Evaluating Creative Proposals

I’ve scored more than 40 RFP submissions in the last 90 days (media buying and/or marketing and comms.) Seriously, this is the stack and it’s about ½ of what I've read. From that- I've come up with a checklist that will stop you from writing an incomplete proposal and take you into finalist status. 1. Check. The. Boxes. Mirror the RFP structure the organization has put out and answer every prompt. If we ask for goals in your case studies, give them. Are creative examples required? Put them in. 2. Social media impressions aren’t outcomes. Stop with the vanity metrics. We need to understand if you make things HAPPEN. Show business impact: leads, lift, conversion, cost per result, CTR. 3. Prove you understand the problem. Understand the brand and the challenge before you start to write your response. Then summarize the brand challenge in their language. Bonus points for adding 1–2 data points that will direct the organization towards success. 4. Use relevant proof. Parallel case studies beat “your greatest hits” every time. I've seen the EXACT SAME examples in three of the RFP's I've scored lately- you don't know who is reading your work and may have seen your other responses. 5. Name the actual doers. Who is leading strategy, buying, creative, reporting? Don't just send a stack of resumes. And be realistic. Don't name your president when you know that appearance will be rare. 6. Methodology > vibes. If you’re “now doing buys” and not just a PR or content work company anymore OR if you're a traditional broadcast company at heart- show your process, not just results. 7. Don’t just say what you do, show how you do it. “Statewide reach” is a claim. What’s the plan that gets you there? 8. Create a Table of Contents that matches the RFP sections. And then add anything else to the TOC that you feel is important. This way you address everything we're asking for + share your bonus information on why you’re the one to do the job. 9. Put Quality Assurance into this team process like your life depends on it. Double-check. And then check again. No leftover text from another proposal. Ever. I unfortunately have seen it. If you’re writing an RFP response anytime soon: save this. Want a 1-page RFP response template? Comment “RFP” and I’ll share it. I hope this was helpful!

Everyone asks about our creative testing process at Unlock Performance. So I'm sharing our actual framework that helps us track and evaluate creative performance across multiple angles: (Image is below to guide you in making your own) 1/ Job Coding System We use J1, J2, J3 for tracking. This helps us trace every creative's journey and connect performance data to specific concepts. 2/ Angle Organization We map out clear angles like: - Discrediting competitor solutions - Educational (why the problem matters) - Solution superiority - Authority positioning 3/ Selling Points Structure We split between: - Primary (core benefits) - Secondary (supporting benefits) This separation helps us track which value propositions resonate most with our audience. Our template has helped us speed up our: - Pattern recognition - Testing documentation - Team alignment As an example, here’s what our template looks like for a hydration product We identified these main angles: - Discrediting sports drinks - Hidden signs of dehydration - Age-related hydration needs Each gets a row, complete with specific selling points. When you organize creative testing this way, you stop shooting in the dark and start building on what works. This is how you build a reliable system for creative testing.

I've seen brands waste thousands on creative concepts that were doomed from day one. Not because of: - Poor execution - Bad creators - Platform changes Because the concept itself had fatal flaws that guaranteed failure before production even started. Here are the 6 red flags that kill creative concepts (and how to avoid them): 🚨 Red Flag 1: Banking on Viral "This idea will only work if it goes viral." You can't guarantee virality. Build concepts that work at normal reach levels, not ones that require lightning in a bottle. 🚨 Red Flag#2: Zero Foundation Knowledge "We're trying something completely new." Going in with zero learnings turns an educated guess into a wild guess. Build on previous insights, even if the format is new. 🚨 Red Flag 3: Unclear Purpose "We don't have a clear idea what we want this creative to do." Do you want conversions? Education? Clicks to a landing page? Confused objectives = confused performance. 🚨 Red Flag 4: Creator-Led Improv "Just let the creator do whatever they want." Unless that creator has performance creative history, it won't end well. You're the expert of your brand- act like it. 🚨 Red Flag 5: Non-Performance Script Writing "We're leaving the script up to someone without performance experience." Great concepts get ruined by poor script execution. 🚨 Red Flag 6: Format Over Strategy "This format is trending, let's try it." Trendy formats without strategic foundation fail. Strategy first, format second. The Concept Evaluation Framework: 📝 Before greenlighting any concept, ask: 1. Does this work without going viral? 2. What learnings is this building on? 3. What exact outcome do we want? 4. How much creative control are we giving up? 5. Who's writing the script? 6. Is format choice strategy-driven or trend-driven? If you can't answer all 6 confidently, your concept needs work. Creative failures happen in the concept phase, not the execution phase. Save this checklist. Your budget will thank you.

