Using Asana to Track Your Marketing Efforts with Ease

By Molly Yurick

One of my biggest struggles as a freelancer used to be tracking my marketing efforts on a messy Excel sheet that had around a thousand columns and three million rows. Due to my disorganization, I would forget to follow up with potential clients I had contacted, lose track of which agencies I had registered with, or fail to record the rates I had set in their databases (and the list goes on). Then I found Asana, a free online project management tool.

Let me start by telling you why I began using Asana. When the pandemic hit, my tourism-based translation business suffered. My clients consisted mostly of hotel chains, airlines, and destination wedding planners. So, I used this unexpected excess of free time to take a specialized subtitling course, lean on my ATA Audiovisual Division mentor, Mara Campbell, and start marketing as if it were my full-time job. My messy, homemade Excel tracking sheet wasn’t cutting it anymore. I needed to get organized, and quick.

I was already using Asana to organize volunteer projects in my role as deputy chair of ATA’s Public Relations Committee and figured I could make it work for organizing my marketing efforts. I immediately started applying to agencies specialized in subtitling. My marketing plan included a rigorous schedule of sending up to three follow-up emails to each potential client I contacted. I also had a goal of sending 5-10 marketing emails every day. Marketing became my full-time job and I tracked it all in Asana.

Marketing in Asana

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how you can use Asana to track and manage your marketing efforts.

Step 1: Create a Free Account on Asana
1. Go to the main Asana page and click “Get Started.”

Step 2: Set Up Your “Projects”
1. In Asana, “Projects” are how you organize and plan all the tasks related to a specific initiative, goal, or big piece of work. (See Figure 1.) In this case, your marketing efforts. You can visualize projects using a “List,” “Board,” or “Calendar” view and toggle between these views at any time. (I prefer list view.)
2. I recommend setting up a project for each of your specializations. That way you can track and focus your marketing more clearly. In my Asana, I have three ongoing marketing projects: subtitling, tourism translation, and official document translation. (See Figure 2.)

Step 3: Set Up Your Tasks and Sections
1. To create a task, go into a project, type a task name where it says “Task Name,” then press Enter to keep adding more. (See Figure 3.)
2. The “Add Sections” feature groups your tasks, making it easier to break your marketing up into steps.

Step 4: Create Section 1 (“Potential Clients”)
1. Fill in the section with numerous tasks.
2. Fill in the task name with the name of the potential client.
3. Click on the task. A side window will open (see Figure 4). Add in relevant information about the potential client where it says “Description,” including:

• Website.
• Contact information (this could be the “freelancer” form on an agency’s website, the human resources department’s email address, or head of recruitment on LinkedIn).
• “Warm” contact idea (e.g., “Just opened new office in Minneapolis.”).
• I like to start a marketing campaign by creating a long list of dream clients first. That way, when I’m ready to take action, I can hit the ground running and send numerous marketing emails in one day.

Step 5: Create Section 2 (“Contacted”)
1. Move the client task down to Section 2 (“Contacted”) after you email the client for the first time.
2. Where it says “Assignee,” assign yourself to the task and set a “due date” to follow up with the client. (See Figure 5.) Asana will ping you when it’s time to follow up. (You can adjust notification settings in “Settings.”)
3. Where it says “Description,” add in relevant information about your marketing efforts, including:

• The date you sent the first email and who you sent it to.
• I recommend following up with potential clients up to three times, following up once every one or two weeks until you hear back.

Step 6: Create Section 3 (“Onboarded”)
1. Move the client task down to Section 3 (“Onboarded”) after you have onboarded with the agency or direct client. (See Figure 6.) In the case of agencies, this means they’ve added you to their database. In the case of direct clients, they’ve responded positively to your email and said they’ll keep you in mind.
2. Where it says “Assignee,” assign yourself to the task and set a “due date” to follow up with the potential client in three months. When you follow up, update the client on the projects you’ve been working on recently and ask if they have any upcoming projects you might be able to help with. (If you get work from the client in the meantime, remove the “due date” and move the client to the next section (“Active Clients”).
3. Where it says “Description,” add in relevant information about your results, including:

• The rates you set in the agency’s database.
• Which project manager or company representative you spoke with.

Step 7: Create Section 4 (“Active Client”)
1. Move the client task down to Section 4 (“Active Client”) after you start working with the client. (See Figure 7.)
2. Where it says “Assignee,” assign yourself the task and set a “due date” to follow up with the client every so often. You could adjust this depending on how often you work for the client.
3. Where it says “Description,” add in relevant information about your relationship, including:

• The working conditions you set with the client (e.g., minimum rates, rates for different services, turnaround time expectations, etc.).

Step 8: Create Section 5 (“Not a Good Fit”)
1. Move the client task down to Section 5 (“Not a Good Fit”) after you’ve marketed to the company and realized they aren’t a good fit for you. (See Figure 8.)
2. Where it says “Assignee,” remove yourself from the task.
3. Where it says “Description,” add in relevant information about your decision, including:

• Why the client isn’t a good fit (e.g., Low rates? Rude project manager? Deadlines that don’t work for you?)
• Be as detailed as possible. If you ever stumble upon the client again in the future, you’ll want to know exactly why they are in your “Not a Good Fit” section.

Marketing in a Clear and Organized Way

Thanks to my marketing efforts and improved organization, it took me only 15 days of full-time marketing and steady follow-ups to start working almost full-time as a subtitler. To be completely honest, I worked for low rates when starting out, which also made it easier to get started. I needed the experience, got it, and moved on to higher-paying clients relatively quickly.

In October 2020, I was onboarded by one of the world’s largest streaming services. My first subtitled feature film, titled Crazy about Her, in the U.S. market was launched in February 2021 on Netflix. Since then, I’ve subtitled series such as Money Heist, Valeria, The Snow Girl, and The Girls at the Back.

Currently, 90% of the projects I work on are related to subtitling and audiovisual translation, and I’m earning more annually than I ever did as a translator. I attribute a large part of my success breaking into the field to having a clear and organized way of tracking my marketing and being consistent with follow ups. I hope Asana helps you stay organized and on top of your marketing efforts as much as it helped me.

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Molly Yurick is a Spanish>English subtitler, translator, and consultant to aspiring subtitlers based in northern Spain. Her subtitles can be found on Netflix and she specalizes in tourism and hospitality translation. She serves as deputy chair of ATA’s Public Relations (PR) Committee and is also a member of ATA’s School Outreach Program and PR Writer’s Group. molly@yuricktranslations.com