Creative workflow automation: 7 tools to win back creative time

Creative workflow automation saves the time and energy it takes to kick off tasks manually, send emails, sit in progress meetings, and request reviews. This frees up creative teams to focus on new concepts, client relationships, and opportunities to scale up. 

Here, we look at the best creative workflow automation tools, which have all been designed to help teams:

• Speed up project intake and make sure your team starts with all the information they need.
• Visualize the project schedule in real time, so they can prioritize their tasks and collaborate effectively.
• Share the latest versions of the tools and assets they need to complete their work.
• Streamline the review and approval process to make sure they’re producing consistent, compliant, high-quality work that meets their creative briefs. 

First, let’s kick things off by looking at what exactly creative workflow automation is and the potential benefits for your team.

What is creative workflow automation?

Creative workflow automation is the process of using software to handle the repetitive, administrative tasks that surround a creative project — like routing intake requests, assigning work, notifying approvers, and updating project timelines. This reduces context switching and gives teams more time to focus on the parts of the creative process that can’t be automated. 

Workflow automations are usually rule-based, which means that an action is set up to trigger the next stage in the workflow.

For example: 

• When a request is sent to the creative team, the software assigns a team member with capacity to the project and populates a brief with the information they need to get started. 
• When an asset has been in production for a certain period of time, the software sends a reminder to the team member responsible for that stage of the workflow, reminding them of the deadline and offering support. 
• When a draft of the deliverable has passed the internal review, the software automatically routes it to the appropriate project folder and notifies the client so they can give final approval. 

These types of automations are simple to set up and understand, but they result in much smoother production cycles, fewer overlooked tasks, improved asset management, and less time lost to unnecessary meetings and back-and-forth communication.

7 best creative automation tools for small and large creative teams

While many tools fall under the category of creative workflow automation, very few have what it takes to streamline a shared workflow without detracting from the creative process — things like built-in communication tools, DAM systems, and features to centralize feedback on visual and video assets. 

At Wrike, we’ve spent years working closely with both in-house creative and design teams and client-serving agencies. For this list, we’ve selected tools based on the needs they’ve consistently expressed. 

The tools we’ll cover are: 

1. Wrike, our robust workflow automation tool for creative and design teams 
2. Ziflow, an online proofing platform for creative approval workflows 
3. Hunch, a tool to manage the workflows surrounding digital advertising management
4. Celtra, which automates the processes associated with personalization 
5. Adobe Workfront, an enterprise creative platform with workflow management tools
6. Asana, a project management platform with workflow templates for creative teams
7. Hive is a workflow automation tool known for its high number of automations. 

1. Wrike: The ultimate workflow automation tool for creatives

Wrike is our complete work management platform designed to centralize your entire creative workflow, no matter which subteams, departments, and stakeholders it brings in. 

Our platform breaks down workloads, tracks progress, monitors team capacity and resource allocation, assesses risks, and stores all project data, so you can refer back to it later.

At every stage of creative production, Wrike gives you the flexibility to optimize the steps that save time and money and protect your team. And for the tasks that you don’t want to automate, you can nurture your team’s creative potential with customized workflows and effortless communication tools.

Wrike’s creative workflow automation features:

• Custom request forms automatically collect information from your clients and gather the files you need to begin a task. You can set automations to route the new task to the right role or department and even use our AI features to create a project brief for your team to share. 

• Workflow capabilities cross-tag and centralize the files your team shares for complete visibility. Automations notify your team when a shared file changes (like brand guidelines or creative assets) and give them access to the latest version.

• Approvals let you share in-context information with chosen approvers, and use custom request forms to simplify the sign-off request process. If something misses the mark, managers and other stakeholders can request revisions with a tagged comment. Changing task statuses automatically updates the project timeline and all the dependent tasks.

• Integrations with over 400 solutions, including Adobe Creative Cloud, let you discuss changes to creative assets while they’re right in front of you and request revisions by placing comments directly in documents, images, or video frames.

2. Ziflow

Ziflow is an online proofing platform where teams can review images, video projects, and digital or web design assets. It’s a tool creative teams can turn to during the final part of the production process to ensure compliance. The tools and pricing structure have been designed to appeal to all audiences, from freelancers to enterprise teams. 

Like Wrike, Ziflow offers Adobe integration, side-by-side comparison, and integrated proofing tools so teams can give accurate feedback on the assets they’re discussing. This automation software then saves all the comments, so there’s a paper trail if the team does an audit later. 

Ziflow also has some robust version control features. For example, once a new version of a file is created, previous versions are locked, ensuring that stakeholders can only leave feedback on the latest iteration of the deliverable. 

