The Role of Content Across the Entire Company

Regardless of which project management tool you choose, one thing remains constant: successful marketing relies on contributions from the entire company. Marketing is no longer a siloed function (if it ever was). Marketing thrives when sales teams share insights, product teams provide technical details, and customer support highlights common pain points. Whether it’s updating a task in ClickUp, dropping feedback in Monday.com, or contributing to a shared Excel sheet, project management tools make it easier to gather and organize input from all departments. This cross-functional collaboration ensures your campaigns are informed, accurate, and resonate with your audience. After all, your best marketing content often comes from the people closest to your product and customers.

Project Management Options

In the fast-paced world of marketing, project management software is the backbone. From brainstorming sessions to executing multichannel strategies, marketers rely on tools to keep everything on track, on time, and on budget. But with so many options out there, choosing the right platform can feel like finding a needle in a haystack.

Let's compare three heavyweights in the project management space—Monday.com, ClickUp, and Jira—and throwing in an unexpected contender: good old Excel. Let’s see how they stack up for your marketing team.

This isn’t a comprehensive roundup of every project management tool out there. These are the platforms I’ve personally used and can speak to from experience, so consider this more of a “field-tested favorites” list than an exhaustive comparison.

Full disclosure: While I was at Software AG, I endorsed Monday.com as a key project management tool. This post tries to reflect a balanced comparison of all platforms, based on their strengths and use cases for marketers.

Monday.com: The Colorful Powerhouse

Monday.com is like the designer handbag of project management tools—beautiful, functional, and a little flashy. It’s built to be visual, making it a marketer’s dream for tracking creative campaigns and client deliverables.

Why Marketers Love It:

• Visual Dashboards: Customizable boards and colorful timelines make complex projects easy to digest at a glance.
• Ease of Use: Its intuitive interface means your team won’t need hours of training to get started.
• Marketing Templates: From content calendars to campaign trackers, Monday.com offers pre-built templates tailored for marketing workflows.
• Collaboration-Friendly: Marketers can easily tag team members, share files, and comment directly on tasks.

Drawbacks:

• Limited Automation: While it offers some automation, it’s not as robust as ClickUp for repetitive workflows.
• Pricey for Large Teams: The per-user cost can add up quickly, especially if you need advanced features.

Ideal For:

Marketing teams that thrive on visual project management and need a simple, aesthetically pleasing tool for campaign tracking and collaboration.

ClickUp: The Swiss Army Knife

If Monday.com is the designer handbag, ClickUp is the Swiss Army knife—it has a tool for everything. From task management to time tracking, ClickUp is built to handle complex workflows while remaining highly customizable.

Why Marketers Love It:

• All-in-One Platform: ClickUp combines task management, goal tracking, time tracking, and even document storage into one platform.
• Customization Galore: Custom statuses, fields, and views make it easy to tailor ClickUp to your team’s needs.
• Robust Automations: ClickUp automates repetitive tasks like updating statuses or notifying stakeholders.
• High Pricing: Its free plan offers generous features, and paid plans provide excellent value. But again this gets really pricy for comprehensive teams.

Drawbacks:

• Steeper Learning Curve: The abundance of features can overwhelm new users, requiring a learning phase.
• Interface Overload: Some users find the interface cluttered compared to Monday.com’s sleek design.

Ideal For:

Marketing teams juggling complex workflows who need an all-in-one solution with deep customization and automation capabilities.

Jira: The Enterprise Workhorse

Jira is like the dependable workhorse of project management tools—less glamorous, but incredibly powerful, especially for technical and agile teams. Originally designed for software development, it has since expanded to accommodate marketing workflows.

Why Marketers Love It:

• Agile Marketing Support: Jira’s sprint planning and Kanban boards are great for marketers adopting agile methodologies.
• Integration Powerhouse: As part of the Atlassian suite, Jira integrates seamlessly with tools like Confluence and Trello.
• Detailed Reporting: Jira’s reporting capabilities are unmatched, giving marketers deep insights into project performance.
• Scalability: Ideal for large teams or organizations with complex, multi-departmental workflows.

Drawbacks:

• Not Marketing-Focused: Its origins as a developer tool mean the interface isn’t as intuitive for marketing teams.
• Setup Complexity: Requires time and effort to configure for non-technical users or marketing-specific workflows.
• Costly for Small Teams: While it excels for enterprises, smaller teams may find it overkill.

Ideal For:

Marketing teams within large organizations that need enterprise-level reporting, where emgineering has already purchased licenses.

Excel: The Old Faithful or Google Sheets

Yes, we’re throwing spreadsheets into the ring. They may not be shiny or sophisticated, but it’s a tried-and-true tool for those who want simplicity and cost savings.

Why Marketers Love It:

• Universally Known: Everyone on your team has probably used Excel before—no learning curve needed.
• Cost-Effective: If you already have Microsoft Office, Excel is essentially free.
• Highly Flexible: With formulas, pivot tables, and macros, Excel can be customized for basic project tracking.
• Offline Access: Perfect for teams that need access without relying on cloud services.

Drawbacks:

• No Collaboration Features: Unless you’re using SharePoint or Google Sheets, Excel lacks real-time collaboration.
• Manual Workload: Automating tasks in Excel requires advanced skills and can be cumbersome.
• Limited Scalability: Great for simple projects, but not ideal for managing complex workflows or large teams.

Ideal For:

Small marketing teams or solo marketers managing straightforward campaigns on a tight budget.

Which One Should You Choose?

If your company already has access to a project management tool, use it! Any tool is better than winging it. I haven’t explored ProjectLibre in depth yet, but it’s well-regarded. While it’s not specifically designed for marketing, it may still outperform Excel or Google Sheets.

Here are some options to consider:

• Go with Monday.com if your team thrives on visual clarity, simplicity, and ready to use marketing templates.
• Choose ClickUp if you need a customizable, feature-rich platform for managing complex workflows.
• Pick Jira if your marketing team operates within a large organization or agile framework and needs enterprise-level scalability.
• Stick with Excel or Google Sheets if you need a budget-friendly, no-frills solution for simple project tracking.

Ultimately, the right tool depends on your team’s size, workflow complexity, and preferred style. Whether you want a fully loaded platform or a basic solution, there’s a tool to fit every marketer’s needs.

References

1. Monday.com Features and Benefits

   • Explore the features that make Monday.com a popular choice for marketing and project management.

2. ClickUp for Marketing Teams

   • Learn how ClickUp caters specifically to marketing teams with templates and customization options.

3. Jira for Agile Marketing

   • An overview of how Jira supports marketing workflows, particularly for agile teams.

4. Excel for Project Management

   • Microsoft’s guide to using Excel for organizing and managing projects.

5. The Importance of Cross-Functional Collaboration in Marketing

   • Harvard Business Review’s take on why cross-departmental collaboration is critical for success.

6. Project Management Software Comparison

   • A comprehensive comparison of various project management tools, including Monday.com, ClickUp, and Jira.

7. Marketing Team Productivity with ClickUp

   • Insights into how ClickUp boosts team productivity and collaboration.

8. Jira’s Integration Capabilities

   • A breakdown of how Jira integrates seamlessly with other tools for enhanced workflows.

9. Excel Project Management Templates

   • Free templates for using Excel to track and manage projects effectively.

10. The Evolution of Marketing Collaboration

    • Forbes on how collaboration across teams fuels marketing success in modern organizations.