When content agencies need formal software selection

What to take away

Employer National Insurance is part of the real cost of internal users, alongside licence fees and staff time.
Run a formal selection when two teams, a contractor and a client brand all touch one content pipeline.
Consent for email and SMS automation is a legal question before it becomes a tooling question.
Score suppliers on written evidence rather than the quality of their presentation.
Name one owner and one end date, because open-ended selection drifts for months.

The triggers that justify a formal selection

Most agencies buy tools reactively. Someone hits a limit, a licence renews, and the stack grows by accident. A formal software selection project earns its place when reacting costs more than planning would.

Do you need a formal project?

More than four people touch one piece of content?

Yes

shared workspace stops being optional

ad hoc tools may still hold

Two clients on one content calendar

The clearest trigger is shared work. When several clients need the same approval step and two freelancers must see the same brief, a shared workspace stops being optional. Count the people who touch one piece of content. More than four, and ad hoc tools will leak.

A question you cannot answer quickly

A client asks where their draft is stored, or who can export it. If the answer takes a day, your tooling is a commercial risk. Under the UK GDPR, Data protection queries, retention periods and access requests are procurement questions rather than IT tidying. The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) is the UK's data protection regulator.

If you are still assembling a shortlist, the content agencies tools and supplier guide for 2027 sets out the categories worth comparing before you talk to any supplier.

Scope the project before you book demos

Demos reward confident presenters. Requirements reward your own team. Write the requirements first, and keep them dull, specific and testable.

Scope before you book demos

Take last month's three hardest jobs
List each step, who did it, how long
Mark steps a platform must support
Mark steps it merely could support
Score importance and cost of failure
Park low-scoring requirements

Build the list from real work

Take last month's three hardest jobs. List each step, who did it, and how long it took. Then mark which steps a platform must support and which it merely could. That produces a scoring sheet you can defend to a finance director.

Score each requirement twice: once for importance to the work, once for the cost of doing it badly. Anything that scores low on both belongs on a parking list rather than in the brief.

Evidence matters more than ambition. A supplier that cannot describe its migration path in writing will struggle when your client's archive lands on it.

For the data behind those claims, the content agencies best tools data and sources article explains which sources are worth trusting.

Cost the people, not only the licence

Licence fees are easy to compare. Staff time is not. Employer National Insurance forms part of the real cost of internal users, so assess it alongside staff time and the licence.

For example, a team paying £400 a month for a licence and eight hours a week of staff time is buying a staffing commitment far larger than the subscription.

Run the process and close it out

Process beats instinct once the shortlist is down to three. Keep the same script for every supplier and record answers in the same document.

Score suppliers on evidence, not presentation

Ask each supplier for a named implementation contact, a written migration plan, and two references you can call. A polished demo tells you about the presenter, not the product.

Where a supplier advertises heavily, checking the ASA list of non-compliant online advertisers is a sensible routine step before contracts are signed.

Agree consent, then hand over

Before automation goes live, confirm what the platform will send, to whom and on what basis. Email and SMS marketing sit under the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003, so consent records and cookie behaviour belong in the contract conversation.

Those duties apply across the UK rather than England alone, so the consent test does not change at the border.

Then set a review date and a named owner. A selection project without an end date delivers no decision.

Before a formal selection

Requirements: Notes scattered across demos
Cost model: Licence price only
Compliance: Assumed to be the tool's job
Demos: Unlimited and unstructured
Handover: Nobody owns it

After a formal selection

Requirements: One scored list tied to real jobs
Cost model: Licence, implementation and staff time
Compliance: Documented consent and retention answers
Demos: Three suppliers, one script
Handover: Named owner and a review date

Common questions

How long should a selection project take?

Six to ten weeks suits most agencies. Allow two weeks for requirements, four for demos and references, and two for contracting.

Do we need a formal project for one tool?

No. A small add-on or an extra seat does not need a scored process. Save the project for anything that changes how work moves between people.

Who should own the decision?

The person who will use the workflow daily, with a finance or operations sponsor. Owners who never open the tool approve features nobody needs.

What if we already have too many tools?

Start with a removal list. Cancelling two unused subscriptions often funds the whole evaluation.