So you've decided it's common sense to use an agency to deliver you're upcoming campaign or project, you're not wrong.
For that agency to produce the best possible results for your work, you're going to need to supply them with a brief detailing all the necessary information for that campaign.
So, what on earth does a great brief look like? What should it include?
Luckily, you have us who can give you some first-hand pointers as to what your briefs should be covering.
To give a 'brief' (haha) overview of what your agency briefs should include, let's break it down into five separate components.
- Business overview
- A clear outline of the goals for your project
- Your target audience
- The budget you have available for your project
- Timescales for the project
Below we provide a more in-depth analysis of what each of these components should entail.
Business overview
This is a crucial element of your brief, after all, you are should be the experts of your own business.
Any agency you employ will need to know as much about you as a company as possible.
Basic things such as your company name, and what you actually offer may well seem like common knowledge from your perspective.
From our perspective, aspects such as how your business operates, the staff involved in the project, your tone of voice, and competitor analysis all help your agency develop a project that delivers.
Be sure to include links to your website, competitor sites and additional collateral that may aid the project.
Provide clear goals
Now we move onto the quintessential part of any brief.
- What do you want to achieve?
- Why do you need to achieve it?
- Why do you need an agency to do it?
- Are you looking to drive more revenue? Increase brand awareness?
Honing in on what your goals for the project are is essential.
Once you've worked all this out, break it down, and add a deeper level of detail.
For example, if looking to drive revenue, what revenue do you need? Is that magic number a percentage? How will you measure success?
These are all things any agency worth their salt will ask eventually anyway, so why not save us the trouble, ey?
Providing as much detail as possible within this stage of the brief is crucial.
It will allow your agency to plan, prepare, implement and measure the campaign effectively.
Target audience
- Who is this project aimed at?
- Who are you trying to reach?
- New customers? Existing customers? Both?
- Can you provide detailed audience personas or demographic detail?
Everything above gives agencies invaluable insights that lend themselves to evolving marketing strategies.
Budgets
The million-dollar question, so to speak. Budgets are a sticking point in many briefs.
By including this figure, you open the doors to an open discussion with your agency.
We don't actually care about how much cash you have to spend per se but we do care about garnering an understanding of the resources available to the project.
Failure to disclose your budget (even a ballpark) can often lead to the agency assimilating a proposal that is out of budget or way off the mark as you have more than expected to spend.
This results in, and take it from us, a hugely frustrating waste of both parties time; one which is so easily avoidable.
Timescales
For agencies, timescales are on par with budgets in terms of importance.
You're likely to commit precious time creating a great brief, using this fabulous blog for direction, of course.
After investing that time, don't be that company asking for the impossible with a 2-week timescale for completing work.
The answer you get will leave you disappointed.
Depending on the specifics of the project, your agency may want anywhere up to six months to complete it.
Realistic timescales in your brief give allowance for variables that crop up during the project.
Briefing documents
At Adido, we provide prospective clients with comprehensive brief templates.
Our templates are populated with questions we feel are vital.
Having clients fill in these forms is the first step to realising the objectives of the campaign.
We work through the finer details in due course, but, as an agency, we understand the premise of the campaign. This is an excellent starting point.
