A marketing brief.
One clear objective.

A marketing brief sets out what a campaign must achieve, who it’s for, what it needs to say and the constraints it works within. It also works for advertising, social media and PR briefs: the channel changes, the questions don’t.

Details

• Client / company: [Name]
• Completed by: [Name, role]
• Date: [Date]

Background

• What’s happening in the business or market? [Answer]
• What have you tried before, and what happened? [Answer]

Objective

• What one thing must this campaign achieve? [Answer]
• Which number will tell us it worked? [Answer]

Audience

• Who are we talking to? [Answer]
• What do they think or do now, and what do we want them to think or do? [Answer]

Proposition

• What’s the single most important message? [Answer]
• Why should they believe it? [Answer]

Channels and mandatories

• Which channels are in scope (paid, social, email, PR, events)? [Answer]
• What must be included (logos, legal lines, offers)? [Answer]

Budget and timing

• What’s the budget for fees and for media? [Answer]
• When does it launch and end? [Answer]

1. Start with the business background and past results.
2. Agree one objective and the number that measures it.
3. Describe the audience and the change you want in them.
4. Write the single message and the proof behind it.
5. List channels, mandatories, budget and dates.
6. Get the brief signed off before creative work begins.

Microsoft Word

1. Download the Word (.docx) file and open it. If Word opens it in Protected View, select Enable Editing.
2. Use Find (Ctrl+F or Cmd+F) and search for “[” to jump between the placeholders you need to replace.
3. Save a clean copy as a Word template (File → Save As → Word Template) so every new document starts from it.

Google Docs

1. Upload the .docx file to Google Drive.
2. Right-click it and choose Open with → Google Docs, then File → Save as Google Docs to keep an editable copy.
3. Use File → Make a copy for each new client so your master stays clean.

PDF

Fill it in Word or Google Docs, then export it: File → Save As → PDF in Word, or File → Download → PDF document in Google Docs.

Sample answers from a fictional client.

Sample answers

• Objective? 120 qualified design consultation enquiries in March and April.
• Audience? Homeowners in the region planning a renovation in the next six months.
• Message? A designed home doesn’t have to mean a designer budget.
• Channels? Meta ads, Google search, two emails to past enquiries.
• Budget? Agency fee as quoted; media budget of $6,000 paid directly.

• One objective per brief; two objectives usually means two campaigns.
• Separate the agency fee from media spend.
• Agree how results will be reported before launch.

Angelwood turns questions like these into an onboarding plan: requests with instructions, owners and dates that clients answer in their portal, reviewed by your team before kickoff.

Browse all briefs templates or the full template library.