How Technology Can Improve Your Agency’s Workflow

Marketing agencies are constantly debating how to best manage resources in a highly automated, technology-powered world.

Agencies that want to streamline workflows and automate marketing processes shouldn't replace people with technology.It’s not about the tools—it’s about how you use them. Agency leaders should see marketing software as a tool to enable creativity, critical thinking, and collaboration.

Marketing automation tools eliminate time-consuming manual tasks and break down silos. That’s the first step in streamlining workflows. The second step includes a thorough review of the people and processes involved in delivering marketing campaigns.

How to Efficiently Streamline Agency Workflows

Essentially, streamlining an agency workflow means:

• Removing unnecessary processes

• Optimizing operations

• Finding the most efficient way to deliver work

• Standardizing repeatable processes

• Continually seeking efficiencies

In the complex and often chaotic agency world, streamlining workflows is the foundation for growth. But no matter how superhuman your marketing automation tools are, they won't save you from having to do some of the less glamorous work yourself.

Technology supports agency teams to streamline processes in 5 key areas.

1. Strategy and Planning

Time is valuable, so why spend it in boardroom meetings and feedback sessions? Collaborative and dynamic planning processes save time by removing the inefficiencies inherent to meetings, strategic reviews, and feedback sessions. The right marketing workflow tool will give your team the ability to:

• Collaborate and have conversations in real-time 

• Invite clients to the planning process

• Share files and track versions

• Work across borders and time zones

• Approve strategic plans without scheduling a meeting

2. Campaign Development 

Here's where a Traffic Manager’s biggest challenge lies: managing resources. Once a client's marketing plan has been approved, it's time to deliver inspired creative in an effective way.

Several workflows might occur in parallel, depending on the marketing mix:

• Creative

• Media planning

• PR and above-the-line messaging

• Digital/programmatic advertising

• Brand activations

• Social media engagement

Each element of the marketing mix has its own stakeholders and steps, which can make tracking progress difficult for account managers and traffic managers. Marketing workflow software brings agencies and clients together, breaking down silos and streamlining your company's marketing processes.

When all members of a team have access to information about key performance indicators, budgets, strategy and past performance metrics, the process of launching campaigns is not only shorter but less complicated.

3 and 4. Measurement and Reporting

With the rise of real-time data feeds and short attention spans, campaign measurement has become a lot more dynamic.

Monitoring data, generating insights and turning those insights into action all need to happen fast. Otherwise, you risk losing the customer’s attention. Technology can help agencies streamline their processes here by doing two things simultaneously:

• Measurement

• Mid-campaign reporting

5. Optimization

Let’s take a closer look at how marketing automation platforms streamline agency workflows, saving time throughout the marketing campaign process:

• More efficient strategy and planning processes

• Shorter campaign development timelines

• Parallel workflows replace inefficient linear processes

• Automations save hours 

• Dynamic real-time reporting

If you're like most businesses, your marketing efforts are limited by your time and money. Channel those resources into creative ideation and campaign optimization—with intelligent marketing automation tools, you can unlock the innovations that will move your agency forward and help you attract new clients.

When you empower your team with workflow management software, you can unlock award-winning creative potential, improve productivity, and deliver more impressive work. Agency leaders are responsible for equipping their teams with the tools they need to level up.
So instead of replacing human intuition with technology, we need to use them together in a cycle of continuous improvement. Get in touch with us for a free platform demo and to learn more about how Cubik can help you run more effective campaigns.