Download Creative Brief Template for free

A creative brief template is a document that is used when working with marketing or advertising campaigns. This document serves as a map or guideline to be followed by members of the creative team.

It shows the team where to start and how to proceed with the campaign. Creative briefs are created by the requesting party to define how they want their project to be run.

When a company wishes to hire another business to create advertisements, websites, or promotional videos, it usually starts with a creative brief. This document represents the wishes of the requesting company for the creative project. In short, it is a guide used during the development of the marketing material.

Purpose of a creative brief template

If you haven't worked on a creative brief before, it can be a little challenging to come up with one for the first time. That's where the creative brief template word template comes in and outlines the project goals, deliverables, target audience, and stakeholders.

The creative brief template serves as a guide to show you the content that should be included in the creative brief. You can use a creative brief template to help you define clearly what you expect in terms of deliverables and the strategy for communication.

Regardless of the project type, a creative brief helps you come up with an action plan to create a finished product that everyone will be happy with.

A proper creative brief template must inspire the creative team to brainstorm and develop the best ideas and effective communication strategies. This is why you must use a detailed template to ensure that the creative team is well-informed and thoroughly understand the specific problem. After going through your creative brief, the design team must be in a position to come up with a creative and innovative solution.

Features of a good creative brief template

Creative brief templates are usually limited to 1-2 pages only. The document should be just long enough to outline the crucial components.

Creative briefs must be created and completed during or before the design phase. A creative brief template clarifies the course of action to ensure that every creative deliverable will be made as per the strategy.

A creative brief template must be short to avoid boredom on the part of the designers and ensure that every visual element is done according to the content strategy.

Most members of creative teams will not be too inspired if a creative brief document is too long and takes pages for something like an audience description. It's not fun to go through multiple pages trying to understand how to go about a project. Creative brief templates that are too long can hinder designers' creativity, which can result in mediocre projects.

Content of a creative brief template

The free creative brief template must contain all the essential project components for your creative project. For you to come up with an effective creative brief, include the following elements:

• Your company description
• The project summary
• An explanation of your project objectives
• The target audience of the creative project
• An outline of the critical deliverables
• Details about your competitors
• The details of the message, style, and context of the project
• Timeline of the project
• The budget of the project
• A list of the project stakeholders, i.e. your internal team, project managers and others

You must include the above details when you are creative. Once you have addressed these points, be sure that you have created an informative and thorough creative brief that acts as a centralized platform for real time project updates.

How to use a creative brief template

To use the creative brief template, you must first download the template document. Once you have the creative brief template downloaded locally in your files, it's best to rename it first before editing and using it for something like marketing plans.

You can then go through the document with your team and identify the appropriate questions for your given situation. Generally, the following are the questions that you will want to answer as you come up with your creative brief:

• What is the purpose of the project?
• Who is involved in the project?
• Who is the project for? What is the target audience? What is the distribution strategy?
• What tasks need to be completed for the project?

You can either use the creative brief template on your own or together with the creative team. Collaborating with the creative team to make a creative brief has its advantages. Both of you get to understand the project, and when it commences, everyone will be on the same page. The creative brief template is therefore beneficial to both the customer and the creative team.

The benefits of using a creative brief template

There are many benefits to using the best creative brief template. During the definition phase of a project, you must communicate the problem so that the creative team can easily understand it. This is where the template comes in and facilitates the creative process.

This short document can help you encourage the design project team and furnish them with the necessary details about marketing, branding, and demographics. It helps lay a foundation for the creative team to develop high-quality deliverables for the customer.

Every creative agency starts with a brief, whether it's writing, design or social media campaigns. It contains all the essential elements, marketing guidelines and creative requirements to ensure everyone is happy with the work done.

Benefits to the customer

• The customer will be able to clarify the project objectives and the goals of the larger project before the kickoff meeting.
• There will be no assumptions; all the facts will be presented, which is crucial in a complex project - the brief serves as a communication tool
• This template allows the stakeholders to provide their input on the project
• It helps the creative team and the customer to come to an agreement more easily, e.g. for a marketing campaign
• This template enables the customer to have a reference point for assessment.
• It holds the creative team accountable for the deliverables.
• It serves as a yardstick for the success of the project.

Benefits to the creative team

• It enables the designers to have the relevant background information for the project, e.g. for the video creative.
• It displays the key details, facts, insights, competitive analysis and vision of the brand.
• It uncovers the personality, tastes, and values of the requesting company.
• It shows buy-in by the customer who can see the project overview ahead of time.
• It explains the project, e.g. the marketing strategy and how it aligns with the company background and future goals.
• It helps prevent project scope creep from happening and ensures you stay within the project budget.
• It keeps every one of the creative team up to speed with the project and client campaign.
• It offers criteria for assessment to determine if it was a successful project or not.

The free creative brief template pdf is an important document that helps to make a project flow smoothly. Everyone will understand what needs to be done, and it will be easy to assess whether a project has failed or succeeded.

Who should use a creative brief?

Anyone who wants to reach their campaign goals can benefit from a simple template for a creative brief. However, these teams will specifically benefit from a creative brief:

- Advertising agencies

- Marketing teams

- Graphic design professionals

- Project managers

Basically, anyone who needs to run creative campaigns with lots of key stakeholders and project requirements.