As a digital marketing agency, it’s your responsibility to provide clients with clear deliverables and goals for a project or campaign. A creative digital marketing agency brief is designed to communicate not only the practical elements of an upcoming project but also its creative aims and purpose.
Creative briefs help clients gain a broader perspective of what the marketing campaign will look like when it is complete, and what has influenced its overall look and feel.
When executed well, a digital marketing agency brief is key to a smooth-running campaign process and happy clients. Of course, if a brief isn’t well executed, you’ll face the exact opposite — and no agency wants unhappy clients.
Why is a Digital Marketing Agency Brief Necessary?
Creative briefs are essential for any agency that work in the business of idea generation and conceptualisation. Similar to a contract or project outline, a creative brief highlights the various deliverables of a digital marketing campaign and identifies its overarching goal.
A good creative brief should capture the essence of a campaign.
The actual process of creating one also serves a practical purpose: giving the team an opportunity to tease out a variety of different concepts and ideas before landing on one that really meets the client’s needs.
With a great creative brief, both the trajectory and purpose of a project become clarified. This benefits the agency and its client, mitigating miscommunications and putting everyone on the same page.
Step 1: Learn More About Your Client
The key to a great creative brief is to have a great client relationship. In order to come up with ideas that meet their needs and expectations, you first need to know what it is they want.
- Gathering Client Information – Discuss the campaign or project at length with your client. Gather as much information as you can on their brand identity, purpose, and goals for the future. This will help you align the brief as closely as possible to their interests.
- Researching Your Client and their Industry – Aside from your client’s self-determined needs, you should conduct comprehensive research on their industry to identify any patterns or trends that may be relevant to the project.
- Understanding the Client’s Goals and Objectives – What is your client hoping to achieve through this campaign? The more information you have, the easier it will be to compile a creative brief that ticks all the right boxes.
Step 2: Set a Timeline for the Project
Any project in the works is more likely to be executed well with a timeline. It helps to keep you and your team on track and provides the necessary structure and discipline to the process.
A timeline also shows your client that you are taking their campaign seriously by cementing certain deliverables in place. Your clients deserve to know by what point their creative brief and campaign are going to be ready.
- Factors to Consider When Establishing a Timeline – Timelines should be thoroughly considered before being set. Consider factors such as resources, adjacent deadlines, employee availability, hours worked, and project scale before committing to a specific date for completion.
- Creating a Timeline that Works for Your Client – Your client’s schedule should always be factored into the timeline. If they have a big announcement or launch date coming up, those aspects will need to be factored in too.
- Incorporating Milestones and Deadlines into the Timeline – Setting milestones and goal-points to meet over the course of project development is important for creating a methodical timeline. It also keeps everyone on the same wavelength in terms of progress.
Step 3: Create an Action Plan
Once the structure, goals, and timeline of a creative brief have been set, you can start firing up the engines for active implementation. How can clients expect you to achieve your proposed brief?
- Outline the Services You Will Provide – Your clients deserve to know what processes and services they’re paying for. Market research, content creation, sales funnel strategy, design services, and website development should all be listed where appropriate.
- Develop a Strategy for Each Service – The world of digital marketing is extremely diverse in its service offerings. Make sure you have a strategy for each one, and that the client understands each of them on a basic level.
- Establish a Budget for Your Client’s Project – Budgeting is crucial in any brief. Establish a clear cost outline for your clients so that they know what invoice to expect.
Pro tip: it’s better to budget slightly over – a reduced invoice will be far better received than an inflated one.
Step 4: Review and Revise the Digital Marketing Agency Brief
And finally, we arrive at the review and revise stage of developing a creative brief.
Before officially sending it off to clients, perform a thorough combing-through of the details to ensure maximum accuracy, clarity, and quality.
- Check for Accuracy and Completeness – Are your figures accurate? Are your estimates on track? Is every box ticked? Have a good look before you sign it off. Even small mistakes like typos can have a negative impact on brand perception and cause miscommunications later on.
- Review with Your Client – You can show your client a draft version of the brief before handing it over officially. This gives both of you the opportunity to look at it from a fresh perspective and identify any changes that may need to be made.
- Make Necessary Revisions – If you or your client want to change something in the brief, now is the time. Revisions are completely normal but try to keep the number of corrections to a minimum to avoid unnecessary confusion.
A Good Brief is the Key to Success
Clear, well-executed creative briefs benefit both your agency and its clients by providing clarity and structure to the outcome of an upcoming campaign. It highlights deliverables, justifies aesthetic and strategic decisions, and ensures everyone understands the goal of the project.
Your digital marketing agency can develop world-class creative briefs by working closely with clients, setting clear timelines and deliverables for the project, and developing a strong review system for once the brief has been implemented.