Brief for an SMM contractor: what a brand must necessarily receive before launching
What to do before the first call with the contractor
A brief is not a formality for the checkbox, but a document that will be re-read in the event of a dispute like «but we agreed otherwise». If it lacks specificity, each party interprets the terms in their favor. Here is the minimum sequence of actions before starting cooperation.
- Formulate the goal in numbers — not «increase brand awareness», but «300 leads per month via direct advertising» or «ER higher than 3% by the end of the quarter».
- Describe the audience through pain points and interests, not just gender-age-city.
- Specify one key message that should be readable in any post.
- Fix the content format and 2-3 forbidden topics.
- Indicate timelines, stages, and points for interim review.
- Specify the approval process separately: who will approve, within how many days, how many revision iterations are free.
Keep the brief compact — 8-10 questions. Clients can't handle long forms: they fill them out in a hurry in the evening, answer superficially, and all the important details emerge later during calls and turn into reworks. It's better to fix the basics in writing and discuss nuances by voice.
Agency KPI and promotion KPI — different things
Confusion between these two concepts is a common cause of conflicts during the reporting stage. The agency is responsible for what it physically does: the number of publications on schedule, reach, CTR, ER, response speed to comments. This is execution KPI — they can be checked and a complaint can be raised if the plan is not fulfilled.
KPI promotion are ROI, lead cost, and conversion to purchase. These figures are influenced by the entire chain: product, price, website, speed of lead processing by managers, and market seasonality. If these two levels are not separated in the brief, the client will ask "where are the sales" after a month, and the contractor will reasonably respond "we fulfilled the content plan" — and both sides will be right, but speaking different languages.
Who is responsible for what: areas of responsibility
Practice shows: if the areas are not written down, responsibility for failure is automatically shifted to the contractor — simply because he is "in sight". Clarifying boundaries eliminates most complaints.
| Zone | The contractor is responsible | The client is responsible |
|---|---|---|
| Content plan | Development, alignment with ToV | Final approval |
| Product and price | — | Fully |
| Speed of publications | Fully | — |
| Processing leads from social networks | — | Fully |
| Materials (product photos, videos) | Post-processing | Providing on time |
| Final ROI | Partially affects | Partially affects |
Brand voice: why one ToV in a brief is not enough
The line 'Tone of Voice: friendly, expert' in the brief does not work — it is an evaluative description that every copywriter will understand differently. The real tool is a separate 'voice brief', a microdocument of 1-2 pages, which lives side by side with the main brief and is updated less frequently.
- Addressing the audience: 'you' or 'you (formal)', with no compromises within a single channel.
- The emotion that should remain with the reader after the post: calmness, excitement, trust — one thing, not a list of five points.
- 2-3 taboo topics: politics, competitors by name, jokes about a certain theme — things that can never be mentioned.
- Examples of 'this — not this': two or three real posts with markup indicating what fits the brand and what does not.
Without this document, the team has to rework content every time, not because the copywriter is bad, but because the 'right voice' exists only in the head of the client's marketer.
Where do conflicts arise during approval
The most common mistake is the lack of a fixed number of revisions. If the contract and brief do not specify how many iterations are included in the cost, the client honestly does not understand why the contractor suddenly asks for additional payment on the fifth revision in a row. A common practice is the rule of three iterations: draft, content revision, final polishing. Anything beyond that is separate payment or a separate call to restart the brief, not endless chat correspondence.
The second mistake is vague approval deadlines. If it is not written as 'the client provides feedback within 2 working days', the content plan stalls for a week, and for some reason the contractor becomes the culprit for the delay in publishing.
How to check a completed brief before signing
Before starting, it is useful to run the document through a short checklist. If the answer 'no' appears more than twice, the brief needs to be redone, not launch the project 'and we'll figure it out as we go.'
- Is the goal formulated in numbers?
- Is the audience described through pains and interests, not just demographics?
- Is there one key message?
- Are content formats and forbidden topics specified?
- Are deadlines and stages outlined?
This five-minute audit saves months of negotiations about 'who is to blame' when the result fails to meet expectations.
