Want your creative resources to give you what you want? Write a Creative Brief.

Clarifying your brand story is essential if you want to create concise, compelling content that consistently represents who you are. And so is communicating that story to whomever is creating your content, internally or externally. Whether that’s a team member, a design resource, a designer, a writer, a developer or even yourself.

The only way to communicate your story and your content objectives is by developing a Creative Brief. It acts as both a confirmation of the objectives, and a tool to evaluate the work. It will force you to define what you really want and ensure you’ve communicated these desires concisely. Ultimately, it will give you a better chance of getting back what you’re expecting.

The creative brief basics include:
1 — Brass Tacks: Who you are, what you need and when
2 — Goal: State your objective for this ONE piece of communication
3 — Target Audience: Describe audience traits and their mindset when seeing this content
4 — User Experience: Where/how will this audience see/interact with this content
5 — Creative Direction: Share your Brand Guide which should include your brand story, how you look, sound and act. Also, supply any references (yours or others) to clarify what you like, don’t like and why.