While making creatives for your campaigns can look very rosy, the creative workflow process often seems disorganized. For your creative teams to be powerful you need to back them up with the right creative workflow process that will keep the feedback process on track and ensure that deadlines are met. 

But, how does one establish an effective creative workflow process? Organizing a new creative process or revamping your old workflow can look super daunting even for the most detailed oriented project managers. With multiple stakeholders involved, structuring the right workflow can offer a level of flexibility and bring discipline into the pipeline. In this article, we are going to talk about eight tips that can help you optimize your creative workflow process. 

Before we get into that, let’s understand the meaning of creative workflow. 

‍What are creative workflows? 

A workflow is nothing but a pattern that involves a step of activities that has to be performed by multiple stakeholders. In terms of creative teams, a creative workflow process involves generating of ideas, creation of content, approval of new designs, and execution of campaigns and ideas, all by different teams. 

A creative workflow process will simply highlight the different touchpoints of a project, along with the team member in charge of their respective tasks. It will also show the overall timelines of the project, the approval checks, and campaign timelines. With a creative workflow process in place, project managers can envision a campaign moving from concept and execution to revisions and final approval. 

‍What are some ways to optimize your creative workflow process? 

Here are five unique ways through which you can create a successful creative workflow: 

1. Create campaign clarity 

The first yet the most crucial step of every creative workflow process is to begin by clarifying the campaign scope and objective. With these objectives defined, your creative time can develop a solid plan that can help achieve the said goals. Whether it is an internal content piece for your next sales email or collaborating on a client’s social media campaign, having your campaign objectives defined can bring your team to one page and establish a game plan that takes your campaign from ideation to fulfillment.  This single step can help in creating a strong creative workflow process from start to finish. 

Pro Tip - Starting your next creative project? Use our template and explain your project with an in-depth brief so your team can all stay on the same page. Head to the top of the page and download your copy of our creative brief template at the top of the page.

2. Structure your creative workflow 

Every campaign can be different and that’s why it is important to create a unique structure for your creative workflow process.  You can start by analyzing your existing or old workflows and explore how to restructure them based on the different touchpoints of the campaign. 

No, it’s not as complicated as it sounds, here are a few steps you can follow to create a well-structured creative workflow process: 

1. Set realistic expectations for the project. 
2. Map out the roles that will play a part in the project in a sequential manner. 
3. Draft a clear outline on who will be responsible for each task with clear deadlines for completion.

When you start answering these questions, you become well aware of any potential bottlenecks in your creative workflow and avoid unnecessary repetition of tasks. 

 3. Utilize a creative workflow management tool 

The next step you should take to supercharge your brand and creative teams is to utilize creative workflow management tools, including those with advanced features for creative automation. A workflow management software tool can make your life a whole lot easier by streamlining your entire creative process from start to finish.

Artwork Flow’s creative workflow management solution can make your creative collaboration process more effective. With Artwork Flow, you can: 

1. Forget multiple spreadsheets and build a creative workflow process that can suit your campaign needs. 
2. Bring all your stakeholders together on a page, and collaborate on a single platform. 
3. Eliminate delays, increase visibility and go-to market faster. 

So why wait? Get the full picture into your creative collaboration process with Artwork Flow. Take a demo today. 

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4. Set creative workflow metrics 

Once you have completed your project, take time to do a complete project review of what elements work and what doesn’t to improve your future campaigns. A few productive metrics that you can consider are: 

• The total time taken for approval and edits. 
• The total number of versions of assets that were created for a specific campaign.
• The total number of approval decisions that were required for your campaign to go live. 
• The total timeline of the campaign from ideation to execution. 

On studying this data, you can get a deeper understanding of your creative workflow process, identify challenges, and devise best practices that can make your workflow even more efficient. 

5. Optimize, monitor, optimize

The last yet the best way to create the best creative workflow process is to continuously optimize based on your needs. You can study each of your creative workflows campaigns and optimize them to adapt to new requirements, as you scale up. With Artwork Flow’s automated creative workflow process, you can simply ensure smooth movement of tasks and stay efficient and effective.  With automation in place, you can eliminate bottlenecks and give your campaign a turbocharged engine to meet the evolving demands. 

It’s time to fine-tune your creative workflow process 

Having a creative workflow process is like having a secret sauce that keeps your team aligned on the given goals and objectives. With a strong creative workflow you don’t have to worry about scattered feedback, missed deadlines, or continuous revisions. If you are looking for a centralized hub for you and your team to collaborate, make updates, and see the project’s progress in a snap, Artwork Flow might just be the right solution for you. Start your seven-day free trial and make your creative collaboration process seamless today!