Beyond Templates: Here's A Fresh Approach to Content Briefs Creation

Chelsea Frost

Content Strategist

Jun 21, 2020

Content briefs are convenient but can often kill creativity and strategy, especially when they’re templated. But what if there’s a better way? Creating truly effective content often requires more than a standard template, and a strong content strategy is the foundation.

In this article, we’ll shake things up and explore how to breathe new life into your content briefs, which, after all, are often the starting point of your entire content strategy! These briefs should guide the creation of every piece of content.

Ready to break free? Let’s jump in.

What are Content Briefs?

Content briefs act like roadmaps that guide writers, designers, and marketers to create great content that hits the mark every time. They’re detailed game plans that outline everything from the target audience, goal, key messaging, SEO keywords, and content structure. A well-crafted content brief is essential for producing high-quality content that search engines will favor.

However, they’re not just a checklist of must-haves.

A good , creative content brief should capture the essence of what you’re trying to achieve without being boring or “formulaic”. In fact, the best ones break the mold and let creativity in. They allow you to explore new angles while keeping you focused on your goals.

Truly creative briefs inspire innovation and also motivate you to write a higher-quality content piece.

Why should you use a content brief?

First off, they save you a ton of headaches.

Without a brief, you’re basically shooting in the dark. You might end up with content that misses the mark, doesn't align with your brand, or falls flat with your audience. A good brief keeps everyone on the same page – from writers to designers to stakeholders. This ensures that the content quality remains high.

Content briefs can also boost your ROI. They help you create content that actually performs. When you've got a clear direction, you're more likely to hit those KPIs, whether it's boosting organic traffic, generating leads, or increasing conversions. Many content marketers rely on them for this reason.

Plus, briefs speed up the whole content production process. If done well, they eliminate the need for endless revision or poor communication with writers and clients. You’ll get it right the first time, saving tons of time and money.

This is a key benefit for the overall content creation process.

The 5 essential components of a good content brief

Most content specialists can create a content brief. But how do you make sure it’s actually useful and not just another process you spend hours on without any real benefit? Because a detailed content brief is more than just a list of instructions...

We’ve got a set of criteria that separates the good briefs from the great ones. Let’s explore them.

1st component - Audience-centric storytelling

Audience-centric storytelling is the first step of building a great content brief, and it starts with in-depth persona development. You analyze demographic data, conduct interviews, and study behavioral patterns to create detailed audience profiles. These profiles include job roles, industry challenges, preferred content formats, and even specific pain points like budget constraints or time pressures.

Next, you’ll map these personas onto the audience's journey.

This involves breaking down the buying process into stages like awareness, consideration, and decision (think of them like stages of the marketing funnel, which we’ll explore more in-depth below). The goal here is to align each piece of content with the audience's needs.

For each stage,you should identify key questions the audience is asking and the content types that best address these questions. For example, in the awareness stage, you might focus on educational blog posts that address industry trends. In the consideration stage, you could prioritize case studies or comparison guides. This helps define the content goal.

2nd component - Data-driven insights

And here comes the second component, data-driven insights. This is where your SEO content briefs start to take shape and your overall content strategy gains focus.

What we want here is to stop relying on gut feelings or past experiences. We want to think outside the box and try to integrate real-time analytics into every brief we create.

But what does this mean?

We can pull data from various sources—website traffic, social media engagement, search trends, and even customer feedback. We look at the types of people checking out our website and try to tailor our briefs and intent accordingly. This might involve using a keyword research tool to identify relevant keywords, including the primary keyword and relevant secondary keywords.

You could also use AI to brainstorm different audience pain points and needs. For example, Yahini uses its own AI model trained by content strategists to create data-driven content briefs that include a primary keyword and supporting secondary keywords.

3rd component - Agile adaptation

The 3rd criterion refers to keeping your content brief dynamic and responsive. Your brief isn’t set in stone, it should evolve with your content marketing strategy.

And it all starts from the ground up. Start by implementing feedback loops at every stage of the content creation process. Writers, editors, and even your audience (actually, the insights you get from them) should provide input that's immediately incorporated into the brief. This ensures the content outlines remain relevant.

You might adjust tone, tweak messaging, or pivot topics based on real-world performance and feedback.

The type of content might also need to change.

4th component - Funnel stage

When building a content brief, know what stage of the funnel your audience is at, whether Top of Funnel (TOFU), Middle of Funnel (MOFU), or Bottom of Funnel (BOFU). This is fundamental for any SEO-focused content brief.

For TOFU, focus on awareness and education. The briefs should emphasize broad, informative content that addresses general pain points or industry trends. We're not pushing for a sale here – we're establishing authority and building trust. Perhaps you'll include external links to reputable sources.

