8 Questions to Help You Write a Compelling Marketing Brief

→ Free Download: Creative Brief Templates

If you’re staring at a blank screen (we’ve all been there) trying to figure out how to develop a marketing brief, there are a few questions you can ask yourself to get to the heart of the problems and solutions your campaign will address.

Use these guiding questions alongside our free marketing brief templates to help you create a brief that has just enough information — but not too much — to get your team excited and on the same page.

Table of Contents

The Importance of a Marketing Brief
How to Write a Marketing Brief
8 Questions to Help You Write a Great Marketing Brief

The Importance of a Marketing Brief

One of the first steps in a campaign is to draw up a marketing brief — sometimes called a creative brief or campaign brief — that serves as the single source of truth on the project.

It sets forth a single vision that everybody can buy into, and more importantly, it defines the goal, the reach, and the problem the project is trying to solve. Writing a great marketing brief will give you a strong foundation for your campaign.

How to Write a Marketing Brief

The marketing brief is the starting point with which every decision and movement made on the project should align — and that means it is also a living document.

Marketing briefs help solve any misunderstandings before you get to work. This document should clarify for everyone involved — copywriters, designers, developers, marketers — all the aspects of the project, the goals, and even the timeline. If you’re working for an external client or stakeholder, your brief should confirm that you understand their problem and have a strategy for solving it.

As campaigns and projects change, requirements are added or removed, and new insights are discovered. You can update this document as the project evolves to ensure everyone remains focused on the underlying issue and knows their responsibilities.

8 Questions to Help You Write a Great Marketing Brief

The marketing brief isn’t being published online to the masses for approval, but it does need to grab your team by the heart and get them excited — and answer any questions they might have about the campaign.

It doesn’t need to include every piece of information available. It shouldn’t take you more than five minutes to understand the project, the strategy, and the goals. It should be a useful document that’s easy to scan, clear, and actionable.

I’ve got eight questions that will help guide you through your first marketing brief. Before you ask yourself these questions, you should already have a handle on your buyer or audience persona, so that you know who your target audience is. Using our creative brief templates as you sketch out your answers may also be helpful.