I’ve labored in numerous completely different industries — as a freelancer, as a supervisor of freelancers, as a marketer, as a author — and what by no means adjustments? The necessity for content material creators to be crystal clear on their assignments.
One of many easiest methods to attain that is to jot down content material briefs.
Do not be deceived, although: Though a content material temporary is easy, it is nonetheless necessary to get it proper.
Desk of Contents
What’s a content material temporary?
A content material temporary is a brief doc — in the event you can maintain it to a web page or two, everyone will likely be pleased — that’s a information or blueprint for creating content material.
The specifics will differ relying on the form of content material you’re creating and who the temporary is for, but it surely ought to anticipate and reply top-level questions on content material, format, communication, and so forth.
In case you handle freelance writers, a content material temporary will likely be a lifesaver for each you and your writers — and that’s solely a slight exaggeration. Your content material briefs will describe precisely what’s anticipated of the author, together with any required subheadings, goal phrase depend, and deadlines.
In case you work on a mission with a number of companions at a number of organizations, a easy content material temporary will give everyone a single supply of fact.
Content material Briefs vs. Inventive Briefs
Though they sound related, content material briefs and artistic briefs serve completely different functions. A artistic temporary outlines a marketing campaign, and should embrace extra intensive messaging, deliverables from a number of contributors, and different particulars that give form to the whole marketing campaign.
A content material temporary focuses on a selected piece of content material — my examples beneath are for written content material, however you may use the identical parts to create a content material temporary for movies, podcasts, or the rest you’re producing. In case you’re utilizing software program like Content material Hub, a short would be the basis for each bit of content material.
Significance of Content material Briefs
Certain, you may attempt to muddle by means of with out one, however they save extra time than they take to jot down.
I as soon as labored on a mission with a number of exterior companions, and aside from Slack and Google Docs, no person used the identical organizational instruments, and it prompted numerous frustration and confusion.
I pulled collectively a generic content material temporary that might be iterated on for particular assignments. It included permitted messaging, hyperlinks to all of the paperwork that everyone was engaged on, and main deliverables and deadlines. You would nearly hear the sigh of aid within the Slack channel.
I used to do some freelance writing, and my favourite consumer was the one which had one of the best content material temporary. Writing for a brand new consumer might be intimidating, even for knowledgeable writers, as a result of it’s important to study a brand new fashion information, a brand new voice, and perhaps even a completely new audience.
That exact consumer included a one-page temporary with every project. It included the goal phrase depend and the speed, the title of the publication and its viewers, in addition to hyperlinks to the fashion information and any belongings, an outline of the project, and the assigning editor and due date. If an interview was required, contact information was offered.
They had been a dream to freelance for as a result of I by no means wasted time with logistical questions — the expectations had been clear and every thing I wanted was at my fingertips.
In case you’re modifying content material, offering a transparent content material temporary will cut back the variety of revisions and rewrites (to not point out frustration!). Let’s speak about how you can strike a stability between detailed and concise.
Parts of a Content material Temporary
The weather of a content material temporary will differ relying in your wants, however listed below are what I believe are absolutely the necessities:
- Level particular person and/or a duty matrix
- Communication protocols, akin to a Slack channel
- Clear description of the mission or project, together with audience and phrase depend
- Hyperlinks to belongings, messaging, fashion and/or model guides, and another related shared paperwork
- Deliverables and deadlines
You may additionally embrace:
After I’ve labored on advertising multi-partner podcasts, I’ve discovered it useful to incorporate a number of bullet factors of permitted messaging, noting who has permitted on behalf of every accomplice.
Some stakeholders might have sure necessities for a way their firm or group is described, and your writers and content material entrepreneurs will want that information.
Preserve it easy:
Professional tip: Particularly when working with exterior companions, it’s typically price repeating necessary model particulars which can be in your fashion information. Don’t get too slowed down right here — the fashion information exists for a motive — however stakeholders will admire having this information at hand.
In case you’re writing content material briefs for freelancers, you’ll need to ensure that they’ve entry to any data they may want through the course of their project — fashion or model pointers, Slack channels, who to contact with questions, and any context for the project.
Let’s dig into “clear description of the project,” since that may comprise numerous necessary particulars to your author(s), akin to:
- Function. Inform the author what the content material objective is; perhaps it’s a weblog put up to handle demand for a sure key phrase, or perhaps you want advert copy and quite a lot of CTAs for a brand new product.
