Best Marketing Resource Management Software for Agencies (2024)

“Marketing resource management (MRM) software” is generally defined as a solution that supports marketing strategies and optimizes processes. Gartner has updated their definition of this software so it’s a little more specific, bucketing MRM solutions into three main categories: 

1. Asset management
2. Work management
3. Performance management

This, of course, is broad. As a result, when you research MRM software, you’ll see multiple different categories of solutions in G2, Capterra, and other software review guides: digital asset management (DAM) software like Bynder and Brandfolder, project management tools like Monday.com and Asana, and general work management software like Smartsheet.  

This makes comparing options confusing. These tools do totally different things, so it’s hard to tell what you need exactly or what “marketing resource management” even is. 

So we compiled a review guide on marketing resource management to explain how to compare these different solutions and find the best option for your needs. 

At Workamajig, we’ve been working with creatives and marketers for over 35 years, developing our platform to help agencies implement best practices from our experience. 

We’ve helped agencies at various growth stages overcome operational challenges and improve workflows. Our customer-centric approach allows us to configure our software per client, guide clients through onboarding, and provide ongoing support. 

If you’re interested in talking with our team after reading, you can request a demo here. 

Best Practices & Considerations When Shopping for MRM Software

As we said above, marketing resource management is a broad, catch-all term. So, instead of worrying about that exact definition, it’s most useful to just list what marketing and creative agencies need. 

In our experience, marketing agencies or teams need solutions to manage: 

• Strategy, production processes, ongoing projects, and the project portfolio — to plan new projects, assign team members to tasks, track project progress, and report on past work.  
  
  
• Staff members — beyond scheduling staff members to tasks, you also need ways to track staff availability, schedules, and hours to improve resource allocation. 
  
  
• Content for projects — such as design files, images, videos, documents, and brand assets like logos, marketing materials, etc. 
  
  
• Vendors — to source outside experts for projects, assign work, and manage those relationships.
   
• Clients — to receive project requests and feedback, then send deliverables and invoices.
  
  
• Project budgets & profitability — including how much you’re budgeting for a project, how much you’ve spent, and revenue from projects. 

So, you might already be able to connect the dots and see how the solutions we listed above satisfy these criteria in one way or another.

The problem, though, in our experience, is that almost all traditional project management or work management tools only do a few of these things but not all. And different tools overlap on the above features in different, often convoluted ways (two tools with the same feature, or multiple tools lacking one critical feature, etc.).

Since none of these tools cover all of the needs above, many marketing agencies use (and pay for) a large stack of tools. Plus, they end up having to find ways to connect the systems together (custom scripts, Zapier, etc.), which can get complicated and break often. 

This is why we’ve built Workamajig as a project management tool for creatives and marketers to check all of the boxes above. Our system includes project management, resource management, time tracking, budget monitoring, financial reporting, accounting tools, CRM, and more, so teams can consolidate their tech stack and use Workamajig as a single source of truth. 

In the rest of our guide, we’ll explain how Workamajig works and review a few other software solutions that offer similar benefits. 

Workamajig

Comprehensive Marketing Resource Management Software Tailored to Agency Workflows & Requirements

We built Workamajig to have all the functionality creatives and marketers need to manage operations. Our hub allows everyone involved in projects to work in one system — where they can plan projects and marketing campaigns, store and collaborate on content, track progress and budgets, manage invoices and payments, and report on ROI.   

Our team meets with each client before onboarding to learn about their processes and challenges and what they’re looking for in a software solution. Then, during setup, we can configure our software to your requirements and show you how to manage project workflows in our system.   

All of our clients are assigned a dedicated account manager during onboarding, who will check in with you and offer support as needed. We have experience working with in-house teams, agencies, and enterprise corporations, and our software can scale with your operations.  

In the next sections, we’ll review some key features so you can preview our platform. 

To explore further, request a demo with our team. 

Project Management: Kicking Off New Projects 

First, our platform lets you manage new project requests and sales leads and convert them into active projects. 

