Copywriting briefs vary wildly from a short sentence to a lengthy document. So what does the perfect copywriting brief include? If you’re hiring a copywriter for your content writing project, they’ll need a decent brief to deliver quality work. Read on to find out how to write a copywriting brief that will help you and your copywriter get the job done.
Word count
Firstly, a freelance copywriter needs to know how many words you’d like in your content. So if you know, make it clear. If you don’t know, make this clear too. This way, your copywriter can advise accordingly based on other elements of your brief.
Company info, tone of voice and style preferences
Is this is your first time working with this freelance copywriter? If so, include company background, brand guidelines and tone of voice in your copywriting brief (if you have them). There’s only so much we can glean from your website, so all insight is welcome.
Many companies have a style preference for their written content. So, if you have preferred terminology and words you don’t like used in your business content, give your copywriter access to this information.
This not only makes life easier for your copywriter but saves you time making corrections later.
Copywriting project description
Clearly state what the project is about and where the copywriting will appear. For example, an event poster, an email or a landing page. If it’s part of a wider marketing campaign, fill your copywriter in on an overview of the project. This will help them to understand where their content will sit within a wider campaign.
Audience
Who are we talking to? You should have a clear idea of who your target customer is. Therefore, provide your copywriter with as much info as possible so they can build a picture of your audience and communicate with them effectively.
Goals
Include in your brief an overview of what the content aims to achieve. Do you want it to make people sign up to your newsletter? Attend your event, or visit your website? Clear motivations are essential for a copywriter to write compelling content and create clear calls to action (CTAs) that prompt your audience to act.
Key messages
What are the key messages you want to communicate in this piece of copywriting? Perhaps it’s as simple as event details for an email inviting people to attend. Or maybe it’s a long-form blog involving more complex ideas. Either way, including key messages in a copywriting brief provides your copywriter with a framework and direction.
Research
Every good freelance copywriter is used to doing their own research. However, if you have any particular insight into which websites, articles or documents would be especially useful, include this information in your copywriting brief.
Competitors
For website copywriting projects, it’s great for freelance copywriters to see some examples of competitor websites in the copywriting brief. This enables us to get a feel for the market and where your company is positioned within it.
It’s also useful to see examples of non-competitor websites you like the look and vibe of, as this can help us to gain a clearer vision of your style in the absence of brand guidelines or company tone of voice.
Keywords
All good freelance copywriters should be well versed in SEO, so if you have certain keywords you’d like to include in your content, cover this in your copywriting brief.
Deadline
“We need this yesterday lol!” – not an ideal example of how you should include a deadline in your copywriting brief.
Excellent copywriting takes time, so try to feature a realistic deadline in your copywriting brief, bearing in mind work can’t always start immediately if your copywriter is working on other projects.
Hopefully, these tips will help you to write a clear and effective copywriting brief for your project, to help your chosen copywriter produce an exceptional piece of writing.
Free downloadable copywriting brief template
If you still need help, feel free to download my free copywriting brief template and use it to brief in your next project. This template features everything covered in this copywriting brief blog in a user-friendly format.
Using this free copywriting brief template will ensure your freelance copywriter has all the info they need to smash your brief and deliver the goods!
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