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Not too long ago, everyone was discussing how email marketing is a thing of the past. Then, digital marketing specialists everywhere realized, and I quote, that "Email marketing is not dead." Frankly, I agree. I've seen firsthand how emails, especially newsletters,...
Did you know that project management collaboration tools save the average employee around 498 hours per year? That’s a full working month!
Project management collaboration tools are essential to increase productivity and ultimately save money. This is especially true for marketing teams, where team and social media collaboration alongside resource management is crucial.
That said, I’ll go through the ten best project management and collaboration tools currently available. But first, let’s see exactly what project management software is and why you might need one.
A project management collaboration tool is a software solution that facilitates real-time communication between project stakeholders. Common features include file sharing, instant messaging, task management, team calendars, Gantt charts, and more.
Project management collaboration tools allow teams to seamlessly monitor and manage deadlines, store project documentation for streamlined team handover processes, and get a visual overview of the project’s progress.
To spare you the research, I’ve compiled a list of some of the best online collaboration tools currently available. We’ll see who each platform is for, what you can do with it, and its key features. We’ll also cover each tool’s advantages and disadvantages.
Let’s get to it!
Planable is a straightforward content marketing approval and collaboration tool that allows team members to create and schedule posts in a collaborative workspace.
One of this marketing planning platform’s main strengths is that it allows you to create, preview, and collaborate on any type of written content — be it social media posts, blogs, newsletters, advertisements, etc.
Coupled with the platform’s calendar view and color-coded labels, you get an easy-to-grasp unified overview of all your marketing campaigns and activities — no need to get lost in dozens of open tabs!
You can then filter these labels to zoom in on a specific campaign or task.
Supported platforms: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok, Pinterest, and Google Business Profile (formerly known as Google My Business).
Schedule up to fifty total posts completely for free! Paid plans start at $11/user/month. Pricing is flexible depending on the number of workspaces, users, and functionalities.
Planable is among the best collaboration tools for creative agencies and brands seeking a solution where team members can communicate with each other and draft content simultaneously to better handle complex projects.
Although it originally started as a note-taking application, Notion evolved into a solid collaborative project management software solution that emphasizes ease of use and affordability.
The platform is also highly customizable — it offers various pre-made project templates fit for specific activities (like marketing campaigns, editorial calendars, roadmaps, etc.). You can then tweak a selected template based on your requirements.
Notion offers a free plan that’s available for up to 10 guest collaborators. There are three paid plans available, starting at $8/user/month (annually).
Notion is among the best project collaboration software for small to medium-sized teams seeking a highly straightforward yet customizable solution.
Slack aims to unify business communications. The platform allows you to collaborate with team members through group chat, one-on-one messaging, screen sharing, as well as audio and video calls.
The tool also integrates with 2000+ tools like Google Drive, Salesforce, and Trello — perfect for streamlining your work and eliminating the need to jump from platform to platform.
You can use Slack for free, while paid plans start at $7.25/user/month (annually).
Slack is an excellent online project collaboration tool that unifies business communication — especially handy for remote teams.
Teamwork is a team collaboration software and project management tool with an emphasis on task management. You can easily categorize tasks using tags, set up task dependencies, create sub-tasks, and more.
As for marketing projects, Teamwork’s card views (kanban views) are handy for tracking specific marketing campaigns. It also offers pre-built templates specific to various marketing activities (advertising campaigns, SEO planning, social media calendar templates, and more).
Teamwork includes a free plan that’s available for up to five users. Paid plans start at $5.99/user/month (annually).
Teamwork is an excellent choice for marketing teams that seek a project management solution with solid tracking, reporting, and team management tools. The platform handles billable time tracking, project status, health, profitability reports, and much more. In addition to these features, tracking employee hours becomes seamless with its built-in time management tools, enabling you to monitor work capacity and avoid potential bottlenecks. This ensures projects stay on schedule while maintaining overall team productivity.
Asana is an in-depth yet highly easy-to-use project management solution that covers complex automation, workload management, approvals, and more.
As for team collaboration, the platform includes task comments, team or project conversations, and one-on-one messaging. You can also follow your teammates so you always know what they’re up to.
Asana’s free plan handles up to 15 users. Paid plans start at $10.99/user/month (annually).
Given the platform’s high user cap and portfolio management tools, Asana is a suitable collaborative project management software solution for larger teams seeking to manage multiple projects simultaneously.
