What is Ashore?
Ashore is an online proofing and approval software designed for high-velocity creatives. By automating the approval process and improving the quality of feedback from approvers, Ashore increases approval rates by 50%.
Current industry landscape
The rate of growth in the industry has been incredible. When Ashore was first introduced in 2015, there were only a handful of products designed specifically to improve the proofing process. In recent years, though, multiple have been formed, increasing the amount of competition and innovation in the space. And this growth is only increasing; with the rise of remote work, the demand for digital collaboration tools has skyrocketed.
There is a good deal of competition in the digital proofing and approval space. Ashore’s main competitor is Workfront.
The birth of Ashore
Ashore had somewhat of a unique start; when the team at Brandcave, a digital marketing agency based out of Georgetown, TX, began looking for a tool to automate and scale their client-proofing efforts, their search unveiled a few potential options. However, most of those options came with a catch. Some limited storage space, others forced their clients to also sign up for an account, and nothing entirely solved their problems. After trying a few solutions, they quickly discovered that most virtual proof software use bait and switch tactics to gain users. So, they decided to build their own tool, Ashore.
Ashore's mission
For those serving a niche audience, nothing is more important than the “why” behind the product. For Ashore, that “why” is to increase the joy of creatives in their day-to-day lives and in their collaboration with others. This goal was based on empathy; Ashore was built by creatives, so they understand the struggles of managing the creative process. They also understood that in order to increase creatives’ joy, they needed to make collaboration accessible to everyone. That’s their mission.
How does Ashore work?
To start, Ashore offers categorized cloud storage and version stacking, guaranteeing that every document is exactly where it should be. In addition, Ashore removes the unnecessary administrative work creatives are so often burdened with by automating reminders and notifications. To clarify feedback, Ashore offers contextual commenting and markup tools, and version comparison so creatives can quickly assess the changes that have been made. And since Ashore users can create and save as many workflows as they like, once they find a process that works, they can replicate it.
In addition to their feature set (which is far more expansive than listed here), what sets Ashore apart from the competition is the value customers gain for the price. While many of their competitors have massive financial backing, the team at Ashore has chosen to remain bootstrapped. This allows them to keep operations lean and experiment with their pricing. The result? They’ve built an affordable option that can compete feature for feature with their competition; they’re both the price advantaged and the feature advantaged option.
Check them out: https://ashoreapp.com/