Better & Stronger · Client guide
Campaign lead times
How we work together to get any campaign live on time, whatever its type: launches, peak moments, always-on.
Best-practice guide · Lead times & setup
- Context: a generic lead-times guide, valid for any campaign type. The Sales are just one application case.
- Opening line: "A campaign is won before launch day."
- The core of the document: the standard backward plan and the client ↔ B&S handoff.
Agenda
What this guide covers
1Why anticipateThe principle and shared responsibility
2Who does whatThe client ↔ Better & Stronger handoff
3The standard backward planFrom brief to go-live
4What we needInputs, ideal brief, asset requirements
5Lead times by campaign typeLaunches, peak moments, always-on
6Application caseThe Sales, and other peak moments
- (20s) A breather slide. The core is points 2 and 3 (the handoff and the plan). Everything else follows.
1 · The principle
Anticipate, don't scramble
The rule, whatever the campaign: all assets and copy ready and approved 2 to 3 days before go-live. One late input shifts the whole chain.
🗓️A lead time for every campaign
Launch, peak moment or a simple always-on refresh: production always takes time. The lead time isn't optional, it's an input.
🤝A shared responsibility
Delays come from both sides. The plan only holds if everyone hits their milestones: inputs on the client side, production on the B&S side.
📈Anticipating means performing
Launching early gives the algorithm time to learn before the peak. Anticipation isn't comfort, it's a performance lever.
- The anchor of the guide. Born from repeated late deliveries, flagged as shared failures.
- Stress it: the lead time is a production constraint, not an agency whim.
2 · The handoff
Who does what
Client side
- Deliver assets to B&S at least 2 weeks before go-live
- Review and approve copy within 24h of receipt
- Provide product tags / labels without blocking the rest of production
Better & Stronger side
- From the assets, deliver copy 1 week before go-live
- Start production as early as possible, without waiting for non-blocking inputs
- Build the campaigns and pause them 2 to 3 days ahead
→Production doesn't stop for a non-blocking input: we start copy without waiting for the product tags (content doesn't depend on them, previews are only a final visual check).
- The handoff is the pressure point. That's where delays happen, and the first thing to clarify.
- Concrete unblock example: start copy independently of the Shopify tags.
3 · The backward plan
The standard backward plan, from brief to go-live
D-30
Scoping
Needs brief, objectives, budget plan, this guide sent.
Client + B&S
›
D-14
Assets delivered
The client sends all assets and product tags / labels.
Client
›
D-7
Copy delivered
B&S delivers copy and previews for approval.
B&S
›
D-7 → D-3
Approval & build
The client approves within 24h, B&S builds the campaigns.
Client + B&S
›
D-3 / D-2
Everything ready
Assets and copy approved, ads built and paused (algorithm approval).
B&S
›
D-Day
Go live
Launch, budget in place, close monitoring of the first hours.
B&S
- (1 min) The reference standard. Read backwards from launch day: 24h + 1 week + 2 weeks = ~1 month.
- These lead times stretch for a launch, lock for a peak moment, repeat on a short loop for always-on (slide 9).
4 · What we need
What we need, for every campaign
Strategy
🎯Audience
The target segments, ideally by funnel phase.
Creative
🎨Assets
Images + videos, all formats (detail on the next page).
Destination
🔗URLs
The landing pages / collections involved.
PMax
▶️YouTube links
Videos hosted on YouTube, essential for PMax.
Targeting
🏷️Product tags
Shopify tags / custom labels to target the right products.
Message
✍️Copy
The key messages (copy can start without the tags).
Launch
⏱️Go-live time
The exact go-live time on launch day.
Everything by D-14 at the latest
To hold the date, these must reach us no later than 2 weeks before.
- (45s) The input checklist, valid for any campaign. Miss one item and the date slips.
- Often forgotten: videos must be hosted on YouTube to be usable in PMax.
4 · What we need
The ideal brief, client side
The more complete the brief and the earlier it lands (ideally at D-30), the smoother the go-live. A good brief fits in 8 points.
01 · Frame
Context & objectives
The campaign and its goals: sales, leads, awareness, engagement.
02 · Message
Offer or key message
The value proposition (or the discount and dates if it's a promo).
03 · Targets
Audiences & phases
The funnel logic: awareness, consideration, desire, action.
