The Benefits of Online Proofing for Marketing Teams and Agencies
If you've ever dealt with the pain of managing multiple file versions and email threads for something as simple as writing and publishing a blog post, you're not alone. Many marketers and creatives went through that ordeal in the early days of digital marketing.
But today, online proofing offers the perfect solution, allowing marketing teams and agencies to collaborate, review, and approve marketing and creative assets efficiently in a digital environment.
Through online proofing software, marketing teams and agencies can streamline workflows, improve efficiency, and deliver high-quality results.
In this blog post, we'll explore the key features and benefits of online proofing software for marketers, as well as some of the best online proofing software for marketing teams.
- What is online proofing?
- Key features of online proofing software
- Key benefits of online proofing for marketing teams and agencies
- 3 Online proofing software solutions for marketing teams and agencies
- Getting your marketing team ready for online proofing software in 5 steps
- Online proofing software is at the heart of a competitive marketing agency
What is online proofing?
Online proofing is the process of collaborating, reviewing, approving, and routing different types of content online for creative projects through a cloud-hosted platform.
It is a modern alternative to traditional proofing methods such as email, printouts, PDFs, or physical meetings.
Online proofing allows marketing teams and agencies to review and approve marketing and creative assets such as logos, brochures, flyers, banners, and social media posts in a centralized digital environment without creating multiple copies of the same file.
With online proofing, teams eliminate the need for sending multiple emails with attachments, printing out hard copies, or scheduling meetings for feedback.
Instead of doing it manually, marketing teams and agencies can use software to upload files, invite reviewers, annotate, track changes, and get approval.
Online proofing software can also integrate with other marketing tools to create a seamless workflow from ideation to execution. In other words, it's becoming a vital part of any competitive team's martech stack.
Key features of online proofing software
Online proofing software can vary in functionality, pricing, and user interface. However, some of the common features that most online proofing software offers are:
- File sharing: Online proofing solutions allow marketing teams and agencies to upload and share their files with reviewers in a secure cloud platform. Reviewers can access the files from any device and browser without downloading or installing anything.
- Commenting and annotation: Online proofing tools also enable reviewers to provide feedback on the files by adding comments and annotations. Reviewers can also reply to each other's comments, tag users, mention deadlines, etc., to facilitate communication and collaboration.
- Version control: All online proofing software includes version comparison tools that allow marketing teams and agencies to track changes and revisions made to the files by reviewers. These tools allow marketing teams and agencies to compare different versions of the files side by side or overlay them to see the differences.
- Workflow management: An online proofing tool helps marketing departments and agencies manage workflows by setting up stages, roles, permissions, deadlines, notifications, etc., for each file or project. Marketing teams and agencies can also automate their workflows by using triggers, actions, rules, etc., to move files from one stage to another based on certain criteria.
- Approval management: Online proofing software enables marketing teams and agencies to get final approval from stakeholders before publishing or distributing their files. Marketing teams and agencies can also generate reports and audit trails to document the approval process and ensure compliance.
They also typically include annotation tools, markup tools, version modes, and more.
Key benefits of online proofing for marketing teams and agencies
For marketing teams and agencies, particularly email marketing agencies, online proofing tools are invaluable. They streamline the review and approval process of content, making sure it's perfect before it reaches your target audience.
Email marketing agencies are known for sending large volumes of content rapidly and continuously. In such an environment, the opportunity for error is ample. Mistakes can be costly, affecting the budget and the brand's reputation. This is where online proofing comes into play, safeguarding against these pitfalls.
With online proofing, content — a detailed newsletter, an engaging promotional email, or a dynamic social media post — can be meticulously reviewed and refined.
But that's only the beginning.
Online proofing platforms can bring many other benefits to marketing teams and agencies, some of which are:
#1 Having a clearer picture of all ongoing projects
Similar to project management tools, online proofing tools give marketing teams and agencies a clear overview of all their ongoing projects in one place. Marketing teams and agencies can see the status, progress, feedback, previous versions, revisions, deadlines, etc., of each file or project at a glance.
This helps them prioritize their tasks, allocate their resources, and manage their expectations.
Marketing and creative agencies also benefit from having everyone on the same page when it comes to reviewing and approving files.
Online proofing tools eliminate the confusion, miscommunication, and errors from using multiple channels or formats for feedback. They also update everyone on the latest changes and revisions made to the files by sending notifications or reminders.
#2 Proving marketing compliance
Marketing compliance is the process of ensuring that your marketing, advertising, and sales assets abide by all rules and regulations designed to safeguard consumers and their information.
Software that automates proofing helps marketing teams, and agencies show compliance by generating reports and audit trails.
It also allows marketing teams and agencies to store their digital content in a secure cloud platform that meets the requirements of data privacy and security laws such as GDPR, HIPAA, or others.
#3 Getting faster feedback
Digital proofing software allows reviewers to access the files from any device and browser. This makes the review process quick and painless.
It also lets people add comments and annotations to the files in real time, and team leaders set deadlines and send notifications or reminders to reviewers, speeding up review rounds and feedback loops.
#4 Easier and faster approval and routing of marketing and creative assets
Online proofing solutions can speed up feedback and workflows, and allow marketing teams and agencies to send files for approval with a click of a button.
Furthermore, stakeholders can also approve or reject the files with ease. From there, they can route the files to the appropriate channels or platforms for publishing or distribution.
This streamlined process speeds up the final approval and routing of their marketing and creative assets significantly.
#5 Improving ROI
Online proofing tools help marketing teams by speeding up feedback, approval, and routing. This results in fewer emails, hard copies, and meetings, saving time, money, and resources.
These savings translate into lower operational costs and improved performance, improving return on investment or ROI.
