The 8 Best Marketing Project Management Software Tools You Should Try

After years of experience in content marketing, internal communications, email marketing, and social media management, I can say that project management software and marketing are a match made in heaven. There’s nothing more beneficial to a lofty creative mind than the organizational structure of a kanban board or the planning capabilities of a Gantt chart.

That’s why I’ve put together this list of the eight best marketing project management tools that’ll help you make sense of the creative chaos your team will dream up.

These tools will help you plan out your marketing efforts, track them to completion, collaborate on new ideas, track the time spent on tasks, and manage the rest of the project management steps.

What to look for in a great project management software for marketing

While there is a lot of overlap between your average project management tools and marketing specific platforms, there are specific features you’ll need in order to get the most out of your system.

While certain marketing projects won’t need all three of these features I’ve listed below, most will need at least two of them in order to successfully manage your efforts.

1. Kanban boards

Kanban workflows are the perfect method for tracking marketing efforts from ideation to publication. This methodology gives managers and editors the ability to see exactly where tasks are throughout the completion process and affords them insights into process bottlenecks. Nearly every tool on this list offers some form of kanban functionality.

2. Team collaboration

Collaboration is one of the basic project management principles that every software solution should emphasize. However, based on the public nature of marketing, collaboration becomes extra important in order to iron out any potential PR mishaps.

Any quality marketing project management tool should offer collaboration features such as task comments, message boards, team chat functions, and file sharing.

3. Time tracking

Marketing projects are extremely time-sensitive, especially when delivering materials for external clients. If you’re looking for a tool to supplement your marketing agency efforts, you’ll need time tracking features for improving efficiency and billing your clients for your efforts.

Our 8 picks for marketing project management software

Each one of the marketing management software options that I picked for this list includes at least one of the listed features above and several of them offer all three. Best of luck choosing the best marketing project management tool for your marketing team.

1. monday.com

Once again monday.com tops a software list of mine due to its well-rounded and unique approach to task management. Their proprietary board system is easy to understand and offers plenty of customization for all kinds of different functions, including task lists, budgeting, and time tracking. The versatility offered by this system makes it the ultimate marketing project planner.

Everything about monday.com is so appealing from the user interface to its simple functionality.

When it comes to marketing, monday.com’s board system and visual tracking aids allow you to choose from several different management methodologies, including kanban, Gantt timeline charts, and standard task lists.

You can create multiple different boards for different types of marketing projects, including social campaigns, paid search campaigns, content marketing, and much more.

When it comes down to pricing, monday.com offers a variety of pricing options based on your user base and feature needs that start at $17/month. This is pretty standard when it comes to marketing project management systems of this depth and quality. In fact, I would argue that you get quite a lot considering the lengthy list of features and user-friendly experience.

2. Basecamp

While Basecamp is a fantastic project management software in its own right, it usually doesn’t make it on most of my software lists.

That being said, when it comes to marketing projects, this platform is a phenomenal choice for marketing teams or comms directors looking for a no-frills solution. I’m serious when I say that it really can’t get much simpler than Basecamp unless you opt for a basic mobile, task list application.

Basecamp’s simple user interface is perfect for any beginner marketing team. Image source: Author

In a previous position as an assistant director of communications, I used Basecamp on a daily basis to manage and track internal and external marketing projects, from tracking internal email campaigns to collaborating on new external social posts.

I was able to manage my tasks, share relevant project files with other members of my team, discuss project developments using task comments, and brainstorm additional campaigns using the message board.

As for pricing, Basecamp opts for simplicity by offering two tiers. One is a free option suited for students, freelancers, and personal projects; the other is their paid option that offers unlimited projects and users for $99/month.

3. Jira

This is the first Atlassian tool that made it onto this list. Jira is a great marketing management software option that covers all kinds of methodologies like kanban boards, Gantt charts, and task lists.

What really helps this platform stand out from the rest is its phenomenal setup process that’ll help you shape your experience to the project you are working on. Jira even offers project templates suited for different types of marketing.

Jira’s user experience has significantly improved since Atlassian’s acquisition of Trello. Image source: Author

This setup process even increases the ease of use for those new to project management software, with a detailed orientation and plenty of support content available.

Jira doesn’t necessarily break any new ground when it comes to task management and project planning functionality, but its user-friendly setup makes it great for jumping right into your projects without dealing with a steep learning curve.

And Jira is pretty reasonable when it comes to their paid options. You can choose from two tiers: the standard package at $10/month for up to 10 users and the premium option for $14/month per user.

