Item: Airtable
Rating: 10
Author: Riley Bettin

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Our marketing department uses it in a number of different ways, its versatility is one of its strong points. Our two most significant use cases are as follows: Firstly, we have a massive base containing all of our programs and channels that are broken out by individual activities/campaigns/etc. (over 1300 records) that all feed into a number of Airtable apps. Secondly, we have another base being used as a DAM that contains well over 1000 documents, images, etc. organized by a multitude of attributes. Personally, I have a number of other bases that I use for various areas of my job, all of which are incredibly customized to fit my needs and the needs of the topics. The versatility and customizability of Airtable are really, really great. You can format, structure, link, and edit to make it do (virtually) whatever you want.

Pros and Cons

Visualize data in an organized and aesthetically pleasing manner
Hide information to simplify use without having to delete or archive
Use the same data set to create a multitude of different views that cater to different needs without having to update multiple locations

Airtable's Interface functionality needs a bit of work but to be fair, it is still in beta
The graph/chart apps are great but I wish they were significantly more customizable
In my experience, Airtable is like skiing, it's easy to learn/use but it's hard to really get good at. Maybe offer formal certification courses of some kind?

Most Important Features

The ability to create multiple views of the same data source
The multitude of field options and their customizability
Calendar views
Gallery views for use in a DAM

Return on Investment

I'm not sure I can put an actual # to it but I would say significant

Key Insights

Do you think Airtable delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Airtable's feature set?

Yes

Did Airtable live up to sales and marketing promises?

I wasn't involved with the selection/purchase process

Did implementation of Airtable go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Airtable again?

Yes

Other Software Used

Teamwork

Likelihood to Recommend

If you're looking for formal project management software, I think there might be better apps out there. But to be fair, I have not used it much at all for formal (marketing) project management goings-on. Otherwise, I would be hard-pressed to find a scenario that wouldn't benefit from Airtable. It's kind of like excel's much more attractive cousin that's far more personable and charming but probably isn't as smart, which is still a compliment. If my company were to drop Airtable, I would certainly have a panic attack as I spend hours every single day using it and I quite literally depend on it in so many ways to do my job.

My Life Would Be Significantly More Difficult Without Airtable

Overall Satisfaction with Airtable