Marketing agencies

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AI & automation for marketing agencies

More time for the work clients hire you for

Agencies sell ideas, craft and results, but much of the week goes on chasing feedback, rebuilding reports, filling timesheets and reconciling retainers. Make It Flow looks at how digital, SEO and creative agencies actually run, wherever their clients are, and connects the admin that sits between the brief and the invoice.

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AI and automation for marketing agencies · 49 sec

Understand the work

How work really moves through an agency

Every agency piece of work starts with a brief, though rarely a complete one. Account managers turn client conversations into something the team can act on, strategists add insight, and creatives, writers, designers, developers or SEO specialists produce the work. Project managers and traffic managers keep it moving through internal review, client feedback rounds and final sign-off.

Around that creative core sits a commercial machine. New business teams research prospects and answer RFIs and pitch briefs. Retainers are scoped in hours or deliverables, and someone has to notice when a client is quietly using more than they pay for. Timesheets feed utilization reports, resourcing plans and invoices, often across a project tool, a time tracker and accounting software such as QuickBooks or Xero. Many agencies now serve clients in several countries, each with its own expectations for contracts, tax on invoices and marketing rules.

Digital and SEO agencies add a reporting layer on top: monthly dashboards from GA4, Search Console, ad platforms and rank trackers, each needing commentary that explains what changed and why. Creative and social teams carry compliance responsibility too. In the US, the FTC's Endorsement Guides, updated in 2023, say intermediaries such as ad agencies and PR firms can be liable for spreading endorsements they knew or should have known were deceptive. In the UK, the CAP Code makes agencies share responsibility with brands for ads being clearly identifiable, including influencer content, and in Australia the ACCC has targeted undisclosed paid posts under the Australian Consumer Law.

Account manager or director

Owns the client relationship, interprets briefs, manages expectations and keeps scope and budget in view.

Project or traffic manager

Schedules work across the team, chases feedback, tracks versions and keeps deadlines realistic.

Strategist or planner

Researches audiences, markets and competitors to shape briefs, pitches and campaign plans.

Creative, content or SEO specialist

Produces the actual work and needs uninterrupted time to do it well.

New business lead

Researches prospects, responds to RFIs and pitch briefs, and assembles credentials and proposals.

Operations or finance manager

Watches utilization, retainer burn, purchase orders and invoicing, and closes the month.

Every day

Status updates and stand-ups across time zones, feedback arriving by email and in proofing tools, new requests from clients, timesheets that need filling, campaigns and content going live.

Every week

Resourcing meetings, work-in-progress reviews, client calls, internal creative reviews, pitch preparation and checks on retainer hours used so far.

Every month

Client performance reports, retainer reconciliations, invoicing against POs, utilization and profitability reviews, and planning the next month's content and campaigns.

Where work gets stuck

The current way of working is full of small detours.

01

Briefs that arrive half-formed

Clients send a few lines by email or mention a request in passing on a call. The account team fills the gaps from memory, and missing objectives or audience details only surface after the first round of work misses the mark.

02

Feedback scattered across channels

Comments arrive by email, in the proofing tool, on a call and in a forwarded PDF from someone senior. Reconciling them into one clear set of changes takes time, and working from the wrong version is an easy mistake.

03

Reports rebuilt every month

Pulling numbers from GA4, Search Console and ad platforms is only half the job. The commentary explaining what happened is what clients value, yet it is often written at the last minute after the data wrangling has used up the time.

04

Scope creep nobody quite tracks

Small extra requests feel too minor to raise, and timesheets are filled in late or loosely. By the time the overrun is visible, the retainer conversation is awkward and the margin has already gone.

05

Pitches built from scratch under pressure

Credentials, case studies and team bios live in old decks. New business teams spend pitch weeks hunting for the latest version instead of thinking about the prospect's actual problem.

06

Resourcing guesswork

Who is free next week depends on what the project tool says, what people remember and what has slipped. Specialists end up overbooked while others wait for work.