• Workamajig includes a CRM for your sales team to work opportunities through the pipeline. When working with leads, sales teams can review active projects, resources, and budgets to provide more accurate estimates and timelines. 
  
  
• We offer project intake forms; you can create them from templates and share them on your site or in client portals. Managers can instantly see new project requests from their Today dashboard. 

After sales teams or managers iron out the fine details and projects are approved, our system automatically translates opportunities into new projects — with all the notes or spec sheets — so managers can begin planning tasks and timelines (and nothing falls through the cracks). 

Now, managers can begin creating task cards, assigning team members to tasks, and adding due dates and time allotments. Here’s where our system really comes in handy.

First, our resource management tool lets managers review staff availability and schedule the right people for projects (more on this in the next section). 

Then, our reporting tool (which we’ll also talk about later) lets you review KPIs from past projects to get a better idea of how long tasks will take to complete, so managers know how much time to allot to tasks to keep projects on pace. 

After projects are kicked off, everyone can see what they’re responsible for, when they need to complete tasks, and how to plan their work schedule. We also send notifications about new tasks and due dates so managers don’t need to check-in. 

Project Monitoring   

Managers (and teammates with permissions) can view in-progress projects on the Projects dashboard. This dashboard displays real-time status updates and will automatically adjust budgets and timelines as users complete tasks and move projects forward. 

Our dashboard is visually friendly, with color-coded project statuses and warnings to grab users’ attention. Managers can segment projects into phases, assigning each phase a color, and easily see project progress. 

Then, our dashboard on the left-hand side shows how close a project is to completion, budget status, and more, so managers can keep tabs on everything in motion (and intervene when projects need attention).  

Yellow warnings in the Finance or Project Timeline columns indicate that projects are at risk of exceeding budgets or running late. Red warnings highlight projects that have already exceeded budget or timelines. 

Resource Management: Scheduling Staff & Tracking Hours 

As mentioned above, our resource management tool helps you improve staff scheduling, choose the right person(s) for tasks, and balance workloads. 

In the screenshot above, we can see all staff members, the total number of hours they’re scheduled for, and how many hours they have free. 

Managers can adjust this dashboard and view hours by month or week. Then, they can monitor how workloads change as they assign tasks to make sure they’re evenly distributing work. They can assign and re-assign tasks freely to speed projects along, cover when staff call out, or redistribute workloads. 

Time Tracking

Another tool that helps staff scheduling is our calendar integration. Employees can connect their calendars to Workamajig to automatically pull in meeting hours or planned time off. 

Employees don’t have to manually enter time from calendar events or update everyone when they’re out of the office; managers can see when they’re available and ensure they schedule employees at appropriate times. Our system tracks meeting hours and incorporates them into total availability — and it can even tack meeting hours onto projects.   

Staff members can then track time directly on task cards on our platform. They can plug in hours or use the timer feature to record time while they work. 

Managers can ensure everyone’s hours are appropriately logged and use time tracking data to compare budgeted vs. allotted vs. actual hours and improve future project planning. 

Note: All time tracking data is tied to employees’ hourly rates, which is how our system can monitor project budgets and pull data for invoicing. 

You can learn more about time tracking here: How to Track Project Management Hours  

Team Collaboration, Project Workflows & Digital Asset Management 

Workamajig includes a variety of native collaboration tools so staff members, managers, and clients can work on tasks and content creation without taking conversations into other systems. 

For starters, task cards outline all necessary details for teammates to get started. If a team member still has questions before or during the process, they can leave comments in task cards and add others to the conversation. 

As team members work on tasks, they can upload design files, marketing assets, documents, etc. directly into the card for review. (Our system accepts most file types, including image, audio, video, PDF & HTML.) Users can also add website links to task cards to share those resources. 

Then, our system has native proofing tools so managers and other team members can review and annotate files, and add others to the conversation for feedback. 

During the editing and approval process, original designers can see feedback, take files back to the native editing tools for changes, and upload new versions for clients to review. 

