By Tom Polanski

When it comes to marketing your business, no one knows your industry or target audience better than you do.  So when it comes time for you to sit down and work out a marketing plan with your chosen ad agency - where do you start?

One of the best ways to get on the right track with your advertising agency is to write a creative brief.  Simply put, a creative brief helps the ad agency create a solid, measurable goal with regards to your marketing efforts.  It helps both them, and you, understand where you are now - and where you’d like to be as a result of this promotional campaign.

The good news is, your creative brief doesn’t have to be a huge essay with every major detail spelled out completely.  It’s called a creative brief for a reason.  You don’t have to expand on each and every part, so long as the information you put in the brief is clear, concise and complete.

That said, here’s what needs to be included:

• Information about the project and contact details - including your name, your company name, phone number and (optional) e-mail address where you can be reached.  Also include the name of the service/product that the marketing campaign is being prepared for.  Finally, include the name of the ad agency and date the brief.  This helps establish a starting date that you can use to track your company’s progress over time.
• Information about your company and its product(s)/service(s) - This is where you explain what your company is and does.  What are the benefits of your product/service? What kind of marketing problem(s) are you facing? What have your past marketing campaigns been like? What were the results? What have your competitors been doing?
• Goals and Objectives - What do you want to happen as a result of this marketing campaign or working with this advertising agency?  You have to break down your goals into specific, measurable aims - otherwise they won’t do anyone any good.  Saying “increase sales” doesn’t mean anything.  “Increase sales by 20%” is a measurable, achievable goal.
• Who is your target audience? Make sure in your brief you tell the agency who you are trying to attract with your marketing message.  Again, be specific. If you have any particular information that you’ve gleaned from previous campaigns regarding things like their buying habits, general income range and so on - put that in the brief as well.  Just writing “mothers” won’t be nearly as clear to the agency as “young, single mothers looking for real work at home jobs”.
• How will success be measured?  Will you be measuring your goal (see above) by the number of sales made? Number of leads generated? Or something else?  Who will be measuring the success or failure of the campaign? When is the deadline?
• Deadlines/Acceptance of the work - Don’t forget to include a deadline in the brief, as well as any “must-haves” such as any legal information/disclaimers, your corporate logo/branding image and any other considerations the agency will need to keep in mind.  Also remember to let them know who will be signing off on the finished product and when each stage of the advertising creative process should be completed by.
• Budget - Last, but certainly not least, the budget.  Not having one can set you up for an expensive bill later.  When in doubt, ask the agency what they think is fair.  You will almost always get a reasonable answer.

If you’ve managed to keep each of these points in mind - you’ll have a creative brief that will almost certainly include everything you need for a stellar marketing campaign. Good luck!