How to write a creative brief

Most of this guide is our own view from briefing and being briefed on websites, ads and content; we mark it as such. The ad size examples come from Google's help pages on responsive search ads and image ad specs for responsive display ads. Specs change, so check the platform's own page when you write your brief.

What a creative brief is (and is not)

A creative brief tells the people making the work what it has to achieve, who it is for, what it should say and what it must look like when delivered. It does not tell them how to make it.

Our view: one to two pages is enough for most small business work. Strategy belongs in a marketing plan. Software is different again: a web app or a custom feature needs a scope, user stories and a first-version cut, which our guide to a web app project brief covers. A creative brief is for things people see, read or watch.

The sections of a creative brief

These are the sections we use. Keep each one short; a line or two per section is often right.

1. Objective

What the work must make happen, in one sentence, with a way to tell whether it did. "More awareness" cannot be checked. "Get people who visit the page to book a free consultation through the form" can, because you can count bookings.

2. Audience, with a short persona

Who the work speaks to, written so the maker can picture one real person. A useful persona has three parts: who they are (role, situation), what they want or worry about right now, and what they already think of you or your kind of business. Base it on what customers tell you in calls, reviews and emails.

3. Single message

The one thing the audience should take away, in a sentence a customer could repeat. If you list three, the maker has to choose, and may not choose yours. If you already have a value proposition, start from it.

4. Proof

Why the audience should believe the message: facts the maker can use. Think of a guarantee, how long you have been trading, a real customer quote you have permission to use, a certification, or a feature someone can check.

5. Deliverables and specs

Every item to be delivered, with its format, size, length and where it will run. For example, Google says that for responsive search ads "The headline fields for responsive search ads support up to 30 characters" and "The description fields support up to 90 characters each". For responsive display ad images it lists a horizontal 1.91:1 image with a recommended size of 1200 x 628 and a square 1:1 image at 1200 x 1200, and states "All images have a maximum file size of 5120 KB." Copy current specs from each platform's help page, and add file formats and naming rules.

6. Mandatories

What must be in the work and what must not. Logo version, brand colours and fonts, legal lines, the phone number or link to use, words you never use. Attach the files rather than describing them; our list of brand files a web team needs works for creative teams too. For the words, attach your brand voice guidelines.

7. Timeline

The final date and the dates in between: first concepts, feedback back to the maker, final files. Leave room for one full round of changes; in our experience, late feedback from the business is what most often makes deadlines slip.

8. Budget

The money for making the work, and separately the money for running it (ad spend, printing, paid placement), if the maker needs to know. Even a rough range lets the maker suggest an idea you can afford.

9. Approvals

Who signs off, by name, and who only gives comments. Our view: one person should have the final say. Others send comments to that person, who merges them into one list.

A filled-in example

This example is made up. The business, the persona and the dates are invented to show the level of detail, not to suggest what your numbers should be.

• Business: Riverside Garden Care, a two-person garden maintenance business.
• Work: a set of Google search ads and one display image for a spring clean-up offer.
• Objective: get homeowners in the service area to request a spring clean-up quote through the website form. We will count form requests that name the offer.
• Audience: Sam, a homeowner with a full-time job and a garden that got away from them over winter. Sam wants it tidy before the weather warms up, has no time to do it, and worries about letting a stranger in the garden or being surprised by the price.
• Single message: We get your garden back in shape in one visit, with a fixed quote before we start.
• Proof: written fixed quote before any work, the same two people every visit, insured (certificate available), real customer reviews on our Google Business Profile.
• Deliverables and specs: 10 headlines and 4 descriptions for one responsive search ad, within Google's current character limits; one horizontal and one square display image at Google's recommended sizes; final text in a shared document, images as JPG or PNG named by size.
• Mandatories: logo (horizontal version, attached), brand green and the two brand fonts (attached), phone number as on the website, no claims to be the cheapest, no stock photos of gardens that are not ours (photo folder attached).
• Timeline: first drafts by the 3rd, combined feedback back by the 5th, final files by the 10th, ads live on the 12th.
• Budget: production fee as agreed in the quote; ad spend set separately in our marketing plan.
• Approvals: the owner signs off; the second partner comments through the owner.

Notice what it leaves out: no headline written for the maker. It gives facts, limits and a target, and leaves the creative part to the person you hired.

Common mistakes

• An objective nobody can measure. If you cannot say how you will tell it worked, the review turns into a matter of taste.
• Everyone as the audience. Work aimed at everyone tends to say nothing specific. Pick the person you most want to reach.
• Claims without proof. "Best service in town" gives the maker nothing to show. A guarantee or a real review does.
• Missing specs. Finding out after the work is made that a headline is too long or an image is the wrong ratio means doing it twice.
• Writing the solution. A brief that dictates the layout and the words leaves the maker filling in a form. Say what it must do, not how.
• Changing the brief mid-way without saying so. If the goal or the audience changes, update the brief and the timeline, and tell the maker in writing.

If the work is part of a bigger plan, add it to your content calendar so the brief, the dates and the owner live in one place.

Frequently asked questions

How long should a creative brief be?

In our view, one to two pages for most small business work. If it grows longer, move strategy into your marketing plan.

Who writes the creative brief, the business or the agency?

The business should supply the facts: objective, audience, proof, mandatories, budget and dates. If an agency writes its own version back, read it and sign it off before work starts.

Is a creative brief the same as a project brief?

No. A creative brief covers ads, design and content. A brief for a web app or software project covers the problem, users, features and what goes in the first version, which needs more detail on scope.

Briefing a new website, landing page or app rather than an ad? Our services page lists the websites, apps and maintenance we build and look after for businesses.