A Content Approval Process - A Nuisance or a Necessity?

As brands are always fighting to push out more and more content, we get asked all the time about our opinions on approvals. Are they required? Do they impede creative freedom? Do they impact video performance? At what stages should things be approved?

Now, we understand where these questions come from because we’ve all been there. Scrolling through TikTok and coming across a brand using the Oooo I like it, Picasso sound in 2023. It’s easy to think that the brand was slow to hop on the trend because of an archaic approval process that required 8 rounds of legal review, an approval from all product owners, and sign off from the entire C-Suite. Although that might be the case, that doesn’t mean that all approval processes are a nuisance and need to be done away with.

On the contrary, our opinion on approvals has remained relatively unchanged over the last 5000 videos. The truth is all brands have a different tolerance for risk. Every brand also has their own voice and audience. It is always important that the content being put out by the brand aligns with these internal pillars and if they don’t, key stakeholders need to be onboard. For this reason alone, approvals matter. In fact we think they’re crucial. 

Now contrary to popular belief, an approval process can also actually unlock creative freedom. With no approval process in place, creators can get hesitant on how much they can push the envelope. At the end of the day, creators always want to make sure they’re delivering content that aligns with the brand. If there are no checks and balances they’ll often play it safe. On the flip side, if a creator knows they have someone giving them their final approval, then the creator is able to test the reach of their creative freedom in a safe place.

We’re constantly talking to creators and a consistent piece of feedback has been that creators prefer an approval process that encourages feedback. As business owners providing a professional service, creators want to know they’re hitting the mark. They want to ensure their clients (the brands) are happy with the deliverables in hopes that they can strike up an ongoing relationship for repeat business. By having an approval process with communication at the core, this allows creators to understand whether or not they’re meeting expectations and satisfying their customers. 

With all that being said, at Brkaway we’re still big believers that approvals need to be conducted in a timely manner. If they can't be facilitated relatively quickly, then brands need to consider adjusting the style of content they produce to fit their approval process. If a brand knows an approval is going to take an extended period of time, they should avoid hoping on trends. Instead, evergreen content may be better suited. Sometimes when an approval process can’t be changed, it’s better to change your content strategy instead of being labelled as a brand not in the know. 

Given the importance of an approval process, we built the Brkaway platform to take the pain out of approvals. Content can be submitted by a creator and approved by a brand with a click of a button. We’ve made it easy for brands to invite internal team members to make sure all relevant stakeholders are aligned and can easily provide feedback to creators. Finally, the platform provides gentle daily reminders to help brands stay on top of all content that is ready for approval. 

Approvals are important and should be painless. At Brkaway we’re committed to making sure this necessity in content creation isn’t a nuisance.