A disappointing piece rarely comes from a bad writer. Most of the time, it comes from a brief that’s too thin: a title, a keyword, a due date. The writer fills the gaps with assumptions. Half of them are wrong, and off you go for another round of rewrites.
A good brief takes twenty to thirty minutes to fill in, and it saves hours. Here are the ten sections to cover, a template to copy and a worked example.
Why the brief does (almost) everything
The brief isn’t red tape. It’s the only moment when you decide, calmly and in advance, what the piece must achieve. It does four things:
- Aligns expectations between the person commissioning and the person writing.
- Cuts back-and-forth: every piece of information given upfront saves a correction later.
- Makes reviews objective: you assess the text against the brief, not against today’s preferences.
- Passes on your knowledge of the market, customers and sensitive topics, which a writer can’t guess.
That’s even more true if you outsource your content production: the brief becomes the main channel through which your knowledge reaches the writers.
The 10 sections of an effective brief
1. The goal of the piece
What should happen after reading? The reader understands a concept, compares options, signs up for the newsletter, requests a demo? Set one main goal.
2. The target reader
Who’s reading, with what level of knowledge and what concern? "Marketing leads at B2B SMEs, comfortable with basic SEO, short on time" says far more than "professionals".
3. Keyword and search intent
Give the main query, two or three secondary ones and, above all, the intent: does the searcher want a definition, a method, a comparison, a price? Look at Google’s top results to understand what’s expected.
4. Angle and key message
This is what will make your piece different from the ten already out there: a conviction, an in-house method, a view from the field. Write the key message in one sentence. If the reader remembers only one thing, what should it be?
5. Format and length
Article, guide, list, case study, service page… Give a word range, guided by the depth required rather than a magic number.
6. Outline
List the main sections (the H2 headings) and the must-cover points. The writer can improve on it, but starts from an approved base.
7. Sources and expertise
Internal documents, proprietary data, experts to interview, reliable studies to cite, and sources to avoid. This is what separates generic content from content that carries authority.
8. Tone and guidelines
Register, form of address, preferred and banned terms, example pieces to draw on. A link to your editorial guidelines is enough if you have them.
9. Expected action and internal links
Specify the call to action at the end and the pages on your site to link to: related articles, service pages.
10. Logistics
Due date, number of revision rounds, single approver, delivery format (shared document or direct upload to the CMS), any visuals.
The brief template to copy
| Section | What to fill in |
|---|---|
| Goal | What the reader should understand or do after reading |
| Target reader | Profile, level of knowledge, main concern |
| Main keyword | Target query and search intent |
| Secondary keywords | Two or three variants or related questions |
| Angle and key message | What sets the piece apart, in one sentence |
| Format and length | Content type and word range |
| Outline | H2 headings and must-cover points |
| Sources and experts | Documents, data, people to interview, sources to avoid |
| Tone | Register, form of address, words to avoid |
| Call to action | The action offered at the end |
| Internal links | Pages on the site to reference |
| Logistics | Due date, approver, number of revisions, deliverable |
Example: a completed brief
For an HR software publisher (fictional example):
- Goal: help readers prepare annual reviews and lead them to our downloadable template.
- Reader: SME managers with little HR training who dread the exercise.
- Keyword: "how to prepare an annual review"; intent: a step-by-step method.
- Angle: the annual review as a conversation, not a form to fill in.
- Format: practical guide of 1,500 to 1,800 words, with a checklist.
- Outline: why prepare; the five steps; questions to ask; mistakes to avoid; the checklist.
- Sources: interview with our HR lead, anonymised customer feedback.
- Tone: warm, concrete, jargon-free.
- Call to action: download the review template.
- Logistics: due on the 12th, a single approver (the content lead), two revision rounds at most.
Ten lines, and the writer knows exactly where they’re going.
Mistakes that cost you rounds of revisions
- The title-only brief: a one-line topic, and everything else left to guesswork.
- The keyword laundry list: fifteen phrases to squeeze in, at the expense of readability.
- Contradictory instructions: "short and exhaustive", "expert yet accessible to everyone".
- No angle: without a point of view, you get the average of what already exists.
- Feedback without criteria: "I don’t like it" helps no one. "The second example doesn’t fit our SME audience" moves things forward.
Brief, review, feedback: close the loop
The brief is also useful after writing. Review the text section by section: is the goal achieved? Is it aimed at the right reader? Does the angle hold? Your feedback becomes factual, and your writers improve faster.
Finally, enrich your template as feedback comes in: a comment that comes up three times deserves a line in the guidelines or in the brief. That’s how consistent editorial production gets built. To plan these pieces over time, see also our editorial calendar method.
The bottom line
An effective brief answers ten questions before the first line is written. It takes half an hour, saves days of rewriting and turns reviewing into a simple check. It’s the most profitable tool in your whole editorial chain.