2025 is in full swing, but productivity is still playing catch up, according to new research. That’s why work management tech is increasingly essential for marketing efficiency. Discover the latest data, insights and how you can get the most out of your productivity potential now.
A new year is supposed to be full of fresh energy, especially in the first few months, when there’s excitement for new strategies, big ambitions, and a collective reset. But, despite the buzz around resolutions, teams are too often faced with a gap between company strategy and workforce execution.
At the employee level, only 40% feel motivated, just 34% understand what success looks like, and less than half (49%) believe their company is truly productive, according to new global research from monday.com.
For leaders, that’s a costly problem in a marketing climate defined by rising demand and pressure to deliver on the bottom line.
“Marketing today isn’t just fast-paced, it’s fragmented, with so many demands across the modern media funnel.”
So, what’s the answer? Marketers are increasingly investing in productivity tools, but many aren’t seeing a real impact. That’s because adoption lags behind their investment, creating inefficiencies rather than eliminating them.
But why are companies betting on tech to supercharge their productivity? And how can they maximize their investment to close that gap between strategy and execution?
A few key challenges are making it harder than ever for marketers to plug the gap between strategy and execution.
Current content demands mean they’re juggling multiple projects and a massive volume of work, often with limited resources, tight budgets, and even tighter deadlines. All with the pressure to ensure they’re not sacrificing quality.
At the same time, they’re often working in remote and distributed teams and facing messy feedback loops, causing bottlenecks in ideation and beyond –an issue that’s normally made worse by a lack of visibility between departments, leading to delays and duplicated work.
In-house creative teams experience a similar struggle, caused by insufficient alignment with the wider company strategy. Leaving them unsure of what’s coming, when and why, meaning they can’t maximize their resources.
Robbie Ferrara, global creative director, monday.com says: “Marketing today isn’t just fast-paced, it’s fragmented, with so many demands across the modern media funnel.
“I’ve seen how execution can bottleneck. Not because teams lack ideas, but because aligning cross-department teams and multiple stakeholders across multiple countries in real time is harder than ever.
“When workflows aren’t connected, approvals stall, updates get lost, and execution slows down. monday.com brings clarity to that complexity, ensuring teams work in sync, move fast, and maintain momentum.”
“Marketing today isn’t just fast-paced, it’s fragmented, with so many demands across the modern media funnel.”
“Modern media consumption means campaigns aren’t a single moment; they’re an evolving process of localization, optimization, and iteration”
Three in four (82%) businesses have now turned to work management tools and software to help meet complex and escalating workloads, according to the world of work report.
Work management software creates a centralized home for all work, helping companies drive alignment, productivity, and efficiency. For teams, this allows them to plan, manage, and track their projects, no matter where they’re based.
So it’s great for helping businesses scale in upturns, as well as cope better with downturns.
But just because companies are investing in software, it doesn’t mean they’re necessarily adopting, using, or seeing any real impact from it. Only 78% of employees feel comfortable using work management software, which is a significant gap compared to managers (90%) and senior leaders (94%).
Ferrara says: “Access to more tools and platforms isn’t enough. What truly drives efficiency is technology that people love to use – that’s adopted quickly, drives collaboration, and brings strategies to life more effectively. It needs to be an open, extendable, flexible platform that adapts to shifting business priorities, speaks to whatever you already use and can be integrated into your daily work.”
“Modern media consumption means campaigns aren’t a single moment; they’re an evolving process of localization, optimization, and iteration, building evergreen and reactionary asset toolkits. monday.com acts as the execution engine behind that process, ensuring creative development, approvals, and distribution happen without friction. Giving teams constant visibility enables seamless collaboration.”
of businesses have now turned to work management tools and software
of employees feel comfortable using work management software
So, how can marketers use this tech to plug the gap between their strategy and effective execution?
Overall, they “need to adopt a human-centric approach to these tools – from better communication and transparency to a heightened emphasis on shared growth. When businesses align their technology, leadership, and culture to build motivation and a sense of connection, they create a more engaged and productive workforce that's future-proofed for the shifting world of work,” says Ferrara.
“Marketing is more complex than ever, with resources and headcount scarcer than ever. But with the right execution system, teams can move faster, adapt quicker, and drive stronger results. That’s what monday.com delivers. It is intuitive to use, meaning it’s adopted across all departments and quickly embraced across the business, giving full visibility to senior leadership and operations. It automates workflows, keeps teams aligned, and ensures everyone has real-time access to the latest updates.”
In addition, he advises that marketers:
“When businesses align their technology, leadership, and culture to build motivation and a sense of connection, they create a more engaged and productive workforce.”
Ready to unlock efficiency?
Streamline workflows, gain clear visibility across teams – and see your strategies come to life more efficiently now by visiting monday.com.