Get organized. A marketing brief in a nutshell

Want to launch a new marketing campaign? Before you start taking any action, you need to prepare a marketing brief. Don’t know what it is? In this article you will learn all about it. We will also explain why a marketing brief is essential for advertising agencies.

Why a marketing brief is essential for an advertising agency

Imagine that you have a signed contract with an advertising agency, but the ads created significantly deviate from expectations. As it turns out, the agency perceived your brand image quite differently, created materials for a different type of audience, and on top of that, the whole thing went way over budget. The problem is that how was the marketing agency supposed to know all these things? That’s what a marketing brief is for, and it should clear up any doubts and allow you to tailor your offer to the specifics of your company. The brief allows you to agree on the implementation of the campaign to the satisfaction of the client and the marketing agency. 

Marketing brief – the most important informations

A marketing brief is a document that contains all the guidelines for a future advertising campaign. It is in it that you will define the most important goals, set a timetable, and outline expectations. A marketing brief is usually in the form of a text file or presentation. Properly drafted, it is a significant help in creating a campaign that best meets your requirements for a marketing agency. Of course, a marketing brief has many more advantages, such as avoiding too many revisions and allowing you to evaluate the effectiveness of your campaign. Remember that the marketing brief should be very precise and honestly done to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings with the marketing agency.

What to include in a marketing brief

Do you know what a well-drafted marketing brief should contain? We will suggest what is most relevant and necessary:

• Company information – first and foremost, determine what your company does, what its mission is, what image you want to create, the size of your company (is it a small family business or an international market leader), what products are iconic and best known.

• Key competitors – describe your competitors, highlight your company’s differentiation from the competition, determine the strategy you want to take (e.g., whether you want your brand to be perceived as affordable or exclusive with premium products at a higher price).

• Target audience – identify the campaign audience, describe their needs, tailor the campaign to their age, location, interests. At this stage you will define personas (ideal, model customers of your brand).

• Business objectives – describe the specific goals you want to achieve. The more precise the goals, the better (e.g., define the goal as “reduce abandoned shopping carts by 5%” or “increase the number of new customers by 10%”).

• Details of the campaign – determine what products you intend to advertise, what value you want to emphasize in the ad, how you envision the campaign. Set expectations for the advertising agency.

• Campaign time and budget – determine what budget you want to fit in with this campaign, what budget can’t be exceeded, what is the schedule and for when the various stages should be ready. Also, do not forget to mention, the timing of the campaign (this is especially important when the campaign is to appear on specific days, such as holidays).

• Additional clues – include all relevant clues (e.g. that you want the ad to have a playful tone), highlight the things you care most about. If you use any specific corporate colors, also include such information.

Summary

A marketing brief is the most important document for a marketing agency, containing the most necessary information to launch an advertising campaign. A well-written brief should contain detailed information about: the company, its competitors, the customers the campaign is targeting, expectations of the marketing agency, the campaign’s business goals, budget and duration. Additional information (such as brand voice and brand tone of voice) should also be included to make the campaign as consistent as possible with the image of a particular company.

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