Marketing brief template: what goes in it (and a worked example)

"Marketing brief" gets used loosely — sometimes it means the whole campaign plan, sometimes a one-page instruction for one piece of work. This is the second kind: the fill-in template for a single marketing job, plus a worked example so you can see the level of detail that actually helps.

First: is this a brief or a plan?

A marketing brief instructs one piece of work: one audience, one message, one deliverable set, one approval path. A campaign plan arranges many pieces of work across channels and weeks — dates, budgets, sequencing. If you're deciding what happens when and where, you need the campaign planning template. If the "what and when" is settled and you need someone to produce the work, this brief is the right tool.

The template — nine fields, fill in this order

1. The objective, as a number and a date. "Generate 200 qualified trial signups by 31 March." If you can't write this, stop — the project isn't ready to brief.
2. The audience and their current belief. One sentence: "[Who] currently believes [belief], and we need them to believe [new belief]."
3. The one message. One sentence a busy person would remember. If there are three messages, there are three projects.
4. Support — then cut it in half. The facts, offers, proof points that make the message credible. Two strongest survive.
5. Deliverables and sizes. Specific: "3 static socials (1080×1080), 1 landing hero". Vague deliverables are where rounds multiply.
6. Real constraints (vs preferences). Legal lines, brand colours, mandatory disclaimers, channel specs. Mark preferences as preferences or they'll be treated as law.
7. Mandatories from the client side. Logos, taglines, anything that must appear verbatim.
8. Approver and dates. One named approver. Draft date, feedback date, final date. "Anyone can comment, one person approves."
9. Out of scope. What this work is NOT. Prevents the slow scope-creep that kills timelines.

OBJECTIVE: [number + date]
AUDIENCE: [who] currently believes [belief]; we need them to believe [new belief]
ONE MESSAGE: [one sentence]
SUPPORT: [2 proof points]
DELIVERABLES: [item — size — quantity]
CONSTRAINTS (real): [legal/brand/spec]
MANDATORIES: [verbatim items]
APPROVER: [name] · DRAFT DUE: [date] · FEEDBACK BY: [date] · FINAL: [date]
OUT OF SCOPE: [what this is not]

Worked example

A 12-person SaaS company briefing a landing-page refresh:

• Objective: 150 trial signups/month by 31 January.
• Audience: ops managers currently believe planning tools add admin; we need them to believe this one removes a weekly hour.
• One message: "Set up in 10 minutes, save an hour every week."
• Support: a fast, measurable setup (worked example, illustrative); a report that builds itself weekly.
• Deliverables: hero headline + subhead, 3 feature blocks, 1 testimonial band, 2 CTA variants (A/B).
• Real constraints: WCAG AA contrast; no customer logos without written consent.
• Approver: Head of Growth. Draft 12th, feedback 14th, final 16th.
• Out of scope: pricing page, anything requiring new photography.