Specialized Creative Operations Software vs. General Project Management Tools: The Ultimate Showdown

Marketing professionals have no shortage of digital tools that promise to make workflows easier. In fact, recent reports put the number of martech products at an astounding 14,106.

While it’s good to have choices, having so many can create confusion and decision fatigue while finding the perfect fit. One key consideration is whether you should invest in specialized creative operations software or settle for a generic project management tool.

Check out this breakdown of why dedicated creative operations solutions provide a higher return on investment by saving time while eliminating headaches.

A Quicker Path to High ROI

An item’s price tag is not necessarily the right way to calculate its true cost or value. You must also factor in the time you save, the additional revenue you can generate, and the problems you avoid. That’s why specialized solutions typically have a higher ROI.

Granted, generic PM software almost always offers customization. However, how much will that cost you in terms of time, money, and frustration?

Customized features on PM software often come with unexpected upgrade charges. As a result, you lose the cost savings you were expecting and take time away from revenue-generating activities.

Additionally, you may lose revenue in the form of dissatisfied customers who go elsewhere while you figure out customizing your system. Or it may happen when the extra work makes disgruntled employees check out mentally or physically, forcing you to dedicate resources to hiring.

Time is your most precious commodity, so don’t underestimate the value a specialized creative operations solution can deliver. For proof, check out our case study on Global Credit Union. It saw a 133% increase in project completion rate after making the switch. With specialized software, you can keep concentrating on what really matters.

Image Source: Global Credit Union Increases Project Completion by 133% with Lytho

Greater Visual Context and Collaboration on Projects

Generic project management tools communicate and coordinate work through text and chat. This can leave out the vital visual context that is central to creative work.

While you can attach and comment on files, the process can quickly become cumbersome as you toggle between apps and add-ons. Even worse is when proofs or feedback get lost in an ever-growing email or chat thread. Searching for files or specific information in these channels can be a frustrating nightmare that drains productivity.

Another problem with communicating across email is that version control is pretty much nonexistent. Once someone changes an asset, going back to a previous variant could be difficult, if not impossible.

A specialized solution fulfills your need to open a piece of communication and grasp the context of any feedback or suggestions on an asset. You’re no longer bouncing back and forth between a communications app and a file, trying to make sense of what to do.

That’s because the annotations and conversations are on the same platform. Features like version control and approval workflows help standardize the process and maintain one source of truth. This gives creatives access to the appropriate info and helps them understand key details from stakeholders. As a result, your team puts more brain power toward achieving key objectives.

Image Source: 2023 Creative Operations Report

Access to More File Types

Project management software often relies solely on the standard file types. In contrast, your creative team likely uses specialized high-resolution image, video, and audio files to make an asset perfect.

It stands to reason, then, that you need specialized software to manage and collaborate on such files. No matter how complex a project is, you should be able to handle all iterations and revisions with ease. Only specialized creative operations software can do that.

Enhanced Platform Customization

You know that all creative operations are not identical. Your team has ways of doing things that vary from other organizations.

Even within your company, you have to find ways to align marketing and creative departments. That also means no matter how specialized of a solution you have, there will be some level of additional tailoring to meet your exact specifications.

In such instances, a generic solution requires much more work and will probably still come up short. For example, pre-built templates won’t align well with your specific review and approval process. Consequently, you’ll have inefficiencies no matter how hard you try to get it right.

Contrast that with a specialized solution, such as what Lytho offers. Our pre-built templates have creative teams in mind and follow the general structure for an asset from ideation to publication.

You can then tailor your forms to match your specific processes and set up templates to ensure you capture everything your team needs to know from a project’s launch to completion.

You’re also able to easily delete fields that don’t apply to a particular project. Then connect the correct stakeholders in appropriate tiers for orderly proof routing. Plus, custom views allow everyone the right level of visibility on a project’s status.

Improved Vendor Support

It’s not that you can’t get good support from a project management software vendor. However, will you get the best assistance for your creative team, especially when your back is against the wall and you need quick solutions?

Generic PM solutions try to please everybody, and your team may be a drop in the bucket. In contrast, Lytho’s creative operations platform offers the white glove customer experience.

We understand our customers’ unique pain points and challenges because we come from a background of marketing and creative teams. Therefore, you’ll spend much less time explaining what you mean if you have a challenge or why something is important to you. With Lytho’s specialized solutions, we speak your language.

Discover the Specialized Solution That Streamlines Your Creative Workflows

Any time you’re trying to get your team to do its best work efficiently, you need specialized tools. Generic solutions simply won’t cut it.

Learn how to streamline your workflow and take your creative operations to the next level with Lytho. We can help you focus on your work instead of on your project management software. Contact us for a demo to find out what over 600 other brands have already discovered.