What to include in a digital marketing agency brief
The information an agency needs to price the work and ask better questions.
Explain what the business sells, who buys it and why you are asking for help now. Describe the problem with examples. “Our enquiry form receives mostly job applications” tells an agency more than “we need better leads”. Share the pages or campaigns involved where you can.
Include a budget range, timing, service area and the work your own team can take on. Say who will approve the copy, supply photographs and provide access to the website or advertising accounts. Flag anything that must stay, such as an existing booking system.
Ask the agency to separate its fees from advertising spend, software, development and production costs. You do not need to decide every deliverable yourself. You do need enough detail to compare proposals against the same problem, rather than comparing three different interpretations of it.
At a glance
- Describe the problem with examples
- Explain which customers you want
- Put budget and timing on the page
- Name your team’s responsibilities
- Use the brief to compare proposals
Describe the problem with examples
Share the pages, enquiries or campaign messages that prompted the request. Explain what is happening now and why it matters. “We need a modern website” leaves the agency guessing about the underlying issue.
Add the business context: a new service, a capacity change or a move into a different market. State what success would look like in operational terms. Do not specify a solution so tightly that the agency cannot point out a simpler way to address the problem.
Explain which customers you want
Describe the buyer, their situation and the work that is commercially suitable. Include service area, project size, exclusions and common reasons an enquiry is declined. Share what customers ask before making a decision.
If different services attract different buyers, separate them. A domestic customer seeking a quick repair and a procurement team planning an annual contract should not be treated as one generic audience.
Put budget and timing on the page
A range helps agencies suggest a feasible scope. Identify a launch date if one is fixed and explain why. Separate an external deadline from a preferred date. Include any ongoing budget after the initial work.
Ask proposals to distinguish fees from media spend, licences, photography and development. A lower headline price may exclude work another proposal includes. You need the cost of delivering and maintaining the agreed scope.
Name your team’s responsibilities
Say who supplies product facts, approves copy, provides photographs and grants account access. Include the person who will operate the website after launch. Note any legal or sector-specific approvals your business requires.
If your team cannot write the content or collect project material, put that in the brief. Leaving it unstated can turn a design project into a long wait for information that nobody was assigned to produce.
Use the brief to compare proposals
Ask each agency to explain its assumptions, deliverables, dependencies and review process. Compare these with your original problem. Query anything that sounds attractive but has no stated role.
Before commissioning, confirm what counts as completion, how changes are handled and who owns the accounts and final assets. A useful brief is not a substitute for an agreement, but it helps both sides identify what the agreement must cover.
Common questions
How long should our brief be?
Long enough to explain the business, problem, customers, constraints and responsibilities. A clear two-page brief can be more useful than a large presentation with little practical detail.
Should we set a budget before receiving quotes?
Give a realistic range or explain what remains undecided. That allows agencies to discuss trade-offs instead of pricing an imagined scope.
