How to Brief a Marketing Agency

You’ve selected a great marketing agency. Now it’s time for them to get to work!

Before they’re off to the races, however, you have one very important hurdle to clear: writing the marketing brief.

Back up a second. What IS a marketing brief?

In general terms, a marketing brief is a document that:

• states the agreed-upon objectives of a marketing campaign or initiative;
• clearly defines the requirements and scope of the work to be done;
• provides marketing professionals essential information about your organization, to inform and guide their work.

In addition to providing clear direction, a brief also provides an important control function, by allowing you to verifying marketing results (i.e., to determine if the campaign was successful) once work is complete.

Okay, but who should write the marketing brief: me, or the agency?

Typically, writing the brief is the agency’s job, but you play a critical role in ensuring the marketing firm clearly understands your business and the results you want to achieve.

Here’s how to brief your marketing agency, so they do a great job writing your marketing brief:

1. Share your problems. Your marketing firm can only help you if they understand what you’re struggling with. They’re problem-solvers. They enjoy challenge! Tell them where it hurts. Clearly outline the problem you’re trying to solve, and the results you need to achieve.
2. Provide a brief overview of your company, as well as what you do or sell.
3. Describe your target audience (both existing customers and ideal prospects).
4. Outline where your company is now (in terms of performance, structure, key challenges) and where you want to be (i.e., your strategic goals).
5. Explain who your top competitors are, so the agency knows who you’re selling against.
6. Disclose your budget. Let your marketing firm how much money you have to spend, so they know which marketing vehicles can be considered for execution.
7. Share your likes and dislikes. Provide examples of other businesses whose marketing you think is fantastic, as well as examples of what you don’t like. In each case, explain why.

Work with the marketing agency to define these aspects of the brief:

1. Objectives of the marketing brief (i.e., what you’re ultimately trying to accomplish).
2. Execution plan (i.e., the marketing vehicles to be used to accomplish the objective).
3. Marketing deliverables (i.e., the specific products and/or services the marketing firm will deliver for you).
4. Timelines for delivery.
5. Tracking and goals (i.e., how progress will be gauged and success will be measured).

Need a marketing partner you can trust?

Give BARQAR (bark-er) a call. With decades of marketing experience and a crack team of digital and creative professionals, we’re here to guide you every step of the way. We’ll assess your needs, explain how we can help, and make it easy for you to get the results you need.