Want to know what tech some of the best digital agencies in the country are using? Then this post is for you.
These are the results from the first annual Digital Mastermind Agency Tech Stack Survey.
Agencies from around the country were kind enough to contribute their opinions about what technologies they use for each category.
When it’s easy – everyone does well. And we’ve had it good for about 9 years. Real good.
1. Which Tools Does Your Agency Use for Email Marketing Automation?
What Agencies Are Saying About Email Automation
It’s going to be alright. Things will go back to normal. Panic only lasts so long. This storm will pass.
While HubSpot is considered the best, their pricing is just too high for most companies. That is why we turned to SharpSpring. Their agency partnership allows for us to resell and support our customers better.
Mailchimp will always be our go-to email system for budget-conscious customers.
We recently became impressed with Active Campaign for their ability to combine automated SMS with email marketing.
– Erin from Savvy Outsourcing.
We love HubSpot, tried most of the others but it’s our favorite.
– Kevin Hourigan from Bayshore Solutions
Constant Contact. Love the improvements they have made in automation too. Appreciate the click segmentation and dynamic content options. The contact management elements are not very robust.
– Lorraine Ball from RoundPeg
2. Which CallTracking Software is Your Agency Using?
What Agencies Are Saying About Call Tracking Software
Other than the pretty big hiccup they had last year, we have always loved CallRail. They tend to be ahead of other products when it comes to integrating with Google (Ads, Analytics, GMB, etc.)
– Mark Homer at GNGF
I like that with CallRail you can now track more than just the calls, you can attribute the source for forms as well.
– Chuck Bankoff at Kreative Webworks
3. Which Project Management Software Does Your Agency Use?
What Agencies Are Saying About Project Management Software
Paymo would replace Basecamp if we’d let it, it does everything from time tracking to P&L reporting
– Fred at efelle Creative
Teamwork rocks! We’ve used Basecamp, workamajig, and Google Sheets in the past, but have been bought into Teamwork for about 5 years now.
– Chris at Enginus Web
We use Mavelink. Like most PM tools I’ve seen, it’s only as good as your users. They have been very accommodating with us in changing their platform (improving it) as we came across challenges and limitations.
– Jason at Crowd Favorite
4. Which Marketing Analytics Software Does Your Agency Use for Tracking & Reporting?
What Marketing Agencies Are Saying About Their Analytics Software
Moved from Raven to Searchmetrics to SEMrush. SEMrush is best of all and reasonable.
– Bob from Ottaway Digital
5. Which Bookkeeping Tools Does Your Agency Use?
What Agencies Are Saying About Their Bookkeeping Software
Love bill.com for recurring and auto bill payments and the flexibility for the client to manage. It integrates with QB.
– Nikole at Mojo Media Labs
I’m a big fan of Freshbooks. It’s scalable, straightforward and easy to use. I can’t imagine switching.
– David McGraw at Oyova
6. Which Paid Advertising Management Tools & Platforms Is Your Agency Using?
What Agencies Are Saying About Advertising Management
We don’t use tools other than Google Ads, Bing Ads and Facebook Ads. We used to use WordStream but after a while, you get to the level of expertise in creating and managing that they are recommending the same things that you ignore each month and it isn’t worth the added cost.
– Mark Homer at GNGF
7. Which Sales CRM Does Your Agency Use?
What Agencies Are Saying About Their Sales CRMs
Of course, Salesforce is much better than HubSpot CRM’s. But it’s free and for my clients that happens to be “good enough.”
– Lee from Newbridge Turing
8. Which Internal Communication Tools Is Your Agency Using?
What Agencies Are Saying About Internal Communications Tools
Slack has it all. Big fan. Apps, document linkage, APIs with Zapier, Pipedrive, GitHub, etc. make it easy to use for people all over the company, despite their title or role.
– Jason at CrowdFavorite
Big Thank You
A big thanks to all the agencies in the Digital Mastermind Group that contributed to this survey.
Conclusion
When it comes to choosing for your agency, hearing what others use and why is key. Opting for the wrong tool can lead to disastrous results ranging from productivity drains and financial losses.
Here’s a quick summary of the top technology choices for digital marketing agencies:
- HubSpot for email marketing automation
- CallRail for call tracking software
- Teamwork for project management
- SEMRush for tracking and reporting results to clients
- QuickBooks for Bookkeeping
- Google Ads for paid advertising management
- HubSpot CRM for sales CRM
- Slack for internal communications