07

Invoicing that waits on admin

Invoices depend on approved timesheets, PO numbers and agreed milestones. When any one is missing, billing slips into the following month.

What could flow better

Less chasing. More of the work that matters.

AI agents, assistants, research workflows and integrations can each take on part of the load. Here is where they fit for marketing agencies.

New business and proposals

Researching prospects and assembling responses without starting from a blank page.

  • Researching a prospect's market, competitors and recent activity
  • Pulling relevant case studies and credentials from past work
  • Drafting RFI responses from approved agency information
  • Tracking pitch deadlines and requirements

Client onboarding and briefs

Starting every engagement and piece of work with the information the team needs.

  • Creating onboarding checklists for access, assets and contacts
  • Turning call notes and emails into structured brief drafts
  • Flagging missing objectives, audiences or deadlines
  • Setting up projects and folders in the agency's tools

Production and approvals

Keeping work, versions and feedback moving in one clear line.

  • Consolidating feedback from different channels into one change list
  • Tracking versions and approval status
  • Chasing outstanding approvals with polite reminders
  • Running pre-launch QA checks on links, tags, disclosures and consent wording

Reporting and insight

Getting accurate numbers in front of clients with commentary that adds meaning.

  • Pulling data from GA4, Search Console and ad platforms
  • Spotting unusual changes worth explaining
  • Drafting report commentary for the account lead to edit
  • Monitoring sites and campaigns for problems between reports

Resourcing, time and finance

Seeing where hours go and billing accurately for the work done.

  • Reminding people about missing timesheets
  • Tracking retainer usage against agreed scope
  • Matching approved time and milestones to POs for invoicing
  • Preparing utilization and profitability summaries

Use cases in detail

From trigger to done, step by step.

How it happens today

The team reads the prospect's website, recent campaigns and press coverage, then digs through old decks for relevant case studies, team bios and credentials, often reworking the same slides for every pitch.

Systems and information

  • · Agency credentials and case study library
  • · Previous proposals and RFI responses
  • · Public sources such as the prospect's website, press coverage and official company registries
  • · Shared drive or proposal tool

How it could flow

  1. 1 Summarises the pitch brief or RFI into requirements, deadlines and evaluation criteria
  2. 2 Gathers public information about the prospect, its competitors and recent marketing activity
  3. 3 Searches the agency's case study and credentials library for the most relevant examples
  4. 4 Drafts standard RFI answers such as company details, policies and team structure from approved content
  5. 5 Produces a research pack and checklist for the pitch team

Human oversight

The new business lead and strategists decide the angle, the idea and the commercial approach. Every claim about past results is checked against the agency's own records and client permissions.

What gets easier

Pitch teams start with the groundwork done and spend their energy on understanding the prospect and developing the idea.

How it happens today

The account manager sends a list of requests for logins, brand guidelines and contacts, then follows up repeatedly. Access to GA4, Search Console, ad accounts and the CMS arrives piecemeal, and projects start late because something is still missing.

Systems and information

  • · Proposal or contract details
  • · Project management tool such as Asana, monday.com or an agency management system
  • · Shared drive
  • · Email or client portal

How it could flow

  1. 1 Creates an onboarding checklist based on the services in the signed proposal
  2. 2 Sends the client a single request covering access, assets and key contacts
  3. 3 Tracks which items have arrived and records where each is stored
  4. 4 Sends reminders for outstanding items on an agreed schedule
  5. 5 Sets up the project, folders and reporting templates once access is confirmed
  6. 6 Alerts the account manager if a critical item is still missing near kickoff

Human oversight

The account manager approves the checklist and handles anything sensitive, such as account ownership or access levels. Credentials are shared through the client's chosen secure method, not stored in AI tools.

What gets easier

Every client starts the same thorough way and the team knows exactly what is still needed before work can begin.

