The Brief That Prevents Draft Three
Copy rarely misses because the writer cannot write. It misses because the brief said ‘website copy’ and meant conversion, said ‘playful’ and meant authority, said ‘launch’ and meant next quarter. A writing brief completed by the client, in their words, with their taste attached as links — that is the difference between draft one and draft three, and it costs the client six minutes.
Five Facts Every Brief Needs
- The reader. One person, described: a name, a job, a frustration. Not ‘target audience’ — a long text that forces a face.
- The action. What should the reader do after reading — book, buy, reply, reconsider? One short text, no hedging.
- The voice. Three adjectives the brand would answer to, and one it would never wear.
- The channel and the count. Where it runs — a dropdown of homepage, email sequence, LinkedIn, landing page — and the realistic length via number field. Writing 800 words when the client meant 200 is the classic, avoidable waste.
- The proof. Numbers, testimonials, guarantees the copy is allowed to use — collected through file upload so claims never rest on imagination.
Borrow Their Taste
The fastest voice calibration ever invented: two website links to copy the client admires, one they loathe. Writers reverse-engineer taste from examples faster than from adjectives — and the loathed link is usually more instructive than the loved ones. Clients who claim no examples exist still have a competitor whose homepage makes them envious; the form finds it.
The Review Loop, Stated Upfront
Who approves, how many rounds, and by when: a named approver, a round limit, and a delivery date. Most copy grief is a review process nobody defined — the brief defines it in three fields, and the responses view keeps the agreement where the work starts. For repeat clients, recall information carries voice and audience answers forward so each new brief starts half-written.
Frequently Asked Questions
The client has no examples of copy they love. Now what?
Ask for their competitors’ best page instead. Admiration has a target even when clients deny having one.
Should SEO keywords live in the brief?
Yes — pasted in, with intent noted beside each. Keywords without intent are a list of traps; the note is what turns them into copy.
One master brief or one per asset?
Per asset for the deliverable specifics; a master brand section recalled into each via recall fields. Both, in other words — the structure supports it.
The brief arrived and it's still vague. Now what?
The vagueness is the finding. A fifteen-minute call held against their written answers exposes it fast — and the sibling marketing-forms collection covers the content formats that follow.