Best-of · Marketing Agencies
The best AI tools for marketing agencies (from an agency that uses them every day).
There are about 4,000 "AI tools for marketers" and most of them are glorified Chrome extensions with a $49/month price tag. We've run our agency on this stuff since before it was cool. Here's what actually moves the needle.
Our stack: Claude + GoHighLevel + Make. Everything else is supplemental. The picks below are things we've either used in production or evaluated seriously. not things we read about on a listicle.
Quick verdict
If you only pick three.
Start with GoHighLevel (your client CRM, automation engine, and comms hub), Make (the glue that connects your tools), and Claude (your content and strategy brain). That combo handles 80% of what most agencies waste time on: follow-ups, reporting, content drafts, lead routing, and project updates.
Add AgencyAnalytics once you have more than 5 clients paying for reporting. Add Notion AI if your team is running on chaos. Skip everything else until you've maxed those out.
01 · The best AI tools for marketing agencies
Eight tools. Honest takes.
No affiliate payouts influencing these rankings. Just what works.
GoHighLevel
The agency operating system.
- Client sub-accounts with white-label portals
- CRM, SMS, email, and automation in one place
- AI-powered missed call text-back and follow-up sequences
- Replaces HubSpot, Calendly, Mailchimp, and a texting tool
Best for: Agencies managing client CRM and automation
Watch out for: Setup takes real time. Don't hand a client a raw GHL account and expect them to figure it out.
HubSpot
Enterprise CRM with a learning curve.
- Best-in-class contact and deal management
- Deep marketing analytics and attribution
- AI writing assistant baked into the CMS
- Strong partner ecosystem and integrations
Best for: Agencies with complex internal sales ops or enterprise clients
Watch out for: Free tier is a trap. Useful features start at $45/mo and scale painfully fast. No built-in SMS.
ActiveCampaign
Email automation that actually works.
- Powerful email + SMS automation builder
- Predictive sending and AI content optimization
- Strong ecommerce and lead scoring
- Better deliverability than most competitors
Best for: Agencies running email-heavy client programs
Watch out for: Not a CRM replacement. Gets expensive at scale. Reporting is weaker than you'd expect.
Make (vs Zapier)
The automation backbone.
- Visual workflow builder for complex multi-step automations
- Make handles branching logic better than Zapier
- Zapier is easier to start; Make is better at scale
- Both have AI-native triggers and OpenAI/Claude integrations
Best for: Connecting your tools without custom code
Watch out for: Zapier gets expensive fast at volume. Switch to Make before you hit 1,000 tasks/mo.
AgencyAnalytics
Client reporting, automated.
- Pulls data from Google Ads, Meta, GA4, SEO tools, and more
- White-label dashboards for each client
- AI-generated report summaries
- Scheduled reports sent automatically
Best for: Agencies spending 5+ hrs/week on client reports
Watch out for: Pricing per campaign adds up. Worth it at 5+ clients; hard to justify under that.
Notion AI
Project management with a brain.
- AI summaries, action item extraction, and writing assist
- Client project wikis that actually stay current
- Automate SOPs, meeting notes, and briefs
- Q&A over your entire workspace knowledge base
Best for: Agencies drowning in internal docs and project chaos
Watch out for: Notion AI is an add-on, not magic. If your Notion workspace is a mess, AI just surfaces the mess faster.
Claude + ChatGPT
Your content and strategy engine.
- Claude: long-form copy, proposals, strategy docs, briefs
- ChatGPT: quick drafts, social content, image generation
- Both handle brand voice when you feed the right context
- Claude's 200K context = full style guides, whole websites
Best for: All content production and AI-assisted strategy
Watch out for: Raw output still needs a human edit. Don't publish AI content without a voice pass.
Surfer SEO
AI-guided content optimization.
- Real-time content scoring against top-ranking pages
- Keyword clustering and content planning
- AI outline and brief generation
- Integrates with Google Docs and WordPress
Best for: Agencies doing SEO content at volume for clients
Watch out for: Optimizing for Surfer's score can make content feel robotic. Use it as a floor, not a ceiling.
Jasper
AI content at team scale.
- Brand voice training across your whole team
- Campaign-level content workflows
- Built-in templates for ads, emails, landing pages
- Integrates with Surfer SEO for optimized drafts
Best for: Agencies with 3+ writers who need consistent brand voice
Watch out for: Expensive relative to just using Claude or ChatGPT directly. Best for larger teams where consistency is the actual problem.
02 · Side by side
All nine tools, compared.
