How content briefs improve marketing efforts
Where a content brief fits into the content marketing workflow
The 7 key elements of a content brief
How to create a content brief template
Best practices for writing an effective content brief
Examples of effective content briefs
AI-generated vs human-written content briefs
Don't forget to ask your writers for feedback on your content briefs
Do you need help creating effective content briefs for your writers? Look no further! In this article, I'll show you how to write a content brief that truly empowers your writers.
I’ll review all the key elements and best practices, sharing template ideas to help make your content briefs stand out.
What is a content brief?
A content brief is a document that outlines the goals, requirements, and expectations for a piece of content, such as a blog post, article, or video. It provides writers and other content creators with the necessary information to produce content that aligns with the brand's messaging and tone while meeting the intended audience's needs and interests.
A content brief typically includes information on the:
content type and format
brand messaging and tone of voice
key topics and themes to cover
desired tone and style
SEO keywords and phrases
and any other relevant details, such as word count and deadline.
By providing writers with a detailed content brief, you can ensure that the content they produce is aligned with your overall marketing strategy and work towards your desired outcomes.
How content briefs improve marketing efforts
Creating a content brief isn't just about making the writing process easier for your content team; it can also significantly impact your marketing efforts. Here are some ways that content briefs can improve your marketing:
Clearer communication
When you provide your content team with a detailed brief, you ensure everyone is on the same page regarding what you're trying to achieve with your content. This leads to more transparent communication, fewer misunderstandings, and more compelling content.
Better alignment with brand messaging
A content brief should always include information on your brand messaging and positioning. Ensuring your content aligns with your brand messaging reinforces your brand's values and personality, increasing brand recognition and customer loyalty through its written or visual delivery.
Increased engagement
Providing your content team with detailed information on your target audience ensures your content is engaging and relevant to your target market. This can increase engagement with your content, leading to more shares, likes, and comments for social content and more page scrolls and clicks for blog posts.
Improved SEO
A content brief should include information on your target keywords and the overall SEO strategy for the piece of content. By ensuring that your content is optimised for search engines, you can help improve your website's search engine rankings, leading to increased traffic and more leads.
Reduced rewrites and audit changes
Ensuring your content brief is detailed enough to provide clear guidelines but still flexible enough to innovate ensures that your writing team delivers better content faster. This means fewer rewrites.
If you’ve been specific enough with things like SEO, you are also less likely to need to edit large portions of a blog post later during your annual blog audit.
Creating a detailed content brief can help ensure that your marketing efforts are more effective, efficient, and aligned with your overall business goals.
Where a content brief fits into the content marketing workflow
Typically, a content brief is created after the content strategy is defined and before the content creation process begins. This is phase one of the marketing process before content syndication or repurposing and before data gathering and review.
The brief helps align the content's goals with the purpose of your strategy, ensuring that the content is relevant, helpful, and valuable to the target audience. It also makes your call to action (CTA) clear.
Overall, a content brief is an essential part of the content marketing workflow. It provides direction, ensures consistency, and sets the stage for creating high-quality, relevant content that meets the target audience's needs and your business.
The 7 key elements of a content brief
A content brief is a document that outlines critical information and objectives for a piece of content. It serves as a roadmap for your writers, providing them with the necessary information to create content that meets your expectations.
The following are the key elements that you should include in your content brief:
Target audience - Identify your target audience and describe their demographics, interests, and pain points. This information will help your writers create content that speaks directly to your audience and addresses their needs.
Topic and purpose - State the topic and purpose of your content. What do you want to achieve with this piece of content? Is it to educate, entertain, or persuade your audience? Be clear about your goals and the desired outcome.
Content format and style - Specify the format and style of your content. Will it be a blog post, video, infographic, or social media post? What tone and style do you want to convey? Formal or informal? Conversational or technical?
Keyword strategy and SEO goals - Include your content's keyword strategy and SEO goals. Identify the primary and secondary keywords you want to target and explain how you want them to be used in the content. Also, give an idea of internal and external links and sources you’d like to use. If it is your first time working with a content writer, give them access to competitor websites to find content gaps that may benefit your ranking opportunities.
Images - If your content writer is also responsible for image sourcing, or you have a graphics designer on the content team, then direction on images is also needed. Your choice of image should reflect the content but also your brand guidelines. Reiterating requirements alongside a creative brief will help bring your content to life.
CTAs - State the CTA you want to include in your content. What do you want your audience to do after consuming your content? Sign up for a newsletter, fill in a form, send an email, purchase a product, or share the content on social media?
Deadline and budget - Set a clear deadline for your content and specify the budget for the project. This will help your writers plan their workload and ensure that the project is completed on time and within budget.
Including these vital elements in your content brief will help you create content that meets your objectives and resonates with your target audience.
Remember, seasoned content writers (hello!) can guide you through the briefing process, so if you feel stuck, ask them what they need. Once you are used to the process, you can adapt your briefing template to get exactly what you need from your team every time.
How to create a content brief template
Creating a content brief template can save you time and ensure you cover all the necessary elements.
Here are some steps to follow when creating your own content brief template:
Define the sections - Define the sections you want to include in your content brief template. As we discussed earlier, some of the key elements to include are the objective, target audience, and key messaging.
Determine the questions to answer - Within each section, determine the questions you need to answer to provide your team with everything they need. For example, in the target audience section, you might answer questions such as:
What is the demographic of your target audience?
What are their pain points and challenges?
What topics are they interested in?
Create a form or document - Once you have defined the sections and answers, create a form or document that you can use to gather the information you need for each brief.
Customise your template - Be bold and customise your template to fit your specific needs. Add or remove sections depending on the type of content you are creating.
Let’s talk about best practices.
