Nail your brief
to a digital agency
– By Damien Snare –
A good brief provides an outline of what your business wants, but a great brief does so without assumptions and ambiguity.
Have you ever outsourced a design project or marketing campaign and ended up with something that didn’t hit quite the mark? Let’s assume you followed the advice in our other blogs, by all accounts things should have gone smoothly… If that’s the case, it may be worth reviewing the effectiveness of your briefing process.
We’ve worked with our designers and marketing specialists to compile a list of elements and talking points that may help you craft a winning brief and get you the result you’re after.
Here’s the key elements we make sure to find out when we’re being briefed by a client:
- Background & objectives
- Timeline
- Budget & costs
- Brand personality
- Target audience
- Unique Selling Points (USPs)
- Deliverables
- Guidelines
- Distribution
- Project management
- Quality expectations
- Technologies
We’ve broken each of these key elements down into more detail below:
Background & objectives
A short blurb about why you are engaging a freelancer or agency gives the project context and helps shape the overall direction.
Timeline
Your expectations on when the project should be completed. Or, key milestone dates for larger projects.
Budget & costs
This is a great chance to re-iterate the pricing model and terms you have agreed on. You can also outline protocols for supplementary expenses for example if additional equipment or supplies are required.
Brand personality
Tone, style, language… Every brand has its own unique identity, which can be difficult for freelancers to embody without proper guidance. Anything from colour schemes to terminology can be included here. If you don’t have a style guide, your agency can work with you to capture the essence of your brand and translate that to a comprehensive document.
Target audience
An extension to company branding. This is where you get specific on the tone of message and the demographic you are communicating with. Especially important when creating imagery and marketing copy.
Unique Selling Points (USPs)
This is really where you want to dig deep and find the real value in what you’re offering. Are you solving a problem? Creating an experience? This all needs to be factored in.
Deliverables
Simply put , this is the end result. Are you looking for a new set of logos? A rewrite of your website content? A set of high-converting landing pages? Think of this as the itemised list you would expect to see on an invoice.
Guidelines
This is where you can really get specific. Take each of the items you want produced and create a detailed explanation. This includes any constraints such as word count or file size and is also a great opportunity to provide examples and inspiration for your Agency to build and expand upon.
Distribution
How will the deliverables, be delivered? Ensuring the right strategies and technology are used for each digital medium is a key ingredient to successful project.
Project management
Who will be the primary contact? Are you using project management software? Are there any elements of the project being completed in house? Keeping track of the moving parts is an easy way to boost your chances of success.
Quality expectations
This can be particularly important for media and graphic design projects. Your Agency contact needs to know the setting for the finished product to inform the creative process.
Technologies
If you have specific technology requirements your agency will need to be proficient in, outline them here. This can be particularly important for design projects and developing marketing communications.
Feedback
Everybody likes to know they are being heard. That’s why a system to record feedback and reviews can be a great way to improve your processes and adapt quickly. Many successful brands that work with agencies conduct a debrief at the end of the project to close out the work and identify opportunities to keep the relationship going.
Want more? We got you!
Bonus points!
- Use simple, descriptive language
- Keep it brief *cough*
- Draft and review
- You determine the structure
- Focus on what you are trying to achieve
Can’t remember all this? Never fear, we got you! We’ve put together a handy checklist to help you write, build, assess, and evaluate your brief. Download it, fill it out, and keep it handy for your next job.
That’s all from us for now…
If you have something to add, or just want to discuss your needs with one of our team members we’d love to hear from you! Get in touch with us below, leave a comment and check out more on our socials.
