THE IDEA TO TAKE AWAY
Before you build the brief.
Build a commercial view that separates delivery cost, accepted volume and advertiser revenue. You can then explain which assumptions drive the proposal.
Start with what the advertiser needs
A volume target is only one part of a campaign. Establish the audience, the reason to engage and how the client will use the leads. A broad brief can hide very narrow expectations.
- Which roles and companies matter?
- Which markets and languages are essential?
- What engagement must happen before a record counts?
Define acceptance in writing
Agree mandatory fields, duplicates, exclusions and the client review process. If “qualified” means something different to sales and delivery, resolve that before pricing the work.
Build the economics around the scope
Separate delivery cost, your own management time and other campaign costs. Model contribution across different volumes and acceptance assumptions. The budget planner can help explore these scenarios; its inputs are assumptions, not a supplier quote.
Make approval ownership visible
Identify who signs off the audience, assets, landing page, permissions and reporting. Set the expected response times for questions and the escalation route if the brief changes.
Close the loop after delivery
Review accepted records against the agreed standard. Ask the client what happened next, but keep follow-up conversion and campaign acceptance as separate measures.
Put it to work.
Use these three actions in your next planning session.
- Write down the accepted-lead definition used in the client proposal.
- Model a lower acceptance scenario and record its effect on contribution.
- Assign an owner to review delivery and client acceptance before invoicing.
TAKE IT INTO YOUR NEXT BRIEF
Before you sell the campaign, align the audience, acceptance criteria, costs, approvals and follow-up owner.
Build your campaign brief