How to Share a Video with a Client for Review (Comments on the Exact Second, No Downloads)

You finished the cut. Now you have to get it in front of the client, get their comments back in a form you can actually use, and get a clear "approved" before the media agency starts asking for the files. That last part is the whole job, and it is where most of the time goes.

Here is the way to share a video with a client for review that has worked best for me, and the reasons behind each step.

What goes wrong with the usual way

Most people send video for review the way they send everything else: a WeTransfer or Drive link, sometimes an MP4 straight in the email if it is small enough.

Three things go wrong, every time.

The client watches it in the wrong place. They download it, it opens in whatever player their laptop has, sometimes at the wrong size, sometimes without sound. On a phone it may not play at all. You get "it looks a bit blurry" and you cannot tell whether that is your export or their player.

The comments come back as prose. "The logo at the end feels rushed" or "the second scene is too long." Which second scene? Rushed by how much? You reply with a question, they reply the next day, and a five-minute fix becomes a three-day round trip.

Nobody knows what was approved. The client wrote "great, go ahead" under v2 in a thread that also contains v3. Two weeks later the wrong cut is live and everyone is sure it was someone else's fault.

None of this is the client's fault. You gave them a file and asked for structured feedback. Files do not have structure.

The better way: a preview link, not a file

The fix is to stop sending files and start sending a page.

The client gets one link. It opens in the browser on any device. The video plays right there at the right size, with sound, with a play button they cannot miss. Under it, or next to it, are the other versions of the same spot: the 16:9, the 9:16 for stories, the 1:1 for feed. Nothing to download, nothing to unzip.

When they see something they want changed, they click on the video at that moment. A comment box opens, they type, and the comment is saved with the exact second and the position on the frame. You get an email that says "0:07.4, top left: logo too small." No interpretation needed.

When they are happy, they click Approve. Their name, the time and the version they approved are recorded on the page. That is your paper trail.

This is what BannerPeek does for video, and also for HTML5 and image banners, so a campaign that has all three lives on one link instead of three.

Step by step

1. Export a review cut, not the master

For review, use H.264 MP4, 1080p or 720p, and keep it under 50 MB if you can. It plays in every browser, on every phone, and loads before the client loses patience. The ProRes master is for delivery, after approval. Nobody reviews on a master, and nobody should have to download 2 GB to tell you the logo is too small.

If the spot exists in several aspect ratios, export all of them for review. Clients approve what they see; if they only saw the 16:9, you will be asked about the 9:16 later.

2. Put every version on the same page

One campaign, one page, every cut and every ratio on it. Name them so the client understands them without a legend: "Spring sale 15s 16x9", not "final_v3_FIX2.mp4". If you have a lot of files, group them: by length, by ratio, by language. The client should be able to find the one they were asked to look at in under five seconds.

3. Add two sentences of context

The page should tell the client what you need from them. Something like: "Two cuts of the 15s, plus the 6s bumper. Please check the end card wording and the VO timing. Approve each one you are happy with." Without this, you get feedback on the music when what you needed was a yes on the end card.

4. Send the link, and only the link

The email is short: what it is, what you need, by when, and the link. No attachments. If the client wants a file, they can download it from the page, but most never will.

5. Read comments as a list, not a thread

On the page, comments are attached to the video and the second. In your inbox, each one arrives with the timestamp and the pin. Fix them in order, mark them resolved, and the client can see what has been handled without asking.

6. Upload the new version on the same link

This is the part that saves the most time. When v2 is ready, you upload it to the same campaign, and the client opens the same link they already have. The old comments stay with the old version, the new version is clean, and there is never a "which link is the current one" question.

7. Get the approval on the page

Ask the client to approve on the page, not in an email. The approval is then tied to a specific version, with a name and a time next to it. When the media agency asks "is this the approved cut?", you have an answer that does not depend on anyone's memory.

What about Frame.io, Vimeo Review and the rest?

They exist, they work, and if you are a video house doing color and sound passes with a post team, you may already be paying for one. They are built for that: long-form, many collaborators, deep annotation.

For ad creatives the problem is different. A spot is 6 to 30 seconds, it comes with banners and statics in the same campaign, and the person reviewing it is a marketing manager on a phone, not an editor. They need to press play, click on the frame, and press approve. A dedicated video review suite is more than they will use, and the price reflects that.

BannerPeek's free plan covers 100 MB and 3 active campaigns, which is enough to run a real campaign review with a real client, no credit card, no trial that expires. If your studio ships more than that, Pro is $12 a month.

The email template

If you want something to copy:

Hi Ana, the spring cuts are ready to review: 15s in 16:9 and 9:16, and the 6s bumper. Please check the end card wording and the VO timing on the 15s. Click on the video to comment at the moment you mean, and approve each cut you are happy with. Link: [preview page]. We need approvals by Thursday to make the Monday start.

That is the whole process. One link, comments on the second, approvals on record, new versions on the same link. Once a client has reviewed a video this way, they do not want to go back to Drive folders.