A detailed copywriting brief forms the foundation of the collaborative process with your copywriter. The brief sets out the expectations for your copywriting project before work is started.

A well-written brief is vital to your copywriting project’s success. This becomes even more critical if you’re situated in another country and can’t meet your copywriter face-to-face.

Where do you begin when it comes to writing your copywriting brief? Here are the 15 essential points that your copywriting brief needs to cover.

1. Summarize the project

Provide an overview or a simple summary statement of what you want your copywriter to do. It lets your copywriter know the type of copy you need. Keep it simple and limit this to 1 or 2 sentences.

Example:

Brief: To write a brochure promoting our interior design services. The brochure will be targeted at newlyweds and we will be distributing this brochure at a home renovation fair in June.

2. Describe your business

If your copywriter has no knowledge of your business, it’s helpful to provide background information that will help your copywriter gain a better understanding of your company and industry.

• Company background: How did your company get started? What are its corporate values? How big is your company? Where are your markets?

• Products and services: What does your business do? What products, services or solutions do you provide to your customers? What benefits do they offer?

• Value proposition: How do your products or services help your customers? What problems do they solve? What are your unique selling points? How are you different?

• Customers: Who are your customers? Where are they based? What’s their typical profile?

• Competition: Who are your main competitors? How competitive is your industry? How are they similar or different to you?

• Brand personality: What does your brand stand for? What emotions do your brand conjure?

3. Determine the format

What exactly is it that you want your copywriter to write?

Is it a revamp of a website, the marketing pages of an annual report, a press release announcing financial results or a brochure about a new line of products?

4. Describe the objective

What do you hope to achieve with the copy?

Is it to get people to sign up for a newsletter, to generate more leads, to create awareness about a new service, to fill in a questionnaire, to position you as a thought leader in the market or to reposition your brand?

5. Define the target audience

One of the most important aspects of the brief is to define the target audience. This will help your copywriter to find the right choice of words that will strike a chord with your audience.

Be as specific as possible. Are you trying to reach career-minded young professionals with a high disposable income and who love to wine and dine, travel and socialize? Or perhaps you are targeting the retired baby boomer who has spare cash to splurge?

Sometimes, it may even help to build a persona – a fictional character with certain demographics that represent your typical customer profile.

For example: “May is a mother of two. She works full-time and makes most of the decisions when it comes to her children. She uses the internet to research for the best deals, brands, and schools for her children.”

As you begin to create a picture of your ideal target audience, include demographic information such as age, income, job, interests, education, gender and location. You should also dive into their reasons for buying, as well as their buying concerns.

6. Provide a title

The right title can entice your audience to take a closer look at your content. It will also help your copywriter to frame the content and steer the writing in the right direction.

It helps if you have an idea of the title or header of your article, white paper, blog post or speech. You can then work with your copywriter to refine the title to hook your audience and get them to continue reading.

A catchy title such as “10 tips and tricks to taking Instagram-worthy photos” will get you more clicks and reads rather than a staid and boring title such as “The adverse effects of eating the wrong foods on your skin.”

7. Explain the content

This is a critical part of the brief and you need to be as detailed as possible. It doesn’t matter if your language is not perfect. It’s your copywriter’s job to polish your language.

But it’s important that you know what you want the content to be all about so that your copywriter can translate your thoughts onto paper or the screen.

For example, in every marketing copy, your readers need to know how they will benefit from your product or service. Why is your product or service ideal for your audience? What pain points do they address?

Also, if your copy needs to accompany images, charts or graphs or other visuals, provide your copywriter with those details. Do you need captions or descriptions for those visuals? Do you need to make reference to those visuals in your copy?

Whatever it is, let your copywriter know the details.

8. Outline the key message 

The key message is what you want your audience to take away after reading your content. Some people may even describe it as the elevator pitch.

Consistent messaging enhances your brand and image. Sharing the key messages helps your copywriter to crystallize the information in a consistent manner.

 Your key messages set you apart from your competitors. What is so awesome about your product or service? It could be a statement that summarizes the main benefit of your product or service, or it could take the form of an advertising slogan that captures the very essence of what your brand is all about.

 It doesn’t matter if you don’t have the right words to say it. Your copywriter can do that for you. But you must communicate to your copywriter the essence of what you want your audience to know.

 Take a step back and think hard about what is the single most important piece of communication you want your audience to recall after reading your copy. Focus on getting across one main point – the most important point.

9. Specify the tone of voice

It’s important that your copy should sound as if it is coming from your brand.

What is your brand’s unique voice? If your company is a professional services firm offering B2B services, you would probably go for a formal, serious and authoritative tone. If your company is a creative services agency, you’d probably go for something more fun, casual and friendly.

Decide what sort of language your content should use. Should it be:

• Cheeky, humorous, light-hearted?
• Down-to-earth, reassuring, approachable?
• Serious, formal, professional?
• Chatty, laid-back, lively?

