The Best Creative Management Platforms: Features&Cons
Here we present fundamental features of user favorite creative management platforms as well as their cons and pricing plans.
1. Adpushup
Adpushup is a creative management platform that helps businesses manage their ad campaigns on popular social networks to boost revenue.
Features:
- Helps businesses recover ad-blocked revenue.
- Dedicated account manager.
- Compliance with Google policies
- Get paid via PayPal or bank wire on Net-45 terms.
- Machine learning-based optimization engine to see the best layouts for you
Cons:
- The dashboard updates are not real-time.
- Ad revenue reporting could be improved.
- Time zone differences may create can sometimes be inconvenient.
- The communications could be done through one tool.
Pricing: Adpushup has three different pricing plans: Optimization basics-Starter, Automation, and Scale-Select, and Built for Enterprise-Premium.
It does not charge any fixed or recurring fee; instead, it offers flexible revenue-sharing plans customized to your needs. You can request a quote for details of pricing.
2. Miro
Miro helps creative teams manage their work by providing tools that make it easier for creative professionals to collaborate on projects, keep track of their time, bill clients, and manage their hardware, software, and other resources.
Features:
- Pre-built templates and the freedom to create custom templates and smart frameworks.
- Ability to work an infinite canvas.
- Widgets like sticky notes, freeform pen, shapes, and arrows.
- See collaborators' cursors, and share screen and presentations
- Communication through embedded video, chat and commenting.
- 100+ integrations, including Slack, Google Drive, Sketch, etc.
- Ability to scale account administration and user permissions company-wide.
Cons:
- Navigation can be confusing.
- The overall support experience could be improved.
- The onboarding process could be smoother.
- The help documentation needs to be enhanced.
Pricing: Miro has a forever free plan with unlimited team members if you want to try it out first.
The starter plan is $8 per member/month, billed annually. There are also Business and Enterprise plans for advanced features.
3. Creative Force
Creative Force is an end-to-end studio management software that makes e-commerce content creation easier by allowing businesses to take control of their high-volume e-commerce photography.
Features:
- Ability to manage samples and give stakeholders access to status updates.
- Updatable digital style guides.
- File management abilities such as automated metadata tagging.
- Real-time status updates with key stakeholders.
- Integration with internal and external post-production by syncing files between multiple locations.
- Insight via reports.
- Amazon Web Service (AWS) infrastructure and built-in dashboards.
Cons:
- Onboarding could be easier and faster.
- A simpler design and navigation could benefit especially those new to the business.
- The number of features may not be enough for a large-scale business.
Pricing: The starter with fundamental features to run your digital workflows is $900 per month, including one admin user.
Additional users are priced differently as "Full-time" and "Day Pass." There are also Team and Enterprise plans for advanced features.
4. AdCreative.ai
AdCreative.ai helps businesses generate ad creatives and social media post creatives utilizing artificial intelligence.
Features:
- Ability to create ad copies in multiple languages for all platforms.
- AI technology that uses your data to improve efficiency.
- Use of AI for highly-targeted social media post creatives.
- One-click re-rendering the projects for multiple platforms.
Cons:
- The number and quality of designs could be improved.
- Customer support needs enhancements.
- It has glitches from time to time.
- AI could be smarter.
Pricing: You can try AdCreative.ai free for 7 days, including all features, and cancel anytime.
There are different pricing options for startups and professionals. For example, the starter plan for startups is $29/mo paid monthly, whereas it is $189/mo for professionals.
5. Airtory
Airtory is a creative management platform that allows advertisers to build media display ads with ready-to-use or custom templates.
Features:
- Landing page builder.
- Gamified, interactive video ads featuring real-life experiences with interactive start/end cards.
- Retargeting, dynamic tags, and sequence ads.
- Viewability, impression, click, and engagement trackers.
- 400+ media advertising formats.
Cons:
- Some features could be more user-friendly.
- Bulk export tools could be handy for large-scale businesses.
- Help documentation needs to be improved as there might be confusing functions.
Pricing: You need to schedule a demo to find out pricing plans.
6. Bannerwise
Bannerwise is a creative management platform that automates digital ad production to help businesses build, publish and optimize digital ads.
