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How to Write a Content Brief [Template + Examples] - adtechsolutions

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How to Write a Content Brief [Template + Examples]


I’ve worked in many different industries — as a freelancer, as a freelancer manager, as a marketer, as a writer — and you know what never changes? The need for content creators to be crystal clear about their tasks.

Smiling woman looking at laptop. The thought bubble contains a short content.

One of the easiest ways to achieve this is by writing short content.

→ Free Download: Creative Brief Templates

But don’t be fooled: even though the short content is simple, it’s still important to get it right.

Content

What is a table of contents?

A content summary is a short document – if you can keep it to a page or two, everyone will be happy – it’s a guide or blueprint for content creation.

The details will vary depending on the type of content you’re creating and who the brief is for, but it should anticipate and answer top-level questions about content, format, communication and so on.

If you manage freelance writers, a summary will be a lifesaver for both you and your writers — and that’s only a slight exaggeration. Your content summaries will describe exactly what is expected of the writer, including any necessary subheadings, target word count, and deadlines.

If you’re working on a project with multiple partners in multiple organizations, a simple content summary will give everyone a single source of truth.

Short content versus creative short content

Although they sound similar, content briefs and creative panties they serve different purposes. The creative brief outlines the campaign and can include more extensive messaging, results from multiple contributors, and other details that shape the entire campaign.

A content summary focuses on a specific piece of content — my examples below are for written content, but you can use the same elements to create a content summary for videos, podcasts, or anything else you produce. If you use software like Content hubthe brief will be the basis for each part of the content.

The importance of summaries

Of course, you could try to do without it, but they save more time than they need to write.

I once worked on a project with several external partners, and apart from Slack and Google Docs, no one used the same organizational tools, which caused a lot of frustration and confusion.

I’ve put together a generic summary of content that can be repeated for specific tasks. It included approved messages, links to all the documents everyone was working on, and key deliverables and deadlines. You could almost hear the sigh of relief in the Slack channel.

I used to write as a freelancer, and my favorite client was the one who had the best content. Writing for a new client can be daunting, even for seasoned writers, because you have to learn a new style guide, a new voice, and maybe even an entirely new target audience.

That particular client included a one-page summary with each assignment. It included the target word count and rate, the name of the publication and its audience, as well as links to the style guide and all assets, a description of the assignment, the assigning editor, and a deadline. If an interview was required, contact information is provided.

They were a freelancer’s dream because I never wasted time on logistical issues — expectations were clear and everything I needed was right at my fingertips.

If you’re editing content, providing a clear summary will reduce revisions and rewrites (not to mention frustration!). Let’s talk about how to find a balance between detail and brevity.

Summary elements

The elements of the content summary will vary depending on your needs, but here are what I think are absolutely essential:

  • Show the person and/or a responsibility matrix
  • Communication protocols, such as a Slack channel
  • A clear description of the project or task, including the target audience and word count
  • Links to materials, messages, style guides and/or branding and any other relevant shared documents
  • Deliverable goods and deadlines

elements of short content. person point and/or responsibility matrix; communication protocols, such as the slack channel; a clear description of the assignment, including target audience and word count; links to materials, messages, style and/or brand guides and other relevant documents; deliveries and deadlines.

You can also include:

When I was working on podcast marketing for multiple partners, I found it helpful to include a few points of approved messages, noting who approved on behalf of each partner.

Some stakeholders may have specific requirements for describing their company or organization, and your writers and marketers will need that information.

Keep it simple:

sending messages. on projects with many stakeholders - and especially if you have external stakeholders - including a few bullet points in your messages can be helpful for writers. it gives them a foundation to start with and can help ensure a consistent narrative across all of your marketing materials. if there are specific branding or product requirements, please include them, such as: hubspot, not hubspot; it refers to hubspot as a customer platform, not crm.

For advice: Especially when working with external partners, it’s often worth reiterating important branding details found in your style guide. Don’t get too bogged down here – the style guide exists for a reason – but interested parties will appreciate having this information handy.

If you’re writing content summaries for freelancers, you should make sure they have access to all the information they might need during their assignment — style or brand guidelinesSlack channels, who to contact with questions and any context to assign.