10. Pinpoint your SEO keywords

If your copy is going to be published online, you’ll need your content to be search-engine optimised.

Do you know your keywords? It helps to use longtail key words (i.e. longer rather than shorter keyword phrases) to boost your rankings. For example, “dual key condos Singapore” will work better rather than “condos Singapore”.

11. Nail down your call-to-action

 What do you want your audience to do after reading your content?

Do you want them to sign up for a newsletter, click to buy, make an appointment, share your post on social media, enter a competition or call a hotline for more information?

Let your copywriter know what specific action you want your audience to take.

12. Decide on your word count or page length

 Do you have a desired word length? Are there any word count constraints?

If it’s a thought leadership article, tell them the word count is 1,000 words. If it’s product descriptions for a brochure, tell your copywriter how many words they can play around with for the descriptions.

13. Identify your distribution method

 How will your content be published?

Will it be posted on a website, will it emailed as an e-newsletter, will it be printed or will you be posting a video on YouTube?

14. Establish your deadline

 Let your copywriter know when your copy is due, but be realistic about your timelines. You may need to outline key milestones for your project and come to an agreement with your copywriter on the deadlines. Be sure to set aside some buffer for revisions before the final deadline.

Don’t forget to inform your copywriter if something is driving your deadline. For example, you may need the copy for a trade brochure so that you can have it printed in time for a trade show you are participating in.

More importantly, engage your copywriter well in advance as he or she may be booked up for other projects as well.

15. Outline your budget

 Most of the time, you won’t know how much copywriting will cost and will ask your copywriter to quote for your project. But you may already have an idea of how much you are willing to spend or already have a budget set aside for the project.

It’s a good idea to be upfront with your copywriter about your budget. If your copywriter is able to deliver the work within the given budget, that will save you and your copywriter time without having to go back and forth to lock down the quotation.

Conclusion

 As the bedrock for your project, the copywriting brief is all about good communication. Get your copywriting project to a flying start with a great copywriting brief. Nail it and your copywriter will be able to rock your content.

Once you’ve appointed a copywriter for your project, the next step is to create the copywriting brief. It’s the one document you cannot do without. A clear and detailed brief will enable your copywriter to deliver writing that meets your expectations.

What is a copywriting brief?

A copywriting brief has everything your copywriter needs to know about your project. The brief contains instructions outlining what you expect of your copywriter and the goals you want to achieve with the project. It has all the background information necessary to steer your project in the right direction.

To help your copywriter create winning content, you need to outline your requirements and expectations clearly in the brief.

Who writes the copywriting brief?

The person in charge of the project usually prepares the copywriting brief. This could be the creative director, project manager, brand manager, marketing manager, or lead editor.

Why is a tight copywriting brief so important?

It’s all about good communication. A copywriting brief is there to make your life (and your copywriter’s) easier. By letting your copywriter know exactly what you want, your copywriter will be able to create copy that is specific and relevant to your business needs.

A tight brief helps your copywriter to get it right in a shorter amount of time, saving everybody time and money.

How does a copywriting brief benefit you?

It aligns the project with your goals. A brief helps you to articulate your goals to your copywriter. What are you trying to accomplish most with your project? Is it to build up web traffic, increase click-through-rates, boost sales, generate awareness or introduce a new product or service? Specifying your goal ensures your copywriter is committed to the same goal.

It keeps you focused. A copywriting brief helps to keep both you and your copywriter on the right track. Use the brief to set out your target market, specify the message you want to deliver, lay down the tone of voice to use and describe what the desired response should be.

It sets the deadline. Most copywriting projects are deadline-driven. Not only should a copywriting brief spell out what you expect from your copywriter, but it should also specify when you want the copy delivered to you.

It reduces the risk of rewrites. You want a copywriter who “gets it”. A tight brief will help your copywriter to nail the writing in a less amount of time. Time is not wasted on numerous drafts and you get the copy in the style you want.

It reduces the risk of a conflict. The copywriting brief forms the foundation for your relationship with your copywriter. An organized and comprehensive brief sets boundaries and helps your project to proceed smoothly. This reduces the chance of a miscommunication or misunderstanding over what is required of your copywriter.

What if you don’t have a copywriting brief?

For one, it could delay the completion of your project because your copywriter does not have all the information necessary to do a good job. Numerous rewrites could derail your project timeline.

The lack of a tight brief could also lead to less-than-effective copy. You may end up with content that does not communicate your key messages or copy that may not resonate with your audience.

Both you and your copywriter could also end up feeling frustrated. You may feel that you are not getting what you expected while your copywriter may feel it is difficult to deliver results without direction.

A copywriting brief can reduce all these risks.

Invest in a copywriting brief

It may take some time and effort to write a proper brief at the beginning of the project. But this investment is worth your while and the results should speak for themselves.

Coming up next: what goes into the copywriting brief. Stay tuned.

