Most creative and marketing professionals know that a thorough project intake process can have a big impact on their team’s productivity, the quality of work produced, and the happiness of their clients. While we’ve already talked about the importance of asking the right questions in your creative brief, today we’re going a step further and ask – Do you have the right creative briefs?
If you only have one creative brief, then the answer to that question is no.
Do print projects have the same parameters as video projects? Nope. Does a reoccurring newsletter require the same preparation as a big product announcement email? Probably not. Do you need the same information to do a print piece for your sales department as you do for your customer service department? Unlikely.
That’s why you need a library of creative briefs.
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Having different creative briefs (or work orders or project requests or job jackets, or whatever your team calls them) means that you can collect the information that you need for different types of projects without putting it all in one form and driving your clients crazy.
What that library of creative briefs includes is going to depend entirely on your team’s unique workflow. Here are some things to consider:
What types of content do you produce?
Print, web, email, video, and packaging are common types of content. You probably have one or two content types that will need to be sub-divided. For instance, one of our retail clients does mainly print work, and divides that work into categories like in-store signage, catalogs, and product sheets.
How varied are project scopes within a content category?
Content categories are a great place to start but most teams also have projects of different scopes that require different levels of effort. For example, not all email projects are created equal. Creating a text-only “thanks for contacting us” auto-responder email requires way fewer inputs than creating an HTML eBlast full of graphics and buttons advertising a sale. For certain content categories, it may make sense to create “tier 1” briefs for the big projects and “tier 2” briefs for smaller or routine projects.
Which clients need access to which requests?
Who your clients are may also drive the types of briefs that you need. When customer support requests videos, they’re likely looking for live action product how-to videos. When marketing asks for videos, they may be looking for a more produced advertising-type video. You can make it easier on your team and your clients by creating separate briefs for those different types of videos with the questions relevant to each.
Once you’ve got your library of creative briefs asking all the right questions, you’ll find that project kick-offs go smoother, work is completed faster, proof approvals come easier, and clients are happier.
Want more tips and tricks for getting your briefing process on track? Check out some of our other creative team resources.