Most frustrating experiences working with copywriters come back to a bad brief. If the writer doesn’t understand the audience, the purpose, the constraints, or the tone, the first draft will be a guess, and an expensive one. Here’s what a good copywriting brief needs to include.
Be clear about the audience
Not “our stakeholders” or “general public”, specific enough that the writer could picture a real person. What do they already know? What do they think now? What do you want them to think or do after reading? The more specific your audience description, the less guesswork the writer has to do.
State the purpose and the call to action
What do you want the reader to do, think, or feel after reading? This should be a single, specific answer. “We want them to sign up for the event” is useful. “We want them to feel engaged with our brand” isn’t.
Share examples
The best way to communicate tone and style is with examples, both positive (“write something like this”) and negative (“we want to avoid sounding like this”). Words like “warm” or “authoritative” mean different things to different people. Examples are unambiguous.
Be clear about constraints
Word count, format, any mandatory inclusions or exclusions, words or phrases to avoid, brand guidelines, SEO requirements, accessibility considerations. If you know about a constraint, put it in the brief. If the writer finds out about it in feedback, you’ve wasted their time and yours.
The copywriting brief template below gives you a structured format for briefing any kind of written content, from website copy to campaign messaging to reports.
Related articles
- How to write a tone of voice guide that people actually follow
- How to handle scope creep in a comms project
- How to write a project debrief that actually improves your next campaign
Put it into practice
This article comes with a free Copywriting brief template. Download it, open it in Google Sheets or Excel, and use it alongside what you have just read.