5 things you need in a marketing brief

I heard a great quote the other day. It was “give me the freedom of a tight brief” from David Ogilvy, the man regarded as the “father of advertising”.

In my years of marketing, I’ve written hundreds of briefs. Briefs for advertising campaigns, briefs for brand development and briefs for new websites amongst many others. And I’d like to think I do a reasonable job of them.

I try to be very clear, provide lots of information and give a clear guide to what I want the brief to achieve.

Unfortunately, I don’t often receive detailed briefs from clients, so I’ve come up with five things you must include in your brief to get the outcome you want.

1. Include everything you already know.

This might seem obvious, but it’s important to share everything you know about your business, your market and your target market in a brief.   Don’t make the recipient go and find this information, as it will cost you time and money. Tell them everything you know, and you will have a good foundation to build your brief.

2. Include things you want to know (but don’t)

Nearly every business has knowledge gaps. It may be that you don’t have a clear idea of where your website traffic is coming from, the market perception of your brand, or even how you should price your product. If you can be clear about what you don't know, then we can go about finding the answers for you.

3. Tell me where you want to get to.

The point of a brief is to provide a destination. If you don’t know where you want to be, an agency will find it difficult to give you the guidance to get there.

4. Tell them when you want to get there.

Any brief needs timelines. There may be an event the brief relates to or a date the project must be completed. If you give a date, a project plan can be implemented to meet the deadline. Without it, you’ll just be a rudderless ship.

5. Tell me who I must talk to to complete the job.

In brief, there are decision-makers and facilitators of decisions. Outline who makes the decisions and the process to reach a conclusion. It makes life a lot easier.