Today’s marketing departments are busier than ever. There’s a boatload of work to get done. For small destination and lifestyle brands, the struggle is real: you need to make your mark on both traditional and digital media to keep the turnstiles turning, perhaps on local and national levels. And you need to do it ASAP. Who has time for a creative brief?

We get it. But entering into any creative project without a brief is like flying blind. If you team up with an outside partner, it’s even more important to make sure everyone is on the same page. It’s an investment up front, but if you want to make your agency dollars count, it’s one worth making. Here’s why:

1. People aren’t mindreaders. A good brief makes for effective team collaboration with everyone involved.
2. If well-written, it can actually reduce the amount of time the project takes, from execution to approval.
3. A brief gives you a metric to judge the creative. (You may like the work, but does it accomplish the brief’s goals?)
4. Clear concepts and goals are motivating and inherently lead to better work.

So take out your notepads, friends, because we’re outlining the key elements you need to bring your briefs to the next level.

7 Elements of a Successful Creative Brief

1. Your Company

What does your company do? What products and services do you offer? Including background information on the client can help the creative team better understand the brand. You never know when inspiration will strike, so knowing the company’s mission statement, product lines, even history can be a source of insight.

2. The Project

What exactly is the project? Why do you need it? Describe what it is, what it entails, and why it’s worth doing.

3. Your Problem & Objectives

This is likely the most important part of your brief. What problem you trying to solve with this project? Why do you need to do it? How will you measure your success? These details help the creative team understand your goals and helps them come up with the solutions that address them.

4. Your Target Audience

Who are you trying to reach? Provide demographic information and important consumer insights. The creative team can produce highly-targeted content if they know who it’s for.

5. The Brand Promise & Reason To Believe

What does your brand offer your target audience? Why should they believe it? Making an emotional connection to your audience will give them a reason to say “yes, I want that!”

6.  Deliverables & Budget

To make the most of your marketing efforts, everyone needs to know what is expected of them, and what kind of budget they are working with.

7. Your Key Stakeholders

It’s not helpful to anyone when new cooks are brought into the kitchen at the last minute. Identify the key players and their roles from the very beginning so communication lines stay clear and open.

Even with these pointers, remember—there is no one-size-fits-all approach. Every brand has different needs at different times. Furthermore, a brief shouldn’t be written in stone either. It is a flexible document that can—and should—evolve with team input. Most of all, it should be, well, brief. Refining and honing down to the bare essentials may seem obvious to you, but this is the best way to ensure your entire team is on the same path.

So if you’ve stepped away from the briefing process because it’s a waste of resources, maybe it’s time to ask yourself: how much more can you pull from your resources with a good one?

Not sure where you should start on your next project? Give us a call.