What is a creative brief?

A creative brief is a short document around one to two pages long that outlines a business’ strategy for an upcoming creative project. Marketing, advertising or public relations agencies typically use creative briefs before starting on a new project for their client. The account or project manager usually meets with the client to discuss any ideas, company goals and brand visions to help them develop a new campaign. Once the client approves the general campaign idea and deadline, they’ll build a brief for their creative team.

This creative brief acts as a roadmap to guide employees on the project’s milestones, purpose and key details. It’s mainly seen only by the company’s team members who are contributing tasks to the project and isn’t typically viewed by the client. The account or project manager will provide regular updates on the project’s overall progress to the client to let them know the project is on track with their goals and operating efficiently.

Reasons for writing a creative brief

Common reasons creative briefs are important include:

• Holds employees accountable:Since you’re clearly listing out which employees are in charge of each task to be completed by a specific deadline, your employees are held accountable for submitting these tasks when you need them, as everything that’s expected of them is clearly outlined in your brief.
• Prevents wasted time:Creative briefs help you and your team stay on track with your projects and keeps you from getting distracted and focusing your efforts on any outside tasks that aren’t related to the project at hand. It also allows you to clearly define what’s expected of each team member, so there isn’t any confusion or time wasted on completing incorrect tasks.
• Keeps messaging and ideas on brand: The creative brief explains the client’s goals, brand voice and tone to ensure your employees contribute ideas that follow your client’s messaging and help them hit the milestones they’re working toward.
• Provides third-party employees with more information:If you hire any outside parties to help with your projects like freelance graphic designers or content writers, the creative brief is a great tool for them to refer to when they have basic questions about the project but aren’t able to meet with you in person.

Elements to include in a creative brief

Common elements to include in your creative brief include:

Summary of the project

In one to two brief sentences, explain the basics of your project and a rundown of the client, including their brand messaging and goals. The project summary allows your team to gain a high-level understanding of your project and how their task contributes to the client’s overall goals they hope to accomplish.

A project summary example includes:

“This is a content marketing campaign aimed to educate the client’s audience on how to plan and implement a successful fundraising strategy.”

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Target audience

Your target audience explains the exact audience your client hopes to reach and connect with through this campaign. Share any buyer persona information your client already has or just list basic demographics that you’re targeting, like age group and gender.

Here’s an example:

“Startup nonprofit organizations that are looking to strengthen their current fundraising tactics.”

Problem you’re solving

Describe any current challenges your client is facing and how this project will help solve them. This helps your team clearly understand the purpose of this project and why their contributions are needed.

Use this example as a guide:

“Fundraising Strategies Group is trying to expand their brand awareness and establish themselves as a thought-leader in the nonprofit and fundraising industry. To accomplish this, they’re launching campaigns containing quality content that provides value to their readers.”

Project goal and KPIs

Share the goals you’ve established for the project either with the client or for your own team. Make them measurable, specific and realistic for you and your employees to reach. Share your key performance indicators that tell employees how you’ll measure their success.

For example:

“Our main goal will be to increase the client’s brand awareness by 20% over the next three months. We’ll measure this by reviewing how many visitors we bring to their site and the conversions they complete via sign-up forms.”

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Steps you’ll take to finish the project

List all the steps you and the team will complete to successfully implement and deliver the project. This helps team members visualize how the project will be completed.

An example of steps include:

• Brainstorm topic ideas.
• Build a content calendar.
• Assign content writers to copy.
• Collaborate with graphic designers to create supportive images.
• Schedule content posts.
• Write social media posts to share content pieces.
• Measure the results.

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Team members assigned to certain tasks

Next to each specific task, share which team member is reasonable for completing them. This lets everyone know what they’re in charge of and informs team members of whom to reach out to when asking about specific tasks.

For instance:

“Assign content writers to copy” – Content Manager

Timelines and deadlines

Your creative brief should clearly outline the timelines for each task. It must also include important dates, like internal meeting times or check-in meetings with the client. Include a start and due date for each task for employees to take note of and add to their to-do lists. Here’s an example:

• May 25: Brainstorm session
• May 30: Content calendar due
• June 2: Check-in meeting
• June 15: Two blog posts due
• June 30: Schedule blogs

Frequently asked questions about creative briefs

Who prepares the creative brief?

The person in charge of the overall project, usually the account or project manager, prepares the creative brief and usually oversees the entire project.

How do you write a creative brief?

To write a great creative brief, you should first establish the client’s goals and main objectives to give you an idea of what you’re wiring about. You should then describe the company’s brand, background and target audience. List deadlines to complete each task and the overall project. Proofread and distribute this document to your team.

What are the most important elements of a creative brief?

The most important elements of a creative brief are the project’s summary and breakdown, the client’s goals and their target audience. You should also carefully consider the steps you’ll take to complete the project and any dates or deadlines to hit to ensure the brief is submitted on time.

As you build your creative brief, make sure it allows room for team members to suggest changes according to their needs and preferences. Encourage everyone to express their thoughts and ideas to help you deliver a great final product.