Features:
- Ability to set up brand identity to see templates in line with your brand.
- Custom dynamic ads.
- In-banner video ads.
- Adaptive algorithm to generate different sizes.
- Use of a single ad set to manage, share, and preview multi-language campaigns
Cons:
- Small changes in design sometimes take so long.
- More features should be added to make the tool more time-saving.
- The speed of the tool and the bugs may sometimes be an issue.
Pricing: There is a 7-day free trial if you want to check out its features first. The standard plan, ideal for smaller marketing teams, is €275/mo, paid yearly.
You can go for the professional plan or custom enterprise plan for more features or purchase add-ons like additional users and API connections for varying prices.
7. Bannerflow
Bannerflow is a creative management platform (CMP) that helps automate production, personalize, and manage campaigns.
Features:
- Creative automation via features such as smart scaling, automatic asset and image optimizations, and control of all production processes.
- Instant approval, previews, and comments for remote teams.
- Localization and translation workflows.
- Brand library in the cloud.
- A dedicated support team is available in-app.
- Creative Studio for personalized campaigns.
Cons:
- It may not be satisfactory in terms of advanced functionality.
- More flexibility is needed for banner-making and animation tools.
- Might be buggy from time to time.
- Banners take time to load. Optimization might be needed.
Pricing: Bannerflow doesn't have any fixed prices as it depends on the customers' needs.
You can request a quote if you want to learn more about pricing for your business.
8. Papirfly
Papirfly helps businesses produce marketing materials from bespoke templates, store, share and adapt them for their own markets without specialist skills or agency help.
Features:
- Embedded digital asset management.
- Brand hub for international and local teams' communication.
- Bird's-eye view of activities with a live dashboard showing all campaigns and timeframes.
- Translation of key assets to allow international teams to use a platform in their native language.
- Insightful reports and analytics comparing different campaigns.
- APIs to communicate data across your organization.
Cons:
- The photo editing tool could be more flexible.
- The article reader UI could be more user-friendly.
- The design could be more modern.
Pricing: Papirfly's price plan depends on the needs of your business. You can contact Papirfly via the pricing plan to find your customized pricing plan.
9. Bynder
Bynder is a cloud-based digital asset management platform that helps marketing teams and businesses create, find, and use digital content.
Features:
- Brand Guidelines to help teams work in line with brand identity.
- Creative Workflow to break the bottleneck in workflow.
- Studio to scale and automate your digital content creation.
- Digital and print brand templates.
- Dynamic asset transformation and Bynder analytics.
Cons:
- The reporting and insights could be improved.
- Features like workflows, digital templates, and collections could be richer.
- You may need extra tools while using Bynder.
- UI could be more modern.
Pricing: Byder offers three different pricing plans for Digital Asset Management (DAM), DAM + Scaling your content operations, and DAM + Integrated digital ecosystem.
Features change according to the plan, and you need to contact Bynder for pricing details.
10. Widen Collective
Widen Collective helps brands manage and distribute assets across teams, tools, and channels.
Features:
- Widen University makes it easy to get support.
- Possible to view and interact with previews for multiple file formats.
- Asset history to monitor all activity on an asset.
- Visible workflow to gain visibility and insight into the brand's creative lifecycle.
- Data exports for product listings, user information, metadata, order and upload history, asset search results, etc.
Cons:
- Not possible to unhide versions of an asset.
- There is a steep learning curve.
- The search could be customizable.
- Generally, new features should be added, and the current ones should be improved.
Pricing: Widen Collective offers three options to get started with: Workgroup DAM, Workgroup DAM, PIM, and Enterprise DAM.
You can request pricing information by filling out a form via the "Plans" section of Widen Collective.
You can also use add-on applications for an additional fee.
11. Storyteq
Storyteq is a cloud-based creative automation platform that helps brands and marketing teams enhance their creative production.
Features:
- Self-service usability via Adobe Creative Suite.
- Ability to create on-brand templates for premium videos, banners, and statics from one canvas.
- Drag-and-drop, browser-based template builder.
- One timeline to manage all sizes.
- Asset delivery to ad channels per one or per batch from within the platform.