Ziflow’s creative workflow automation features

• Custom workflows allow collaborative teams to distinguish between a heavily regulated asset that needs a multistage review and a single-stage approval process for a simpler project.
• Workflow templates save time when reviewing tasks that need repeat approvals, keeping the work moving through consistent, mandated steps. 
• Approver designation and adjustable permissions make sure key stakeholders are included in the review process. 

3. Hunch

Hunch claims to uplift revenue faster for digital ads by introducing automation and AI into the production process. 

This platform is ideal for teams that want to target potential customers for use cases like online shopping or travel. Unlike Wrike and some of the other tools on this list, Hunch is built primarily for “creative automation,” that is, creating personalized online ads at scale. Hunch uses automation to speed up the production process, so it can save creative teams a lot of time when they have to create countless versions of an asset for digital marketing. 

Hunch’s creative workflow automation features

• Creative studio automates content creation with template images and automatically personalizes the final ads with the data from the company’s records.
• A Meta partnership helps to manage and automate the ad-buying process for Facebook and Instagram within the same platform where the team creates the content. 

4. Celtra

Like Hunch, Celtra is focused on workflows and production for personalized, dynamic product ads and videos. It sells the platform on the cost savings and reduced time to market that creative teams see when they automate production.

Celtra’s creative automation features let teams cut out several of the manual processes that could slow them down when they’re producing new content — including producing and distributing new designs. It also includes built-in approval features to keep the entire workflow within one platform and reduce the chance of errors. 

Celtra’s creative workflow automation features

• Multilingual creative automation creates localized ads for teams that work in, or want to expand into, new international markets.
• Separation of content and design means marketers can easily generate new versions of an ad without compromising the asset the design team has created.
• Brand toolkits ensure consistency across assets produced by different team members.

5. Adobe Workfront 

Adobe Workfront is an enterprise work management platform designed to help teams plan, track, and manage work across the entire project lifecycle. It integrates with Adobe Creative Cloud and Adobe Experience Cloud, making it a strong choice for creative and marketing teams already working within the Adobe ecosystem. 

Workfront stands out in its ability to manage complex, enterprise-scale approval processes. Its online proofing tools reduce rework and simplify version control by letting stakeholders comment and approve directly within the same file that creatives are working in. 

Workfront is better suited to larger organizations than some of the other tools on this list, and the depth of the features means it can come with a steeper learning curve. But for enterprise teams that need visibility across departments and a single system of record for all creative work, it’s an important option to consider

Adobe Workfront’s creative workflow automation features

• AI-powered briefs can be generated from planning records in Word, PowerPoint, and PDF. 
• Automated routing means incoming requests are automatically directed to the right individual or job role best equipped to handle them. 
• Project templates and blueprints can be customized to a team’s needs, building a library of starter projects that are ready to deploy. 

6. Asana

Asana is a well-known project management tool, and workflow management is one of its features. It centralizes projects, including file storage, project roadmaps, and dashboards. It’s also known for its easy navigation and appealing design, which has made it popular with creative teams. 

Asana offers more functionality for creative teams than some of the other platforms on this list. It connects team members across departments and gives a broader overview of the project as tasks progress through the workflow. Like Wrike, Asana also integrates with Adobe Creative Cloud, which is a plus for design teams and other creatives.  

Asana’s creative workflow automation features

• Customization without coding, which lets teams find and templatize their ideal process. 
• Forms to standardize work requests and make intake smoother.
• Multiple views include Kanban boards and Gantt charts.

7. Hive 

Hive is cloud-based project management and productivity software that includes task management, project maps, and automated workflow features. It advertises itself as being “built by users for users.” 

Hive has a high number of integrations, which means it can offer a lot of the features that users typically shop around for, like multiple project views, time tracking, in-built direct messaging, and AI capability.  

Hive’s creative workflow automation features

• Hive Automate creates “set it and forget it” workflows for repeatable tasks.
• 1,000 integrations mean you can extend workflow automations to the other tools your team uses.
• Customized workflows offer as many steps as the task demands.

Discover the benefits of creative workflow automation with Wrike 

Wrike’s creative automations are more powerful, more flexible, and support more aspects of your creative process than the other creative project management software on the market. 

When you manage your creative operations within Wrike, you can use: 

• Request forms to streamline intake and create a smooth experience for your clients and your team
• Custom item types and templates to kick off and manage your work, whether it’s a unique project or a list of repetitive tasks
• Automatically updated shared folders for your creative and brand assets for effortless collaboration
• Approval workflows to keep your content production on brand
• Customizable reports to get a brief overview, drill down into the information, and strategize for your next project based on the latest data

And because you can tailor your workflows to your unique creative team, you can give them all the flexibility and scalability they need to collaborate, explore new ideas, and push the envelope on the innovative work they complete every day. 

Find out what Wrike can do for your creative team. Get in touch to book a demo today.