If you stare at an empty screen (we’ve all been there) trying to figure out how to develop a marketing briefing, there are a few questions that you can ask yourself to get to the heart of the problems and solutions your campaign will solve.
Use these indicative questions along with our free marketing short templates to help you create a brief that has just enough information – but not also Much – to get your team excited and on the same page.
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The meaning of a marketing card
One of the first steps in a campaign is to prepare a marketing brief – sometimes called a creative brief or campaign brief – that acts as the only source of truth on the project.
It indicates a single vision that everyone can buy into, and more importantly, it defines the goal, the scope and the problem the project is trying to solve. Writing a large marketing brief gives you a strong foundation for your campaign.
How to write a marketing card
The marketing briefing is the starting point that any decision and movement taken on the project must adapt – and that means it is also a living document.
Marketing contracts help to resolve any misunderstandings before you get to work. This document must clarify for all involved – copywriters, designers, developers, marketers – all aspects of the project, goals and even the timeline. If you work for an external client or a stakeholder, your brief must confirm that you understand their problem and have a strategy to solve it.
When campaigns and projects are changed, demands are added or removed and new insights are detected. You can update this document as the project develops to make sure everyone remains focused on the underlying problem and knows their responsibilities.
8 Question that helps you write a good marketing brief
The marketing briefing is not published online for the masses for approval but that Do Need to get hold of your team at the heart and get them excited – and answer any questions they may have about the campaign.
It does not need to include all available information. It should not take you more than five minutes to understand the project, strategy and goals. It must be a useful document that is easy to scan, clear and actionable.
I have eight questions that help guide you through your first marketing brief. Before asking yourself these questions, you must already have a grip on your buyer or audience persona so you know who your target audience is. Using ours Creative short templates When drawing your answers, it can also be helpful.
1. What problem do we solve and why do we solve it? What is the benefit?
Describe the problem your campaign should solve. Don’t just write down what your client or internal stakeholders say – try to go deeper and approach it from different angles so you exactly catch the full extent.
To change consumer behavior, you must first understand what they are doing now and what opportunities they have that they (not) embrace.
Let’s use the campaign card for HubSpots 2025 State of Marketing Report as an example. The State of Marketing Report is an annual offering and it is assembled based on extensive research that HubSpot performs.
The question of what problem the offer will solve directly in Target group section:
We provide a resource to our readers and customers who are marketers trying to get an advantage in an AI-driven business landscape. The report promises tools and insights – the benefits – and recognizes the challenges of counting on the rapid increase in AI in the marketing of workflows.
2. Who are we trying to reach this campaign?
Who is the target audience or the persona? How does this consumer group solve their pain points now? What other options do they have?
You will see in the marketing card above that we have also outlined our market (global English) and segments (small and medium -sized businesses, the middle market and the company). This is linked to our value proposition to “help millions of businesses grow better.”
We have also defined the roles that our target group is likely to occupy – marketing leaders and directors, CMOs and content strategists. When we make the copy for this campaign, this will help us adapt to the people we will target and who we think will get the most value from our state of marketing report.
3. What are the deliveries to this campaign?
Print -Advertisement? Social media? Messes? Billboards? Tv -ads? Podcasts? Talk shows? Video ads?
What communication channels do you want to use and how do you want to use them? How do they build and support each other? What are the best vehicles to reach your intended audience? What are the deliveries you have committed to?
Each communication channel needs a call for action (CTA) that helps the buyer move forward at the time in their purchase process. And that CTA should take advantage of the medium where it is delivered.
A video ad CTA will be different from a print on CTA, which will deviate from a CTA in a blog post. Mapping the buyer’s journey, identifying their questions and concerns along the way and understanding where they go for information will help you answer this question.
This is also a good time to think about the measurements you use to measure success. Before you even start, set smart goals so everyone is clear about what really matters – to get results.
4. Do we expect any internal or external factors that compromise on the completion of the above deliveries? If so, how and why?
Be honest with yourself and your team and do a SWOT analysis if you are stuck. If you work with external suppliers on design if you are in a time scrap or if there are complicated workflows and approval processes – this is all that can compromise your deliveries.
This may not have a place in your final marketing briefing, depending on its intended audience, but the question will still help guide your timeline and help you manage expectations.
5. What are our brand values? How can we use them to shape the tone of this campaign?
Your brand values - and your brand promise – emphasize everything you do. This marketing campaign is no different. If you find out that the campaign Don’t do it Talk to your brand values, take a step back and visit these values again. How can they reshape your campaign?
E.g. Are the voice points (see below) in the brief for Hubspot’s state of marketing report symbolically for our promise to “help millions of companies grow better.” Although specific to this product – such as “AI revolutionizing marketing workflows, enabling faster data analysis and smarter, personalized customer engagement” – each one is carefully made to deliver our brand – promise.
6. What do we want our audience to remove from this campaign? What do we want them to feel?
Put yourself in your audience shoes. They do not know the product or service you offer as good as you do; What did it take to persuade you to intervene? Is your messaging ready enough that each part of your campaign will evoke the feelings you want it to?
We know that there is an emotional component for decision making; We often rationalize decisions after We’ve made a choice. This means that you have to understand the feelings you want to induce in buyers during their decision -making process and after they bought what you’ve sold. What are these feelings and when do they feel them?
At this point, you have enough information to develop a brief overview of your campaign. This is the top module for the campaign card for the 2025 -Marketing Report:
7. What can you say that makes your audience believe in your message? What proof can you offer to build trust and validate your message?
Of course, it is not enough to tute claims to make your audience believe in your product or your service, and it certainly will not build confidence with them.
When writing your messages, keep an eye on hyperbolic language or rhetoric – you won’t give promises you can’t hold. Make sure you include evidence or other basic information that can help you build trust with your audience.
8. What is the campaign not Will you cover? What messages, feelings or features would you avoid?
Putting out what to avoid will help your team prevent erroneous mistakes and misunderstandings. There were perhaps features that were discussed early in the project that will no longer be part of the final product, or maybe there are certain emotions that you will be very sure that you will not induce in your messages.
Write your first marketing card
These eight questions give you the foundation you need to write your first marketing brief. Download our free marketing contract templates to create a sharp-looking document that gets your team excited about the campaign-and gives a clear plan for everyone involved.