Consider a content brief like a plan for a building. Or a recipe. To get it right you need to follow a structure.

There are SO many ways to write briefs. The way they’re interpreted can be quite an individual process. Personally, I like to see what it is you know you would like, or is non-negotiable, to include in the content. The brief offers many different things to think about:

• A brief for one piece of content might inspire ideas for future content that haven’t already been considered

• There might be views or angles included in your answers that you didn’t think were important

• You might not know the headings or how the piece should be structured – some titles or ideas lend themselves to better formats than others

Let’s take SEO content writing as an example. You’re more likely to start with a list of keywords and - depending on your industry - want to develop some more traditional content to improve your rankings. These pieces of content will typically follow a format. Whereas if you want to do more brand journalism (inspirational, light - content that builds relationships) you might have a list of general topics or themes you want written. 

I have been quite detailed in this brief template. The amount of sections you would fill in would depend on your way of working. For example, you might already have a fairly planned content calendar, you just aren’t able to write the pieces yourself. This means you’d be more likely to fill in details, like a suggested working title. Or maybe you only need a batch of content around a topic but need help scoping it out. Try and come up with at least one key theme or idea to build from.

You might find that some of the questions in the brief overlap slightly. Like I said, it’s to offer different perspectives on the information - these can help to build a narrative. There also might be details that just don’t immediately spring to mind.

It’s not a problem if you don’t know the answer to every section. Just fill out as much as you can - I can work out the rest!

Research

I LOVE the research stage! It’s always good to learn different opinions, topics, and get back up to speed or refamiliarise yourself with old ideas. 

You might have already thought about the questions below, you might not - no problem. If you haven’t, it’s worth spending a bit of time doing some research before you nail down a content strategy, plan, or calendar. Or, you might want a bit of help working out the actual titles of the pieces but know roughly what content you need producing.

So, first and foremost, consider:

• What topics would you like to create content for?

• Is this pillar content or part of a cluster? Please include any relevant links.

• Which SEO keywords are you targeting? 

If you’ve already had a little look at your current content offering, and the competitive landscape, it’s also helpful to know:

• What is your working title?

• What content gaps are you trying to fill? Your own and from external sources.

• What do you (or this content) offer in comparison to competitors?

• Internal website linking opportunities

Not a total must-have, as I find research an iterative process, but if you have some links to suggested reads, they can be included in the research section too.

Messaging and goals 

When defining your goals, you could use a framework (such as SMART) to keep it structured. These questions are designed to give a good idea of the purpose of the piece and how it ties into the bigger picture. This helps to understand the view of the piece.

• What is the problem you’re trying to solve?

• What message do you want to send to the reader?

• How do you want the reader to feel, think, or act?

• What is your overall goal?

Target audience

The target audience is who the content is being written for, as it implies! There might be some clues in the target audience’s profile that guide the content or some points to include. It’s especially worth knowing if you’re getting really specific on who you’re targeting. Some pieces you might just want to keep fairly general but still aimed at a group with similar interests. 

• Who is your target audience? 

• What is your ideal reader/customer profile? Include their experience, likes/dislikes, challenges, and current situation.

• What is their assumed level of knowledge?

Content function and tone

The function and tone of the content will depend on the type of piece that’s being written. Throwing it back to my translation studies modules with this one (a big part of the reason I enjoy writing so much!). 

The simple idea of text functions has always stuck with me, both when reading and writing. Katharina Reiss (I believe) outlined three core text functions. You would have to identify the function of the text passage that needed translating before beginning the actual translation. This is because it will affect the type of language you choose when translating. 

For me, this is really relevant in a content brief. Why? Because it shows me the boundaries of the piece. It tells me whether I can let my mind run a little more freely, or if I need to stick to a proven formula.

The tone of the content is another light directional steer. This, to me, is how you want the content to feel overall. Think of the tone as macro level, and tone as micro (probably technically medium if we consider vocab!).

Brand guidelines do come in handy here if you’ve already got that all mapped out.

• What is the function of the content? Is it:

  • Informative: stating fact, information, or knowledge

  • Expressive: using language creatively to convey feelings

  • Operative: to encourage the reader to do or feel something

• What is the tone of the content?

And there we have it, everything that you could possibly want to include in a content brief. Feel free to download the template :)!

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