Note: Our platform stores digital assets at the campaign and/or project level, but you can also create folders to organize files in these spaces. You can access files from ongoing and past projects. If files are removed from our system, the version history will maintain the record so you have a starting point to source the content if it’s stored elsewhere. You can also modify file permissions to restrict what others can do with files (view, upload, rename, etc.). 

Then, after tasks are complete, staff members can mark task cards to track their time and kickstart the next step of the project workflow. Remember, project timelines update as teammates complete tasks so you can have a real-time view of when projects will wrap. 

Client & Vendor Management 

Our system also includes client and vendor management modules to manage these relationships. You can create an unlimited number of client and vendor portals. 

To continue our explanation above, you can create client portals to collaborate with clients in Workamajig. Clients can send project requests, track project progress, send feedback, and view invoices. This also makes it easier on your teams because you can work on edits with clients, send deliverables in the system, and track all communications. 

Our vendor management tools allow you to source partners and freelancers for projects; request quotes and receive bids, choose who to work with, and assign them to tasks. You can even manage vendor invoices and payments through Workamajig. 

Centralizing these communications lends convenience to processes and can improve relationships; it also ensures an easily-referenceable audit trail. 

Financial Reports & Accounting Tools 

Most (if not all) MRM systems lack native accounting tools. They integrate with software like QuickBooks or Xero, but you’re still paying for and using two systems. 

That’s why we included a full accounting suite in Workamajig that can replace outside tools. 

Our features and financial reports let you: 

• Reconcile and pay vendor invoices. 
  
  
• Create detailed invoices (with all billable line items) and manage client payments. Our system supports various billing methods, including time and materials, fixed fee, retainer, and media.
  
  
• Monitor revenue from projects. Our system automatically defers advanced billings to prevent overstated revenue and provide a more accurate look at cash flow. We also provide a revenue forecasting tool. 
  
  
• Measure profitability of projects, clients, services, and departments (even individuals) to see where you’re most successful and discover where you’re taking losses. 
  
  
• Monitor project and marketing budgets to ensure projects don’t exceed what you’ve allotted and pinpoint ways to minimize costs. 
  
  
• Dig into billable vs. non-billable hours and consider ways to improve resource allocation. For example, you could create and manage labor budgets for individuals. 
  
  
• Integrate with media buying tools, like Strata, to pull in media spend and use insights to guide future campaign planning. 
  
  
• Connect business credit card accounts to run expense reports and get a comprehensive view of all spending related to marketing operations. 

Agency Insights 

Our Agency Insights dashboard also provides a library of reports to monitor behind-the-scenes operations and dig into profitability. 

For example, our main dashboard shows the tasks due today in addition to the time teams are spending on different clients, projects, and services. 

It’s easy to filter metrics and create custom reports that track the data most important to your marketing plans. 

Pricing & Getting Started 

We offer three packages: one for in-house marketing teams, another for marketing agencies, and custom plans for enterprise teams. 

Pricing is per user and varies by team size. Teams of 50+ pay $37/user/month, teams of 20+ pay $39/user/month, and teams of 10+ pay $41/user/month. 

Our team will meet with you to gameplan migration — then, we’ll set up the software around your requirements and show you how to use our features. Overall, our platform is highly intuitive and user-friendly, so adoption is simple and there isn’t a long learning curve. 

Most marketing departments can be fully live in ~60 days. 

Note: We offer both cloud-based and on-premise versions of our software. 

Request a demo with us to learn more about Workamajig and see if we’re the right MRM tool for your teams! 

Alternative Marketing Resource Management Solutions to Support Agencies 

In the next sections, we discuss three other tools that also offer a full scope of features to support agency operations. 

Productive

Productive is an “all-in-one” work management tool for agencies. The core features include project management, resource management, time tracking, budget tracking, financial reporting, and a native CRM under one roof. Productive does not include a full accounting suite, but it connects with popular accounting tools. 

Productive can also streamline workflows and centralize marketing efforts by integrating with the other systems in your tech stack (e.g., QuickBooks to support financial reporting). However, some users warn this can prolong or complicate setup. 

