How to get feedback on an ad creative
To get useful feedback on an ad creative, give your client something specific to react to — not 'what do you think?' but 'does the headline stop a scroll for your target customer?' Then share it in a format where they can click the exact element they're reacting to, not describe it in an email. The most common cause of vague ad feedback ('can you make it more impactful?') isn't that clients don't know what they want — it's that they have no way to point at the thing they mean.
Attach the brief to every review
Clients who review without re-reading the brief fall back on personal taste: 'I don't love that shade of blue.' Clients who review against the brief give you something actionable: 'The headline doesn't call out the audience we're targeting.' Before you share the creative, include three things in the same message — the target audience, the single goal of the ad, and the approved brand direction. One paragraph. This gives the client a filter to run their reaction through before they write it down and cuts the 'I'll know it when I see it' loop considerably.
Show it in the actual placement, not on a blank slide
An ad on a white slide invites abstract criticism. The same creative inside a mocked-up Instagram feed or a Google Display placement shifts the client's eye to the right question: will this stop a scroll? In Figma or Canva, drop it into an environment template before you export. For a social ad, a phone-in-hand mockup where the feed shows above and below the unit takes two minutes — clients immediately react to whether the CTA reads at thumb size instead of debating a detail that wouldn't register at a glance.
Ask two or three questions tied to the ad's goal
'Let me know your thoughts' produces impressions, not decisions. Write two or three questions against the brief before you send. For a conversion ad: 'Is it immediately obvious what we want the viewer to do?' For an awareness ad: 'Would someone in our target audience stop scrolling?' Limit to three — more and clients answer the first one and go quiet. If you need a decision between concepts, use a forced choice: 'A or B — which would you stop on?' Clients who'd otherwise say 'I like elements of both' can't hedge a forced choice.
Share a link they can annotate on the exact element
The most reliable review format for a client who isn't in Figma daily: a URL that opens the creative in any browser and lets them click the headline, the CTA, the hero image — wherever their reaction is — and pin a note right there. No account, no extension, works on their phone. Their feedback arrives anchored to the element, not described loosely in an email you have to map back to the file. When multiple stakeholders review the same ad, all notes sit on one artifact — conflicting opinions are visible to each other, and the person with sign-off can settle them in the thread instead of in your inbox.
If you're collecting client sign-off on an ad creative — not marking it up yourself — drop the export (PNG, PDF, or an exported HTML creative) into Drafty and share the link. Your client clicks the exact element they mean: the headline, the CTA, the image. Their note pins right there. You reply, resolve it, push the revised version to the same URL. No account required on their end, no re-emailed files, no 'the bit on the right side' emails to decode.
Open a live demoQuestions
- How do I stop getting vague feedback like 'can you make it more impactful'?
- Vague feedback usually means the client can't point at what they mean — so they describe a feeling instead. Ask brief-anchored questions ('does the headline communicate the offer?') and give them a way to click the exact element. When they can click the CTA and pin a note, you get 'the action isn't clear' instead of 'something's off'.
- How do I get ad creative approved faster?
- Set a review deadline in the same message you send the creative — 'I need consolidated feedback by Thursday at 5pm.' Also: identify who has final sign-off before round one, not after. Finding out a second stakeholder needs to approve is a common cause of an extra revision round that wasn't in the brief.
- How should I share an ad creative with a client who isn't in Figma?
- Export as a PNG at 2x (fast to open on any device) or a PDF for print reproduction checks. Share it through a browser-based review link rather than as an email attachment — a link keeps all feedback on one artifact and avoids version-confusion from re-saved files. Clients comment without an account or installing anything.
- How do I handle feedback from multiple stakeholders on the same ad?
- Share one link, not an email with attachments to each person separately. When all reviewers comment on the same artifact, their notes are visible to each other. Conflicting opinions surface in the thread — the person with final authority can settle them there instead of sending you two contradictory emails to reconcile.
- What's the right number of revision rounds for an ad creative?
- Two structured rounds: round one for concept direction, round two for copy and execution. Projects that run to four or five rounds almost always had vague, open-ended feedback in round one that reopened settled questions. A revision limit in the brief and brief-anchored feedback questions are what hold it to two in practice.
- Should I show multiple ad creative variations or one direction at a time?
- One direction for a client who tends to say 'I like elements of both' — it forces a cleaner decision. Two or three for a client who needs contrast before they can articulate what they want. Label variations A, B, C and add a one-line rationale for each so the client understands what brief decision each version is testing.
Keep exploring
Stop emailing files back and forth.
Share one link. They comment on the exact spot — no account, always the current version.