Sure! you could try to muddle through without one! but they save more time than they take to write.
They were a dream to freelance for because I never wasted time with logistical questions — the expectations were clear and everything I needed was at my fingertips.
If you’re editing content! providing a clear content brief will reduce the number of revisions and rewrites (not to mention frustration!). Let’s talk about how to strike a balance between detailed and concise.
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Elements of a Content Brief
The elements of a content brief will vary depending on your needs! but here are what I think are the absolute essentials:
- Point person and/or a responsibility matrix
- Communication protocols! such as a Slack channel
- Clear description of the project or assignment! including target audience and word count
- Links to assets! messaging! style and/or brand guides! and any other relevant shared documents
- Deliverables and deadlines
When I’ve worked on marketing multi-partner podcasts! I’ve found it helpful to include a few bullet points of approved messaging! noting who has approved on behalf of each partner.
Some stakeholders may have certain iran telegram data requirements for how their company or organization is described! and your writers and content marketers will need that info.
Keep it simple:
Pro tip: Especially when working with external partners! it’s often worth repeating important brand details that are in your style guide. Don’t get too bogged down here — the style guide exists for a reason — but stakeholders will appreciate having this info at hand.
If you’re writing content briefs for freelancers! you’ll want to make sure they have access to any information they might need during the course of their assignment — style or brand guidelines! Slack channels! who to contact with questions! and any context for the assignment.
Let’s dig into “clear description of the assignment!” since that can contain a lot of important details for your writer(s)! such as:
- Purpose. Tell the writer what the content goal is; maybe it’s a blog post to address demand for a certain keyword! or maybe you need ad copy and a variety of CTAs for a new product.
- SEO/keywords. What does your the 22 best mailchimp alternatives for your business writer need to know about target keywords? Are there any keywords or topics that they should avoid to prevent content cannibalization?
- Subject matter experts and sourcing. In our brave new E-E-A-Tified world! firsthand experience is more important than ever. If your writer is expected to conduct SME interviews! include that in the brief. You may also ask that they provide links to any other sources they’ve used to assist with any light fact-checking.
- Required subheadings and other technical specifications. If you’ve done your keyword research! you may already have H2 or H3 subheadings in mind. This will also help the writer understand how you want the content organized. Your writer may also be expected to provide meta descriptions! alt text for images! or social media copy.
- Other formatting requirements. If a document needs to be formatted in a certain way! explain how (ideally with an united kingdom cell number example or template). If you can only accept (or if you prefer) a certain file type! include that — don’t assume that everybody is using Google Workspace or Microsoft Word just because you are.