How it happens today

The account manager rewrites the request into the agency's brief template, guessing at objectives and audiences or going back to the client with questions several days later.

Systems and information

  • · Email or meeting notes (where the team chooses to share them)
  • · Agency brief template
  • · Client brand guidelines and asset library
  • · Project tool

How it could flow

  1. 1 Reads the request alongside the client's past briefs, brand guidelines and current activity
  2. 2 Fills the agency's brief template with what is known
  3. 3 Lists missing essentials such as objective, audience, mandatory elements, budget and deadline
  4. 4 Drafts clarifying questions for the account manager to send
  5. 5 Attaches relevant previous work and performance data for context

Human oversight

The account manager checks the draft brief, decides which questions to ask and agrees the final brief with the client before work starts.

What gets easier

Gaps are caught before the first round of work rather than after it, and the creative team receives briefs in a consistent shape.

How it happens today

The project manager copies comments from emails, the proofing tool and call notes into one list, tries to resolve contradictions and confirms which version everyone was looking at.

Systems and information

  • · Proofing tool such as Ziflow or Filestage (where it offers an API)
  • · Email
  • · Project management tool
  • · Shared asset storage

How it could flow

  1. 1 Collects feedback from the proofing tool, email replies and meeting notes linked to the job
  2. 2 Groups comments by asset and section, noting which version each refers to
  3. 3 Highlights contradictory feedback between stakeholders
  4. 4 Produces a single change list for the creative team
  5. 5 Updates the job status and reminds outstanding approvers before the deadline

Human oversight

The account or project manager resolves conflicting feedback with the client and decides what goes into the next round. Final sign-off is always recorded from the client.

What gets easier

Creatives work from one clear set of changes on the right version, and there is a reliable record of who approved what.

How it happens today

Someone clicks through links, checks UTM parameters, compares copy with the approved version and looks for ad disclosures, usually under time pressure right before launch.

Systems and information

  • · Approved copy and campaign plan
  • · Ad platforms and scheduling tools (depending on access)
  • · Website or landing page
  • · QA checklist agreed with the client

How it could flow

  1. 1 Compares final copy against the approved version and flags differences
  2. 2 Checks links, UTM tagging and tracking against the campaign plan
  3. 3 Looks for required elements such as clear ad or paid-partnership labels on influencer content, promotion terms and, for email or SMS, the sender and unsubscribe details required in each target country
  4. 4 Checks landing pages for broken links, missing meta tags and slow loading
  5. 5 Produces a QA report with issues ranked for the team
  6. 6 Re-runs checks after fixes and records the result

Human oversight

The campaign lead reviews the QA report and decides whether to launch. Compliance questions about claims or disclosures are answered by people who understand the rules in each market the campaign runs in, such as the FTC Endorsement Guides in the US, the CAP Code in the UK or the Australian Consumer Law, plus any rules for the client's sector.

What gets easier

Launches happen with fewer surprises and a record showing the checks that were made.

How it happens today

Account teams export data from GA4, Search Console, ad platforms and rank trackers, paste it into decks or refresh Looker Studio dashboards, then write commentary late in the cycle.

Systems and information

  • · GA4 and Google Search Console
  • · Ad platforms such as Google Ads and Meta
  • · Looker Studio or reporting tool
  • · Project management tool for completed work

How it could flow

  1. 1 Pulls the month's data from connected sources into the client's report template
  2. 2 Compares performance against the previous period and agreed targets
  3. 3 Flags notable changes such as ranking drops, tracking gaps or unusual spend
  4. 4 Drafts commentary explaining likely causes based on the data and the work log
  5. 5 Lists completed work and next month's plan from the project tool
  6. 6 Prepares the report for the account lead to edit and send

Human oversight

The account lead checks every figure that looks unusual, rewrites the commentary in their own voice and decides how to frame difficult results. No report reaches a client unreviewed.