What to do before the first call with the contractor
A brief is not a formality for the checkbox, but a document that will be re-read in the event of a dispute like «but we agreed otherwise». If it lacks specificity, each party interprets the terms in their favor. Here is the minimum sequence of actions before starting cooperation.
- Formulate the goal in numbers — not «increase brand awareness», but «300 leads per month via direct advertising» or «ER higher than 3% by the end of the quarter».
- Describe the audience through pain points and interests, not just gender-age-city.
- Specify one key message that should be readable in any post.
- Fix the content format and 2-3 forbidden topics.
- Indicate timelines, stages, and points for interim review.
- Specify the approval process separately: who will approve, within how many days, how many revision iterations are free.
Keep the brief compact — 8-10 questions. Clients can't handle long forms: they fill them out in a hurry in the evening, answer superficially, and all the important details emerge later during calls and turn into reworks. It's better to fix the basics in writing and discuss nuances by voice.
Agency KPI and promotion KPI — different things
Confusion between these two concepts is a common cause of conflicts during the reporting stage. The agency is responsible for what it physically does: the number of publications on schedule, reach, CTR, ER, response speed to comments. This is execution KPI — they can be checked and a complaint can be raised if the plan is not fulfilled.
KPI promotion are ROI, lead cost, and conversion to purchase. These figures are influenced by the entire chain: product, price, website, speed of lead processing by managers, and market seasonality. If these two levels are not separated in the brief, the client will ask "where are the sales" after a month, and the contractor will reasonably respond "we fulfilled the content plan" — and both sides will be right, but speaking different languages.
Who is responsible for what: areas of responsibility
Practice shows: if the areas are not written down, responsibility for failure is automatically shifted to the contractor — simply because he is "in sight". Clarifying boundaries eliminates most complaints.
| Zone | The contractor is responsible | The client is responsible |
|---|---|---|
| Content plan | Development, alignment with ToV | Final approval |
| Product and price | — | Fully |
| Speed of publications | Fully | — |
| Processing leads from social networks | — | Fully |
| Materials (product photos, videos) | Post-processing | Providing on time |
| Final ROI | Partially affects | Partially affects |
Brand voice: why one ToV in a brief is not enough
The line 'Tone of Voice: friendly, expert' in the brief does not work — it is an evaluative description that every copywriter will understand differently. The real tool is a separate 'voice brief', a microdocument of 1-2 pages, which lives side by side with the main brief and is updated less frequently.
- Addressing the audience: 'you' or 'you (formal)', with no compromises within a single channel.
- The emotion that should remain with the reader after the post: calmness, excitement, trust — one thing, not a list of five points.
- 2-3 taboo topics: politics, competitors by name, jokes about a certain theme — things that can never be mentioned.
- Examples of 'this — not this': two or three real posts with markup indicating what fits the brand and what does not.
Without this document, the team has to rework content every time, not because the copywriter is bad, but because the 'right voice' exists only in the head of the client's marketer.
Where do conflicts arise during approval
The most common mistake is the lack of a fixed number of revisions. If the contract and brief do not specify how many iterations are included in the cost, the client honestly does not understand why the contractor suddenly asks for additional payment on the fifth revision in a row. A common practice is the rule of three iterations: draft, content revision, final polishing. Anything beyond that is separate payment or a separate call to restart the brief, not endless chat correspondence.
The second mistake is vague approval deadlines. If it is not written as 'the client provides feedback within 2 working days', the content plan stalls for a week, and for some reason the contractor becomes the culprit for the delay in publishing.
How to check a completed brief before signing
Before starting, it is useful to run the document through a short checklist. If the answer 'no' appears more than twice, the brief needs to be redone, not launch the project 'and we'll figure it out as we go.'
- Is the goal formulated in numbers?
- Is the audience described through pains and interests, not just demographics?
- Is there one key message?
- Are content formats and forbidden topics specified?
- Are deadlines and stages outlined?
This five-minute audit saves months of negotiations about 'who is to blame' when the result fails to meet expectations.
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