Wrike is an all-in-one project management platform designed for teams of all sizes.
The software stands through its Work Intelligence functionality — it leverages AI and Machine Learning technology to automatically create tasks and subtasks, assess project risk factors, and provide automated response suggestions.
There’s a free version available to unlimited users and includes most of the platform’s AI-powered tools (except the risk prediction functionality). Paid plans start at $9.80/user/month (annually).
Wrike also offers a solution specifically built for marketing and creative agencies, which starts at $24.80/user/month (it includes marketing-oriented workspaces, campaign analytics, and more).
Wrike is a valuable tool for marketing teams seeking a project management solution with powerful automation tools.
Basecamp is an online collaboration tool with solid project management capabilities. The platform includes one-on-one direct messaging, group chats, and a place where you can store, share, and discuss files.
Most notably, Basecamp allows you to set up automatic polls, so you can gather feedback. You can send these polls to your entire team or specific team members.
You can either use Basecamp for $15/user/month (monthly) or $299/month (annually, with no per-user charges) if you run a larger team.
Basecamp is among the best online collaboration tools for large teams seeking to closely monitor projects and strengthen collaboration at a fair price.
ProofHub is a highly scalable solution that offers extensive project management and collaboration tools. More specifically, the platform handles file proofing, time tracking, Gantt charts, and much more.
One of the platform’s standouts is its flat pricing — it doesn’t charge on a per-user basis, perfect for affordable scalability.
The platform covers two pricing plans: Essential ($45/month, annually) and Ultimate Control ($89/month, annually). The latter includes all of the platform’s functionalities.
Since ProofHub doesn’t charge on a per-user basis, the platform brings excellent value for larger marketing teams seeking a scalable, comprehensive project management solution.
Monday Work Management, Monday.com’s dedicated project management and collaboration tool, is a highly customizable solution that allows project managers to handle resource and portfolio management, proofing, and more.
As for marketing teams, this platform is useful for managing events, tracking campaigns, and managing creative assets.
The platform offers a free version available for up to two users. Paid plans start at $8/user/month (annually).
Monday.com is an excellent option for small and medium-sized teams seeking a highly flexible yet affordable project collaboration software solution.
ClickUp is a comprehensive all-in-one project collaboration software built with affordability in mind. The platform brings collaboration tools, task and resource management, as well as in-depth analytics, all under one roof.
ClickUp is also designed to suit various working styles. It covers 15+ project views (Gantt, map, timeline, list, box views, and much more) and is highly customizable.
Additionally, the platform includes Agile reporting, spring management, and issue tracking — ideal for product development teams.
ClickUp offers a free version available to unlimited users. Paid plans start at $5/user/month.
ClickUp is among the best project management collaborative tools for those seeking a highly customizable and in-depth platform at an affordable price.
Teamhood is a visual project management platform for teams, which includes Kanban boards, Gantt charts, Workload management, time tracking, and more. You will find all the traditional real-time collaboration features like task comments, multiple assignees, and document creation.
What stands out in this platform is the flexible Kanban board setup. It will allow you to accurately visualize team processes and easily track what is going on.
Teamhood offers a free plan for an unlimited amount of users, and business plans start at $9.5/user/month.
With visual Kanban boards and project management features, Teamhood will be a good selection for mid-sized teams looking to collaborate and plan their next steps.
Although the primary benefit of team collaboration tools is streamlined communication, marketing teams can also benefit from various other advantages.
Marketing is a highly dynamic field that requires constant monitoring, while a project can take a 180-degree turn within an instant.
As such, being able to manage projects from beginning to end, see who works on what and when, and leave feedback within the same platform leads to a high level of adaptability.
Creative marketing team members require constant communication and a centralized place to store design assets. Which equals a creative project management solution. Going back and forth between emails, Google Drive files, and spreadsheets will slow down the collaboration process and potentially lead to lost design assets. Not to mention that tracking feedback is that much harder.
collaboration and teamwork in Planable
Team collaboration tools mitigate that risk — some, like Planable, offer built-in file storage, proofing, automatic notifications, and more, all in a single place.
Consequently, project managers can store and leave feedback on creative projects within the same platform, while team members have quick access to suggestions and can get to work right away.
Collaborative tools will give you a bird’s-eye view of who’s working on what and when. Consequently, you can easily gauge project progress, while project teams can figure out for themselves when they need to pick up the pace or afford a bit of slack.
