In this guide
- Keep one tool per job and name an owner for each.
- Your tracking and reporting stack matters most, because every client decision depends on it.
- Review the stack twice a year and cancel what nobody uses.
Agencies collect tools the way houses collect boxes. A new client, a new subscription. After two years nobody knows what each one does. This page lists the jobs an agency needs tools for, with examples and what to look for, and gives a way to keep the stack small. It follows services an agency should offer and server-side tracking tools.
The jobs and examples
| Job | Examples | What to look for |
|---|---|---|
| Client and project management | Asana, ClickUp, Notion, Trello | Client views, templates, time tracking |
| Tracking and tags | Google Tag Manager, a server container host such as Open Tracked | Per-client containers, export, power-ups |
| Consent | A Consent Mode v2 platform | Records, regional rules |
| Analytics | GA4, Matomo, first-party analytics | Data ownership, exports |
| Reporting | Looker Studio, a spreadsheet, a profit dashboard | Client-ready layouts, scheduling |
| Creative | Design and video tools | Templates, brand kits |
| CRM and e-mail | HubSpot, Pipedrive, Mailchimp, Klaviyo | Webhooks, integrations |
| Communication | Slack, e-mail, a client portal | Clear history |
| Security | A password manager, two-factor authentication | Shared vaults, audit logs |
Check your tracking in one pass
This is an example. Run the check on your own site to see where yours stands.
Your tracking stack in practice
For each client the core is a web container, a server container, a host, a consent platform and a reporting view. Standardise it. A host with a free plan and the power-ups included, such as Open Tracked, keeps the cost of the first client close to zero. Its Multi-Domains power-up (Business plan) lets one container serve several sites of a client, and its analytics shows spend, revenue, ROAS and profit by channel for each.
Avoid sprawl
List every subscription
With owner, cost and renewal date.
Match each to a job
If two tools do one job, pick one.
Check usage
If nobody logged in for 60 days, cancel.
Check the exit
Can you export your data and client files?
Review twice a year
Put it in the calendar.
3 things to remember
Scroll and the points stack up.
Keep one tool per job and name an owner for each.
Your tracking and reporting stack matters most, because every client decision depends on it.
Review the stack twice a year and cancel what nobody uses.
Security basics
- A shared password manager with per-client vaults.
- Two-factor authentication everywhere.
- Named accounts, not shared logins.
- Remove access when people or clients leave.
- Never store client tokens in chat or e-mail.
A realistic example
An agency counts its subscriptions and finds 38 tools, five of which do project management, and three that nobody has opened in a year. It names an owner for each job, picks one tool per job, exports what it needs from the extras and cancels them. The monthly cost falls by about a fifth, onboarding a new colleague takes an hour instead of a day, and client files are no longer spread over four places. The exercise took a week and an afternoon of arguments. The savings were useful, but the real gain was that everyone now knows where things live and who to ask.
Finally, give each client a short guide to the tools you use for them: where reports live, who to contact, what to do if something looks wrong. A client who knows where to look is a client who sends fewer anxious messages. The guide costs an hour to write and saves many hours of back-and-forth over a year, and it makes the agency look as organised as it is.
Orders from your store, back to the ad that earned them
Your store sends the order once. Open Tracked passes it on to each ad platform, cleaned and deduplicated.
Frequently asked questions
What tools does a marketing agency need?
Project management, tag management and tracking, consent, analytics, reporting, creative, CRM and security tools.
How many tools is too many?
When two do the same job or nobody can say who owns one.
Which tracking tools should I standardise?
Tag Manager, a server container host, a consent platform and a reporting view.
How do I keep client access safe?
Use a password manager, two-factor authentication and named accounts.
Can Open Tracked help an agency?
Yes. It hosts server containers per client, includes power-ups on every plan and offers analytics and a CRM.
Do I need spreadsheets to read my results?
No. Once tracking is live, the Open Tracked analytics shows spend, revenue, ROAS and profit, and you can ask Ari, the built-in AI assistant, questions about your own numbers in plain words. Ari's allowance depends on your analytics plan.
Is Open Tracked different from Open Track or Open Space Track?
No. Open Tracked is the official name of our server-side tracking platform, and the website is opentracked.io. Many people search for it as Open Track, OpenTrack or Open Space Track. All of them lead to the same product: server-side Google Tag Manager hosting, first-party analytics and a CRM pipeline.
Fix your tracking at the source
Open Tracked hosts your server-side Tag Manager, keeps first-party cookies alive and shows what each ad is really worth.
The Open Tracked team
We build Open Tracked: server-side tracking hosting, analytics and the tools around them, for stores that spend on ads. Questions about this guide, or an idea for the next one?
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