Working with a creative or marketing agency should feel exciting, not stressful. But to get the most value out of your agency, and avoid confusion, delays or extra costs, it all starts with one thing: a good brief.

Think of a brief like a recipe. If it’s clear and easy to follow, your agency can deliver exactly what you want (and maybe even better). If it’s vague or missing key ingredients, you’re likely to end up with something undercooked, off-brand, or totally different from what you had in mind.

So, what does a good brief look like?

1. Start with the big picture

Before diving into details, explain what your business does and what this project is about. Are you launching a new product? Refreshing your brand? Trying to get more leads?

Example: “We’re a sustainable skincare brand launching a new range of moisturisers, and we need a digital campaign to raise awareness and drive online sales.”

2. Be clear about your goal

What does success look like? Is it more sales? More followers? Better brand recognition?

Example: “We want to reach eco-conscious women aged 25–40 and get 500 new customers in the first month.”

3. Know your audience

Who are you talking to? The more your agency understands your audience, the better they can tailor the message and design.

Example: “Our target audience cares about natural ingredients, minimalist design, and ethical values. They shop online and follow beauty influencers on Instagram.”

4. Outline the deliverables

List what you need. Is it a landing page, social media ads, a video? Be specific.

Example:

• 1x landing page
• 3x Instagram ad designs
• 1x 30-second video (for use on Instagram and TikTok)

5. Include any must-haves (or must-nots)

Do you have brand guidelines? A tone of voice? Colours to avoid? Let your agency know upfront to avoid wasted work.

Example: “We must use our brand colours (see attached guide), and avoid using stock images, everything needs to feel real and personal.”

6. Set a budget and timeline

It’s tempting to skip this, but it helps your agency come back with ideas that are realistic and deliverable.

Example: “Our budget is £3,000 and we’d like to launch the campaign by 1st July, so ideally we need everything finalised by mid-June.”

Why a Good Brief Matters

A good brief saves time, reduces back-and-forth, and helps your agency deliver work that actually moves the needle. It also shows that you’re organised and serious about the project, which makes your agency even more motivated to do a great job.

Even if your brief isn’t perfect, starting with these basics can make a massive difference.

TL;DR: What to Include in Your Brief

1. What the project is and why you’re doing it
2. Your goals
3. Who it’s for
4. What you need
5. Brand or creative guidelines
6. Budget and timeline

Take the time to write a proper brief, and you’ll be amazed how much smoother (and more successful) your projects can be.

While large companies have the luxury of employing a dedicated team or hiring an agency to meet their PR needs, start-ups and small and medium-sized businesses can still create effective PR without a large budget.

Hiring a PR consultant to work within your budget can help you to create a strong, recognisable message across multiple media platforms and reap significant exposure that builds your reputation and customer base.

Here are seven reasons to have a PR strategy

 

1. It creates awareness with your customers

At the very least, PR tells your audience that your business exists, what products or services you provide and keeps them informed about news and developments. Customers who feel they have a connection with a brand are more likely to return and will help spread the word to others.

Social media, blogs and e-newsletters are great ways to connect directly with your target market. For start-ups, PR helps to tell their brand story and build a strong relationship between their business and a wider audience.

2. It strengthens your brand image

Starting a PR campaign helps you to define the message and core values of your company and makes you question why you do what you do and why people should care. You can fine-tune that message and make it consistent, which breeds trust and builds a loyal customer base.

3. It builds your credibility

A favourable mention of your business – whether it’s word of mouth, customer testimonials or editorial media coverage – is more valuable than a paid advertisement because it is a more trusted third-party recommendation. Nowadays, people (particularly millennials and Generation Z consumers) don’t necessarily trust traditional advertising. 

4. It supports other marketing initiatives

A well-planned PR campaign ensures consistent messaging across different channels that support each other. It not only gains media coverage, but also ensures content is coordinated on social media sites that are relevant to your target audience and which in turn drives traffic to your website. And launching a new product, a redesigned website or a fresh marketing campaign can themselves be newsworthy in the right publications.

5. It promotes your expertise

Good PR assesses your position in the local or regional community and helps you to establish yourself as a local, valued expert through blogs and third-party publications. Delivering real value to your audience – whether it’s sharing something useful, educational or inspiring – wins people’s attention.

6. It enhances your online reputation

A coordinated PR campaign ensures that your content is timely and relevant. Favourable stories told in the media and across social media networks maintain positive exposure. Unlike print, online articles and mentions of your business are there to stay. 