What gets easier

Reports go out on time with thoughtful explanation, and account leads spend their time on insight rather than copying numbers.

How it happens today

Operations chases missing timesheets at month end, exports time data and compares it to retainer allowances in a spreadsheet. Overruns are discovered after the work is done.

Systems and information

  • · Time tracking tool such as Harvest or the agency management system
  • · Retainer agreements and scope documents
  • · Project management tool
  • · Shared reporting dashboard

How it could flow

  1. 1 Reminds team members about missing or incomplete timesheets before the week closes
  2. 2 Matches logged time and deliverables to each client's retainer scope
  3. 3 Notifies the account manager as usage approaches agreed thresholds
  4. 4 Lists out-of-scope requests logged against the retainer
  5. 5 Prepares a retainer summary to support the next client conversation

Human oversight

Account managers decide how to raise overruns and whether to absorb, rescope or charge for extra work. Commercial changes are agreed with the client.

What gets easier

Scope conversations happen early and calmly, backed by a clear record rather than a sense that the client is asking for more.

How it happens today

The finance or operations manager checks which jobs are complete, confirms PO numbers with account managers, matches time to estimates and keys invoices into accounting software.

Systems and information

  • · Accounting software such as Xero or QuickBooks (via its API)
  • · Agency management or project tool
  • · Client PO records
  • · Time tracking data

How it could flow

  1. 1 Lists billable retainers, completed milestones and approved extras for the period
  2. 2 Checks each against the client's PO number, value and remaining balance
  3. 3 Flags missing POs or jobs with no recorded client approval
  4. 4 Drafts invoices in the accounting system with the right references, currency and sales tax or VAT treatment as configured for each client
  5. 5 Sends a review list to finance before anything is issued

Human oversight

Finance approves every invoice before it is sent, and account managers confirm anything disputed or unusual with the client.

What gets easier

Billing happens on schedule, fewer invoices are rejected for missing references and the month closes with a clearer picture of what was earned.

From one task to a connected system

From pitch to paid invoice, one connected flow

Agency work passes between new business, account, creative, operations and finance. Connecting those steps means the brief, the feedback and the hours all point to the same job.
  1. 01 A person reviews

    Pitch

    Research packs and standard RFI answers are prepared for the pitch team.

  2. 02 People decide

    The idea

    Strategy, creative direction and commercial terms are decided by the agency's people.

  3. 03 Automated

    Onboarding

    Access, assets and contacts are requested, tracked and stored in the right places.

  4. 04 A person reviews

    Brief

    Requests are structured into the brief template and gaps are flagged for the account manager.

  5. 05 Automated

    Feedback

    Comments from every channel are consolidated into one change list on the right version.

  6. 06 People decide

    Sign-off

    The client approves the final work and the approval is recorded.

  7. 07 A person reviews

    Reporting

    Data is pulled and commentary drafted for the account lead to finalise.

  8. 08 A person reviews

    Invoicing

    Time and milestones are matched to POs and invoices drafted for finance approval.

Responsible by design

What gets automated, what stays with people.

Can be automated

  • Timesheet reminders and retainer usage tracking
  • Onboarding checklists and access requests
  • Pulling performance data into report templates
  • Link, tracking and broken page checks before launch
  • Approval reminders and job status updates

AI prepares, a person checks

  • Report commentary and performance explanations
  • Structured briefs drafted from client requests
  • RFI answers and pitch research packs
  • Consolidated feedback lists
  • Draft invoices matched to POs

Stays with qualified people

  • Creative ideas, strategy and the pitch itself
  • Advertising claims and disclosure decisions under the rules of each market
  • Pricing, rescoping and commercial negotiations
  • How to present disappointing results to a client
  • Hiring, workload and resourcing decisions about people

Agencies handle client data under contract, often as a processor or service provider, so any AI service used on client analytics, customer lists or unreleased campaigns must fit the client agreement and the privacy laws involved, such as GDPR in the UK and EU or the CCPA and other US state privacy laws. Email and text campaigns follow local rules such as CAN-SPAM and the TCPA in the US, PECR or ePrivacy rules in the UK and EU, CASL in Canada and the Spam Act in Australia. Agencies can also share responsibility for undisclosed advertising, under the FTC Endorsement Guides in the US and the CAP Code in the UK. Check the rules wherever each campaign runs.

