Creative Briefs Lay the Groundwork for Team Marketing Projects
Communication and coordination are keys to success when a group of people attempt to accomplish something together. When a marketing team is tasked with producing a specific marketing deliverable or group of deliverables for their company or client — be it a mailer, website, broadcast commercial, or ad campaign — it’s important for everyone involved, from designers to writers, to be on the same page and have the information they need to start the task. Depending on the size and complexity of the project, a creative brief is often the perfect tool to kick off and guide a project.
Typically a Google doc, Word doc, or PDF file to be shared in person, digitally, or both, a creative brief is a 1-2 page templatized document (digital/printable) that clearly and concisely outlines the key elements of a marketing project or campaign, laying out specific needs, details, and desired outputs. A creative brief optimizes time and resources by essentially establishing a roadmap to guide a team, align their vision, and set expectations.
Maybe you don’t use creative briefs in your marketing and have been searching for a better way to initiate projects or are looking for ways to improve them if you do. Either way, here are some top considerations to keep in mind when wanting to write effective creative briefs that put your team on the path to project success:
Lay Out Clear Objective & Goals
Starting with the project’s name, clarity of purpose is essential to getting off on the right foot.
If you’re initiating a creative project, you obviously have a reason, and that reason, or objective, should be clearly stated along with the desired goals. Knowing what you’re trying to accomplish will guide everything else, including visual choices, copy tone, placement plan, budget, and more.
Be as Thorough, Specific, & Accurate as Possible
While you may not have all the details or assets you need at the time of kickoff, it’s important to convey as much relevant, accurate, and specific information as possible in your creative brief. Vagueness and a lack of information will only muddy the waters and slow down the project if stakeholders are confused or must search for what they need later.
Spell Out the Target Audience
Your objective should be tied to what you’re hoping to achieve with your target audience. Most of the time, a deliverable is designed to get potential and existing customers to take action, but it could also be content aimed at employees, investors, media, or the community at large. Let your team know who the exact target audience is, along with their pertinent demographics, occupations, behaviors, and other insights. Relaying this key insight to your team will help them create the best deliverable(s) for the job.
Specify Your Messaging & Ensure Its On-Brand
Marketing is all about messaging, and in your brief, you should establish what messages you’re implicitly trying to convey to the consumer, both visually and verbally, through the final deliverables. Make sure that this messaging always aligns with your established branding (e.g. proper voice, tone, images, CTAs, value prop, etc.).
Assign Roles
Delegating the workload is important to getting any group task done, and this is especially true of marketing projects. Designers, writers, task managers, photographers, etc. all have their specific responsibilities in effectively completing the task, and it helps to account for these roles in the brief so that each person knows what they need to do and when they need to do it.
List Relevant Assets
From logos and copy docs to desired images and graphics, there are typically one or more creative assets to be used in the upcoming project. Listing them in the brief, and linking them in the digital version when possible, makes for easy accessibility during the project. PDFs, copy docs, images, and other files can be linked through the digital brief for easy access and reference. This also includes all relevant and useful facts, such as product feature copy, real benefits, and notable stats, to attract consumers and persuade them to take action.
Designate Which Channels Will Be Used
While omni-channel marketing is essential in this day and age, sometimes a specific project — like developing a mailer — is obviously one channel. Some creative briefs cover a larger campaign and include multiple channels. Designating which channels will be used helps you outline your brief and specify which types of collateral are needed and what is needed from each stakeholder.
Set Key Dates & Deadlines
Every effective strategy needs a timeline for ensuring everything gets done in the desired timeframe and that the deliverables are released when and where they’ll have maximum impact. While some flexibility should be built into the schedule if possible, setting realistic agreed-upon deadlines allows stakeholders to manage their own schedules in getting their project tasks done.
Recommend CTAs
Marketing deliverables should always have at least one call to action (CTA) urging consumers to take the next step, whether it’s to get more details, sign up for a newsletter, or make a purchase. While the exact wording isn’t necessary at this point, it’s good to lay down some examples of CTAs to include in the marketing piece.
These are just a few of the top things to include and focus on when creating effective creative briefs. If you ever need expert help with your creative, communication, or strategic business needs, reach out to us at M:7 Agency today to discuss how we can help you take your brand to the next level.