Your marketing campaigns keep failing for one simple reason. You're guessing instead of measuring. I see business owners spend $50K on a campaign, launch it, then cross their fingers. When it bombs, they blame the creative team or the audience. Wrong target. The real issue? You're evaluating campaigns like you're judging art at a gallery. Subjective. Emotional. Inconsistent. Here's the framework that changed everything for systematic campaign evaluation: → Lock in your success metrics first Pick 3 numbers maximum. Revenue per lead, conversion rate, customer lifetime value. That's it. → Score everything the same way Every campaign gets rated on identical criteria. Message clarity, visual impact, call-to-action strength. Use 1-10 scales consistently. → Weight what matters most B2B campaigns? Credibility might be 40% of your score. Consumer brands? Maybe creativity gets that weight instead. Know your priorities. → Compare against your winners What made your 8% converting campaign different from your 2% disaster? Document those patterns. → Create your go/no-go filter Simple yes/no decision: Does it hit your minimum score? Does it align with your weighted priorities? If either answer is no... kill it. This removes the guesswork from million-dollar marketing decisions. No more hoping. No more surprises. Just data-driven choices. The hardest part? Actually sticking to the system when everyone has an opinion about the "creative genius" of Campaign X. Trust your framework over office politics. What's stopping you from systematizing your campaign evaluation?

In marketing, your first competition isn’t your competitor. It’s noise. The average person scrolls hundreds of feet of content every day and is exposed to thousands of messages - most of which they don’t notice, let alone remember. We all know this. And yet, we still evaluate creative like it lives in a quiet room. We open the file. We stare at it. We analyze every detail. We become a captive audience. But your real audience? They’re distracted and moving fast. Half paying attention. Most of the people you’re trying to reach won’t ever even realize you’ve reached them. Which means the real bar is this: Before you can be considered, you have to be seen. So here’s a simple way to test that: Don’t email your creative for feedback. Flash it. Pull it up on a Zoom. Show it for half a second. Then take it away. Ask: What did you see? What did you feel? What do you think? That’s the test your audience is actually giving you. You can (and should) always go back and workshop the nuance. But it's important to remember: If it doesn’t land in a flash, it doesn’t land.

Great ideas don’t win by chance. They win because they’re judged the right way. Creativity is what gets products noticed. It sells. And yet, most products are either forgettable or just plain bad. Too often, it comes down to personal preference: “I like this” or “I don’t.” That’s no way to evaluate ideas. Here’s a way to judge creative ideas effectively. ✅ Evaluate more than one idea – seeing multiple options gives you a real choice. ✅ Know the problem the idea solves – without a clear problem, creativity is just guessing. ✅ Make sure the idea is easy to ‘get’ – if people don’t understand it in its simplest form, they won’t understand it at all. ✅ Find the novel idea – best ideas make perfect sense but feel like nothing you’ve seen before. ✅ See if the idea ‘sticks’ – if it lingers in your mind, makes you smile, or keeps coming back — that’s a winner. This process adds objectivity to creativity. It helps the best ideas survive, no matter who’s judging them. If you’re a client, push for this approach. If you’re a creative, make sure you’re using it.