MOFU briefs get more specific. You're dealing with an audience that's aware of their problem and considering solutions. The content needs to showcase your unique value proposition. Include comparison guides, case studies, or detailed how-to content. This is where identifying the right primary keyword becomes even more crucial, and supporting it with strong secondary keywords is also important.

And BOFU briefs are all about conversion. You're targeting people ready to make a decision. The content briefs here focus on overcoming final objections, providing detailed product information, and including clear calls-to-action. We might specify content like product demos, free trials, or customer testimonials. Don't forget to specify the need for internal links to relevant product pages.

5th component - User intent

And now, the final component – knowing and targeting your content for the right user intent. This will heavily influence how search engines interpret and rank your content.

This is a critical factor that goes beyond funnel stages, and it’s all about understanding the specific goal a user has when they interact with your content. This could be informational (seeking knowledge), navigational (looking for a specific page or site), commercial (researching products), or transactional (ready to buy). Analyzing search intent is key here.

The idea is to match your content format and depth to the user's intent. This might mean creating multiple content pieces on the same topic, each tailored to a different intent. Even the meta description should align with this intent.

Point is, a successful content brief has user intent in mind, and its structure reflects that. It guides the content writer to produce SEO content that resonates.

Changing your mindset when it comes to content briefs

We now have the 5 pillars to great content briefs, but how do we move beyond the standard approach and sprinkle in a bit of creativity and “uniqueness”?

Many content marketing teams struggle with this. A flexible content strategy allows for this evolution.

Too often, we treat content briefs like a checklist, ticking off boxes without really engaging our brains. But here's the truth: great content doesn't come from following a template. It comes from understanding your audience, your content marketing goals, and the unique value you bring to the table. This is especially true for creating a compelling blog post.

We need to encourage critical thinking over a checkbox mentality.

Instead of asking "What target keywords should we use?", ask "Why would our audience care about this topic?" Instead of "What's our target word count?", consider "How can we provide the most value in the most efficient way?" This shift in thinking transforms your brief from a set of instructions into a strategic document.

The chosen writing style should also reflect this deeper understanding.

Your brief should provide a clear framework, but within that framework, there needs to be room for innovation and original thinking. Encourage your content team to challenge assumptions, propose new angles, and think outside the box. A good brief should inspire, not constrain. It should also consider the tone of voice outlined in your style guide.

Remember, the goal of a content brief isn't to dictate every detail. It's to provide a clear direction while leaving room for the expertise and creativity of your content creators.

Even experienced writers benefit from this clarity. :)

The “Brief-less experiment”

But can you move forward and create content without having a brief? This might involve trusting your subject matter experts more and can significantly alter the content creation process.

Now, of course this makes sense if you’re a one-person team working on a single website. But what if you’re working with a team or juggling multiple clients who want to see a draft before you move on to creation? Or what if you're creating a social media post that needs quick turnaround?

Let’s talk a bit about the “Brief-less” experiment.

It's a radical idea but one that's worth exploring. Some companies have found that removing rigid briefs can lead to more creative, authentic content, especially when compared to relying on insights from top-ranking articles alone that are often optimized for a specific primary keyword.

But this doesn't mean you're working without any guidance. Instead of formal briefs, you might use collaborative brainstorming sessions. Teams can bounce ideas off each other, challenge assumptions, and develop concepts organically. This approach can be particularly effective for generating ideas for a new blog post.

Another alternative is the "minimal brief" approach. Instead of a detailed document, provide just a few key points - the core message, target audience, and main goal. This gives content creators a direction without boxing them in, encouraging them to focus on relevant keywords and secondary keywords organically.

It’s time to rethink everything you know about content briefs

We've explored how to move beyond rigid templates and checkbox mentalities to create dynamic, strategic briefs that truly drive content success. This is important for any content writer or content marketer. The right brief makes your content strategy more effective.

We’ve challenged the status quo (and loved it!) and encouraged a shift form fill-in-the-blanks to critical thinking. This can help you create quality content that stands out from what search engines typically show.

Try to embrace these principles in your brief creation and see where they take you! Even for long-tail keywords or niche topics, a fresh approach can make a difference.

And, if you need a helping hand…

… Yahini offers you the strategic advice you need to create a content strategy from the ground up. Its AI has been trained by seasoned content strategists, providing you with expert-level content briefs right at your fingertips.

Ditch the generic outlines! Sign up now.

1. Need a 24/7 content strategist? See how Yahini can help you craft perfect content briefs.

2. Any questions? I’m happy to help! Just reach out to us!

3. Not ready yet? Learn more about Yahini here.