How to Give Your Agency Useful Feedback
Useful agency feedback identifies what is working, explains where the work misses the agreed objective and describes the problem a revision must solve. Refer to the brief and the audience. Consolidate your team's comments before sending them, and make clear which changes are required.
Download the editable worksheet (Markdown). Replace the bracketed prompts with your own details.
The agency needs enough information to exercise judgment. A vague reaction leaves it guessing. A fully prescribed solution can hide the reason for the change and prevent it from finding a better answer.
Review the work at the stage it is in.
Ask what the agency is presenting and what decisions it needs. A concept review, a copy review and final quality assurance have different purposes.
At the concept stage, assess whether the approach can communicate the right idea to the intended audience. At final review, check details such as accuracy, functionality and required disclosures.
If you raise a fundamental strategic objection only after final production, acknowledge that the change may affect cost and timing. Use the brief-change guide when the direction itself has changed.
Connect each important comment to the objective.
State the observation, its consequence for the reader or customer, and the requirement the agency should address.
For example, replace a hypothetical comment such as "This does not feel premium" with "The brief targets buyers who need confidence in long-term reliability. This version emphasizes the introductory discount but gives little evidence about durability. Please recommend how to make that evidence easier to understand."
The second comment explains the concern and leaves room for the creative team to solve it. If a specific design or wording is mandatory, say so and explain why.
Separate errors, requirements and preferences.
An incorrect price requires correction. A missing legal disclosure requires review by the appropriate person. A preference for one photograph may be negotiable.
Label the nature of each comment so the agency can prioritize it. Avoid presenting every personal reaction as a business requirement.
The IPA's account of the 2025 BetterIdeas study reports a substantial gap between agencies and marketers on whether client feedback is clear and constructive. The study reflects respondent perceptions, rather than an experiment proving one feedback method. Read the study summary.
Describe what should stay.
Tell the agency which parts you want to preserve and why. This reduces the chance that a revision removes an effective element while addressing a different concern.
Be specific about the level of approval. Approving a direction does not necessarily approve every claim or final asset. Record the approved elements and any conditions.
If the work meets the brief but you still dislike it, use the creative-evaluation guide to examine whether your reaction identifies a real problem for the audience.
Send one coherent response.
Resolve internal contradictions before passing comments to the agency. Your team can disagree during review, but the person responsible for approval should settle which instruction governs.
Use references the agency can locate. Identify the version, page, frame or timestamp. Avoid distributing revisions across several message threads without a consolidated record.
Ask the agency to confirm its understanding of the requested changes, any open questions and the effect on the next delivery date. That is especially important when a comment can reasonably be interpreted in several ways.
Use this feedback template.
Use one entry per material issue, then provide an overall decision.
- We reviewed [version] against [brief and review stage].
- The work communicates [effective element], which we want to preserve because [reason].
- At [location], we observed [specific issue].
- This affects [audience or business requirement] because [consequence].
- We need the revision to achieve [result], and [constraint] must remain unchanged.
- This comment is [required correction, requirement or preference], as confirmed by [approver].
- Please recommend the appropriate change and identify any effect on scope or timing.
- Our consolidated decision is [approve, revise or reconsider], subject to [conditions].
Before sending, read the comments as if you were the person doing the work. If you cannot tell what problem needs solving, clarify the feedback. The internal-approval guide can help when your own team is the source of conflicting instructions.