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The Approval Trap: Why Your Workflow Needs a Rethink

auto approvals
Key takeaways

30 days

Average approval wait time

Marketing teams wait up to a month for content approval

60%

Productivity loss

Teams lose over half their productive time to approval processes

£10,000+

Monthly cost

Hidden costs of manual approvals for mid-sized teams

More Than Just an Admin Headache

For many creative teams trapped in manual approval workflows, it’s more than just an administrative burden. It’s a creativity killer that can extend project timelines by weeks or even months.

Even approving simple assets like a social media post can take more than 30 days – all routed through a single marketing lead.

The hidden costs stack up:

Time Drain

Marketing teams spend up to 15 hours per week just managing approvals instead of creating campaigns that drive results.

Time Drain

Marketing teams spend up to 15 hours per week just managing approvals instead of creating campaigns that drive results.

The Approval Process Timeline

Content Creation

Designer or marketer creates the initial content (1-2 days)

Initial Review Queue

Content sits in queue waiting for first review (3-5 days)

Feedback & Revisions

Multiple rounds of changes and approvals (7-14 days)

Final Approval

Final sign-off from stakeholders (2-5 days)

Total approval time: 13-26 days for a single piece of content

The real world impact

Missed opportunities

Time-sensitive campaigns miss market windows

Team burnout

Creative professionals become approval administrators

Budget Waste

High-value talent spent on low-value tasks

And when approvals become a full-time job, you’re paying senior marketing salaries to check commas. Literally, you’re wastingoutsourcing, and compromising talents.

When “Self-Service” Isn’t Actually Self-Service

You might think design tools like Canva solve this problem. Give local teams creative freedom, some central marketing tools… right?

Without the right controls, tools like Canva often create more work:

As Vicki Rosemont, Brand Manager at Marks Clerk, shares:

We tried to implement control over Canva, but it just took up a huge volume of our time... trying to manage the flexibility was exhausting.

What's the Real Price of Manual Approvals?

Every approval request isn’t just a delay – it’s a financial drain.

You’re paying high-skilled creatives and marketing managers to be email admins. And the costs multiply:

Consider the headline calculation: one brand manager’s time costs a single mistake can be devastating.

The Better Way: Brand Security That Works for Everyone

What if you didn’t need to manually approve every asset?

What if your brand could be both secure, flexible (empowering automation), and responsive (local teams safely)?

That’s the future of Brand Security – and it’s already here.

RightMarket flips the approval model on its head, embedding governance directly into your templates:

Unlocking Creative Capacity, Protecting Your Brand

When you embed brand security into your content process, everyone wins:

It’s about freedom within “guardrails” – your brand remains consistent, compliance stays protected, and creativity flourishes.

Ready to See a Brand-Safe Future?

Imagine a world where:

It’s not just a productivity saving – it’s a complete governance mindset shift that actually frees creativity too.

Take the next step

Book a free demo today – and see how Brand Security transforms creative chaos into strategic advantage.

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