Best Practices to get the most out of A Creative Briefing

However, it is not all about the creatives. The more time you spend on a concise brief, the less time you will spend on the phone or in meetings. You will be investing in productivity and will be in a better position to measure your goals against outcomes. The perks are in the form of a lot of time saved and less blockages throughout the rest of your campaign timeline.

It is said that when content is focused on an outcome, it delivers fabulous results. It will definitely start with defining the outcome. From the point of view of a Creative Director, a creative brief is of utmost importance. You cannot expect something useful from your agency or designer unless you take time to elaborate on the brief. Therefore, detailed the more detailed brief, the better the result.

A client brief with impact:

A good brief has clear, concise directions, with no fancy marketing language and no irrelevant information.

Some of the recommended sections you should include:

• Project Details: This will include a general overview of the project. You can also Include who’s in charge of approvals, budgets, and deadlines.

• Other details: What are you selling? Elaborate on the details that must be included in the campaign and the SWOT analysis.

• Tone: How do you communicate with the audience? This section should provide the details about how your messaging and content will be delivered. What appeals to your target market? This section will give you the details on what your competitors are saying to your audience.

• Goals & Outcomes: Provide the main goals of the project and mention at least three objectives. Do not simply paste sections from your marketing goals. Make the outcomes clear and measurable and then let the creatives revolve around how to achieve them.
  

• Audience: Whom are you addressing? Give all the details that the creative team should know about your audience: Why should they care? What matters most to them?

• Designs:  Do you want the project to stick to corporate branding guidelines, or have its own image and styles? This is where the creatives with restrictions guide the look and feel in the right direction.

• Competitors: Who is your competition? Specify what makes your company different from the rest. Mention your product/solution, and also the details on what your competitors are communicating to your audience.

• Message:  What does your project say to the audience at large. Tell the team clearly as to what you want your audience to grasp from the creative.

These guidelines will keep your answers clear and concise and your creative team will be delivering a killer concepts. You may be tempted to take shortcuts, but it is better to take a well considered brief. A document filled with clichés cannot substitute a simple, single paragraph that says it all.