The best quick note tool for judging agency concepts is the one you'll open in ten seconds, because the note format matters more than the app. This guide gives you a five-line template, a scoring table and a rule for what the agency sees.
TLDR: Write one five-line note per concept: name, first reaction, how it fits the brief, biggest risk, decision with reason. Do it within minutes of the pitch, before the room talks you out of your first view.
Mydrop pricing check, September 2026: the entry paid plans of the eight tools most often compared with Mydrop run from $6 per channel (Buffer) and $25 a month (Later) to $99 per user (Hootsuite) and $79 per seat (Sprout Social), read on each vendor's pricing page. Mydrop is free to start, then $19 a month flat, not per seat. Full table on Mydrop's compare pages.
Use five lines, no more
Long notes don't get read, and shared opinions in a room bend toward whoever speaks first. Write each concept up in exactly these five lines:
- Concept: the name the agency gave it, plus the date.
- First reaction: one sentence, written before any discussion.
- Fit with the brief: does it answer the audience, the goal and the platform in the brief?
- Biggest risk: what could go wrong in production or with the audience.
- Decision and reason: approve, revise or reject, and why in one sentence.
A note like "Reject, the hook works for TikTok but the brief asks for LinkedIn" is more useful to the agency than a long email, and it takes under two minutes.
Score each concept against the same four criteria
When you see three concepts in one meeting, memory blurs them. A small table fixes that.
| Criterion | Score 1 to 5 | What a 5 looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Brief fit | Answers goal, audience and channel | |
| Distinctiveness | You could not swap in a competitor's logo | |
| Feasibility | Can be produced on the stated budget and dates | |
| Repeatability | Works as a series, not just one post |
Add the scores. Anything under 12 goes back for revision, not into a long debate. The scale is yours to adjust: the value is in judging every concept with the same ruler.
Decide what the agency sees
Keep your raw notes private and send a short version. The agency needs the decision and the reason, not your first-minute impressions.
- Private: first reaction, risk and the score.
- Shared: decision, the one thing to keep and the one thing to change.
If you work with several agencies, hold the notes in one place so you can compare concept quality over time. A rejection reason repeated three times across a quarter is a brief problem, not an agency problem.
Keep a running log so patterns show up
After a month of notes you hold something valuable: a record of why you said yes and no. Once a quarter, read the decision lines in a row. If most rejections cite the same reason (wrong channel, off-brand tone, too costly to produce), the fix is a sharper brief or a shared reference folder, and the agency will thank you for it. Also note which concept types survived into real posts and how they performed. That closes the loop between the pitch room and your results.
Move approved concepts into the workflow right away
A concept that stays in a notes app is easy to lose. Once approved, the idea should become scheduled content with an owner. In Mydrop you can build the posts in the content calendar, use post previews to check how each looks per platform, and send the drafts to the client or your boss through approval workflows. Comments stay attached to the post, so feedback does not scatter across chat threads.
If feedback loops are your bigger issue, see our guide on fixing creative feedback handoffs.
Run the template on your next pitch
Copy the five lines and the four-criterion table into whatever notes tool you already use. Fill them in during the next agency presentation, share the decision line the same day, and compare your scores after three pitches. If you decide the notes should live next to the work, you can try Mydrop free and keep them with the posts themselves.
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