Paid Ad Creative Preflight Checklist
Don't ship another ad without running it through this checklist.
Practitioner guide Written by the studio from its own production practice. It states the studio's method and opinion, cites no third-party research, and attributes no performance figures to the studio.
A pre-delivery checklist for creative, compliance, and technical review. Requirements still depend on the approved brief and client approval.
Pre-flight (creative)
Opening, sound, caption treatment, aspect ratio, safe zones, and CTA timing reviewed against the approved brief and current placement requirements.
Pre-flight (compliance)
Claims reviewed, disclosures on screen, trademarks cleared, music licensed.
Pre-flight (technical)
File spec matched to ad manager requirements, safe zones respected, thumbnail intentionally chosen.
Pre-flight (message)
One idea per ad, stated in the first line the viewer reads or hears. The offer matches the landing page. The product is shown as it ships. Every claim in the script appears on the approved claims list, with its evidence on file.
Pre-flight (versions)
Each placement gets its own aspect ratio and length rather than a crop of the master. Safe zones are checked against the platform's current overlay positions. Filenames carry the concept, hook and version so the account reads as the test plan.
Pre-flight (hand-off)
The media team receives the files, the caption text, the thumbnail frames and the claims list together, in the folder structure named in the scope, with the hypothesis each ad is meant to test written beside it.
Key takeaways
- •Hook timing
- •Sound verified
- •Captions burned in
- •Compliance verified
- •Spec matched
FAQ
Should captions always be burned in?+
Choose burned-in or platform captions from the placement requirements, accessibility needs, and approved creative treatment, then verify the final render.
Who signs off before an ad goes live?+
The brand. The studio checks every item above before hand-off and records it; the media team confirms the platform's current requirements at upload; the brand's approval is the last gate.
This is how the studio does it in practice: paid social creative, production only.
Put this to work on your own product.
Book a 15-minute discovery call and leave with a written scope, delivery date and price. No pitch deck required.