- search engine optimisation/key phrases. What does your author must learn about goal key phrases? Are there any key phrases or matters that they need to keep away from to stop content material cannibalization?
- Material specialists and sourcing. In our courageous new E-E-A-Tified world, firsthand expertise is extra necessary than ever. In case your author is predicted to conduct SME interviews, embrace that within the temporary. You might also ask that they supply hyperlinks to another sources they’ve used to help with any mild fact-checking.
- Required subheadings and different technical specs. In case you’ve performed your key phrase analysis, you might have already got H2 or H3 subheadings in thoughts. This may even assist the author perceive the way you need the content material organized. Your author can also be anticipated to offer meta descriptions, alt textual content for photos, or social media copy.
- Different formatting necessities. If a doc must be formatted in a sure manner, clarify how (ideally with an instance or template). In case you can solely settle for (or in the event you desire) a sure file kind, embrace that — don’t assume that everyone is utilizing Google Workspace or Microsoft Phrase simply since you are.
- Sharing/entry necessities. Everyone knows the frustration of seeing “Entry denied.” Set everyone up for achievement by together with information on who to share information with.
- How and the place to file the finished project. Does your workflow require tagging sure folks in an Asana card? Do writers electronic mail you once they’ve accomplished an project?
- Naming conventions. If any of the deliverables, together with belongings, must observe a selected filename conference, lay that out in your content material temporary.
- Publish-assignment expectations. If writers ought to count on to listen to from an editor, allow them to know that forward of time — freelancers specifically might want to finances time for this. And in the event you handle a big roster of freelancers, it may be useful to incorporate any reminders concerning the fee and invoicing necessities.
Write a Content material Temporary
Let’s make a template: Utilizing your phrase processor of selection, create a one-page doc with a two-column desk. Within the left-hand column, write out the essential parts: level particular person and/or duty matrix, communication protocols, project description, belongings, and deadlines and deliverables.
That is private desire, however I prefer to listing the communication information within the high left header of the temporary, together with the related Slack channel — I repeat this information when I’ve to create different docs for stakeholders, so everyone will get used to having it entrance and heart.
It instantly solutions the highest questions: Who’s in cost? Who wants to offer approval? The place did you inform me that Google Drive was? Why didn’t anyone inform me there was a Slack channel for this mission?
Even when this information feels redundant, it may be particularly useful for brand spanking new freelancers or new hires, so I counsel making it a part of your template. Freelancers typically have a number of (or extra) purchasers, all of whom may need completely different necessities and codecs, and it will save them a while and sanity.
Your temporary may begin off like this:
Professional tip: You’ll notice that I’ve included the time and time zone within the due date — I think about this important data. Particularly within the age of distributed workforces, the place workers and freelancers could also be in numerous time zones, together with it will save everyone a headache and set your author up for achievement.
Earlier than you flesh out any particulars within the project description, think about who your content material temporary is for. Freelance writers will doubtless want extra hyperlinks and extra context than in-house writers, who have already got the corporate fashion information bookmarked (proper? Proper?).
You might discover it helpful to create two templates, one for in-house writers and one for freelancers, so you’ll be able to present your entrepreneurs with probably the most concise temporary. For example, freelancers might not want information on KPIs; in-house writers who add their very own work to the CMS gained’t want a folder for deliverables.
What’s absolutely the minimal data a author must efficiently full an project? It’s tempting to incorporate hyperlinks to every thing associated to the mission, however don’t overload your writers with pointless context.
It’ll be helpful at this stage to speak to them, whether or not they’re in-house or freelance, and discover out what they discover most useful.
You’ll want to explain the project, its objective, and its viewers:
Professional tip: For freelancers, think about at all times together with a hyperlink to your fashion information. That manner it’s at all times helpful. And a easy “thanks” is at all times a pleasant contact.
In case your content material has numerous particular necessities for conversion technique, search engine optimisation, key phrases, and the like, embrace these in a desk in order that they’re straightforward to parse.
After I labored as a contract author, I discovered this extremely useful. It’s a small factor, however having the ability to see all this information in the identical format with every project makes it a lot simpler to get began on assignments.
Data that’s typically included in HubSpot assignments is the month-to-month search quantity, any required CTAs, and search engine optimisation and conversion methods:
Write Your First Content material Temporary
When you’ve constructed a template (or two) that fits your wants, content material briefs gained’t take you a lot time in any respect to fill out. And whether or not you’re working with in-house content material creators, freelancers, and/or exterior stakeholders, having a single supply of data will make everyone’s job simpler and extra environment friendly.