Best practices for writing an effective content brief
Now that you know the key elements of a content brief, it's time to learn how to write an effective one.
Here are some best practices to remember:
Be clear and concise - Your content brief should provide all the necessary information without being overwhelming. Use short, straightforward sentences and avoid technical jargon.
Keep your audience in mind - Remember your target audience when writing your content brief. Use language they can understand and relate to, focusing on their needs and interests.
Collaborate with your writers - Get their input and feedback, and work together to ensure the brief meets everyone's needs.
Use a template - A content brief template can save you time and ensure you include all the necessary elements. Need a template? I’ve created some examples below.
Revise and refine - As you work with your writers and create more content, you'll learn what works and what doesn't, and you can adjust your briefing process accordingly.
By following these best practices, you can create a content brief that sets your writers up for success and helps you achieve your content marketing goals.
Next, I'll provide some examples of effective content briefs to give you inspiration for your own.
Examples of effective content briefs
I've compiled a couple of examples to help you understand how to put all of the elements of a content brief together. Remember that every brief will be unique to the specific project and audience, but these examples can inspire and guide.
1. Content brief example for a blog post
Project Title: "10 Tips for a Successful Job Interview"
Objective: To provide job seekers with valuable advice for facing their next job interview and positioning themselves as top candidates.
Target Audience: College graduates and young professionals seeking entry-level positions.
Key Message: Job seekers must be prepared and confident to succeed in a job interview.
Key Talking Points:
Common interview questions and how to answer them effectively
Tips for researching the company and interviewer before the interview
Dressing appropriately for the interview
Body language and nonverbal communication tips
Following up after the interview
Additional Requirements:
Include at least one real-life example of a successful job interview
Use engaging and informative subheadings throughout the post
Include a clear call-to-action at the end of the post, encouraging readers to apply to our job directory
2. Content brief example for a product launch video
Project Title: "Introducing Our New Organic Skincare Line"
Objective: To generate excitement and awareness for our new line of organic skincare products and increase sales.
Target Audience: Health-conscious consumers (aged 35-55) who prioritise natural and sustainable products.
Key Message: Our new organic skincare line offers high-quality, effective products with all-natural ingredients picked for their ability to reduce the signs of ageing.
Key Talking Points:
The benefits of using organic skincare products
The high-quality, all-natural ingredients used in our products
How our products are sustainable and eco-friendly
The unique features and benefits of each product in the line and how they tackle ageing
Additional Requirements:
Use visually appealing product shots throughout the content
Include customer testimonials and reviews to build trust and credibility
Provide a clear call-to-action - discount code for first-time buyers
By studying these examples and considering how they can be adapted to your needs and goals, you can create a content brief that guides your content creators to success.
AI-generated vs human-written content briefs
With the rise of AI technology, some marketers may wonder whether they should rely on AI-generated content briefs instead of human-written ones. While AI-generated content briefs may seem like a time-saving solution, they may not always be the best option.
It's important to remember that content briefs are a tool to help guide the content creation process, and the quality of the final content ultimately depends on the skills and creativity of the writers. AI-generated content briefs may lack the nuance and creativity of human-written ones. They may also miss important context or tone that a human writer would catch.
However, AI-generated content briefs can still help provide data-driven insights and generate initial ideas. They can also, if trained well, help provide outlines for content. So I like to think of AI as a 24-7 virtual assistant. At this moment, I recommend ChatGPT for this.
Ultimately, it's up to each marketing team to decide whether to rely on AI-generated or human-written content briefs or a combination of both.
Don't forget to ask your writers for feedback on your content briefs
Even though content briefs are meant to guide writers, it's important to remember that they are not set in stone. As such, seeking feedback from your writers is crucial to determine whether the briefs are effective. This can help identify areas for improvement and lead to better-quality content.
Encourage your writers to provide honest feedback on the briefs.
Remember, the goal is to empower your writers to produce high-quality content that meets your objectives.
Common content brief FAQs
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A: A content brief is a document that outlines the critical information, goals, and requirements for a specific piece of content, such as an article or blog post. It provides writers a clear understanding of the content's audience, tone, style, and desired outcomes.
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A: A content brief is essential for content creation because it helps ensure that the final product meets the needs and goals of your business. By providing writers with a clear roadmap for the content, you can more easily create compelling, engaging, and on-brand content that resonates with your target audience.
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A: A content brief should include the following information:
Content type and format
Target audience and demographics
Topic and focus of the content
Key messages and objectives
Tone, style, and voice guidelines
SEO keywords and requirements
Formatting and design specifications
Timeline and deadlines
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A: To write an effective content brief, start with a clear objective and use a template to ensure you include all necessary information. Be specific and concise, and include examples and references to provide context for the writers. Communicate with your writers throughout the process to clarify any questions or concerns they may have.
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A: A content brief template is a pre-designed document that outlines the critical information and requirements for a specific piece of content. It provides a standardised format for content briefs, which can help streamline the process and ensure consistency across different projects. Templates can be customised to fit the needs of individual businesses.
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A: The objective of a content brief is to provide a clear and concise plan for a piece of content that aligns with the business or organisation's goals. It serves as a roadmap for content creation, outlining key details such as target audience, tone, messaging, and format. A well-written content brief helps ensure that the content produced is effective, meets the audience's needs, and achieves the desired outcomes for the business.
Wrapping upon content briefs
Creating a well-written content brief is essential in ensuring that your content writing team produces high-quality content that meets your business objectives.
By following the tips outlined in this article, you can ensure that your briefs are clear, concise, and effective in empowering your writers. Through clever briefing templates, you can streamline the briefing process and make it easier for you and your team.
If you're looking for help creating content briefs or any other aspect of content writing, drop a message below.
Let's work together to create content that makes an impact!