04 · Channels
Channels & formats
The channels activated (Meta, Google Ads) and the formats expected.
05 · Timing
Dates & go-live
Start, end, and the exact go-live time on launch day.
06 · Destination
Landing page
The URL to drive traffic to.
07 · Products
Custom labels / tags
The product labels to build the sets (e.g. promo, new arrivals).
08 · Content
Assets & links
The visuals folder by phase + the YouTube links (9:16 and 1:1).
- (1 min) A brief template to share. A complete brief upfront is what secures the backward plan.
4 · What we need
Asset requirements, in detail
Ideal list per creative angle (to be declined by funnel phase if several phases run). Technical minimum: photo ≥ 2000 px, video 1080p (4K ideal), sRGB profile.
📱Meta · per creative angle
- 2 square images 1:1 (1080 × 1080 px) + 2 story images 9:16 (1080 × 1920 px)
- Ideally also in portrait 4:5 (1080 × 1350 px)
- 2 square videos + 2 story videos
- 1 square carousel (5 slides) + 1 story carousel (3 slides)
- 1 product collection created in the CMS and synced with Meta
- Respect story safe zones (keep key content centred)
🔍Google Ads · per campaign
- 8 landscape images (1200 × 628 px), no text or logo
- 8 square images (1200 × 1200 px)
- 4 portrait images (1200 × 1500 px)
- 2 landscape videos (16:9) + 2 square videos (1:1)
- Videos hosted on YouTube — essential for PMax
- 1 custom label on the relevant products (Merchant Center)
The minimum per campaignAt least 2 images, 2 videos and 1 carousel, in square and story. On a promo, ideally with the offer or discount % shown on the visuals.
- (45s) Separate the ideal (the full format list) from the minimum viable (the gold box). Due by D-14.
- Remind them of all-formats (1:1, 4:5, 9:16, 16:9) and YouTube hosting for Google videos.
5 · By campaign type
Lead times by campaign type
The same backward plan adapts: stretch it for a launch, lock it for a fixed-date peak moment, repeat it on a short loop for always-on.
🚀Launches
Longest lead time — everything is new
- Full brief at D-30: new product, market or campaign
- Assets and copy to produce from scratch
- Account for the algorithm learning phase after go-live
🔥Peak moments
Fixed date — non-negotiable lead time
- Same backward plan, but the deadline doesn't move
- Dedicated assets + offer messaging
- Launch a few days ahead to absorb learning before the peak
- E.g. Sales, Black Friday, product drops, seasonal pushes
🔁Always-on
Lead time = refresh cadence
- No full brief each time
- The lead time becomes the creative refresh rhythm (anti-fatigue)
- Inputs delivered on a rolling basis, in batches
- Plan refreshes ahead, don't wait for performance to dip
- (1 min) The heart of the reframing: lead times aren't just for the Sales. Three regimes, one framework.
- Always-on: the trap is to assume there's no lead time. It becomes a cadence (planned refresh).
6 · Application case
Application case: the Sales
The Sales are a fixed-date peak moment: the generic framework applies as-is (just like Black Friday, product drops or seasonal pushes). Here's the plan applied and the levers specific to them.
🗓️The backward plan applied
- D-30 — brief, revenue target, budget plan
- D-14 — Sales assets + product labels delivered
- D-7 — copy delivered, approved within 24h
- D-3 / D-2 — everything ready, ads built and paused
- D-Day — go live very early on the first Wednesday, maximum budget
🏷️Levers specific to the Sales
- Dedicated assets, ideally with the discount % shown
- Upstream lead gen: exclusive early access before the official date
- Successive markdowns: refresh creatives to avoid fatigue
- Budget concentrated on the first weekend, then on peak moments
- Urgency at the end: "last days", end of the Sales
- (1 min) Show that the generic framework maps effortlessly onto a concrete case.
- Note that a detailed Sales guide exists separately for the full tactical plan.
In short
A campaign is won before launch day.
Whatever the campaign type, the same framework: brief early, assets two weeks ahead, copy one week ahead, everything ready and paused 2 to 3 days ahead. On launch day, all we do is go live.
"Anticipating means launching calmly, not scrambling at the end."
- (30s) Loop back to the backward plan and offer to set the key dates for the next campaign together.