A content brief provides everything a writer–whether in house or contract–needs to know about the content they’re going to create. It’s a roadmap that guides them through specific points so the content hits the goal, stays true to the brand, and is written in the right voice.
What Should a Content Brief Consist Of?
There are generic content briefs that can get you started. Each brand can then tweak the brief to make it suit their company, goals, and unique needs.
At the end of this post, I'll share a PDF download to a full sample brief.
Here are a few fields that a content brief should always have.
Suggested (and researched) Title
Writer Assigned
Main Keyword
Secondary Keyword
Intent on SERP
Objective
Content Type
Competitors on Topic
Tone
Link to Brand Style Guide (if applicable)
Target Audience
Estimated Traffic Increase
Meta Title
Meta Description
Layout of the content. Eg: H2 suggestions, listicle, bullet points etc.
Word count range.
Deadline.
Do content briefs take time and research?
Yes.
Absolutely.
Content Briefs Bring Consistency To Your Brand’s Voice
There are a ton of benefits for content briefs. Just reading the list above gives you an idea of how much a topic or idea is fleshed out just in the briefing stage.
But one of the most important reasons to have briefs is to ensure that every piece of content presented in your brand's name aligns with your mission, values, and tone.
If you break any of the above, it can break an unspoken promise to your audience or customer. So, there had better be a really good reason to do it.
Content briefs can help you and your writers to avoid breaking those promises.
Content Briefs Save Your Brand Time and Money
Again, briefs take time to compile. Keyword research, competitor research, and so much more.
But, in the long run, having all of this in place reduces the risk of having a complete rewrite of content or scrapping it all together. It also reduces the risk of breaking promises to your audience and customers, which can also cost your money on potential campaigns to repair the damage done.
Download this sample content brief, and make it the best one it can be for your brand. I hope it helps keep things a little more consistent.
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