Instead of spending a lot of wasted time trying to figure out what to do with your content strategy and campaign, you can save countless hours by creating a clearly outlined brief. A marketing brief is essentially an outline of each step you need to take to reach your desired goal. Without a clear brief, your entire team may be left scratching their heads and making no progress in any direction, while your brief-savvy competitors are making waves.
Creating a brief is particularly important if you have just hired a new marketing agency to get your content out there. The marketing team needs to know as much as possible about your business so that they can create the most appropriate and effective content, and it may take some time before they become accustomed to your business’ nuances. With a brief, you drastically reduce the amount of time it takes to get your marketing team on the right track.
What makes a great Marketing Brief?
A brief is essentially a growth-oriented guideline for your campaign. It lets the marketing team know about your goals and objectives and informs your creative team about how projects should be completed. It also keeps curious stakeholders in the know about your future plans and expectations for your business.
Three characteristics of any great marketing brief are:
- Clarity
- Consistency
- Thoroughness
Keep the above characteristics in mind for each and every brief you create. Your marketing team will have their valuable skills to offer to your campaign, but it is important to make their job as easy as possible. If the marketing team has to spend time figuring out what you mean or are lacking in important, necessary information, then they have less time to spend on doing what they do best.
What goes into a Marketing Brief?
There are several essential ingredients to any great marketing brief. These are:
- Company description
Your company description may seem obvious, but include in your brief nonetheless. This helps you establish your values and will make it easier for your marketing team to refer back to your description every time they look at your brief.
- Purpose of the campaign
What is the purpose of your campaign? Why do you want to launch this campaign in the first place? Potential reasons include:
- Increasing your social media followers
- Promoting a new service or product
- Increasing conversion rate
- Target Audience
You must understand your target audience if you want to effectively sell your product or service. If you have a general sense of your target audience, try to get more specific and segment your audience into different subgroups and buyer personas. Shape your content by making clear at whom your strategy should be directed.
- Goals and Objectives
Your goals and objectives refer to the outcomes you wish to see regarding your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). KPIs are metrics that measure your success in certain areas, such as the number of leads or conversions in a given year or even a quarter.
- Campaign Strategy
The campaign strategy is a vital part of your brief and will require some research. Here you will need to outline essential factors like relevant keywords, the most appropriate content, an overview of your competitors’ performance, and how to promote.
- Deliverables
Your campaign will more than likely include different types of content. Deliverables refer to what you can promise with your content, such as how often it will be posted, and the forms in which it will be published.
- Timeline
Your brief should contain a general timeline to help all involved get a sense of what needs to be done. This will help you and your marketing team keep on track and reduce the likelihood of postponement. Some tasks may take longer than others to complete, so by outlining a general and agreed upon timeline, you give everyone the best chance at getting everything done in fair time.
- Stakeholders
Your brief should also include the names and responsibilities of the stakeholders – everyone involved in the marketing campaign.
Who creates the Marketing Brief?
Creating the brief is not a one-person job (unless you run a one-person business!) Multiple departments are involved in creating a good brief for the marketing team, such as the CEO, the head of marketing and the creative and sales teams.
Market Smarter with a Brief
If you so wish, you can jump into your campaign without prior planning, but this isn’t likely to be successful nor is it going to be a smooth ride. Take the time to combine heads and create a comprehensive marketing brief, so that your marketing team can help you take your business to the next level.
