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How to get your company approved for the Creative Services Directory | Creativepool Company Hacks #1

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You’ve signed up your business on Creativepool and want to make yourself marketable on the platform by being included in the Creative Services Directory. How does it work exactly and what are the benefits to inclusion? 

By default, companies are not automatically listed on Creativepool. Instead, the Creativepool Business team reviews each company's request to be included. This is to ensure that our Creative Services Directory is comprised of industry-leading businesses, so that prospective clients will be able to find and hire top quality creative services providers to cover their needs. Being listed does not mean that you need to be a Top100 agency, it is open to all companies, but you must meet quality and professionalism standards regardless of the size of your business. 

Not being listed on Creativepool does not mean that you can't use the other services associated with Creativepool – it's just that you won't turn up in searches from the Creative Services Directory listings. But how exactly do you get it approved? And just what is the Creative Services Directory?

Table of Contents

The Creative Services Directory

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By default, our Creative Services Directory shows the most recent featured projects from the Creativepool community.

Our Creative Services Directory is a curated directory of companies, agencies and creative services providers. Every company that registers on the platform has the opportunity to be listed in the Directory, so that their work and details will be discoverable on the platform to help them market themselves to both attract new business and talent.

To be listed in the Creative Services Directory you will need to show that you are an expert in your chosen field and that your style of work and professionalism that is seen as being amongst the best in the industry. There are some strict requirements to be approved and each company is approved by our business team. Once approved every company will be linked to a set number of keywords and to a ranking score, which will make them visible on Creativepool for anyone looking for their services. 

The Creative Services Directory is not the same as our ranking system. The ranking system is a ranked list of all the companies in the Directory, separated by sector and specialism. The Directory, on the other hand, is an unordered list of companies, sorted by industry, skills and relevance.

You can browse through the Creative Services Directory on this page.

Benefits to being approved

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If you are approved to be included in the Creative Services Directory, you will be able to take advantage of a number of benefits exclusive to listed companies on Creativepool.

Being listed in the Creative Services Directory means you are part of an exclusive club made up of only the best in class in the creative and marcomms industries. You will be able to attract new business and be discovered by clients simply via a search term. Your profile will also be ranked on Google and all the major search engines, helping with your presence online.

Additionally, Creativepool is home to hundreds of thousands of individual professionals from the creative industries. Our members will be able to browse the Creative Services Directory and find your business easily, helping you attract the best talent from the industry, whatever your specialism.

Other benefits include access to the Creativepool ranking system and the Contributor Club. Companies in the directory can set up their profile to appear in our Top Ranked Creative Sector Agencies and Companies, a series of Top 10s split by company type. Being approved for the Creative Services Directory also instantly gives you Contributor Access, granting you entry in our invite-only club to self-publish written content on Creativepool. With Contributor Access, you’ll be able to publish thought leadership pieces, blogs and press releases about your business, increasing your visibility online and in the community itself. There is also a chance one of these pieces will be picked up by the editorial team for publication!

How to get approved

Getting approved for inclusion in the Creative Services Directory is straightforward.

There are four key things that we look for when approving companies to be listed in the directory:

  1. That your company is an expert in their selected industry;
  2. That your company has a good body of commercial work;
  3. That your company has a style of work and professionalism highly regarded in the industry;
  4. That the profile you have put together clearly communicates this.

It goes without saying that a fully completed profile page has higher chances of being approved. You don’t need to upload a header image if you don’t want to, but everything else should be filled and completed. This includes your company contact details, logo, location, skills and sector expertise, awards and clientsYour profile settings can be updated here.

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AKQA is our #1 ranked Digital Agency, and the team's profile really shows.

Depending on the company type you choose, you may also be required to upload a minimum of 3 case studies/projects on your profile to prove your expertise in your chosen field. This especially applies to agencies and companies with a predominant visual element to their work, from TV advertising to web development, digital and social media. You can upload your projects and case studies here.

Your case studies/projects should have a clear description detailing what was achieved by the work. We recommend that you break down your description into Concept, Execution and Results. Take special care on ensuring that you have the image elements to show off your project in the best light and that you include any awards won. When you upload a project, you will be taken through this process step by step.

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You should especially ensure that your profile communicates consistency. Pay attention to your About Us. This is where you 'sell' what your company is about. Use this space to say what you do best and what makes you unique. It should communicate clearly your expertise in your chosen field; nice additions to this include adding a few lines about your history, any initiatives that you take part in, company culture, reach and what makes your company tick. You can also add a few key clients, awards and some information about your team. Your About Us should match up with all the other information on your profile, including your Company Type. If you are a top Digital Agency, this section should detail why.

Ensure that your Projects, Skills, Sector Experience and Company Type are complementary. Your Company Type is the most important field and determines how your company will be found. You can only select 1 Skill and up to 3 Sector Experience tags on a free account. These should all work together to give the accessors (and clients once approved) a clear picture on what you do best. 

Associations, Awards and Clients are also taken into consideration in the approval process. There's no limit on the number of entries you can add to these fields. If you have won a number of awards, make sure to add them, as these will make a difference in the approval process. Clients help give our approval team an indication on your company's level of experience.

In short, all the sections of your profile, from Company Type to Associations and Clients, should work together to build up a full, complementary picture of your company. You can amend all of these here.

Additionally, your approval in the Creative Services Directory will be greatly enhanced by having Client Reviews on your profile. You can ask for client reviews whenever you upload a project, at the end of the upload process. Client reviews play a key role in showing how reputable and skilful you are at what you do, and the Creativepool team will look much more favourably at a profile hosting a positive client review – just like your prospective clients.

Upgrade!

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These are just some of the benefits offered to Company Pro Account holders.

There is another option that enables you to bypass all the mandatory steps and be included in the directory straight away: upgrading to a Pro Account.

Company Pro Accounts have a minimum term of 12 months and come with a range of benefits, including a dedicated account manager, to help you get the most from your inclusion in the platform. These will be detailed further in a future Creativepool Hacks, but here’s an overview of the main benefits:

  • Inclusion in the Creative Services Directory
  • A dedicated account manager
  • Premium job postings
  • Unconnected messages
  • Priority in search results
  • Unrestricted talent pass
  • Enhanced profile analytics
  • Bulk email your followers
  • Featured articles
  • Annual submissions discount
  • VIP and Event priority discount

Once you’ve upgraded to a Pro Account, you will be included in the directory straight away. However, it is still highly recommended that you still go through some of the steps detailed above to improve your visibility and profile on the platform. Even something as essential as a Pro Account won’t be of much use if your profile is entirely empty!

You can view all the Pro Account benefits here.

What if you’ve been rejected?

If you’ve come to this article, it may be because your application to be included in the Directory was rejected by the team. Not being listed does not affect you in using the site for finding talent or taking part in our awards. You will still have access to the full functionalities of the site, just your profile will not be listed, you won’t be included with the other businesses in the Creative Services Directory, and you won’t have access to the ranking system or be able to post your content without contributor approval.

This means that prospective clients, new business and talent will not be able to find you.

If you have been rejected, the decision is not final. You can request for your company to be reviewed again for inclusion, once you’ve taken all the necessary steps detailed in this piece. To do so, all you need is to make a request from your profile settings page. The team will review your profile again as soon as possible.

What next?

That’s it! Now you know everything you need to ensure your business can get started on Creativepool. If your company gets approved to be in the Directory, you’re already one step ahead of many other businesses who join Creativepool.

In our next Creativepool Company Hacks, we’re going to take a look into how to make the most of your company profile. In the meantime, why don’t you start exploring things a bit by yourself? Head over to your Profile Settings and look around the place!

Header image: Marta Caetano

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