Five dimensions that actually matter for agency operations.
| Tool | Primary Use | Agency Fit | AI Depth | Price Range | Our Take |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GoHighLevel | CRM + Automation | Built for agencies | Strong | $97–$297/mo | Core stack. Non-negotiable. |
| HubSpot | CRM + Marketing | Better for large teams | Moderate | Free–$800/mo | Overkill unless you need enterprise. |
| ActiveCampaign | Email + Automation | Good for email-heavy | Moderate | $29–$149/mo | Best email automation. Not an all-in-one. |
| Make | Workflow Automation | Built for complexity | Strong | $9–$99/mo | Core stack. Better than Zapier at scale. |
| AgencyAnalytics | Client Reporting | Purpose-built for agencies | Emerging | $12–$18/client/mo | Add once you have 5+ reporting clients. |
| Notion AI | Project Management | Internal ops layer | Solid | $16/user/mo | Great if your team lives in Notion already. |
| Claude | Content + Strategy | Excellent | Best-in-class | $20–$25/user/mo | Core stack. Best for long-form and briefs. |
| Surfer SEO | SEO Content | Good for SEO agencies | Moderate | $89–$219/mo | Useful for volume SEO. Can make writing robotic. |
| Jasper | Content at Scale | Good for 3+ writer teams | Moderate | $49–$125/mo | Pricey. Only justifiable with team brand consistency needs. |
03 · Methodology
How we picked these.
We evaluated tools against four criteria: Does it reduce actual labor hours? Does it survive contact with real client work? Is the pricing honest (no "contact us" pricing traps or bait-and-switch tier structures)? And does it connect cleanly to the other tools in the stack?
We excluded tools that were impressive in demos but fell apart in production. a longer list than you'd expect. We also excluded pure-play ad optimization tools (they deserve their own roundup) and tools that are wrappers around GPT-4 with a $200/month markup and a landing page.
The tools listed here are ones we've either run in our own agency stack or evaluated seriously for client implementations. The rankings reflect what we've seen work across 10-50 client accounts, not theoretical best practices.
04 · The Handled angle
Rather have someone else build the stack?
Most agencies know they should be using these tools. The problem isn't awareness. it's that setting up GoHighLevel properly, wiring Make automations to actually work, and training a team on Claude workflows takes 40-80 hours of focused work. That's a month of side-project time you don't have.
We build this stack for agencies and their clients. Full GoHighLevel setup with automations tuned to your service model, Make workflows that connect your reporting tools to your CRM, and Claude prompt libraries that produce on-brand content without a full editing pass every time.
We don't just install the software and leave. We build the automations, write the workflows, train your team, and stay on for support. Most projects are live in 10-15 business days.
CRM, pipeline, automations, client sub-accounts, white-label portal. The full thing, not just the login credentials.
Lead routing, report pulls, Slack notifications, client onboarding triggers. whatever your workflow needs to stop falling through the cracks.
Pre-built prompts for proposals, briefs, strategy decks, social captions, and client emails. tuned to your agency's voice.
What are the best AI tools for marketing agencies in 2024?
The best AI tools for marketing agencies depend on what you're trying to automate. For client reporting, AgencyAnalytics is hard to beat. For CRM + automation + client comms, GoHighLevel is the all-in-one winner. For content production, Claude and ChatGPT are the workhorses. For workflow automation connecting everything, Make is more powerful than Zapier for agency-scale use. Most agencies need 3-4 of these, not one magic tool.
Should a marketing agency use GoHighLevel or HubSpot?
If you're an agency managing multiple clients, GoHighLevel wins. It has sub-accounts, white-labeling, client portals, and automation built for the agency model. HubSpot is better if your agency has a complex internal sales operation or needs enterprise-grade analytics. GoHighLevel at $297/month (agency plan) replaces HubSpot, a separate texting tool, and most of your client reporting setup.
Is ChatGPT or Claude better for agency content production?
Claude is better for long-form, structured content — blog posts, proposals, strategy docs, client briefs. ChatGPT with browsing and image generation is better for social content and quick research. Most agencies use both. Claude's 200K context window is a practical advantage when you're feeding in style guides, past content, and brand voice documents.
How much do AI tools cost for a marketing agency?
A solid agency AI stack costs $500–$900/month. That breaks down roughly as: GoHighLevel agency plan ($297), Make ($29–$99 depending on operations), AgencyAnalytics ($12–$18 per client per month), Claude Pro or Team ($20–$25/user), and Notion AI ($16/user). You can start leaner — GoHighLevel + Make + Claude covers 80% of the use cases for under $400/month.
Can AI tools replace account managers at a marketing agency?
No, but they can make one account manager do the work of three. AI handles: pulling campaign reports, drafting client updates, routing leads, scheduling, and flagging issues before humans notice them. The relationship work, strategy, and judgment calls stay human. Agencies that try to go fully automated lose clients; agencies that use AI for the repetitive work retain clients better because response times drop and nothing falls through the cracks.
What AI tools does Handled Agency actually use?
Our core stack is Claude (content + strategy docs), GoHighLevel (client CRM, automations, and reporting pipelines), and Make for connecting everything together. We use Notion AI for internal project management and documentation. For ad campaign reporting we pull into AgencyAnalytics. That's roughly it — we've deliberately kept the stack tight.
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