Creative Requests Software & Process

The Creative Requests Process

There are two main groups that use a creative requests process to submit and work on creative briefs, creative agencies and in-house creative teams. For the purpose of this guide, we’ll call the creative brief submitter, the client.

Creative Requests Needs

The client needs in the creative requests process are:

The client wants creative created (copywriting, photo/video/audio creation or design element creation)
The client wants to submit their request in a way that can give creative direction to the campaign
The client wants acknowledgement that the brief has been submitted
The client needs regular updates to know that the deadline is still able to be reached, that the brief is within budget and that no further information is needed by them (potentially holding up the project)
The client needs a way to review the completed brief, request revisions and get a confirmation on the deadline for revision changes

The team needs in the creative requests process are:

The team needs to get the creative brief details in a structured way with a clear deadline
The team needs to have all the information they need to create the requested design
The team needs a way to communicate with the client and ask for additional information or request clarification
The team needs a way to show the first draft of the completed brief
The team needs a way to get structured feedback on the work completed
The team needs deadlines that suit their work limitations
The team needs a library of resources to ensure they can streamline their creative process and have quick access to brand guidelines & brand assets

Creative Requests Process

The most common process for receiving creative requests from your client is:

Client completes creative requests form
Form data is moved to a spreadsheet or task/project management software
Communication is via email, chat or comments in the task/project management software
Requests for revisions are made in the task/project management software, through marked-up PDFs or through written content
Final creatives are approved

Creative Requests Software

From the above outline of the creative requests process, you’ll need a way to collect information, track tasks until completion, communicate with clients and deliver the final assets (not including general business software for team communication, client invoicing etc). There are several software combinations that you can use to manage the process of your creative requests. Some combinations include:

Using Notion
Using Airtable with their forms feature
Using Google Forms and Google Sheets
Using Typeform and Google Sheets
Using Pipedrive with its forms feature
Using Process St and their Run Workflow link feature

Notion for creative requests

Notion has the ability to manage creative requests in two ways. One way is to have clear instructions for the client so they can add their creative brief details directly into a Notion template. The other way is to use form software to collect the information and then use a tool like Zapier to connect the form tool to Notion so the information can flow directly into a Notion database.

The option you decide to use will depend on whether you want to work collaboratively with your client within the software or if you want to exclude your client from seeing your work area and the conversations made in this space.

Airtable for creative requests

Airtable has the option to build a filtered spreadsheet for your creative requests and create a Form view that can be shared with your client. There are limited styling options for the form but it is a quick way to create a form that is directly linked to the Airtable base (spreadsheet) that you’ll use to track requests and mark them as In Progress, Done or In Review. Airtable also has a native integration with SendGrid so you can trigger emails to your client based on actions within your base. An example of this integration in use would be having a creative request marked as To Review in your base and this triggers an email to the email on file with a link to the design, details from the Notes field and a reminder of the due date.

Google Forms and Google Sheets for creative requests

If your business is tied into using Google products, you do have the option to use Google Forms to input the creative request and then have this data flow through into a Google Sheet for your team to work on. If you share your Google Sheet with your client, you can also collaborate using Comments within Google Sheets. Alternatively, you could use an Apps Script to send a templated email to your client.

Typeform and Google Sheets for creative requests

For a nicer-looking process for submitting creative briefs, you could use Typeform for inputting the data and then have the data flow through into Google Sheets (or Airtable). You would then use Google Apps Script or Airtable’s SendGrid Extension to send messages to your client.

Pipedrive for creative requests

Pipedrive is a CRM platform that can be set up using custom fields to accept information via their website forms. You could create a simple, custom landing page on your website under /client-name where your client can enter their request and have the information flow through into Pipedrive. When the information is in Pipedrive, you can move your task between stages and have task lists triggered for each stage. You can also send emails to your client from beneath the creative request so you don’t need to switch programs to continue communication.

Process St for creative requests

Process St is a task management platform that has a heavy focus on creating scalable processes using forms and checklists. To run your creative brief submission process through Process St, you could create a detailed template that can checklist items for the client to complete but also has hidden fields for your team to complete. Your client would complete the brief submission checklist and your team would be notified of the new brief. They would then work through the step-by-step creative brief process in Process St using special fields to email the client updates, read detailed text/video instructions and mark the request as complete.

Need Help?

Do you need help with the process for your creative requests? Maybe you’ve got extra requirements, constraints of only being able to use certain software programs, budget constraints, design proofing needs or the need to ensure you’ve got a process that scales. If you need advice, book a time to discuss your needs with an expert.