Scaling a global marketing operations platform with Smartsheet WorkApps

darkmatter

Intro 🖐️

Hi Smartsheet Community,

I wanted to share one of the most commercially interesting WorkApps solutions I’ve built at McCann UK for a global luxury automotive client. I’ve anonymised some details for confidentiality, but the principles, architecture, and lessons learned should be useful for anyone exploring WorkApps as an operational platform.

Here’s the scale at a glance:

• Hundreds of users / Multiple global regions
• SaaS subscription structure
• 90+ inter-connected WorkApps
• Role-based experience
• Forms, reports, dashboards, pivots delivered through a single platform

The Business Problem 🔎

The challenge was to create a secure, role-based marketing operations platform capable of serving hundreds of users across multiple markets. The client needed to move away from fragmented processes (hundreds of separate Excel docs!) and create a consistent operating model with a single source of truth for campaign planning, budget management, performance tracking, and supporting documentation.

Key requirements included:

• A simple way for users to log campaign info on the go
• Visibility of budgets, performance, and opportunities across multiple markets
• Access to training materials and helpdesk support within the same environment
• Secure, role-based access tailored to different user groups
• A scalable solution that could expand across additional markets without increasing administrative overhead.

Why WorkApps? 🎯

WorkApps was a great fit because it allowed me to create a client-facing app experience without needing to build custom software.

The solution brought together:

• Smartsheet forms (inc. mobile) for structured data capture
• Core sheets as the underlying database layer
• Index sheets for market, region, budget, and target info
• Pivot and metric reporting for performance analysis
• Row reports for editable and read-only user views
• Dashboards for KPI visibility
• A user guide and support hub for training and helpdesk requests

The biggest benefit was the ability to deliver tailored user experiences from a single connected data model - maintaining a single source of truth.

End users can access only the information relevant to their market. Regional users can view performance across multiple markets, while internal support teams can manage access, change requests, and user queries centrally.

The Architecture: Store > Sieve > Serve 🍰

The build followed a simple methodology that I developed and now use as a pattern for other client-facing Smartsheet solutions:

• 1. Store - Capture information through standardised forms and securely store it within structured data sets.
• 2. Sieve - Transform raw data into meaningful operational and performance insights through indexes, reports, pivots, and summaries.
• 3. Serve - Deliver tailored experiences through WorkApps using dashboards, reports, forms, training materials, and support resources.

This approach has made the solution easier to govern, easier to expand, and easier to explain to non-technical stakeholders.

From this:

To this:

Delivering Value 💪

Smartsheet WorkApps ticks off all our client’s user stories:

• Submit marketing campaigns via a form for a single market
• Submit marketing campaigns via a form for multiple markets
  • (i.e. one form entry creating separate rows for each market within a region)
• Record and compare allocated and actual spend
• Upload invoices and supporting files
• Track campaign performance
• View quarterly and year-to-date KPIs
• Filter and review activity by various business dimensions
• Access user guidance and training materials
• Raise support tickets

For regional teams, the App provides a real-time overview of what is happening across the network. For market level users, it creates a simple, guided experience that reduces the need for manual follow-up. Here’s a regional dashboard view (client info redacted):

🚀 The solution has since expanded from a single-market pilot into a multi-region platform serving hundreds of users across EMEA, APAC, and the Americas! 🚀

Business Impact 💸

One of the most powerful things about the App is that new regions, markets, dashboards, reports, and support materials can be added without rebuilding the whole thing. That scalability has been key to evolving from “local project tool” to “client-facing business platform”.

The solution delivers value for both the client and agency:

• Reduces manual administration through centralised workflows

• Creates real-time visibility of marketing activity across multiple markets

• Standardises reporting and campaign management processes

• Enables a scalable rollout model for new regions

• Establishes a repeatable commercial service offering built on Smartsheet WorkApps

Rather than treating the solution as a one-off project, I developed a scalable operating model incorporating onboarding, user support, platform enhancements, governance, and ongoing optimisation into a recurring SaaS style subscription. This transformed a Smartsheet implementation into a repeatable commercial product capable of supporting multiple regions and hundreds of users. This has been one of the clearest examples I’ve worked on of Smartsheet moving beyond internal project management and becoming a true client-facing product platform.

Lessons Learned 👨‍🎓

A few things I’d highlight for anyone building WorkApps solutions:

1. Design the data model before designing the app. The user experience is only as good as the sheets, reports, permissions, and naming conventions underneath it.
2. Think in roles, not pages. WorkApps becomes much more powerful when each user type gets a tailored experience.
3. Build for the next region, not just the first one. Scalability needs to be designed in from day one.
4. Make the solution easy to explain. The “Store > Sieve > Serve” model has been crucial when explaining the architecture to stakeholders.

What I’m Exploring Next 🐝

I’m now looking at how this type of WorkApps model can be extended further through improved data governance, automation, dynamic user experiences, and AI-enabled workflows.

For me, this project is a key example of why I continue to advocate for Smartsheet: it has evolved from being our work management platform to a scalable operating layer for client delivery, governance, and commercial innovation.

I'd love to hear how others are using WorkApps beyond internal project management. Has anyone else successfully built client-facing portals, products, or services using WorkApps?

Matt

Adrien Leduc

Hi @darkmatter Thank you so much for sharing! I've used Workapps in the past, and at some point I was under the impression that Smartsheet was going to deprecate it in favour of collections so I switched to that. Are you worried at all about that? I know they backtracked but I wouldn't want to recommend it to a customer if that could happen in a couple year's time.

And perhaps an eternal question: Why Workapps and not a dedicated workspace with dashboards and reports? (with the form on the dashboard) what benefits do you see doing it this way?