Let’s deal with the “clear description of the task”, since it can contain a lot of important details for your writer(s), such as:

  • Purpose. Tell the writer what the goal of the content is; maybe it’s a blog post to address demand for a specific keyword, or maybe you need ad copy and various CTAs for a new product.
  • SEO/keywords. What should your writer know about targeted keywords? Are there keywords or topics they should avoid to prevent content cannibalization?
  • Subject matter and sourcing experts. In ours a brave new world labeled EGPfirst-hand experience is more important than ever. If your writer is expected to conduct interviews with SMEs, include this in the summary. You can also ask them to provide links to any other sources they’ve used to help with a little fact-checking.
  • Required subtitles and other technical specifications. If you’ve done your keyword research, you may already have H2 or H3 subheadings in mind. This will also help the writer understand how you want to organize the content. Your writer may also be expected to provide meta descriptions, alt text for images, or social media text.
  • Other design requirements. If the document needs to be formatted in a certain way, explain how (ideally with an example or template). If you can (or want to) only accept a certain file type, include that — don’t assume that everyone uses Google Workspace or Microsoft Word just because you do.
  • Sharing/Access Requests. We all know the frustration of seeing “Access Denied”. Set everyone up for success by including information about who to share files with.
  • How and where to archive the completed task. Does your workflow require tagging specific people on an Asana card? Do writers email you when they finish an assignment?
  • Appointment rules. If any of the deliverables, including assets, must follow a specific filename convention, please indicate this in your content summary.
  • Expectations after the task. If writers should expect to hear from editors, let them know in advance—freelancers in particular will need to make time for this. And if you manage a large list of freelancers, it can be useful to include reminders about rate and invoicing requirements.

How to write a short content

Let’s create a template: Using your word processor of choice, create a one-page document with a two-column table. In the left column, write the basic elements: point persons and/or responsibility matrix, communication protocols, task description, resources and deadlines and results.

This is a personal preference, but I like to list communication information in the top left header of the summary, including the relevant Slack channel — I repeat this information when I have to create other documents for stakeholders, so everyone gets used to having it front and center.

It immediately answers the most important questions: Who is in charge? Who should give the approval? Where did you tell me Google Drive was? Why didn’t anyone tell me there was a Slack channel for this project?

Even if this information seems redundant, it can be especially useful for new freelancers or new hires, so I suggest making it part of your template. Freelancers often have several (or more) clients, all of whom may have different requirements and formats, and this will save them some time and sanity.

Your summary might start like this:

content short example. fields: request date; point person / preferred communication channel(s); crayfish; assets; deliveries; deadline.

For advice: You’ll notice that I’ve included the time and time zone in the due date — I think that’s important information. Especially in the age of the distributed workforce, where employees and freelancers may be in different time zones, this will save everyone a headache and set your writer up for success.

Before working out any details in your job description, think about who your summary is for. Freelance writers will probably need more links and more context than in-house writers, who already have a company style guide book (right? Right?).

You may find it helpful to create two templates, one for your own writers and one for freelancers, so that you can provide the most concise summary to your marketers. For example, freelancers may not need information on KPIs; in-house writers uploading their own work to the CMS will not need a submission folder.

What is the absolute minimum amount of information a writer needs to successfully complete an assignment? It’s tempting to include links to everything related to the project, but don’t overload your writers with unnecessary context.

It will be useful at this stage to talk to them, whether they are employed or freelance, and find out what they find most useful.

You will need to describe the task, its purpose and audience:

task. fields: description, purpose, audience, kpis. space for additional notes.

For advice: For freelancers, consider always including a link to your style guide. So it’s always at hand. And a simple “thank you” is always nice.

If your content has a lot of specific requirements for conversion strategy, SEO, keywords, and the like, include them in a table so they’re easy to analyze.

When I was working as a freelance writer, this was incredibly helpful. It’s a small thing, but being able to see all that information in the same format with each assignment makes it much easier to start working on assignments.

Information often included in HubSpot awards are monthly search volume, any required CTAs, and SEO and conversion strategies:

table with fields: msv; target number of words; ctas title; primary keyword; secondary keywords; on-page SEO strategy; eat; conversion strategy; links and resources.

Write your first summary

Once you’ve created a template (or two) that fits your needs, filling out the content summaries won’t take much time. Whether you’re working with in-house content creators, freelance artists, and/or external stakeholders, having a single source of information will make everyone’s job easier and more efficiently.



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