Briefing: what it is, types, parts and how to write a brief, with an example
The document that explains what needs to be done, for whom and by when
A briefing, or brief, is a short document that gathers the information a team needs to carry out a project: what it aims to achieve, for whom, with what message, by when and on what budget.
The word comes from “brief”, which means short or summary. It can be described as a “report”, “summary” or set of “instructions”, but in marketing the term brief is almost always used.
What is a briefing for?
A good briefing prevents misunderstandings and rework. When the client and the agency, or two departments, work from the same document, the work gets done faster and better.
It helps you:
- Align everyone involved on the goal.
- Give the creative team the information it needs without endless meetings.
- Set deadlines, budget and deliverables.
- Have a yardstick for evaluating the result.
Without a briefing, everyone interprets the assignment in their own way. And the revisions pile up.
What types of briefing are there?
| Type | Who writes it | Used for |
|---|---|---|
| Marketing brief | The advertiser or the marketing manager | Explain the product, the market and the business goals |
| Creative brief | The agency or the strategist | Give the creative team the message and the tone |
| Media brief | The media planner | Decide on channels, dates and the media budget |
| Design or web brief | The client or the project manager | Specify pieces, formats and technical requirements |
| Counter-brief | The agency, in response | Confirm what was understood or point out what is missing |
From brief to send, all in one place
Create, segment and schedule the campaigns in your brief with Mailrelay’s free account.
What are the parts of a briefing?
Every company has its own template, but almost all of them include these sections:
- Context: the situation of the brand, the product and the market.
- Goal: what you want to achieve, with a figure if possible.
- Target audience: who it is aimed at, and their problem or desire.
- Main message: the single-minded proposition, the one idea that should stick.
- Reasons to believe: data, proof or testimonials that back up the message.
- Tone and style: how it should sound and look.
- Deliverables and channels: which pieces are needed and where they will be published.
- Deadlines and budget.
- How success will be measured.
Briefing example
Here is a made-up example for an email campaign by an online coffee shop:
| Item | Content |
|---|---|
| Context | Online specialty coffee shop. Steady sales, but few customers buy again |
| Goal | Get 15% of this year’s customers to make a second purchase before January 31 |
| Audience | People who bought once in the last 6 months |
| Main message | Your favorite coffee, at home before you run out |
| Reasons to believe | 24-hour delivery and a subscription you can pause whenever you want |
| Tone | Friendly and simple, without barista jargon |
| Deliverables | A sequence of 3 emails and an SMS reminder |
| Deadlines | First send on November 10 |
| Measurement | Repeat purchase rate and sales attributed to the campaign |
How to write a briefing step by step
Start with the goal. If you can’t say in one sentence what you want to achieve, the briefing isn’t ready yet.
Keep it short. A one- or two-page brief gets read in full. A twenty-page one doesn’t.
Talk about the audience, not just the product. Explain what worries them and what they expect.
Choose a single message. Everything else goes under reasons to believe.
Leave room for creativity. The briefing says what needs to be achieved, not what the design should look like.
Ask for a counter-brief. Have the team tell you what they’ve understood before they start.
Common briefing mistakes
The most common one is asking for “something creative” without saying what for. Without a measurable goal, nobody knows whether the campaign worked.
Other briefings that fail are those with five main messages, those that describe the audience as “everyone” and those that set the deadline without allowing for revisions. And a classic: changing the goal halfway through the project without updating the document.
How Mailrelay helps you
If your briefing includes email or SMS, Mailrelay helps you put it into practice. You can create segments for each audience in the brief, design the pieces with templates and schedule the sends for the agreed dates.
With the statistics, you can check whether the campaign meets its goal: opens and clicks (on the free account and on Enterprise), unsubscribes and bounces. And with an A/B test you can try out two ways of presenting the main message.
The free account lets you send up to 80,000 emails a month to 20,000 contacts, with human support on every plan.
Measure whether your campaign meets its goal
Real-time opens, clicks and unsubscribes on the free account.
Frequently asked questions about briefings
These are the most frequently asked questions about the briefing and the brief.
What does briefing mean?
It is a summary or report with the instructions for a project. In marketing, both forms of the word are used: briefing or brief.
What is the difference between a brief and a briefing?
In practice, none: both names are used for the same document. Some people use briefing for the meeting where the brief is presented.
What is a counter-brief?
It is the response from the team that receives the briefing. It confirms what they have understood, raises questions and points out the missing information.
How long should a briefing be?
One or two pages are usually enough. If you need more, attach appendices separately and keep the main document short.
Who should approve the briefing?
The person who commissions the project and whoever is accountable for the result. If both sign off on it before work starts, there will be fewer revisions later.