"Can you send us the raw file from that TikTok?"
Months after a campaign, the client's performance marketing team wants to use three creator videos in ads, and the ecommerce team wants a still for a product page. They ask for the raw files. Your executive searches: one creator sent their raw file by WeTransfer, and the link expired. Another uploaded to a Google Drive folder that was shared from a former employee's account. The third's only copy is the compressed version from WhatsApp used for approval.
Then the question of rights. Can the still be used on the website? The contract says paid social only. Nobody checked before the client asked.
Why creator content goes missing
Content is collected for approval, not for reuse, and the rights live in another place again.
- Raw and final files arrive through transfer links that expire.
- Approval copies are compressed, and full-quality files are not requested.
- Folders belong to individuals and move or vanish when people leave.
- Files are named by the creator, with no campaign or deliverable reference.
- Usage rights are in contracts, not attached to files.
What a lost file costs
The client cannot use content they paid for, or uses a compressed version that looks poor in an ad. Asking a creator for a file months later is awkward, and some will charge or not respond. Content used without the right usage creates a problem with the creator, sometimes with a fee attached. And the agency looks disorganised at exactly the moment the client is trying to get more value from the campaign.
Over a year, a good agency produces a large library of useful content for each client. Losing track of it wastes much of the value the client paid for.
Your team pays in time as well. Every request for an old file becomes a small investigation across drives, inboxes and chats, often by someone who was not on the original campaign and has to piece together which file is the final one.
A content library with rights on every file
- Creators upload final files at full quality through their campaign link, with raw footage too if the contract includes it, as part of completing their deliverable.
- Each file is stored in your own cloud storage, named and tagged automatically: client, campaign, creator, deliverable, platform, date.
- The approved caption, the approval record and the go-live link are attached to the file.
- The usage rights from the creator's contract are attached: channels, territory and expiry, from your usage register.
- Clients search and filter their library by product, creator, format or campaign, and download only files whose rights cover what they want to do.
- Files with rights that do not cover a request, or that have expired, show why, with a button to ask the agency for an extension.
- Library access for each client is separate, and downloads are logged.
| File | Quality | Rights attached | Client can |
|---|---|---|---|
| Creator A video, raw | Full | Paid social until recorded date | Download for ads |
| Creator B photo | Full | Organic only | Repost, not ads |
| Creator C video | Full | Expired | Request extension |
Months later, a two-minute answer
The client's performance team logs in to their library, filters for the product and video, and downloads three full-quality files whose rights cover paid social. The ecommerce team asks for a still; the library shows the photo is organic only, and they click to request an extension, which the account manager negotiates with the creator. Nobody searches through old links.
At the end of the year, the client has a library of every creator asset from every campaign, with its rights, which is a strong reason to keep working with the agency that built it.
Does this happen at your agency?
- Raw creator files are lost to expired transfer links.
- Only compressed approval copies can be found.
- Content folders belong to individual staff.
- Rights are checked only after the client asks.
- Clients cannot find content from past campaigns themselves.