The Campaign Launch Checklist

A launch checklist is a shared record of readiness. Its job is to surface missing decisions before a campaign goes live and give each check an owner. Adapt this list to the campaign, channel and receiving environment.

1. Confirm the brief

Record the objective, budget, currency, start and end times, audience, geography, formats and success measures. Agree whether dates refer to the advertiser's or platform's time zone.

Check that the current brief is approved and that the build uses the same version. A last-minute email should become a recorded change rather than a second source of instructions.

2. Review assets

Confirm that each placement has an approved creative and destination. Check specifications, messages, offer dates and required disclosures. Watch or listen to full video or audio assets.

Test the actual click path, including redirects and parameters. Use our creative QA guide for a detailed review.

3. Check the setup

Review targeting, exclusions, budgets, delivery goals, frequency settings and dates against the brief. Confirm which restrictions are essential; overly narrow combinations can limit delivery.

Use consistent names and keep a mapping between brief, platform identifiers and reporting labels. That map is useful when several teams use different systems.

4. Agree measurement

Define the primary and supporting metrics. Document what each report counts as an impression, click or conversion and agree attribution settings where applicable.

Confirm the contractual or billing source of truth. If reports are expected to differ, document why and how discrepancies will be investigated.

5. Get a second review

Ask another person to compare setup with the brief rather than inspect whether fields are filled in. Provide the preview, destination evidence and current approval record.

Record open issues and the launch decision. An unchecked item needs an owner and a resolution.

6. Verify after launch

At the agreed checkpoint, confirm that delivery started in the expected environments. Review pacing, creative behaviour and available measurement signals.

Low early volume can make ratios unstable. Check counts before drawing conclusions from percentages and distinguish technical failure from insufficient delivery.

7. Leave a handoff trail

Save launch time, reviewer, asset versions, outstanding limitations and monitoring owner. Record later changes with reason and timestamp. This history helps explain the campaign without reconstructing it from memory on reporting day.