How to create an email brief template

“No brief, no talk!”

I can't stress this enough - do not begin work on a project until you have a brief.

I've worked as an individual contributor as a designer and pretty much every aspect of digital marketing and if there is one thing I wish I'd learnt earlier is to start discussions with a briefing template. I’m going to cover the points below:

• What is a brief?

• Why have a brief at all?

• What does a good email brief template look like?

Photographic evidence of your life before and after using brief templates

WHAT IS A BRIEF?

A brief is a document that details all of a client’s requirements, usually for a project or a campaign.

A brief template should ask questions that cover everything that is needed to complete the project, which is why it's best for you to design one yourself. Only you know what you need to throw an email campaign together.

For email marketing, this can include everything from send times and subject lines, all the way to whom is approving the email.

As much as possible, a good brief template should be comprehensive so nothing is left to assumption. Because we know what happens when you assume…

Why have a brief at all?

Three words: streamline dat workflow. Email production can be rife with more twists and turns than a BBC crime drama. Having a brief can help to streamline your workflow from the outset, avoiding unnecessary email threads with the client asking to provide missing assets or copy.

Manage expectations. A brief that’s agreed upon by both parties improves communication. If the client has filled out your brief with a heftily complex project while expecting it to be done within the next 24 hours, this is your chance to reject it and state a more realistic deadline (or even suggest a simpler way to complete the campaign).

Increase awareness of work involved. Additionally, clients may not be entirely aware of the working parts that a single email can entail. Your briefing template can nip the instinct to write body copy that’s approximately the length of ‘War and Peace’ in the bud.

Okay, you've convinced me. What does a good email brief template look like?

I'm glad you asked.

Don't make the mistake of having a brief template that covers just the copy and design of an email. Use my handy list below to make sure you’ve covered every vital aspect of email campaign creation.

• Client information

  • Who is the client?

  • Who is approving the email?

  • When was the brief submitted?

• Tracking

  • Tracking codes - what information is needed to accurately track leads or monetary value back to this campaign?

  • Are you tracking open rates and click rates?

• Email information

  • What is the objective of the email?

  • What is the conversion metric? Is it revenue, donations, clicks?

  • What additional context is there to steer this email?

• Audience

  • Which segment are you sending to?

  • Will you be resending to non-openers?

• Inbox preview

  • What is the subject line?

  • What is the preview text?

  • What is the friendly from name?

  • What is the from address?

  • Which email will replies be sent to?

• Content

  • What is the headline?

  • What are the subheaders?

  • What is the body copy?

  • What is the call-to-action (CTA)?

  • What links are you signposting to?

• Reporting

  • What reporting does the client require?

Phew - that's a pretty detailed list!

This list might look intimidating, but dedicating an hour to walk a client through this brief template will save you valuable time in future.

I’ve also made things easy for you by creating a sample template that you can duplicate and tweak below 👇

Have I missed anything? Let me know below in the comments.