Cons:
- In-screen video elements editing options could be richer.
- AB test functionality in the tool could be added.
- There is a learning curve to setting up after effects projects.
- Overall, editing options could be more advanced.
Pricing: Being a fully self-service platform, Storyteq charges users according to the number of users and the actual usage of the platform.
You can book a demo and find out more about the pricing via the pricing page of Storyteq.
12. ironSource Luna Platform
ironSource Luna is an all-in-one cross-channel app marketing platform that helps marketing teams to produce interactive creatives, deploy them across marketing channels, and optimize their performance with analytics and automation.
Features:
- Ability to analyze marketing KPIs to see how creatives impact campaign performance
- Bird's eye view of marketing activities across every social and SDK channel
- Keyword analysis and discovery tools, automation, and budget control options.
- Playable and video iterations by recording gameplay snippets and turning them into video ads
- Automatic performance optimization with machine learning technology.
Cons:
- Platform operation could be less complicated.
- Adding labels to creatives could be easier.
- Data synchronization needs improvement to prevent delays.
- There is a learning curve for beginners without assistance.
Pricing: In order to see Luna in action and learn the customized pricing for your needs, you can book a demo on Luna's website.
13. Smartly.io
Smartly.io helps brands automate every step of social advertising by enabling creative and performance teams to collaborate, produce, test, and launch ads to improve performance and creativity.
Features:
- Dynamic templates that automatically create and deliver personalized images or videos across social platforms.
- Automated workflows that allow the teams to instantly publish and update ads across social platforms in real time.
- Predictive algorithms to optimize targeting, creatives, budgets, and bidding.
- Third-party data integrations and custom-defined KPIs.
Cons:
- Help documentation could be improved.
- Might be buggy sometimes.
- Some UI features are not very intuitive.
- Customization could be more flexible.
Pricing: Smartly.io offers a demo before you get started so that custom pricing can be set in line with your business needs.
You can book a demo to find out more about pricing via Smartly.io's website.
14. Celtra
Celtra is a creative automation company that helps brands and agencies transform digital advertising workflow and collaboration, supercharge production teams, and deliver performance branding at scale.
Features:
- Built-in briefing, approvals, and distribution.
- Brand consistency with global toolkits.
- Automated layout and smart image cropping across any channel and format.
- Central content repository to tag and organize headlines, descriptions, translations, CTAs, etc., in one place.
- Customizable reporting views with over 200 industry standard metrics and dimensions.
Cons:
- Might be pricey for small businesses.
- Help documentation could be more detailed.
- Creating a reports section could be more user-friendly.
- Overall features could be enriched.
Pricing: Celtra has a step-by-step approach when it comes to pricing. First, you request a demo, and they will reach out for discovery and then show you the solutions. Then, you will have customized pricing for your needs.
You can book a demo to learn more about Celtra's pricing plan.
15. Sesimi
Sesimi is a management platform that gives brands the power to create, manage and share branded content.
Features:
- Digital asset management to store, manage and share marketing assets in one place.
- Creative automation templates.
- Protection of campaign integrity by shielding assets from being misused and squandered.
- Cloud-based approvals and speedy workflow processes.
- Control of editing assets without additional software.
Cons:
- Selecting the format you want to download could be straightforward.
- Overall speed (especially download) improvements are necessary.
- More customization options and content are needed.
Pricing: There are pricing options for organizations of any size. For a live demo and a pricing model that suits your business, contact Sesimi.
Before You Leave…
At the end of the day, it's all about selecting the right platform for your team, organization, or client.
If a platform offers a service you need and can use to show off your work effectively, then it's going to be well worth your time.
Hopefully, this list has helped point you in the right direction.
Do you use creative management platforms? Is it on our list?
Meet me in the comments below!
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Why Should I Use a Creative Management Platform?
CMPs serve your brands as mini agencies. They assist marketing teams in automating the production of advertising with max ROI and shorten the time it takes to produce good quality, personalized content.
2. What are Examples of Creative Services?
Some examples of creative services include:
- Design and production agencies
- Studios
- Marketing firms
- Advertising agencies
- Promotional agencies
- Branding agencies
