10 Must-Have Remote Work Collaboration Tools for Marketing Teams

Working remotely requires a different touch, and tools, compared to in-person work. 

As a remote marketing team leader, without the benefit of being in-person, your work remains the same: 

• keep the team's productivity and spirits high
• foster connection and camaraderie, and 
• make sure everyone's well-being is tended to

Sounds like a tall order, right?

Don't worry, it's not all uphill. 

There are a wide range of tools you can use to lead your team well.  

In this post, I’m going to share:

• 7 questions you must ask before using new tools
• 11 tools for managing your remote marketing team

For the sake of over communication, I’m not digging into the tools I suggest for marketing implementation, such as marketing automation, revenue platforms, or CRMs.

That’s for another day. 

This post is focused primarily on the tools you need to lead your marketing team well.

Let’s do this.

7 questions you must ask before using new tools

The tools you use to manage your remote marketing team are just that—tools.

They exist to accomplish a goal, nothing more, nothing less.

Why do I bring this up?

Having been in the marketing industry for a while, I've noticed a tendency to:

• continually explore new tools
• neglect optimizing existing tools
• waste valuable time test-driving unnecessary tools

Sure, there’s a time and place to test drive something new.

The tools you're using now may not be sufficient, or perhaps you're continually running into problems.

But oftentimes, at least in my experience, the problem isn’t with the tool used to do the job.

Instead, it lies in the lack of use or optimization of these tools to meet your needs.

Before we dive in, let's discuss a few crucial questions to consider when it comes to the marketing tools you use:

1. Are you maximizing your current tools?

If your current tech stack works, stick with it unless there's a compelling reason to switch. 

There's no technical need to continuously test new tools for your team if it's unnecessary. 

After all, why fix something that isn't broken?

It's not that you should turn a blind eye to the latest tools and improvements on the market. 

Instead, be cautious about chasing shiny objects and focus on optimizing and utilizing what you have, as it's easy to get distracted by the latest trends.

2. Does your existing tech stack work effectively?

If it does, stay with what you have unless there’s a compelling reason to change something.

Avoid the unnecessary testing of new tools.

Why fix what isn’t broken?

Now, if you have a glaring problem with your tech stack, then narrow down what’s the issue. If it’s a specific software, then yes, it’s probably time to make a change. 

3. Do your tools seamlessly work together?

Having tools that blend together like a well-rehearsed orchestra is crucial. 

You don't want to spend hours playing technological matchmaker, trying to get different platforms to harmoniously communicate.

4. Can your team handle the change or the addition of a new tool?

Considering this question has saved me big headaches.

For example, in one organization where I served as a Director of Marketing, we decided to add a new marketing automation tool for various reasons. However, recognizing the addition would be akin to scaling a glassy mountain and that we lacked the bandwidth to add and integrate the new software, we hired someone to implement it, and I’m thankful we did.

Remember:

Introducing new tools to your tech stack can be a double-edged sword. 

It can either be the wind beneath your wings empowering your team or the anchor that weighs your team down by slowing down your efforts. 

Ensure you have the bandwidth to embrace something new without sacrificing productivity.

5. Is your team equipped to use the new tool effectively?

Adopting new tools also means learning to use them effectively.

Ensure your team has the skill set to integrate new tools and utilize them to their full potential.

Oftentimes, this may not be the case ahead of time, and that’s okay. 

But be sure you provide our team with ample time to learn whatever tools you’re using or close to adopting. 

‍6. Will this tool lead to accumulated tech debt?

Be mindful of the long-term effects of the tools you choose. 

Some tools may seem beneficial in the short term, but they can accumulate tech debt and cost more in the long run.

7. How much are you spending on software per team member?

Keep a close eye on your expenses. 

The costs of software can quickly accumulate—especially when you hire new people.

So, if you’re potentially considering new software, perhaps consider different ideas to accomplish the same goal without using the software. Placing financial constraints on yourself can be one great way to be scrappy and come up with new ideas. 

10 tools for leading your remote marketing team

There are a variety of tools you can use to manage a remote marketing team.

