• What is Copywriting?
    • Why Copywriting is One of the Most Enjoyable, Flexible Careers
    • Answers to Your Top Questions About Copywriting
  • Blog
    • Most Popular
    • Mindset & Professional Development
    • Portfolio
    • Business Development
    • Book Recommendations
    • Pitching
    • Copywriting Tips
    • Terms to Know
  • Podcast
    • Latest Episodes
    • Top Episodes for New Copywriters
    • Student Stories
  • Copywriting Course
    • Learn About the Comprehensive Copywriting Academy
    • CCA Student Sign In
    • CCA Next Level
  • CCA Reviews
    • CCA Student Wins
    • Videos: CCA Student Reviews
  • Store
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • About Nicki Krawczyk
  • Contact Us

Filthy Rich Writer

Tips, tools, & training for new and aspiring copywriters.

Tips, Tools and Training for New and Aspiring Copywriters

  • What does “Filthy Rich” mean? It means having a job you love, being good at what you do…and making great money doing it!

Copywriting Q&A: What to Expect from a Creative Review

By Nicki Krawczyk Leave a Comment

what creatives can expect from creative reviews

If there’s one aspect of copywriting that almost always comes as a shock to the new practitioner, it’s creative reviews. Sure, it sounds simple: A meeting in which people get together to discuss work. But what actually happens—and how it can be perceived by writers—is a bit different. Read on for a few tips about how to survive and thrive in creative reviews.

Every writer who’s sent any of their work out into the world is used to being edited. You’ve written it one way, but an editor has a few suggestions for you to make it better. Fine. Great, even. Copywriting is no different, except that you don’t have one editor, you have a boss and several stakeholders. And they all have opinions. And you have to incorporate all of them.

By its nature, copywriting is a very collaborative career. You’ll create the best work you can from the information that’s been given to you, and then the other people involved in the project, perhaps the brand manager or the product manager or any number of other people, will give you feedback based on their personal expertise and insight.

In a way, creative reviews can be challenging because all of these people are giving you all of this feedback at once. You’ve gone into a meeting in which perhaps a half dozen people are discussing the positives and negatives of your work. This can shake a lot of new writers.

However, creative reviews are also terrific because you get this feedback all at once. There’s no getting feedback from one person only to get feedback from another person a few days later and then more feedback from another person a few days later still. It all comes out in one meeting.

Know this: the vast, vast majority of the time, your copywriting will not be perfect and will not be approved in the first creative review. And that’s fine! That’s the expectation. It doesn’t meant that you’ve done anything wrong and it’s not a product of whatever level of experience you have, it’s simply because the other people in the room will have insight and expertise to offer that you don’t have.

Start Your Copywriting Career(6)

You always want to go into a creative review having done your very best, but it’s much more than likely that it’s not yet perfect.

Remember, too, that the comments being made are about your work, not about you. You are not your work. (If you try to be, you’ll go crazy.) Do your best not to take things personally. First of all, because you’ll be a self-conscious mess if you do and, second of all, no one wants to work with someone who falls to pieces or gets angry and defensive each time their work is discussed.

There will be a lot of opinions thrown out in a creative review, but you need to be sure you leave with the information you need to execute the next iteration. Are two people making contradictory suggestions? Be sure you know which one is the right one to go on before you leave.

Ideally, the project manager (or whatever the title of the person who is running the meeting and responsible for eventually approving the creative) will type up a list of all the feedback and circulate it. If not, though, you have to do it. Ensuring everyone is on the same page will save you extra rounds of revisions and the frustration of everyone in a room remembering a past conversation differently.

Creative reviews are also a great opportunity to learn. Listen carefully to the feedback that’s being given—there’s a good chance you can incorporate that input into future designs. Listen, too, for technical terms and specifications or discussions about how creative will be evaluated and tested. This is always good knowledge to have in your back pocket. If you know all about copywriting, you’ll do well. If you know all about copywriting and the business around it, you’ll do even better.

Your turn! How do you get through creative reviews? What’s challenging for you? Or what do you love? Let us know in the comments below!

Last Updated on November 8, 2022

Filed Under: Copywriting Tips

Interested in Copywriting? Get our Free Video Training!

Plus, get on the list for updates, freebies, and more :) 



About Nicki Krawczyk

Nicki is a copywriter, copy coach and the founder of Filthy Rich Writer. She's been writing copy for more than 20 years.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Click here to subscribe

Break Into Copywriting

Sign up to get our FREE video training, special resources, and more!



Click here to subscribe

Comprehensive Copywriting Academy

Join the copywriting training program that's helping people just like you build successful copywriting careers!

Comprehensive Copywriting Academy from Filthy Rich Writer

Portfolio Tips

3 Copywriter Portfolio Examples That Wow Clients
Do You Need to List Your Copywriting Services on Your Portfolio Site?
Should I Put Prices on My Website? What Copywriters Need to Know

Orange square with text reading award winning designs and free domains Squarespace
View our Affiliate Link Disclosure here

Recent Articles

Freelance Copywriter Benefits: How to Build Your Own Benefits Package
5 Books to Read Written by Copywriters
How to Give Copywriting Feedback
Setting Boundaries as a Copywriter
Self Edit Your Copywriting: Why It’s a Must & How to Do It
  • Facebook
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest

Copyright © 2023 Filthy Rich Writer | About Us | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy| Business Affiliates