A useful content brief helps a writer make decisions. It explains who the reader is, what they need to understand, which claims can be supported and what the finished piece should help them do.<\/p>\n
A title and a word count leave most of those decisions unresolved. Use the following brief for a guide, service article or campaign page, and remove fields that do not help the assignment.<\/p>\n
Describe the reader’s situation rather than listing a broad demographic. \u201cSmall-business owner\u201d is less useful than \u201can owner comparing two service proposals who cannot tell what is included in either price.\u201d The second description gives the writer a problem to solve.<\/p>\n
Then name the decision. Is the reader choosing an approach, preparing information, checking a result or understanding a limitation? One article can support related questions, but it needs a clear primary job.<\/p>\n
| Field<\/th>\n | What to write<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n |
|---|---|
| Reader<\/td>\n | Their role, situation and relevant prior knowledge<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Primary question<\/td>\n | The question the article must answer clearly<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Useful outcome<\/td>\n | What the reader should be able to decide or do afterward<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Scope<\/td>\n | What to cover and what belongs in a separate article<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Evidence<\/td>\n | Approved facts, original sources and the owner of each claim<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Example<\/td>\n | A permitted real example or an explicitly hypothetical one<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Structure<\/td>\n | The questions or steps that form the article<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Next step<\/td>\n | A relevant action and its working destination<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Review<\/td>\n | Who checks facts, language and publication readiness<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Delivery<\/td>\n | Required format, practical length, deadline and assets<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\nSeparate facts from ideas that need checking<\/h2>\nDo not put an attractive claim in the brief as if it were already established. Label it \u201cverify\u201d and say what evidence would make it usable. A writer should be able to distinguish an approved product specification from an interview suggestion or a rough estimate.<\/p>\n For each important statistic or quotation, keep the original source and enough context to interpret it. Record the date and population behind a statistic. A result from one campaign should not become a promise about every business.<\/p>\n If the evidence is unavailable, change the claim or omit it. A practical example can explain a method without pretending to be a customer success story.<\/p>\n A worked example: preparing for a workshop enquiry<\/h2>\nConsider a hypothetical training provider preparing a guide for team managers. Its brief might read as follows:<\/p>\n
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