By continually creating articles, blogs and features about your business, you build up a wealth of material that increases your online presence and reputation. All this keeps your business higher up in search engine rankings, bringing more customers and driving business growth.

7. It creates long-term relationships

PR is about building trust and delivering value, so you are generating goodwill and establishing lasting relationships along the way. A happy customer base is a loyal customer base and one that will spread the word of who are and what you do.

In the end, PR empowers businesses to build revenue though planning the brand story they want to tell and connecting with customers while building awareness, credibility and trust both on and offline.

If you would like to discuss PR for your company, please contact us.

Since Covid-19 struck us all like a sledgehammer, it has wiped out our normal way of living and doing business for the foreseeable future. However, in the next few weeks, things will slowly start to return to a “new normal” as it’s being called, which will be weird, to say the least.

I find myself in an odd space. In my lifetime I’ve never had to endure being told what I can and can’t do in terms of going out and enjoying life to the full, being able to see my family and friends whenever I want to, being able to jump on a plane and fly wherever I want, being able to go to any shop I choose to buy clothes, or essentials like wine, loo roll, eggs, milk – and now I can’t get cat food?

As a marketeer, I’m in another odd space. I’ve no experience of what will happen if we use a new strategy. I’ve no results to confirm that if my client spends £X, they will get £Y in return.

Many brands will need to reconsider their audiences’ personas to get to know them again, because they will have changed. Covid-19 will have made them more cautious and anxious. 

That’s why the biggest mistake a company could make is to stop all marketing when times are tough. If you ignore your customers now for 2-3 months, you’ll have a lag and it will take the same amount of time to catch up. By then, your competitors who have kept in touch will have stolen your clients.

So, having heard and read so much advice about what we should be doing, I’ve brought together my top 8 marketing strategies which businesses can do that WILL get results.

1. Online Video

This is a really important part of marketing and it’s essential for social media. Short videos are incredibly popular right now and this is a good time to create some. Talk to customers about what your product or service is. Talk to them about stuff you know that they may not. Make it interesting. Be seen as the authority in your field of business. Or you can make your videos personal – it doesn’t have to be about what you sell. Get your kids to interview you – make it funny, cute, memorable. Focus on the things you can control, and not what you can’t. Make sure your customers see them.

2. Email Marketing

You have the time, so get on and write these! Talk to your customers about what’s going on with your company. Don’t ignore the current situation, but keep that bit brief. Keep checking in with your customers to see how they are. It doesn’t need to be a “selling” email. The importance of this is to help build and maintain your relationship.

3. Zoom Events

Organise to have chats with your clients on Zoom. If you don’t have a paid-for account, it’s free for as long as you want if you have a one-to-one meeting. For meetings with 2+ attendees, you get 40 minutes free.

4. Referrals

The best way to get more business is through referrals. You have a great opportunity to tap into your network of loyal customers. At the moment, during these Covid times, people are being nicer and kinder to each other; they are more willing to help. Everyone is sharing the same pain so the extent of their goodwill towards you will be very powerful. Ask them whether they know anyone who would find your services useful and would they be happy to put a good word in for you. Offer the same in return.

5. Telephone Marketing

Get on the phone, call your customers and check in with them. You never know, some conversations might just turn into a sale! You could also ask your furloughed staff to pick up the phone to your client list and simply make a call to check they are OK. That’s all it takes. Your customers will remember this.

6. Social Media

Unique daily users on Facebook are up 70%. Don’t ignore this. Post on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn and upload videos of you talking to your audience if you can. This will go down really well. Just tell them what’s happening, what you’re up to – it doesn’t have to be long. Instead of writing it, tell it. Works wonders! Do weekly social media posts for each platform you have, and keep it going (if you need any help with this, let me know – I can help you).

7. Upsells

You have an interested customer who wants to buy something off your website? Let them know that they might be interested in this other product too. Offer a good upsell at a very good value if they buy both. This would also work for Membership subscriptions. You may be selling a course / webinar, but if they spend a little bit extra, they can have Membership with more benefits.

8. PR

It’s a great time to do this. Find out what your target audience reads and be seen in that publication. You’ve got to be where your audience is. Trade and consumer magazines will have Forward Features lists – it’s worthwhile getting hold of these and seeing if there’s any features you can contribute to. However, without a good relationship with the editor, they may ask for payment. PR consultants are brilliant at getting free editorial in the press for clients – they spend many hours building great relationships with editors, and this is key if you want to get in for free!

These strategies are more important than ever at the moment. Be prepared for the “new normal” by considering your marketing plans now.