What belongs in a creative handoff?

A creative handoff is complete when another person can prepare the campaign without guessing. A folder of attractive files does not meet that test. The recipient also needs to know which version is approved, where each asset belongs, what happens after a click and who can resolve a problem before launch.

Think of the handoff as a small delivery record attached to the work. It should survive the designer taking a day off and the account manager missing a meeting. The following structure is a suggested working method for agency and in-house teams. Adapt it to the publisher or advertising platform receiving the assets, since their current requirements control what can actually run.

Start with the placement list

Create one row for each intended placement before exporting files. Record the publisher or platform, placement name, format, dimensions where applicable, campaign dates and destination. Give the row a stable internal identifier. That identifier connects the media plan to the creative folder and, later, the delivery report.

Ask the trafficking owner to confirm the specification source. A screenshot from last quarter may explain an old campaign, but it should not silently become the specification for a new one. Save a link to the current requirements and note when the recipient confirmed any exceptions. Where the publisher provides a written production sheet, attach that sheet to the record.

Avoid turning this into one universal table of size limits. Requirements differ between creative types. For example, Google’s Campaign Manager 360 asset documentation distinguishes image assets from compressed HTML assets and describes responsive HTML support. Use that distinction to ask which asset type the placement expects, then confirm the requirements for that particular type.

Separate working files from delivery files

The editable source and the approved export have different jobs. A source file helps another designer make a revision. An export is what the receiving team is meant to upload or serve. Label the two folders plainly and make the approved delivery path the first link in the handoff.

Keep a manifest alongside the exports. Each row should identify the placement, file name, version, asset type, approval status and owner. Include a preview when opening the source requires specialist software. If a package contains dependencies, deliver the complete package through the agreed method. Do not assume that forwarding the main file carries everything it needs.

The manifest also exposes missing work. If a media plan has eight placement rows and the manifest covers seven, someone can investigate before uploading begins. A folder alone makes that comparison harder, especially when multiple exports look almost identical in a thumbnail grid.

Make approval specific to a version

An approval message should name the item being approved. “Looks good” underneath a long conversation can refer to the concept, the copy or an earlier preview. Record the approver, approval time and exact version in the handoff. Keep the evidence accessible to the people responsible for launch.

Use a simple sequence such as v01, v02 and v03 for exported revisions. Avoid final, final-new and final-approved as the main way of distinguishing files. When a change arrives after approval, create a new version and return the affected items to review. An updated date alone is weak evidence when a shared file can be replaced without changing its name.

Define the scope of approval as well. A brand reviewer may approve appearance while the campaign owner approves the offer and dates. The receiving platform may still reject the asset. These are separate decisions, so keep separate fields if the team routinely confuses them.

Treat the destination as part of the creative

Give every clickable asset an explicit destination. Include the intended page, the final tagged URL and any variation by placement or language. Copy the URL from the handoff into the actual preview test. Testing a clean homepage link proves little about a longer destination that contains campaign parameters or passes through redirects.

Google’s campaign URL guidance explains how campaign parameters identify referring traffic and notes that values are case sensitive. A practical consequence is to generate tracking values from an agreed list rather than let each person capitalize them differently. Keep the approved URL in a dedicated field so the designer does not have to reconstruct it from a naming convention.

Open the destination on the devices relevant to the placement. Check that the offer matches the creative, the page is available and the next action works. If another team owns the landing page, name its contact and its approval status. An approved banner pointing to an unfinished page is still an unfinished handoff.

Assign the last responsible person

Name one person who receives the package and one person who can authorize a change. Those roles can belong to the same person on a small team. The point is to make the decision path visible. A group channel is useful for discussion, but it does not identify who can accept a revised asset at the deadline.

Write down the delivery deadline separately from the launch time, including the time zone. Ask the recipient how much review time is needed and what happens if an asset fails. Leave space for the receiving team to acknowledge acceptance rather than treating the outgoing email timestamp as proof of readiness.

Specify an escalation route that fits the actual working arrangement. For example, the trafficking owner may flag the rejected placement, the designer supplies a correction and the campaign owner approves the replacement. If the campaign owner is unavailable, the record should say whether to hold that placement or use a previously approved alternative.

Run a small receiving check

Before sending the whole campaign, ask someone outside the design process to take one placement row and find its approved file, destination and approval evidence. This short rehearsal tests the clarity of the package. It often reveals a missing permission, an ambiguous file name or a link that only works for the author.

For a hypothetical campaign with a newsletter placement and two display placements, the receiver should find three distinct rows. The newsletter row may contain approved copy and an image; the display rows may contain separate exports. Shared campaign copy belongs in a common reference, but each row still needs to identify exactly what the recipient should use.

The reviewer should record questions in the manifest rather than fix them privately. If the question is “Which image is the mobile version?”, resolving it in the shared record helps every later recipient. A private explanation solves only the current interruption.

A reusable handoff template

Begin the cover note with the campaign name, receiving owner, delivery deadline and intended launch time. Follow it with the approved delivery folder and the placement manifest. Put unresolved items near the top, including the owner and the next decision needed for each one. A long list of completed tasks should not bury the only remaining blocker.

In the manifest, use columns for placement ID, specification link, approved file, version, destination, approval evidence, receiving status and correction owner. Add format-specific fields only when they help the recipient. A video package may need different information from a static image package; forcing both into dozens of empty columns makes review slower.

Finish with a change rule: replacements receive a new version, changed rows are identified and affected approvals are renewed. After the campaign launches, retain the accepted manifest with the actual delivery files. That record gives the next campaign a useful starting point and makes later questions about what ran much easier to answer.