What this gives people back

Less managing the process. More doing the work.

Creative time protected

When feedback arrives consolidated and briefs arrive complete, creatives spend more of the day making things and less deciphering requests.

Calmer client conversations

Account managers can raise scope and performance early, with a clear record, instead of reacting at month end.

Reports that say something

With the data already assembled, account leads have room to think about what the numbers mean for the client's business.

A clearer view of the agency

Owners and operations leads can see utilization, retainer health and billing without stitching spreadsheets together.

Pitches built on thought, not hunting

New business teams start from the right case studies and research, leaving more time for the idea that wins the room.

Built around how you work

Your process first. Technology second.

Every agency works differently. A ten-person SEO consultancy, a creative studio and a full-service digital agency use different tools, bill in different ways and have very different client relationships. What can be automated depends on which systems offer APIs or exports, how consistently time and jobs are recorded, what client contracts allow and how much review each output needs.

Make It Flow begins by understanding how a job really travels through your agency, from brief to invoice, and where it stalls. We research options that work with the tools you already pay for, design small workflows with clear approval points, put logging and access controls around client data and refine everything as your team uses it.

  1. 01Map the work as it really happens
  2. 02Find the steps worth automating
  3. 03Design with checks and approvals
  4. 04Connect, measure and improve

FAQ

Common questions from marketing agencies.

Still have a question?

Talk to us

It depends on the service, the data and your client contracts. Many workflows can use aggregated performance data or agency-owned content only, and anything involving personal data or confidential campaigns should run through services that meet the privacy laws that apply, such as GDPR or US state privacy laws, and your contractual obligations. We map this with you before connecting anything.

It can assemble the data and draft commentary, but the account lead should always check figures and rewrite the narrative in their own voice. Clients value the judgement behind a report, and that stays with your team.

No. It can take over reminders, status updates and feedback consolidation, but deciding priorities, resolving conflicting feedback and managing client expectations needs a person who understands the relationship.

Often, yes. Many agency tools offer APIs or exports, but what is possible depends on your plan level and how each tool is set up. We check access before designing anything.

This page focuses on the operational side of agency life rather than generating creative output. Where AI is used in production, decisions about originality, rights, claims and disclosure stay with your team and your client.

It can help by tagging each campaign with its markets and running the checklist your team has agreed for each one, such as disclosure labels for influencer posts or unsubscribe details for email. It cannot decide what the law requires. Those calls stay with people who know the rules in each market, with legal advice where needed.

Pick the task that frustrates the team most every month, often reporting, timesheets or feedback rounds. Automate the predictable parts with a clear review step, then build from there.

Free tools

Tools picked for marketing agencies.

