-wide initiatives, marketing campaigns, and client engagements all in one place, thanks to the powerful platform.

As a result, the industry-leading marketing agency can continue to deliver exceptional client service as it grows.