Asana vs ClickUp vs Notion vs Monday vs Excel
What’s the Best Project Management Tool to Keep Your Marketing Deployment Running?
Marketing teams don’t fail because of bad ideas.
They fail because those ideas get lost in Slack threads, buried in inboxes, or trapped in a spreadsheet named FINAL_final_v7.xlsx.
If your campaigns feel chaotic, your timelines slippery, and your team is constantly asking “wait—who owns this?”, chances are you don’t have a creativity problem.
You have a deployment problem.
So let’s settle one of the most common questions we hear from marketing leaders:
👉🏼 What’s the best project management tool to keep marketing running smoothly?
We broke down the five most popular contenders — and spoiler alert: the answer might not be what you think.
The Contenders
Asana
Best for: Teams that want structure without chaos
Vibe: Organized, calm, gets stuff done
Asana is the go-to for a reason. It’s intuitive, clean, and built for teams that run repeatable campaigns with real deadlines. You can manage tasks, timelines, dependencies, and workloads without needing a PhD in workflow design.
Why marketers like it
Easy onboarding (huge win for growing teams)
Strong timeline and calendar views
Reliable for campaign-based workflows
Where it falls short
Less flexible for highly customized processes
Power users may want more automation
Bottom line:
If you want a dependable, scalable system that most teams adopt quickly, Asana is a top-tier choice.
ClickUp
Best for: Teams that love customization
Vibe: Maximum control, maximum options
ClickUp does… everything. Lists, boards, docs, goals, dashboards, automations, time tracking. If there’s a way to manage work, ClickUp probably has a feature for it.
Why marketers like it
Extremely customizable
Strong automation and reporting
Can replace multiple tools if configured well
Where it falls short
Steeper learning curve
Easy to overbuild workflows and slow teams down
Bottom line:
Amazing for ops-heavy marketing teams who want full control — just don’t confuse flexibility with simplicity.
Notion
Best for: Documentation, planning, and knowledge management
Vibe: Minimalist, organized, aesthetic
Notion is less of a traditional project manager and more of a digital HQ. It shines at housing strategy, SOPs, briefs, content calendars, and internal documentation — all beautifully organized.
Why marketers like it
Incredible for documentation and onboarding
Custom databases and templates
Everything lives in one place
Where it falls short
Task dependencies and timelines are clunky
Not ideal for fast-moving campaign execution
Bottom line:
Notion is fantastic for planning and documentation, but most teams pair it with another tool for execution.
Monday.com
Best for: Teams that love dashboards and visibility
Vibe: Spreadsheet, but make it ✨pretty✨
Monday.com is highly visual and easy to understand, even for non-marketers. Color-coded boards and dashboards make it simple to see what’s happening — and what’s late.
Why marketers like it
Clear, visual workflows
Strong reporting and dashboards
Easy adoption across departments
Where it falls short
Gets expensive as teams scale
Advanced features are often locked behind higher tiers
Bottom line:
Great for visibility and reporting, especially for teams working cross-functionally.
Excel — The OG
Best for: Solo marketers or very small teams
Vibe: “It works… for now.”
Excel is powerful, flexible, and familiar. But once multiple people are involved? Version control, collaboration, and real-time updates quickly turn into a nightmare.
Why marketers still use it
Flexible and universally available
Good for quick planning or analysis
Where it falls short
No real task management
No automation
No guardrails against chaos
Bottom line:
Excel is a tool. It is not a system.
🏆 So… What’s the Best Tool?
Here’s the honest ranking for marketing deployment:
Asana — Best all-around for most teams
ClickUp — Best for complex, ops-driven teams
Monday.com — Best for visual planning and reporting
Notion — Best companion tool for strategy and documentation
Excel — Best left as a backup
TL;DR:
If you want one platform that balances usability and power, Asana is usually the safest bet.
If your workflows are complex and highly customized, ClickUp can be a powerhouse.
And most high-performing teams use more than one tool — one to plan, one to execute.
One Last Thing: We’re Tool-Agnostic (On Purpose)
Here’s the part most agencies won’t tell you:
The tool doesn’t run your marketing. The system does.
At Ritner Digital, we’re project-management-tool agnostic. That means we don’t force you into Asana, ClickUp, Notion, Monday, or even Excel if your team already has something in place.
Instead, we build marketing deployment plans that plug directly into your existing tech stack — no painful migrations, no productivity-killing transitions, no “everyone stop working while we switch tools.”
Whether you’re:
Running campaigns in Asana
Managing ops in ClickUp
Planning strategy in Notion
Visualizing work in Monday
Or surviving on spreadsheets and determination
👉🏼 We design workflows that meet your team where they are — and make them faster, clearer, and more accountable.
Because the real secret to marketing velocity isn’t which tool you use.
It’s having a deployment system that actually ships work.
And that?
We can build anywhere.
FAQs
What is the best project management tool for marketing teams?
There’s no universal “best” tool — but for most marketing teams, Asana strikes the best balance between usability, structure, and scalability. Teams with more complex or ops-heavy workflows may prefer ClickUp, while Monday.comworks well for visual planning and reporting. The real differentiator isn’t the tool — it’s how well your workflows are designed.
Is Asana better than ClickUp for marketing?
It depends on your team’s complexity.
Asana is easier to adopt and great for running campaigns without overengineering.
ClickUp offers deeper customization and automation but requires more setup and governance.
If your team values speed and clarity, Asana often wins. If you want maximum control, ClickUp is powerful — just heavier.
Can Notion replace a project management tool?
Not entirely. Notion excels at documentation, planning, and knowledge management, but most teams find it lacks robust task dependencies, timelines, and execution tracking. Many high-performing marketing teams use Notion alongside a dedicated project management tool rather than as a replacement.
Is Monday.com good for marketing teams?
Yes — especially for teams that value visual dashboards and cross-functional visibility. Monday.com is intuitive and visually clear, making it a strong option for stakeholders who want high-level insights. However, it can become expensive as teams scale and add advanced features.
Can Excel be used for project management?
Technically? Yes.
Practically? Only for very small teams or short-term planning.
Excel lacks real-time collaboration, task automation, and accountability features, which makes it risky for fast-moving marketing teams. It’s best used as a supplementary tool, not a primary system.
Do marketing teams need more than one tool?
Often, yes. Many teams operate best with:
One tool for execution (Asana, ClickUp, or Monday)
One tool for documentation and strategy (Notion or similar)
Trying to force one platform to do everything usually leads to friction.
Should we switch project management tools to improve performance?
Not always. Tool switching can be expensive in time and momentum. In many cases, performance issues stem from unclear workflows, ownership gaps, or poor deployment planning — not the tool itself.
Fix the system first. Then decide if the tool needs to change.
Is Ritner Digital tied to a specific project management platform?
No. Ritner Digital is project-management-tool agnostic. We design marketing deployment systems that integrate into whatever platform your team already uses — whether that’s Asana, ClickUp, Notion, Monday, Excel, or a hybrid setup.
What does “marketing deployment” actually mean?
Marketing deployment is the system that takes ideas from concept to execution — including planning, ownership, timelines, approvals, and delivery. Strong deployment ensures campaigns don’t stall, deadlines don’t slip, and work actually ships.
How do I know if our marketing deployment system is broken?
If you’re experiencing:
Missed deadlines
Confusion around ownership
Endless revisions
Campaigns launching late (or not at all)
…it’s usually a deployment issue — not a creativity one.
Can Ritner Digital build workflows inside our existing tools?
Yes. We design and implement custom marketing deployment plans directly inside your current tech stack, so your team can move faster without relearning tools or disrupting momentum.
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