I get asked all the time — “what tools do you use to run your agency?” And every time, I think about how long it took me to figure out the right stack. I tried everything. Downloaded things I never opened. Paid for subscriptions I forgot about. Switched platforms mid-project because something wasn’t working.
So I’m putting it all in one place. These are the tools we actually use at CNW Digital on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis to keep projects moving, clients happy, and my sanity intact. No fluff, no tools I’m just throwing in to make the list look impressive — just the real ones.
Let’s get into it.
Operations & Project Management
Monday.com This is our command center. Every client project, every campaign, every task — it lives in Monday. I’ve tried Asana, Basecamp, ClickUp, and Notion, and Monday is the one that actually stuck. The visual layout makes it easy to see what’s in progress, what’s pending approval, and what’s overdue at a glance. We also use it for client approvals, which keeps everything in one place instead of buried in email threads. If you’re still managing projects over email, please stop and try Monday.
Slack For internal team communication, Slack is non-negotiable. But what makes it genuinely great is the integrations — we have Google Calendar, Figma, Zoom, and Monday all synced so notifications come through in one place. No more jumping between five different tabs to figure out what’s going on. If your team is still communicating primarily over email or text, Slack will change your life.
Toggl Time tracking, and honestly one of the most underrated tools on this list. Every person on my team tracks their hours in Toggl. On payday, they export a PDF and upload it into Monday — clean, simple, no drama. It also helps me see where time is actually going on each project, which is how you figure out what to charge more for and what to streamline.
Loom Instead of writing a five-paragraph email to explain a design concept or campaign strategy, I record a two-minute Loom video. Clients get it immediately. It cuts down on back-and-forth dramatically and honestly makes you look more professional. I use it for design walkthroughs, feedback responses, and onboarding. Free plan is solid for getting started.
Calendly My availability on my terms. I don’t take calls on Mondays or Fridays — those are my admin days. Calendly enforces that automatically. Clients and prospects can book Tuesday through Thursday without the back-and-forth of “does this time work?” Just send the link, they pick a time, done. Absolutely essential if you’re still coordinating calls over email.
Design & Creative
Canva I don’t think this one needs much explanation. Canva is everywhere for a reason — it’s fast, intuitive, and the output looks good. We use it for everything from social graphics to pitch decks to quick mockups. The Brand Kit feature is especially useful for keeping client assets organized.
Figma Where the real design work happens. Figma is how we build and present design concepts to clients — they can leave comments directly on the file, which makes the approval process so much cleaner than emailing screenshots back and forth. If you’re doing any kind of web or email design and you’re not using Figma, you’re making your life harder than it needs to be.
Kittl A hidden gem. Kittl has an incredible library of design templates and assets — especially for typography-heavy work and brand elements. When I need inspiration or a starting point for something creative, Kittl is one of the first places I go. Way less generic-looking than what you’ll pull from most stock template libraries.
Adobe Firefly Our go-to for AI-generated images and video. When a client needs custom visuals and a photoshoot isn’t in the budget, Firefly produces quality results that actually feel editorial rather than obviously AI-generated. It’s built into the Adobe ecosystem, so if you’re already in Creative Cloud, it’s right there.
Unsplash Free, high-quality, non-cheesy stock photography. Emphasis on non-cheesy. If you’ve ever cringed at a stock photo of someone shaking hands in a generic conference room, Unsplash is the antidote. We use it constantly for email backgrounds, blog headers, and mood boarding.
Marketing & Email
Klaviyo The email and SMS platform we build everything on for our clients. It’s powerful, the segmentation is best-in-class, and the automation capabilities are exactly what growing e-commerce brands need. There’s a learning curve but it’s worth it. If you’re managing email marketing at any serious volume, Klaviyo is the standard.
Milled This one’s for inspiration and competitive research. Milled is a searchable database of email campaigns from thousands of brands. When I want to see what a competitor is sending, or I need creative inspiration for a campaign, I go to Milled. It’s also a great resource for benchmarking design trends and subject line strategies. Bookmark it.
Litmus Before any email goes out, it should be previewed across inboxes — because what looks perfect in Klaviyo can break completely in Outlook. Litmus does that. It shows you exactly how your email renders across every major email client and device. It’s caught embarrassing issues more times than I can count. Non-negotiable for any agency doing email work at scale.
Hiring & Talent
Freelancing Females My first call when I need to bring in additional talent. The community is full of skilled, vetted women in design, copywriting, marketing, strategy, and more. The quality of talent here consistently impresses me, and the community aspect makes it feel more like a referral than a cold hire.
Fiverr For quick, specific, well-defined tasks. Need a logo variation? A voice-over? A quick video edit? Fiverr has someone who specializes in exactly that. The key to Fiverr is knowing how to write a clear brief — the more specific you are, the better the output.
Upwork For longer-term freelance relationships and more complex projects. Upwork gives you more vetting tools than Fiverr — you can see work history, client reviews, and have a proper discovery call before committing. We’ve found some of our most reliable contractors through Upwork.
Finance & Admin
Gusto Payroll for startups and small agencies. Gusto is cost-effective, easy to use, and almost entirely hands-off once it’s set up. Direct deposit, tax filing, new hire reporting — it handles all of it. My team gets paid the 1st Friday of every month without me having to do anything except make sure the funds are there. If you’re still doing payroll manually or through your accountant every two weeks, switch to Gusto.
QuickBooks For bookkeeping and financial tracking. QuickBooks connects to your bank accounts and credit cards, categorizes transactions, and gives you a clear picture of where your money is going. It also integrates with Gusto, which makes reconciliation clean. Your accountant will likely want you on QuickBooks anyway — might as well set it up early.
AI & Productivity
Claude / ChatGPT Both live in our workflow. Claude is my go-to for longer-form writing, strategy thinking, complex problem solving, and anything where I need nuanced output. ChatGPT is great for quick answers, brainstorming, and ideation. I use both. The brands and agencies that are figuring out how to work with AI are moving significantly faster than the ones that aren’t.
Grammarly Your last line of defense before anything goes out. Emails, proposals, copy — Grammarly catches the things your eyes skip over when you’ve been staring at a document for too long. The tone suggestions are also genuinely useful for making sure your writing lands the way you intend.
Otter.ai Records and transcribes your calls automatically. I stopped taking notes in client meetings the day I found Otter. It captures everything, generates a summary, and lets you search the transcript afterward. If you’re a solo operator or a small team, this is like having an extra person in every meeting.
Planoly or Buffer For social media scheduling. Both have a visual calendar that makes it easy to plan content in advance and see how your feed looks before it’s live. We use Later for most clients because the visual planner for Instagram is particularly good. If you’re posting social content in real time, you’re spending way more time on it than you need to.
The Bottom Line
You don’t need all of these at once. Start with the ones that solve your biggest pain points right now — probably project management, communication, and finance — and build from there. The goal isn’t to have the most tools. It’s to have the right ones that actually get used.
Every tool on this list earns its place in our workflow. If it didn’t, it wouldn’t be on here.
Want this as a downloadable you can keep and share? Grab the free PDF version in The Vault here.
Have a tool you swear by that didn’t make the list? Comment and tell me — I’m always looking for the next thing that makes running an agency a little less chaotic.
Clarissa Wright is the founder of CNW Digital, a marketing agency specializing in email, SMS, and web design for beauty and lifestyle brands. Follow along at cnw-digital.com.
Affiliate Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, which means CNW Digital may earn a small commission if you sign up or make a purchase — at no additional cost to you. We only recommend tools we actually use and genuinely stand behind. Our opinions are always our own.ShareContent
