Creative Approval Workflow Install (10-15 days)
A fixed-scope engagement that replaces email-based asset review with a single routed approval pipeline, cutting time-to-approval by 30-50% and giving clients a timestamped sign-off record for every deliverable. Time: 10-15 days.
By InnovaAI ResearchPublished
How do you implement it?
Creative Approval Workflow Install (10-15 days)
A fixed-scope engagement that replaces email-based asset review with a single routed approval pipeline, cutting time-to-approval by 30-50% and giving clients a timestamped sign-off record for every deliverable.
- Client has at least 20 active creative assets per month moving through review, or a retainer where approval delays are blocking billing. A named internal owner on the agency side and a named approver on the client side, both with authority to change the process. Access to the current review channels (shared inbox, Slack, Drive folders) for a two-week baseline audit. Agreement on which asset types are in scope for phase one (static design, video, or copy, not all three).
- 1.Pull the last 30 days of approval threads from email and chat to count actual review rounds per asset
- 2.Log median hours between asset handoff and first client response
- 3.Identify which asset types generate the most revision cycles
- 1.Map the current approval chain stage by stage, including who can approve and who can only comment
- 2.Flag stages where feedback is lost or duplicated across two channels
- 3.Confirm the escalation owner for stalled approvals
- 1.Select the review platform against the client's asset mix and compliance needs
- 2.Confirm whether e-signature is required for final sign-off or annotation alone is sufficient
- 3.Document the decision criteria in a one-page comparison for the client
- 1.Configure the workspace structure: one project per client brand, one folder per campaign
- 2.Set reviewer roles and permissions so external clients cannot see internal drafts
- 3.Enable version stacking so each upload supersedes the prior file without manual renaming
- 1.Build the approval stages: internal creative review, account review, client review, final sign-off
- 2.Set automatic routing rules so assets advance without a human forwarding them
- 3.Add deadline reminders at 24 and 48 hours before each stage is due
- 1.Connect the review platform to the agency's project management and file storage tools
- 2.Test that a status change in review propagates to the project board
- 3.Verify that approved files land in the delivery folder without manual export
- 1.Run three live assets through the full pipeline end to end
- 2.Time each stage and compare against the baseline from day one
- 3.Fix any routing rule that sent an asset to the wrong reviewer
- 1.Write a one-page reviewer guide covering how to annotate, comment, and approve
- 2.Record a five-minute walkthrough for external client reviewers
- 3.Draft the internal escalation rule for approvals stalled beyond 72 hours
- 1.Train the internal delivery team on the new pipeline in a 45-minute session
- 2.Walk the client approver through their side of the workflow
- 3.Collect objections and adjust permissions or stage names where needed
- 1.Migrate the current in-flight assets into the new pipeline
- 2.Archive the old email threads with a pointer to the new review link
- 3.Confirm every active deliverable has a live approval record
- 1.Pull the first week of approval cycle data from the platform
- 2.Compare median time-to-approval against the pre-install baseline
- 3.Document the delta in a client-facing summary
- 1.Hand over the admin credentials and the workflow configuration document
- 2.Set the 30-day review date to audit approval times again
- 3.Close the engagement with a written recommendation on phase two scope
Approval delays are the quietest margin leak in a retainer: every extra review round costs account and creative hours that were never scoped. An agency that cuts time-to-approval by 30-50% recovers billable capacity without adding headcount, and the timestamped sign-off record shortens the path from client approval to invoice. The setup fee covers the audit, configuration, and training, while the monthly retainer covers workflow maintenance and the quarterly approval-time audit that keeps the client renewing.
- A documented approval chain with named owners and escalation rules for each stage. A configured review workspace with routing rules, reviewer permissions, and version stacking. A one-page reviewer guide plus a recorded walkthrough for external client approvers. A baseline-versus-post-install report showing median time-to-approval before and after. An admin handover pack with credentials, workflow configuration, and a 30-day review date.
Every in-scope asset type routes through the configured pipeline with a timestamped approval record, and the post-install median time-to-approval is measured against the pre-install baseline in a written report.