Reviews suggest that Productive typically appeals to smaller teams looking to improve processes and enable better, clearer collaboration. However, since this solution relies on outside tools to power some of its functionality, it might not be the best choice for growing teams or teams looking to shave costs.   

Notable Features 

• Project management
• Resource planning
• Budgeting 
• Billing 
• Sales CRM 
• Time tracking 
• Reporting 
• Documents (to create shared docs & collaborate with teammates) 
• Open API (to integrate with outside systems)
• Mobile apps for iOS & Android

Pricing

Productive offers three plans with varying features and customer support. 

The most basic plan costs $11/user/month and provides very limited access to the platform, or you can opt for the Premium plan for $28/user/month. 

Productive recommends the Ultimate plan, which includes features like HubSpot integrations and advanced time tracking that most teams need. They don’t disclose pricing for this plan but instead offer custom quotes per customer. 

Productive also offers custom enterprise plans and pricing. 

Read more about Productive here. 

Teamwork

Teamwork is a work management tool that primarily appeals to enterprise or global brands. In addition to marketing and creative agencies, they work with HR teams, IT departments, architectural firms, and other project-based organizations. 

The platform combines project management, resource management, time tracking, CRM, and financial reporting. However, it’s worth noting the tool is not a complete replacement for accounting systems. Users also note issues with the CRM and suggest integrating an outside tool like HubSpot instead. 

Teamwork is highly flexible and integrates with dozens of outside systems to support core functionality. Users appreciate the wide customization features and say Teamwork’s agents are available to guide onboarding for a smooth setup.   

Notable Features 

• Project management & customizable project monitoring dashboards 
• Project intake forms 
• Project templates & automation tools 
• Resource & workload management 
• Client management 
• Expense management 
• Budgets
• Invoicing 
• Retainers 
• Time tracking
• Collaborative tools for teams, including proofs, annotations & file sharing 
• Reporting dashboards 
• Integrations 
• Mobile apps for iOS & Android 

Pricing

Teamwork offers a limited free plan and two upgraded packages: 

• The Deliver plan provides access to Teamwork’s more advanced project management tools and automation features. This plan costs $13.99/user/month and requires a minimum of three users (for a minimum monthly cost of $41.97).  
  
  
• The Grow plan includes all of Teamwork’s robust features and integrations. It costs $25.99/user/month and requires a minimum of five users (a minimum monthly cost of $129.95). Teamwork recommends this package. 

Teamwork also offers custom enterprise plans. 

Read more about Teamwork here. 

Advantage

Advantage — recently merged with Simpli.fi — is another agency management software for enterprises. This solution is unlike the others because it includes a native media planning dashboard for campaign management and buying ad space. If you need a media planning tool, Advantage may be a great option for you. 

Overall, Advantage’s platform includes project management, resource management, time tracking, media buying, CRM, accounting, and financial reporting. The platform also integrates other business applications to work as a single source of truth for managing marketing activities. 

Users have positive feedback about Advantage’s accounting and media planning tools but note some frustrations with the project management workflow. Advantage also divides its software functionality into different interfaces (as a way to limit views for certain team members) but users note that this inconsistent navigation can cause confusion and clunk up marketing processes. 

Notable Features

• Project management
• Resource management 
• Collaborative tools like proofing & reviews 
• Media planning & buying — including broadcast buying, digital buying & media reporting  
• Time tracking 
• Risk analysis & burn rate tracking  
• Financial reporting 
• Budget monitoring 
• Revenue forecasting 
• Billing 
• Invoicing 
• Media Accounting 
• Reporting dashboard (to monitor projects, financials, and other behind-the-scenes operations) 

Pricing

Advantage does not disclose pricing on their site; they offer custom quotes on a per-customer basis. 

Read more about Advantage here. 

Further reading: Best Advantage Software Alternatives for Creative Teams

Workamajig is a comprehensive agency management solution that brings everything you need to manage projects, staff, clients, and finances under one roof. If you’re curious to learn more about Workamajig and whether we’re the right solution, request a demo with us here.