Our automated review tools are only as good as the brief they read. Every submission and every live post is checked against what you put in your Creative Brief, so the biggest lever you have is how you frame it. This guide covers the two things your brief needs to cover: your Submission Requirements, which are checked at the script and draft stage, and your Live Requirements, which are checked once content is published.
Submission Requirements
Submission Requirements are your non-negotiable must-haves. They are checked automatically before a creator can submit a script or video draft, and before you ever see the review. If a submission misses one, the creator has to fix it or explain why before they can submit it to you.
Your Creative Brief actually holds two different kinds of instructions, and it helps to keep them separate:
Creative Guidance is your creative direction and preferences, things like tone, energy, pacing, and style. It is weighed with judgment rather than checked as pass or fail. A creator who deviates a little can still be approved if the content is strong and on message.
Submission Requirements are your non-negotiable must-haves, things like disclosures, tracked links, required phrases, or claims to include or avoid. These are checked directly, and a creator must fix or explain a miss before they can submit.
Three rules of thumb make your brief easier for the tools, and for your creators, to work with:
Put concrete, checkable must-haves in Submission Requirements. Disclosures, links, required phrases, and claims to include or avoid all belong here.
Put direction and taste in Creative Guidance. Tone, energy, pacing, and style are still read and factored into the review, they just do not need to be a hard requirement to be considered.
Write it down. The review tools can only weigh what is actually in the brief. A preference that lives only in your head cannot be checked for you.
Try not to mark everything as required just so it counts. Since the review tools read your whole brief, not just a checklist, you do not need to. Keeping Submission Requirements to true must-haves actually speeds up your campaign, since every hard requirement is one more thing a creator has to fix or explain before they can submit. Reserve them for the things you would genuinely reject content over.
Live Requirements
Live Requirements are checked after a creator's content goes live, to confirm the published post matches what you approved and meets your requirements. 1stCollab checks the post automatically where it can, and gives the creator a chance to confirm anything it could not verify on its own. You always get the final review.
The standard checks available to every brand are:
Matches the approved draft. Always on. Confirms the live version matches what you approved.
Posted inside the campaign window. Always on. Checks the post date against your campaign dates.
Required partnership hashtag. Checks for a required branded hashtag, for example #BrandPartner, as the disclosure marker.
Tags your brand account. Checks the caption or title for your handle.
Adds your brand as a collaborator. On Instagram, checks the co-author. This one only ever passes or asks for confirmation, since you have to accept the invite on your end.
Link or promo code in the first comment. Checks the creator's own top comment.
Referral link in bio. Checks the profile bio.
Posting schedule. Checks that the post lands on the days and times you set.
A rule that does not apply to a given post or platform is simply left off your checklist, not shown as a failure.
Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and LinkedIn are all supported. On YouTube, the check reads the title and description rather than re-downloading the video, so YouTube live checks lean more on the text and on the creator's own confirmation.
Custom Rules
Beyond the standard list, your brief can also carry custom rules, free-text requirements specific to your campaign.
Because they are written in plain language rather than something the review tool can measure on its own, custom rules are always confirmed by hand by the creator, using whatever evidence you ask for, like a screenshot or a link, rather than auto-checked.
Custom rules are set up with your 1stCollab team, and once they are, you will see them on the live checklist alongside the standard rules.