• • Why do we need this particular marketing collateral?

• • What do we need marketing collateral to communicate to audiences?

• • What are the specific goals we have for the marketing collateral?

• • How will we structure the marketing collateral to achieve those goals?

• How will the marketing collateral look/sound/feel?

Sometimes, the concept has to be created in cooperation with internal or external stakeholders.

2. Briefing

Now that the concept has been agreed upon, the marketing team needs to turn that abstract concept into an actionable briefing. This creative brief needs to give every stakeholder a clear idea of the project. It should include all the key information so that stakeholders can use it as a guide while working on the project.

Here’s a sample collateral creative brief from Filestage. Feel free to make a copy:^[2]

Once the brief has been completed, marketing should share it with the team members responsible for the creation of the collateral. This can be done within Filestage [start your free trial here]^[3] – the tool makes it simple for project stakeholders to review the brief, request changes, ask for clarification, and agree on the final brief.

With Filestage^[4], all of your feedback is clear and transparent – it’s the perfect way to make sure your creative brief is created as quickly and accurately as possible.

3. Review and Approval: Marketing <> Design

Now that your creative professionals have a detailed creative brief in their hands, they’ll be able to work their magic. Once they have a first draft ready they should upload it to Filestage so that all of the necessary stakeholders can leave their feedback.

It is simple to invite internal and external collaborators using Filestage. You can decide to invite reviewers using their email address, for instance, or simply copy a review link that can be shared using your preferred contact method:

Depending on your collateral, you might have multiple review steps. Filestage makes it easy for you to add new steps so that your marketing collaterals are reviewed appropriately and polished to perfection.