‍Tips for Writing a Great Brief

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When working on campaigns with influencers, one of the most important aspects of the process is your creative brief.

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It’s always helpful for the influencer to know what you’re looking for, so that expectations are set on both sides, and everyone comes out of the collaboration happy, and feeling like it was a success. There's nothing worse than anticipating a great outcome and having it fall short, simply because specifics weren't detailed ahead of time.

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You wouldn't tell a contractor to "build you a bathroom" without discussing timelines, finishes, showing inspirational comparisons, and so on. Treat your collaborations the same way.

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So how do you write a successful brief? We’ve got some tips for you below. 

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Include Examples:

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It seems self explanatory, but you’d be surprised how many brands don’t go to the trouble of doing this (or creating a brief at all for that matter!).

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You want to include example imagery of the types of things you want to see. Flatlays? Selfies? Family portraits? Lifestyle photos? Give a good variety of images, so they don’t feel too confined to one type of image.

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You want to spark their creativity instead of making them feel limited to creating something that maybe won’t work for them. Even using some of their own images as examples can be helpful, so that they can get a sense of which of their photos really speak to you.

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It can be harder than you’d think to create content, so the more images you can provide to them to help them get a sense of what you’re looking for, and to get the ideas rolling, the better!

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Be specific:

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Often when influencers are gifted product they are not asked for a specific number of posts or stories in return for the product, in part because brands acknowledge that it is a lot of work to shoot the product, and product is not really considered payment, which means the brand can feel awkward putting too many concrete demands on the content produced.

For the influencer, gifted work is unpaid work, so if you are looking for 1 post and 1 story, specifying that before product is exchanged is a great way to avoid feeling too demanding and so that they know what the expectations are before they accept product.

For paid campaigns, you definitely need to be even more specific. How many posts or images? How many stories? Do you want videos or carousels? What do you want to include in the caption? What hashtags and tags should they include? All important things to consider. Look at examples of promotional posts in your category for examples of where brands and influencers have done it well, and then model your brief to reflect those qualities. 

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Include a timeline:

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This is another way to get specific, but also to make sure you get your content when you need it. Sometimes it can take time for influencers to get to shooting product, simply because they have a lot of content to shoot, and limited time, because they’re moms (and you know, mom life is busy!).

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But it’s best to set a timeline so that everyone knows the deal, and it’s easier for them to schedule you in this way. So think about when do you want to review content, (If you are choosing to review prior to posting), and when do you want it to be posted, and when do you want to see insights from the campaign (if you are requesting them).

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Doing a long term campaign? Make sure to include how many posts or images you require per month. These dates not only keep them schedule, but can also better help you to plan and track campaigns, especially when you are working with more than one influencer, or are working with longer term campaigns. 

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Get a contract:

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This is an important aspect that many smaller brands don’t bother with because they trust the influencers. And while, yes, you want to trust your influencers, it’s always good to make sure that everybody is on the same page, and that everybody is held accountable and aware of all expectations.

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You don’t need something complicated, just a simple legal document outlining the basics. This may include things such as the influencer may not work with similar brands within a certain period (called exclusivity), or may not include profanity in their post, or tag other brands, etc.

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At momfluence we include the contract with your brief, so no need to write one yourself. Bonus! But if you are going it alone, here's a checklist for you to use or read this great blog..

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Need more help? We’ve got you! The momfluence.co campaign builder guides you step by step through your brief, with helpful tips and recommended information. Have more questions? Feel free to email us at hello@momfluence.co, or see of FAQ page or learn more About Us here!

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