Below are the tools I prefer or at least have the most experience with. 

When thinking about your tools, here are some categories to keep in mind

• Communication & Meetings
• Project Management 
• Collaboration

Communication & Meetings

Practically speaking, constant communication is a must for marketing teams.  

From updates on tasks to monitoring your efforts, you and your team will be in constant communication.

To this end, here are tools and tactics I’ve found helpful.

I’ll be honest: Most of what you’ll read will be a no-brainer.

But I believe there are two things in this list that may be new to you or something you should consider. I’ll leave it up to you to figure out what those are.

1. Phone

Call me old school, but I like talking on the phone. 

But this wasn’t always the case.

When I first started doing this a few years ago with my team members, it’d freak people out because they’re used to chatting over Slack or Zoom. 

They’d be like, “Why is Jesse calling me? Did I do something wrong? Am I being let go?” 
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Here’s the deal:

Don’t be afraid to call someone. 

Oftentimes, someone just wants to hear a voice, talk, and not have to worry about what they look like on camera. 

2. Zoom 

This one is a no-brainer.

I’ve been on the receiving end of different platforms, like Microsoft Teams, and the user-experience is always a bit wonky. I have to login, download something, or click multiple times to get to the meeting. And then, half the time my camera doesn’t work. 

Also, if you’re into Webinars, you can also leverage Zoom’s platform too.

3. Slack 

Slack is the virtual water cooler. 

I’m not going to go into the ins-and-outs of Slack. 
But I will say these few things:

First, use huddles as often as possible. 

This goes back to my comments on the phone. 

Oftentimes, it’s best to just call or Huddle someone on Slack to talk about something real quick or collaborate on something. 

Second, be mindful of when you send messages. 

Let’s face it: Receiving a message on Slack carries with it a temptation to reply right away. 

Third, be as gracious as possible with your communication. 

Messages on Slack, Email, or whatnot, lack tone and posture, so they can be misconstrued.

Use emojis. 

Be gracious with your tone.

And please, for the love of all things good and holy, don’t use Slack to share something negative.

Do that in person or over Zoom. 

4. Loom 

“Every time a Loom is recorded, a meeting is canceled.”

In remote work, many meetings are informational. 

Save everyone’s time by recording a Loom, share whatever you need to share, and pass it along to whomever needs to see it. 

This works well for keeping people up-to-date, reviewing something like a landing page that may have multiple points, or if you feel like your message is too complicated to share through Slack or your project management tool. 

5. 1Password 

Don’t come at me, but for a few years, I’d keep passwords in a Google Sheet.

But here’s the deal:

A password manager is essential for keeping your team's data secure and maintaining your team's access to critical accounts. 

With 1Password, you can ensure that all of your team's passwords are strong and unique, and easily share them with team members without compromising security.

Talking about passwords, when signing up for something new, be sure to use a generic email address from your organization, like team@yourbusiness.com.

This way, everyone can easily access whatever, and you also don’t have to work about not having access to something if someone transitions off of your team.  

6. Boomerang

When leading a remote marketing team, one principle has always been vital to me:

Protect your team's time.

Throughout my career, I've found two main ways to safeguard my team's time:

1. Ensure they have time to do their work 
2. Guard their personal time

The first point is quite self-explanatory.

Regarding the protection of personal time, here's the issue:

Typically, when you hire ambitious, driven marketers, your concern shouldn't be about whether they work. It should primarily focus on the risk of them working too much.

This is an issue I've encountered firsthand, and studies have confirmed it–remote workers tend to work 10% more per week compared to a standard 40-hour work week, and they often work on weekends too.

You can talk to people until they’re blue in the face. 

But protecting your team's personal time is an area where Boomerang truly shines.

In the interest of full disclosure, I recently discovered the power of Boomerang's inbox pause and meeting scheduler and haven't had the chance to implement them in the teams I've led.

However, should the opportunity arise again, I would continue to define working hours, encourage my team to block off time for work and meetings, and to pause their inboxes after working hours. This way they’d protect their schedules, and they'll be better equipped to resist the temptation to respond to after-hours emails.