#6 Managing multiple types of digital assets and file formats in one place
Marketing assets span all content types from:
- Blog posts
- Tweets
- Videos
- Infographics
- Audio
In the past, managing the proofing process for these diverse types of content ideas coming from different creative teams required a stack of software tools, one for each use case.
One of the best things about online proofing software for marketing teams is that it lets you manage multiple file formats and file types in one place with one tool by integrating with digital editing suites like Adobe Creative Cloud.
By doing so, online proofing software can support various file formats and file types, such as:
- Images
- Videos
- Audio files
- PDFs
- HTML
It can also allow marketing teams and agencies to preview, play, zoom, rotate, annotate, crop, markup, etc., their files without affecting the original quality or resolution.
#7 Martech integrations
Finally, online proofing software can integrate with other marketing tools to create a seamless workflow from ideation to execution. Some related tools include:
- Project management software
- Content management systems
- Customer relationship management software
- Design tools, and more.
These integrations help sync data and proof process information between different tools to avoid data duplication or inconsistency.
3 Online proofing software solutions for marketing teams and agencies
There are many online proofing software available in the market that cater to different needs, budgets, and preferences of marketing teams and agencies. Here are three of the best you can try today:
#1 Filecamp
Filecamp is an online proofing software that allows marketing teams and agencies to collaborate, review, and approve their files.
It is a lightweight, cloud-based digital asset management platform that offers features such as file sharing, commenting, annotation, version history tracking, workflow management, distribution and publication, and more.
For marketing teams, Filecamp offers easy asset management from a branded central library, ensuring the correct usage of marketing assets across all teams.
For agencies, Filcamp keeps creative files organized and accessible for all stakeholders while maintaining the confidentiality and privacy of both files and clients. It also offers individually branded web portals for each client, improving their customer experience.
Filecamp also supports various file formats and file types, such as:
- Images
- Videos
- Audio
- PDFs,
- HTML
Finally, it offers unlimited users on its three subscription plans for a flat monthly fee.
#2 Hive
Hive is a cloud-based project management software that offers automation features for the proofing process.
It combines resource and task management, collaboration features, and analytics tools and has over a dozen native integrations with other popular tools. Hive lets users upload, share, comment on, and approve files in different formats and types.
Hive also has an analytics feature that identifies productivity gaps and bottlenecks and alerts the project manager. Hive offers a free plan for up to 2 users and paid plans with more features.
Reviewers like Hive's easy communication and collaboration tools, responsive customer service, and template library. They also like its advanced analytics suite with budgeting, guest views, and time tracking.
#3 Filestage
Filestage is also an online proofing software that lets you share, review, and approve files with your team and clients. It also supports various file formats and lets you invite reviewers to comment, annotate, and track the progress and status of your projects.
Filestage also integrates with other tools, such as Slack, Dropbox, and Asana.
The main difference from the others (Filecamp and Hive) is that Filestage focuses more on the feedback and approval aspects of the proofing process. In contrast, Filecamp focuses more on digital asset management, and Hive on project management.
Filestage is a great option for online proofing if you are looking for a simple and easy-to-use tool. It has a high customer satisfaction rating, and it offers a free trial and a reasonable pricing plan.
Getting your marketing team ready for online proofing software in 5 steps
Online proofing software can help you take your marketing to the next level by enhancing your collaboration, review, and approval process.
However, before you start using online proofing software, you must ensure that your marketing team and agency are ready for it. Here are five steps to help you prepare your marketing for online proofing software:
Step #1 Define your goals and expectations
Before you choose an online proofing software for your marketing team or agency, you must define your goals and expectations.
Ask yourself these questions:
- What are the main challenges or pain points that you want to solve with online proofing software?
- What are the key features or benefits you are looking for?
- How do you measure the success or impact of online proofing software on your marketing?
Step #2 Choose the right online proofing software
Once you've defined your goals and expectations, you must choose the right online proofing software that matches them. Look at different online proofing software to see which one meets your needs, price, user interface, support, reviews, etc.
You can also try out different online proofing software by signing up for their free trials or demos.
Step #3 Train your team and stakeholders
After you have chosen an online proofing software for your marketing team or agency, you must train your team and stakeholders on using it effectively.
Try the tutorials, guides, videos, webinars, etc., that the online proofing software provides to help your team and stakeholders learn the basics and best practices of online proofing.
You can also create your own training materials or sessions to address the specific needs or questions of your team and stakeholders.
Step #4 Set up your workflows and processes
Once your team and stakeholders are familiar with online proofing software, it's time to set up your workflows and processes for reviewing and approving your files.
Decide who'll be involved in the review and approval process. What will their roles and responsibilities be? Do you have hard deadlines to meet? How do you want to set up your notifications? What criteria and standards do you have for feedback and approval?
You can use the software's features, such as stages, roles, permissions, deadlines, notifications, triggers, actions, rules, etc., to customize your workflows and processes according to your preferences.
Step #5 Test and optimize
Finally, once everything is set up, you must test your online proofing software experience and optimize it by collecting feedback and data from your team and stakeholders.
Find out what works well and what doesn't and identify its strengths and weaknesses.
Then, look for ways to improve or enhance your experience by making adjustments or changes to your workflows, processes, settings, integrations, etc.
Online proofing software is at the heart of a competitive marketing agency
Online proofing software is a powerful tool that can help marketing teams and agencies collaborate, review, and approve their marketing and creative assets in a digital environment.
It can bring many benefits to marketing teams and agencies, such as having a clearer picture of all ongoing projects, ensuring everyone is on the same page, proving marketing compliance, and improving marketing ROI.
Online proofing software is the ideal tool in your marketing team's tech stack for delivering results quickly and meeting clients' expectations. Sounds idyllic, right?
So, what online proofing software will you choose to streamline your workflows?
Joanne Camarce
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