Many businesses often take writing for granted. Whether unintentional or not, poor grammar, bad spelling or sub-par content can reflect poorly on your business. It can even cause you to lose customers.

If you’re not a natural copywriter, it can be difficult to distil your ideas into an attention-grabbing headline or a concise 140-character tweet.

The reality is: writing matters. A great deal.

There’s no place for spelling mistakes and bad grammar in your business communications, website or marketing material. Yet, businesses often end up with gaffes such as its for it’s or your for you’re. Worse, the wrong choice of words could go against their brand identity.

Here are five ways bad writing could affect your business.

1. Poor content can tarnish your brand’s image

Every written word on your website or on your marketing collaterals is a reflection of your brand identity. It is important to cultivate that brand image through consistent positioning and messaging on all your content channels.

A poor written effort that is not coherent with your brand image can send an inconsistent message to your customers. Poor content leaves a bad impression and it can cost you your brand’s reputation.

2. Hard-to-understand content can drive away customers

A brochure that makes no sense, web content that is written in a language that is too convoluted, instructions that are too technical or an article that is full of jargon can be a huge turn-off for readers. They may decide that it’s not worth giving you business.

You only have a small window of opportunity to grab someone’s attention. Don’t waste it. Keep your writing simple and easy-to-read.

3. Sloppy writing shows you cannot be trusted

A brochure with punctuation errors, an email littered with spelling mistakes or a blog full of grammatical blunders show one thing: that you cannot even be bothered to check your writing before you print it, email it or post it.

This can make your business look unprofessional. And it hardly inspires confidence in your company, your brand or your products.

4. Terrible writing can result in negative word of mouth 

Great copywriting can do wonders for your business. A useful how-to blog post or a cleverly-written ad can generate buzz on social media and result in positive comments about your business, products or services.

But the opposite is also true. A terribly written piece could result in negative word of mouth or worse, make your the business the subject of ridicule on social media.

5. Poor grammar and spelling can affect your SEO rankings 

If you have a blog or a website, you’ll know that search engine rankings matter. Many elements go into the algorithm that determines how your page is ranked.

Reliability, usefulness and helpfulness of a website are key. And one of the ways in which to improve user experience is by ensuring that your website uses proper grammar and spelling. 

Matt Cutts, Google’s search engine expert, has been repeatedly asked whether spelling and grammar matter when it comes to evaluating content and site quality. In this 2011 Google Webmaster video, he says that “the ability to spell correlates relatively well” with the PageRank of a page.

Indeed, in assessing the quality of a page or article, Google’s Panda algorithm considers whether the article has “spelling, stylistic or factual errors”.

In short: reputable sites tend to spell better. On the other hand, lower page ranked sites tend not to spell as well.

Bottom line: quality copywriting sets your business apart

The professionalism of your business is reflected in your website and in the content you produce. Giving your customers the best impression of yourself through quality copywriting is absolutely vital to set you apart from your competitors.

Make it a priority to banish common grammar and spelling mistakes. Use your spell checker. And always proofread, proofread and proofread.

But if you’re still struggling to come up with error-free content that has the “wow” factor, perhaps it’s time to outsource your copywriting to a Singapore copywriter.

If you do not have the time nor desire to write, getting a professional copywriter to do the job for you is a better way to get results.

Words matter. Many businesses may not realize it, but copywriting is essential for growth. Here are 7 reasons why you need to pay attention to copywriting.

1. Content marketing is changing the game

Marketing strategies are now revolving around “storytelling”- the creation of unique content that engages your customers. For that, you need solid copywriting.

2. Your brand needs a voice

Inspiring copy can make your brand come alive. The language and tone used in your text reinforces your brand image. Are you fun, serious, friendly or helpful?

3. Compelling messaging is critical in copywriting

The words you use, how you use them and when you use them make a difference. Fail to use the right words to convey your key messages, and you fail in getting business.

4. SEO content helps you get found online

Search engines love content-rich websites that offer useful information to web users. You need a well-versed SEO copywriter who knows what needs to be done to optimise your content.

5. Words sell

A marketing campaign needs the right words to get your point across. If you want to drive sales, you need persuasive copy. The right words will have the power to convince your audience to take action.

6. Design can only do so much

Many businesses pay too much attention to design and not enough to content. A website may look visually stunning, but if it is poorly written, is littered with spelling or grammar mistakes or has irrelevant content, this is a huge turn-off for readers.

7. Social media has different sets of rules

If you’re on social media to get more clicks, likes and exposure, you’re not alone. But you need to customize the way you write for different social media platforms be it crafting that Facebook snippet, summarizing your headline into a 140-character tweet or updating your Linkedin profile.

If you have not been paying much effort to sprucing up your copy, it’s time you do so. Copywriting should not be last on your agenda. After all, copywriting is all about communicating with your prospects and customers. And they are at the heart of your business.