Briefing your Agency

At Marketing Agency UK, we give your marketing or design brief the best chance of success. The right client briefing to the right agency will make all the difference to producing great work and excellent results. Marketing Agency UK sets out to understand its clients' objectives and to translate these into powerful compelling communications. This ten-point guide sets out the key elements of the brief that we are looking for, so we can focus on selecting the right marketing and design professionals that will position your business most effectively and deliver a strong competitive advantage.

1. Background
What's the big picture? What's happening in the market? What is the context of the company's positioning within its core market?

2. Objective
What is the objective of the marketing activity – enquiry generation, profile raising? What is the anticipated result? What effect should the communication have? What do you want the target audience to think, to feel, to do?

3. Target Audience
Who exactly are we talking to? The more precise and detailed the answer, the better. Demographics, psychographics, age, sex and geography will all paint an insightful picture of the people you want to communicate with.

4. What do we want to say?
What is the core essence of your brand? What are your company's USPs. What is the single-minded proposition for this specific communication? What are the features and benefits of your product / service. What is the most important thing we can say to achieve your objective? This should be a sentence (or two) expressing a specific idea. Avoid generalities – these only result in ambiguous communications.

5. What do we need?
What is the desired format, structure, size, scope and description of the marketing activity or collateral? What is the ‘call to action' or response mechanism? How will the communication be distributed to the target audience?

6. What are the mandatory elements?
Here's where you put the other details. What logos, contact names, telephone numbers, codes / references must be included?

7. When do we need it?
A realistic date for delivery is essential. This will vary depending on the nature of the activity or communication, the delivery address and the number of people being communicated to. Always try to give your agency ample time for brainstorming and creative execution to maximise the value of using their skills.

8. How many do we need?
Frequently forgotten in the initial stages of the briefing process, the quantity is a very important factor in terms of determining the marketing communications budget.

9. What is the budget?
Do you have an appropriate budget allocated for this level of activity? Can you give the agency a ‘ball park guide' since even this can be helpful.

10. What is the approval process?
Who signs off the brief / estimate? What is their availability? Include the name, telephone number, address and email address of the person (people) commissioning the work and with the responsibility for signing it off.

Click here to brief us with your requirements.