Most disappointing articles were decided before the writer typed a word. The brief said "1,500 words on warehouse automation, by Friday", and that is exactly what came back.
A writer can only use what you give them. If the brief names a topic and a word count, you get a correct summary of what is already online. If it names a reader, a question, an angle and a person to interview, you get something only your company could have published.
The ten questions below make that difference. Answer each one in the box under it as you read. Your answers are saved in this browser, and at the end you can copy or download them as a finished brief.
The short answer
A good content brief answers ten questions: who the reader is, what question the piece answers, what the reader should do next, what you know that others do not, who the writer can interview, what proof can be used, what must be included or avoided, the format and length, how it should sound, and who approves it by when. One page is enough.
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1. Who is the reader?
"Decision makers" is not a reader. A writer needs one person to picture: their job, what they already know and what is making them search today. That picture decides the vocabulary, the depth and the examples.
Cover
- Job title, and the kind of company they work for
- What they already know about the subject
- What just happened that made them look for this
- Who else reads it before a decision: a manager, finance, a technical reviewer
Avoid
- Three audiences in one piece. Pick one and write another piece for the next.
- Describing the reader by age or location when their job is what matters.
2. What question does the piece answer?
A topic is not a question. "Warehouse automation" could be forty different articles. "What does it cost to automate a 5,000 square metre warehouse?" is one, and the writer knows when it has been answered.
Cover
- The question, in the words a buyer would type or ask an AI assistant
- Two or three follow-up questions the same reader asks next
- The search phrase you would like the page found for, if you have one
Worth knowing
- Ask sales and support which questions they answered this week. Those are your topics.
- If the piece is for search, SEO content writing adds the query research to this brief.
3. What should the reader do next?
Every piece should lead somewhere that suits a reader at that stage. Someone reading a beginner's guide is not ready for a sales call, and someone reading a comparison of suppliers probably is.
Cover
- The one next step: a related guide, a tool, a sample, an enquiry
- The page that step lives on
- What happens after they take it, and how fast
Avoid
- "Contact us" at the end of everything, whatever the reader came for.
- Three competing buttons. One clear step beats a menu.
4. What do you know that others do not?
This is the question briefs leave out, and it is the one that matters most. If your piece says what the first ten results already say, there is no reason for anyone to read yours, or for a search engine to prefer it.
Cover
- Something you see in your work that the usual advice gets wrong
- A mistake customers make before they come to you
- A method, a rule of thumb or a number from your own projects
- An opinion you would defend in front of a competitor
If you are stuck
- Ask your most experienced person: "What do people always get wrong about this?"
- The answer is usually the article.
5. Who can the writer interview?
Half an hour with the person who knows the subject is worth more than a week of desk research. The writer gets the detail, the examples and the way your company talks about the problem, all at once.
Cover
- The name and role of the person who knows this subject
- How much time they can give: 20 to 30 minutes is usually enough for one piece
- Existing material the writer should read first: decks, proposals, call recordings
Worth knowing
- Busy experts say yes more easily to a call than to "can you write something".
- This is how our blog writing services work: one short interview per article.
6. What proof can be used?
Readers believe what they can check. List the numbers, projects and sources the writer is allowed to use, and say where each one comes from. A number without a source is a liability, because one wrong figure makes a reader doubt the rest.
Cover
- Figures you can share, with their source and date
- Customer projects you may name, and any that must stay anonymous
- Outside sources you trust, such as standards bodies or regulators
- Anything confidential that must not appear
Avoid
- Round numbers nobody can trace.
- Customer names used without written permission. Our guide on writing a B2B case study covers approvals.
7. What must be included, and what must be avoided?
Every company has a short list of things that must be said and things that must never be. Writers find out about them in the second round of edits unless you put them in the brief.
Include
- Products, pages or tools the piece should mention and link to
- Terms you always use, and how you spell them
- Legal or regulatory wording that applies
Avoid
- Claims you cannot support, such as guarantees
- Competitor names, if that is your policy
- Words your buyers dislike or do not use
8. What format and length suit the job?
Choose the format from what the reader has to do with the piece, then let the length follow. A method needs steps. A choice needs a table. A decision that costs a lot needs evidence and room to lay it out.
Cover
- The format: how-to, comparison, checklist, explainer, case study, white paper
- Parts you expect: a table, a worked example, a diagram, questions and answers
- A length range, as a guide and not a target
- Where it will be published and where else it will be used
Worth knowing
- Padding to reach a word count is the fastest way to lose a reader.
- Not sure which format fits? See content writing vs copywriting vs content marketing.
9. How should it sound?
"Professional but friendly" describes every company and helps no writer. Point to something real instead: a page you like, a person whose emails read well, or a list of phrases you never want to see.
Cover
- Two or three pieces whose tone you like, yours or anyone's
- Who is speaking: the company, a named expert, the founder
- Spelling and style: British or American, "we" or the company name
- Words and phrases to keep out
A quick test
- Would your most respected engineer say this sentence out loud to a customer?
- If not, it does not belong on the page.
10. Who approves it, and by when?
Drafts go stale in inboxes. Name one person who checks the facts and one who gives the final yes, and put dates against both. Too many reviewers turn a clear piece into a compromise.
Cover
- Who checks technical accuracy
- Who gives final approval: one name
- Dates for the interview, the draft, the review and publishing
- How many rounds of changes you expect
Avoid
- Review by committee. Collect comments in one document, from named people.
- Reviewers rewriting for style when they were asked to check facts.
Your brief is ready to send
Copy it into an email or download it as a text file. Questions you skipped show as "Not answered yet", so you can see what is left.
A Filled-In Brief, on One Page
This is what a finished brief looks like. The company is made up, to show the level of detail that helps a writer. Notice how short each answer is.
| Question | Answer in the brief |
|---|---|
| Reader | Plant engineers at municipal water treatment sites. They specify; purchasing orders. |
| Question | How do I work out what size dosing pump my plant needs? |
| Next step | Send flow rate and dose through the sizing form. Reply within one working day. |
| Angle | Most guides ignore back pressure, the most common reason we replace undersized pumps. |
| Expert | Applications engineer, 30 minutes by call next week. |
| Proof | Test bench data for one pump series. One named project, approved by the client. |
| Include and avoid | Mention the sizing calculator. No competitor names. No delivery promises. |
| Format and length | How-to with a worked example and one table. About 1,200 to 1,500 words. |
| Voice | A senior engineer explaining to a new colleague. Plain, no sales talk. |
| Approval | Engineer checks facts, marketing lead approves. Draft by the 14th, live by the 21st. |
A brief like this takes about twenty minutes to write. It usually saves a round of revisions, and it is the difference between an article about pumps and an article your engineers would put their name to.