What is more, their meeting schedule is a big improvement from Calendly. 

Give it a try and thank me later. 

Project Management

In marketing, you’ll have to implement your ideas, and this is where a project management tool comes into play.

There are plenty of these on the market, and I’ve used my fair share. 

But I’ve landed on the two below for different reasons.

7. Wrike or Asana

Over the years, I’ve used multiple project management software, and there are othersI haven’t used, such as ClickUp and monday.com.

After leading two marketing teams, and working on several others, Asana and Wrike standout to me for a few big reasons. 

1. Task assignment and scheduling

Within a task or project, you can assign individual tasks to different team members, each with its own due date. For managing marketing campaigns, this is essential because there are so many moving parts with different dates and contingencies. For example, your designer will not be able to move forward until copy is completed and approved, and you can’t launch your paid media campaigns until copy, design, budget, and more is nailed down too. 

2. Collaborative workspace

Both of these tools foster seamless collaboration for tasks and projects. 

They act as a one-stop-shop where your team can share ideas, get feedback, and updates, which means you can maintain clear communication between everyone because what you’re sharing is publicly accessible. 

3. Progress tracking

Wrike and Asana provide features to monitor project progress. 

With real-time tracking, you can stay on top of developments, swiftly tackle hiccups, and celebrate milestones with your team.

4. Marketing calendars

Need help visualizing where everything is at? 

Then look no further. 

These tools provide dynamic marketing calendars, which means you can create visual timelines, maintain deadlines, and ensure nothing important falls through the cracks. 

There are other pros and cons, like tracking progress, collaborating on projects, creating marketing calendars, and creating templates for recurring work. 

5. Template creation for recurring work

This feature is a timesaver. 

In marketing, there are multiple routine tasks, such as writing blog posts, creating content for social media, or sending a monthly email newsletter. 

Save you and your time, as well as ensure consistent execution, by templatizing recurring tasks. 

Collaboration

Collaboration is essential for marketing teams. 

When you create a collaborative environment, you will be able to generate more innovative ideas, improve efficiency and productivity, and increase overall engagement and satisfaction among your team members. 
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Now, collaboration doesn’t happen by accident. 

You can use something like the ICE Framework to unlock ideas and enhance buy-in. 

But you will also need to ensure you’re set up well to collaborate. 

To that end, here are tools I’ve found helpful to create a collaborative marketing team environment. 

8. Google Drive

Let’s face it: Google Drive has nearly everything you need to remotely collaborate:

• Docs
• Sheets
• Drive 
• Forms
• Slides
• And more‍

Sure, you can purchase different tools that do the same thing, and perhaps even better at times. 

If you’re just getting started or if you’re looking to cut back on some expenses, then I’d consider using Google Drive as much as possible to collaborate with your team. 

Here’s one thing to keep in mind:

Take a few extra steps to secure your business documents on Google Drive by using two-factor authentication (2FA), setup recovery, and be mindful of your share settings when sharing whatever.

9. Figma

Figma is a game-changer for remote marketing teams. 

With Figma, it’s a real-time design collaboration tool.

Know what this means? 

There’s no more sending back and forth emails with design revisions.

Instead, you can easily add comments and provide feedback quickly, or just hop on a video call to collaborate together. 

10. Miro

Miro is a great collaboration tool for remote teams. 

It helps you create interactive visual boards, storyboards, and mind maps that you can share with your team. This makes it easy to brainstorm ideas, collaborate on projects, and organize tasks. It's like having your own personal brainstorming buddy. Plus, with the ability to add sticky notes, drawings, and images, it's a great tool for visual thinkers.

As a non-designer, I appreciate how easy it is to create wireframes for landing pages or visualizations of your funnel to see how everything works together. 

Over to you

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These tools will help you to stay connected, collaborate, and be more productive. 

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Whether you're just starting out or already established, make sure these tools are part of your arsenal so you can get the most out of your marketing efforts. 

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And remember, in the world of remote work, having the right tools on hand is essential for success. So don't be afraid to experiment and find the tools that work best for you and your team.