Free, quick and mostly sign-up free. Each one opens on the main Make It Flow site.
All free tools for this industry
Percentage Calculator Percentage change, uplift and percentage points for client reports, with the formula shown. UTM Builder Build consistent, lower-case campaign links for client newsletters, paid social and print, so every visit lands under the right source in GA4. Schema Markup Generator Produce Local Business, FAQ, Article and Product JSON-LD for client pages from a simple form, then test it with the schema validator. Meta Tag Generator Generate title, description, canonical, Open Graph and X card tags in one go, with a share preview to show the client. SERP Snippet Preview Mock up search snippets for client sign-off, with pixel-width meters instead of guesswork about character counts. Meta Tag Checker Check titles, meta descriptions, canonical tags and robots directives on any client page. It is a fast first look during a discovery call or pitch preparation. Schema Markup Validator Validate LocalBusiness, Product, Organization and FAQ structured data. Many client sites have schema added by plugins that is broken or duplicated. Redirect Checker Trace redirect chains on key landing pages and old campaign URLs. Shortening chains to one hop is a quick, visible win after a site migration. Broken Link Checker Find broken internal and outbound links on client pages. It is easy to explain to clients and often reveals deleted pages that still have backlinks worth redirecting. XML Sitemap Checker Check the client sitemap lists canonical, indexable URLs only. Sitemaps full of redirects and 404s are common on sites that have been rebuilt more than once. Hreflang Checker For clients selling in the UK, Ireland and beyond, validate hreflang tags and return links so the right regional page appears in each market. Open Graph Checker Confirm social preview images and titles before a paid social or content campaign goes live, so shared links look professional. AI Crawler Checker Answer the AI search question with facts: show whether the client's robots.txt allows GPTBot, PerplexityBot, ClaudeBot and Google-Extended. Keyword Density Checker See which terms a page actually repeats. Use it to spot over-optimised copy and keyword stuffing rather than chase a target percentage. Email Deliverability Checker Before blaming email copy, check the client domain for SPF, DKIM, DMARC and MX issues. Fixing authentication can lift inbox placement for every future campaign. Image Resizer Produce campaign creative at the right size with presets for Instagram posts and stories, LinkedIn share images, YouTube thumbnails and email headers, all in the browser. QR Code Generator Create static QR codes for print campaigns and events, in PNG or SVG with brand colours. They never expire and have no redirect, so they keep working if you part ways wit... Aspect Ratio Calculator Turn any width and height into a simple ratio, match it to 16:9, 4:5 or 1 AI Content Visibility Checker Paste any page address to see whether AI search tools may fetch it, whether its text is in the HTML, and whether it is written so a passage can be quoted Keyword Grouping Tool Paste a keyword list or upload a CSV export, and group it into topics you can plan one page around, with intent buckets and summed volume, impressions and clicks Bulk Redirect Checker Paste or upload up to 100 URLs and see where each one really ends: every hop with its status code, chains, loops and temporary redirects, plus a match check against the t... Email Verifier Check whether an email address looks deliverable before you send: format, typos, mail servers, disposable and role addresses, one at a time or 50 at once Spin the Wheel – Random Name Picker Turn any list into a colorful wheel, spin it to pick a random name or option, and draw several winners or split everyone into random groups in one click Color Palette Generator Build a palette from one color, pull the main colors out of an image, or press the space bar for random ideas Privacy Policy Generator Answer five short questions about your business, the data you collect and the tools you use, and get a starting-point privacy policy you can review, edit and publish WHOIS Lookup See the full public registration record for any domain: registrar and abuse contact, key dates, every status code in plain English, nameservers, DNSSEC and the raw record Image Alt Text Checker Paste a page address to list every image on it, see which have missing, empty or placeholder alt text, and find image links that screen readers cannot name llms.txt Checker & Generator Enter a website to validate its llms Website Technology Checker Enter any website to find out which CMS, builder or store platform it runs on, the scripts and services it loads, and who hosts its website, DNS and email, with the evide... MTA-STS, TLS-RPT & BIMI Checker Enter a domain to validate its MTA-STS record and policy file, confirm the policy lists every mail server, check TLS-RPT reporting, and see whether BIMI is set up and all... Color Contrast Checker Enter a text color and a background color to see their WCAG contrast ratio, whether they pass AA and AAA for normal and large text and for UI parts, and the closest shade... Mixed Content Checker Enter a page address to find every resource it still loads over plain http://, see which ones browsers block or upgrade, and check whether each file is already available...

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Keep the craft. Lose the chasing.

Clients choose an agency for its thinking and its craft, not for how well it reconciles spreadsheets. When the admin between brief and invoice runs quietly in the background, the agency gets back to being what it set out to be.

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