Marketing Briefs Ensure B2B Content Meets Campaign Objectives
Marketing briefs outline B2B marketing campaigns and keep everyone working as a team. Find out what successful marketers include in their briefs, and how to craft a concise format for clear communication.
Something I’ve had to get used to as a freelance writer is what I call the “daily moment of truth.” That moment comes when the client reviews my copy and decides whether or not it meets their needs.
It’s great when they say, “Don’t change a thing!” More often than not, they ask for a tweak here or there which, of course, is to be expected. Every once in a while, there’s a page-one rewrite, which I try to avoid but which seems to be part of my job.
There’s another, more important, moment of truth. That’s when somebody evaluates the results the content generated with potential customers.?
For Evaluations to Be Meaningful, Goals Must Be Clearly Defined
For those evaluations to be meaningful, the client has to have made the effort to clearly define the content’s?goals. That’s the only way to tell if content delivers the brand’s intended result.
The way to make sure that B2B marketing content does what it’s supposed to do, is to produce a thorough marketing brief. That’s the document that outlines a B2B marketing campaign and keeps everyone working as a team.
Every brand has its own approach to developing and structuring the briefs they send my way. Some are more detailed than others, but they all have a few things in common.
Successful Campaigns Go Through Formal Briefing Process
I’ve found that the most successful campaigns go through the formal campaign briefing processes. They start by getting all the stakeholders and senior managers together to work out the project purpose.
Do they want to generate sales leads? Or, are they more concerned about attracting traffic to their website? Maybe they’re trying to boost their brand awareness, or generate referrals from existing customers.
There are still a handful of marketers in the B2B world who view sales lead generation as a campaign’s only legitimate goal. Even so, most of today’s business leaders realize that all of the above objectives can be equally valid, depending on the brand’s status and overall strategy.
Having settled on the campaign’s purpose, the next step is to set more specific goals to make it more tangible and measurable. Goals might target sales numbers, website traffic, social media engagement statistics or the number of leads or referrals generated.
Demographics of Target Audience
The next consideration is who the brand wants to read or view the content. What are the demographics of the target audience?
What is the content’s target industry? Are we targeting decision makers, influencers, technical experts or line managers??
What are the personal traits of our target audience? Are there common age, gender or lifestyle factors the copy should incorporate?
What are the typical pain points for people in these business roles? What problems can our brand solve, and what are the implications if clients leave them unresolved? How can we make their working lives easier or more successful?
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Define Theme and Tone
Next, B2B brands should work out the campaign plan. You’ll need to come up with a theme and define a tone that supports it. The plan should also outline the marketing channels to use and any media purchases needed.
It’s only at this point that marketers can define the project deliverables. These should include the copy itself, any additional media, like images, audio or visual files, and any taglines or mandatory information requirements.
With all these elements in place, brands can work out realistic deadlines and budgets for the campaign. All that remains is to put all this in writing.
Marketing Brief Layout Example
Every one of my clients has their own format, and I try to be open to them all as long as they’re clear. Here’s an example of one agency’s layout that I find particularly easy to follow.
I like this format because it concisely covers expectations and it can even serve as a contract. Some of the briefs I receive are carefully crafted PDF forms and others are simple emails that cover most of these points in paragraph form.
Getting Every Stakeholder on the Same Page (Pun Intended)
The presentation is less important than documenting expectations. Getting every stakeholder on the same page (pun intended) sets content creators up for success and supports clear communication throughout the process.
With this outline in hand, creating the content becomes a straightforward process. The content creator researches any background data required, including fact checking any business case claims.
Then, creatives craft a story that seamlessly brings the lead, the call to action and the mandatory content to life. Finally, they document that story, applying the appropriate theme, tone and style.
They Can't Hit a Target They Can't See
Without a well-thought-out campaign brief, content creators are like a blindfolded archer. They can’t hit a target they can’t see.
In fact, it’s even worse than that. How can they hit a target you don’t even have?
Whether they’re internal team members or freelancers, the key to successful working relationships between marketing strategists and content creators is the campaign brief.?
Best Way to Ensure Successful B2B Content Marketing Campaigns
Having the discipline, and making the effort, to work through the process for every project is the best way to ensure consistent B2B content marketing campaigns.
If your team is experiencing any disconnects between content strategy and project deliverables, you might consider either implementing or revising your approach to documenting campaigns. Nothing gets stakeholders pulling together more effectively than a well-crafted marketing brief.