You’ll find that a creative brief shares much of the same information as your project proposal outline. Both documents align teams on core objectives and expected outcomes. Think of your creative brief as the strategic roadmap that brings your project proposal to life through creative execution. 

The top of the creative brief template provides space for all the essential top-level project details. These elements create accountability and set clear parameters for the project. 

The project overview table then helps you establish your foundation and set goals. In the left column, address each topic with 2-3 focused sentences or bullet points that outline:

• Your project's core purpose

• Available opportunities

• Potential challenges

• Competitive landscape

• Key selling points

• Value propositions that set you apart

In the objectives section, detail how your project will address the challenges identified in your overview. List all relevant objectives but prioritize them as high, medium, or low to maintain a clear focus.

This is the core of your plan. You’ll present your strategy and explain why it, along with supportive, creative assets, is the right approach. Pro tip: To really impress your audience, tie your brand strategy to the information included in the project overview table

The creative requirements area includes several sections that help writers, designers, producers, or other creators understand what you’re trying to achieve and develop the right concepts and assets to meet your goals. So, be crystal clear in these sections. The concept statement gives the team the mindset to get started, while the target audience section helps them narrow their ideas by what would resonate the most with their desired customer.

Your creative marketing brief template should incorporate relevant marketing research findings to ensure creative directions align with audience insights and market trends. Include basic demographics like age, gender, and geography, but prioritize details such as customer pain points and motivations. If you have customer personas, pull in or link to that information here as well.

Pre-creative and post-creative behavior describes the desired impact of your project, while the key message explains what you hope your customer will think after the campaign. Reason to believe speaks for itself: why should your customer take your word for your product or service? Finally, voice and tone convey what aspect of your brand is most appropriate for this valuable customer segment.

The deliverables table is all about the facts. Use this section to outline your specific requests, include the necessary specs, and @ mention the team member responsible for execution.

The budget section outlines the allocated funds for the creative assets so the team understands their boundaries. In the timeline and review process section, determine when you need everything and who the approvers are.

This is when you get to analyze your competitors. Scope out what the competition is doing and share some of those samples here. With this in mind, your creative team knows what to avoid doing – and what you can start doing that isn’t on your competition’s radar. It can also help the team learn from their mistakes or execute one of their strategies in a brand new way.