Additionally, you’ll get to measure team members’ workloads, preventing employee overworking. The boost in transparency also leads to more consistent workflows, prevents bottlenecks, and contributes to a generally healthier work environment.
Project management tools eliminate the headache of setting up projects and delegating tasks manually. You can create workflows that automatically generate new projects, assign team members, and create recurring tasks — a handy feature for employee onboarding, for instance.
You can also use calendar views to schedule upcoming marketing campaigns and track progress.
planning different campaign assets in Planable
Tasks management involves breaking down a large project into multiple smaller, more manageable tasks. You can then manage tasks based on their priority and delegate each task to the appropriate team members.
Most project management software solutions come with this functionality. They allow you to easily assign tasks to team members, automate recurring tasks, set up dependencies, and more.
Project collaboration software allows for easy feedback and streamlined approval processes.
For instance, a project manager can leave feedback next to each completed task or by mentioning team members in comments on specific assets. This gives project team members easy access to suggestions.
Project management software solutions allow you to impose approvals before a project goes live. You can either give the green light or request changes, eliminating the risk of accidentally releasing unpolished projects.
There are plenty of online collaboration tools available, but there’s no one-size-fits-all solution— they can differ considerably in their functionalities.
Some of them are a great fit for smaller teams, while others are specifically built for software development teams, for instance.
To cut you some slack, I’ll cover the key features marketing teams should look for when picking a collaborative project management software solution.
Marketing requires a lot of creativity. Besides, two heads are always better than one! Consequently, a platform where creative teams can develop content and collaborate simultaneously is a must.
Take Planable, for example. The platform allows project teams to craft social media content and easily leave comments next to each social post in the making. This functionality streamlines the content workflow process and ensures that feedback is always visible — not lost somewhere in an email inbox.
Additionally, the platform allows teams to store their design assets (videos, GIFs, and images) in the media library. This gives all team members easy access to all the design elements necessary to piece together and finalize content.
Speaking of feedback: look for real-time collaboration features, especially if you work with remote teams.
These allow multiple team members to communicate seamlessly and share project updates without needing to constantly press the refresh button.
Also, aim to unify communications as much as possible.
For instance, the ideal platform allows creative teams to work on assets, leave feedback next to each piece of content and approve work within the same place. The fewer tools you rely on, the easier it is to bring your team on the same page.
Make sure that your collaborative tool allows you to invite guests and share files with external project stakeholders. This streamlines communication with clients, especially if you’re a marketing agency. It also keeps stakeholders up-to-date with the latest company news, promoting transparency.
Make use of client collaboration tools to keep feedback organized and ensure clients have easy access to project updates whenever they need them.
The ability to manage and plan multiple projects within a central location is also crucial. As such, prioritize tools that have Gantt charts or calendar views.
These allow you visually plan future activities and benchmark the time spent on past projects so that you can set realistic deadlines for upcoming activities.
Also, keep an eye out for platforms that handle task scheduling and dependencies. This automates the process of assigning tasks, ensuring your team gets a steady flow of work.
Project managers should have the option to set up multiple types of review and approval workflows.
This ensures that teams deliver projects to external stakeholders error-free. Or if you’re one-man-army, the ability to skip the approval process entirely is a must.
Again, Planable perfectly understands this. The platform allows you to set up four types of approval workflows: none, optional, required, and multi-level.
Although they may not seem like much, automated reminders can make a significant impact.
Creative project teams juggle a lot of work and may require many tweaks — especially when clients don’t know what they want. That said, deadlines can sometimes pass through the cracks.
However, setting up automatic deadline reminders can nudge team members to refocus and complete their work on time. Additionally, automatic project updates can keep stakeholders in the know about each task’s status.
And there you have it — the ten best project collaboration tools currently available. Keep in mind that there’s no one-size-fits-all solution.
For instance, some emphasize project management. Others aim to improve productivity and enhance the creative process by allowing teams to store media assets, craft content, leave feedback, set up approval processes, and publish content within the same platform — just like Planable.
Speaking of which, be sure to give it a shot! You get access to all of the platform’s features and can schedule up to 50 posts – try it for free!
Digital marketing enthusiast, language nerd, and content writer. Horea loves writing about SaaS and anything that involves boosting online presence – from SEO to social media, web design, and more. His content is allergic to fluff and eats research for breakfast.
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