When you’re passionate about a project and the creative juices are flowing, it can be tempting to jump right in. However, you’ll find it beneficial to develop a creative brief first. It can feel like a project in itself, but taking the time to do a creative brief can set you up for success. It carves out a path toward your goals and gets everyone on the same page.
What Is the Purpose of a Creative Brief?
A creative brief is the backbone of any project. It’s a short document that contains pertinent details about the venture, including goals, challenges, messaging, and demographics. The purpose of a creative brief is to align all stakeholders. It eliminates confusion and conflict, increases productivity, and saves time and effort. A good creative brief should be able to accomplish the following:
- Provide strategic direction – It may seem like you’re stifling creativity when you add structure. But with a strategy, you’re more likely to build an excellent creative product. Creative briefs explain the plan in detail, including critical decisions that will help shape the output.
- Inspire – Creative briefs contain the objectives of a campaign. Seeing goals defined on paper can spark inspiration and motivation. It can encourage your team to take action. However, some make the mistake of using creative language in their briefs. Instead, be as clear and straightforward as possible to avoid misinterpretation.
- Align – Creative briefs are an agreement between parties. It outlines expectations and builds accountability that those involved must deliver on their responsibilities.
What to Include in a Creative Brief
The biggest challenge of writing creative briefs is summarizing all ideas and information into one document. The best way to do this is to break it up into sections, including the following:
Project Description
Give a summary of the project, explaining what it’s about and why you’re doing it. Providing context is helpful for any campaign, whether you want to revamp your social media presence or overhaul your website.
Project Objectives
There’s no way to tell if a project is successful when you don’t have clear objectives. This section should explain what you want to achieve, whether there’s an unaddressed need in the market you want to exploit or a problem you want to fix. In addition, enumerate the metrics you want to use to measure success.
Target Audience
When designing a product or service, you need to know who you’re doing it for. Defining the target audience requires careful research. Once you have demographic and behavioral insights, you can focus on a specific group of people to cater to.
Messaging
Once you’ve identified your target audience, you can think about what kind of tone and messaging will be most effective. Whatever style you choose, ensure it aligns with your project objectives and overall branding.
Deliverables and Timeline
Every campaign comes with several deliverables. It’s crucial to enumerate them all, including the final output. Be as specific as possible to avoid reworks. Having a timeline helps, too, because it sets the pace and prevents delays.
Budget
All parties must agree on a budget, and the creative team must keep project costs within that limit. The budget must be realistic, but it should also align with your project goals. Including this figure in your creative briefs can help keep spending in check.
Successful Projects Start With a Creative Brief
Starting is always the most challenging part of any project. But the best way to do so is by making a creative brief. It gives everyone involved a clear direction and helps everything fall into place. For more information, you can contact Transformation Marketing at 402-788-2896.