4. Freedcamp

While Freedcamp’s functionality is quite average when juxtaposed to the other seven options in this list, this platform has a free version that is hard to say no to. Even its next tier up is so affordable, at $1.49/month per user, that I was shocked by what this platform offers.

Freedcamp offers nearly every feature a marketing team would need to manage their efforts under these two tiers, including unlimited tasks and storage, a team calendar, time tracking, file sharing, task comment communication, and a message board.

Don’t expect much of a user interface when your marketing project tool is free. Image source: Author

However, if you’re looking for other features like reporting, project templates, or phone support, you’ll have to graduate into the more expensive tiers, and by that point, this tool outgrows its comparative advantage. I’d recommend this tool for any marketing team that wants all of the basic project management features but doesn’t want to spend any money on their software option.

5. Trello

This is the second Atlassian tool on this list and it’s clear that Trello influenced many changes with Jira. When it comes to content marketing, I can’t think of a better kanban project management platform than Trello.

Out of all of the tools on this list, this is the most common software option I’ve seen in use over several content marketing teams I’ve worked with. This is probably due to the short learning curve coupled with the simple step-by-step process built into the kanban system.

I love the emphasis on visuals when using Trello’s kanban workflow. Image source: Author

The simplicity and clarity of Trello’s kanban board system are second to none, in my opinion, making it a great option for marketing teams that don’t have to deal with anything like budgets or invoices.

As for the cost, Trello offers a generous free version that allows for an unlimited number of users. However, if you’re looking to expand this platform through power-ups and integrations, you’ll have to go with their paid option for $9.99/month per user.

6. Airtable

Ever since I first reviewed Airtable, I’ve maintained that this was a fantastic tool for creative types. The user interface for this tool is the best I’ve ever seen with all of its colors, task images, and its unique gallery view for task management.

All of your project data can be transposed into calendars, kanban boards, and progress charts, making Airtable a great all-around option for working through the project management process.

After all of these years of suffering through Excel, who knew spreadsheets could be so pretty? Image source: Author

In a previous position, I used Airtable as a record for tracking all marketing activities from internal emails to client-facing blog posts. I would create a project management plan of all of my efforts ahead of time in this tool and track my progress so I could duplicate these tasks every single month.

Additionally, if your efforts also require financial tracking for certain clients, Airtable’s highly customizable spreadsheet layout will allow you to create marketing budgets and other forms of tracking sheets.

This tool offers four separate pricing tiers starting with a decent free version and tops out around $20/month per user for their paid options.

7. Hive

Hive is a streamlined productivity platform that positions itself as the perfect solution for startups, agencies, and yes, marketers.

When it comes to new user onboarding, this tool rivals even Jira. The setup process is tailored to whatever you plan on using this tool for and Hive even measures your expertise in using its software based on how many tutorials you’ve run through. It’s clear that Hive doesn’t want to alienate any of its users simply due to learning a new platform.

I love that Hive’s live chat function on the left side of the screen is collapsible. Image source: Author

As for functionality, this tool operates on a kanban-style task management formula. You can create tasks and move them along your own custom workflow, create subtasks within existing ones, attach relevant marketing materials, and discuss everything with your teammates using the live chat function.

Hive starts at $12/month per user, but additional functions, custom analytics, and timesheets add an additional cost to your monthly bill.

8. Brightpod

Brightpod is a project management tool made specifically for marketing purposes. This tool has it all, from task management to time tracking.

While using this platform, I found it to be designed as a marketing agency application, based on the emphasis put on time spent on tasks and measured hours dedicated toward projects. Obviously, these features make it perfect for client billing.

The user interface is simple but I feel the presentation could be a little better. Image source: Author

Like most of the tools on this list, Brightpod uses a kanban-style workflow with tasks existing on custom lists created by the user. My favorite Brightpod feature was definitely the pre-made project templates, including social media campaigns, paid media campaigns, and email marketing. These pre-made templates really speed up the project creation process so new users can jump right into the action.

Finally, Brightpod is unique in the pricing department compared to others on this list. There are four separate pricing tiers, all of which are flat monthly rates, but each tier limits the user count with the exception of the top option. Prices start at $29/month and top out at $199/month.

If you need more than just marketing management software

We get it, some organizations have more project types to manage than just marketing. If you’re looking for a tool that will do it all, then there’s no better resource for software reviews, lists, and comparisons than The Ascent.

Once you find the software you’re looking for, we also have plenty of project management guides and resources that’ll help you through all kinds of project challenges, so be sure to read up on everything we have to offer.