Marketing has always been a collective effort that relies on multiple departments, teams and partners offering relevant insights, executing strategies and creating effective campaigns. Digital marketing, content management, customer relationship management and marketing automation tools are now must-haves for companies hoping to compete on a global scale in an economy increasingly based on e-commerce, and these critical resources can’t be managed solely by one person or team.

For brands to create a strong online presence, reach target audiences and grow their business today, they must ensure that collaboration among teammates, clients and other stakeholders is productive, no matter where they might be located. No strangers to the latest and greatest trends, the members of Forbes Agency Council also depend on simplified, effective collaborative efforts to optimize the campaigns they work on, and here they share their favorite marketing collaboration tools.

1. Trello

We have assessed, demoed and beta-tested a number of tools. There’s so much overlap in feature sets, but we landed on Trello to drive our staff meetings, agency initiatives, client project management and, in some cases, client communications. Its integration with other communications tools and platforms makes it increasingly efficient. – Dean Trevelino, Trevelino/Keller

2. Microsoft Teams

Our team is scattered around the world, so it’s crucial for us to stay connected. We love using the Microsoft Teams app on both desktop and mobile. It gives us instant access to all of our discussions and documents and allows us to respond to conversations easily via chat, use one click to join meetings, get in touch with anyone from the team and remain in the loop even when we’re away from our desks. – Solomon Thimothy, OneIMS

3. Asana

We manage our workstreams in Asana across our various departments, including brand and creative strategy, influencer marketing, production, paid and performance marketing, public relations and social media communications. It gives our team visibility into all in-progress work, helps us to identify bandwidth issues and keeps the team on track for client deliverables. – Joey Hodges, Demonstrate

4. Milanote

Milanote has been the most beneficial collaboration tool for our agency because it is so versatile. Through Milanote, we’re able to make visual boards for everything from diagramming website structure to organizing design inspiration and managing to-do lists. The collaborative nature of these boards was especially beneficial to our company as we made the transition to a fully remote workforce. – Adam Binder, Creative Click Media

5. Shared Calendars

This may be contrarian, but my favorite collaboration tool is the calendar—any shared calendar, to be precise. While I appreciate the online tools and apps that bring people together virtually, the in-person collaboration session is still far more productive. Being able to see a shared calendar to book specific times around people’s work schedules is still the greatest tool for collaboration. – Roger Hurni, Off Madison Ave

6. ClickUp

Our agency’s collaboration tool of choice is ClickUp. This allows us to dive in deep and track metrics such as billable hours, bandwidth and resource allocation. This platform is compatible with other collaboration tools, such as Slack, Zoom, Chrome, Calendly and more. It has streamlined how work is done at the agency and has allowed for greater flexibility in remote work. – Albert Moufarrij, MACH9

7. Gatheround

We love using Gatheround. The platform allows us to foster personal connections between our teams. We also use it to host our digital mixer, which creates a “speed networking” atmosphere, allowing cannabis industry members to develop relationships. In marketing, relationship-building is fundamental. Promote these skills among teams, and use them to create lasting relationships with clients. – Evan Nison, NisonCo

8. Zoom

You want to be where your friends are. We adapted Zoom to be that platform for us. Clients are already on it. Familiarity with the interface eliminates cognitive resistance; from whiteboarding to chat and video conferencing, tools are easy to access. We configured it to serve as our projects hub in combination with the Monday.com project management platform, and collaborations have become frictionless. – Goran Paun, ArtVersion

9. Any Quick Feedback Or Instant Messaging Tool

My favorite tool is any collaborative platform that allows for quick feedback or instant messaging between team members, especially in the hybrid or virtual workplace. It allows for a more productive and efficient workplace. – Jessica Hawthorne-Castro, Hawthorne LLC

10. Google Docs

I like to not overcomplicate elements of the creative process, so I like the basic elements of a tool such as Google Docs. This not only helps the team internally understand the level of importance and comments that the written piece (or procedure) has, but it also allows everyone to have a constructive voice and a hand in the collaboration on the final piece of work. And it’s easy to share and easy to use! – Christopher Tompkins, The Go! Agency