*Sigh* Ahhh… the Briefing.

Hated by some, loved by others, the briefing is an essential piece of paper (or not in these days) to document all the actions needed to make a campaign or project happen.

And knowing how to write a briefing is necessary, whether you work as a freelancer, in an agency or in a company.

In this article you will understand exactly how to draft a briefing for social media.

You can browse the article here:

What is a Briefing

Simply put, a social media briefing is a document that gives both parties (the writer and recipient) an overview of the activities and strategy for a particular project, campaign, or organization.

The briefing serves as a guide document with the objectives, target audience, content, metrics, and other information that we will look at below.

In a nutshell, it is a way of communicating between a social media manager and a client, team or company that is clear, effective and documented.

For whom is the Briefing?

Typically the social media manager is responsible for writing the briefing, with the receivers varying between team members or other internal departments, or external entities such as agencies, companies or freelancers.

With this, the social media manager ensures that everyone is on the same page, and is able to have greater control over what the activities of everyone involved will be.

Benefits of Using a Briefing

A briefing can prevent a lot of headaches, and it ends up becoming a necessity if you work with more than one client simultaneously.

Social media managers who use briefings have several benefits:

Better Understand What’s Needed

You’ve probably made the mistake of communicating with your clients or team through a zoom meeting or through emails, without having any properly structured document with goals and needs for the job at hand.

Having a briefing is important to avoid these mix-ups, since in this way, not only do you not have to “memorize” what is said, but everyone is aware of exactly what to expect.

More Professionalism. Better Experience

Who doesn’t like to feel heard and understood?

With a briefing, you will make sure that everyone feels heard and understood, and that there is a clear understanding of the limits and obligations of both parties.

By doing this, you improve the experience of both the sender and the receiver of the briefing.

Say Goodbye to (Too Many) Revisions

Since you have everything documented, the chances of something being created that “deviates” from what was intended, is much reduced.

Nevertheless, it is advisable to set a limit on revisions of work, if, for example, designs or copies are required, to avoid delays (and frustrations) in the creative and approval process.

How to Build a Briefing for Social Media

1. Project Overview

Before you start outlining anything, your Briefing should include a general description of what the project or campaign is going to be about.

This helps set the tone, frame and context for both parties.

Some questions to help you fill out this field might be:

  • Who is, and what does the company/client do?
  • When does the campaign begin and end?
  • What are the core values?
  • What is the project about?
  • Brief description of the objectives (it doesn’t need to be very specific)

2. Define Objectives

This is where you define what you want to achieve and solve.

By the end of the project or campaign do you want to achieve more brand awareness? Do you want more Leads? Do you want to distinguish yourself from the competition by a certain characteristic? Achieve 10,000 more followers on Instagram?

Whatever it is, this is where it should be written, but remember that it has to be specific.

It is not enough to say: Increase the number of followers.

The logic is: Increase the number of followers by 5000, in Portugal, by the end of August 2023.

You should also consider adding to this section which products and services you want to emphasize in the campaign or project.

3. Define the Target Audience

Social networks have audiences of all ages, with different tastes, different habits, and so on.

You will save more on your budget and reach your goals faster and better the more you define your target audience.

To make segmentation easier, create personas and be as specific as possible. To achieve this, consider the following aspects.

Professional questions

  • Where do they work?
  • What level of education do they have?
  • What is their salary approximately?

Personal questions

  • Where do they live?
  • How old are they?
  • How and where do they communicate?
  • What social network do they spend the most time on?

Customer Motivations

  • What are the customer’s goals when using X social network?
  • How do they prioritize their goals?
  • What led them to search for a product like yours?
  • What pain (conscious or unconscious) are they looking to solve?
  • What objections do they have when buying?

Negative Information

This is where you define which consumers you do not want to target.

  • What types of customers are too hard to acquire and keep?
  • Which segments have no interest or buying power?

4. Distribution Channels

Since this is a social media briefing, this is where you define which social networks you will use to reach your targeted audience, defined in the previous step.

Based on the information gathered in the previous step, check which channel is the best fit, or if there are any channels you can explore that are not so obvious, but have potential.

To make sure you don’t forget any of the channels, here is a list of the most commonly used ones:

9 Social Networks You Should Consider

Facebook: It has the largest user base in the world and offers various content formats to reach your target audience. It is common to use facebook to reach older demographic segments.

Instagram: This is where you can explore visual content. It is the paradise of Generation Z, and gives you a great penetration into younger demographic segments.

LinkedIn: This is the social network known for networking, and has replaced the old “business card.” If you want to reach B2B markets, LinkedIn is the social network for you.

Youtube: Video = Youtube. This social network is valuable for visual storytelling. It has a strong component of content with longevity.

Twitter: If you want to capitalize on a current trend, Twitter is a platform with a lot of potential.

Pinterest: More than half of the audience using Pinterest are women. If you want to reach this audience, and your campaign is quite visual, consider using Pinterest.

Snapchat: Snapchat is great for short-form content (under 50 seconds) and is very popular with young people. Here you can explore urgency or exclusivity campaigns.

TikTok: All eyes are on TikTok. If you have a low budget, TikTok is a great platform to go viral organically.

Reddit: Reddit is definitely a social network for niches. The advantage is that you already have a “pre-segmentation” done, as you only need to visit the forums dedicated to a certain niche.

5. Main Message and Branding

A social media campaign should include a main message that you want to communicate. To define what the messages are, think about your goal.

Are you trying to sell? Educate? Increase awareness?

After defining the message, since you are going to work with social media, you are going to have to invest in or create visual content.

This implies that, the parties involved in this process (usually the design team), have to have information such as:

Language, Communication Tone and Hashtags

What typography can be used in the designs? What should your content look like? Should it have a more professional tone? A Childish one?

Still on the tone, the Hashtags that will be used in the campaign should also be considered in here.

Approval Processes

Another important process that can cause a lot of headaches if not well defined is the approval of content.

Define exactly who is responsible for approving designs and copies. The fewer people there are, the faster the “machine” will move.

6. Budget

To set the budget, you will need to look at all the information you have gathered so far, and consider the following factors:

Campaign Objectives

Different objectives require different levels of effort. And this can increase or decrease the number of resources needed.And more resources, usually means more money.

Target Audience

How many people do you want to reach? The more you want, the more you will have to stretch your wallet.

Another important aspect here is to realize that the various platforms have different costs. For example on LinkedIn, the cost of getting Leads tends to be higher than on TikTok and Meta.

Main Message

The complexity of your main message will affect your budget. If you need more elaborate designs, or more specialized copy, you’ll need to look for professionals to match those needs.

Campaign Length

The formula here is simple. The longer it takes to run and execute your campaign, the more you will spend. Sometimes you’ll have to adjust the finishing dates, or duration of your campaign.

Briefing Example

(this is just an example, your briefing should include more detail, considering all the information in the article)

Social Media Briefing

Submitted by: Test Company 1

Date: 15/02/2023

Project Overview

Our company is a market leader and has over 100 years of experience. With this campaign we want to promote the launch of our new product to a younger audience.

The campaign will run for six weeks, starting on [start date] and ending on [end date]. We intend to use Instagram and TikTok to maximize reach, interactions and conversions.

Objectives

Boost audience interaction by getting at least 10,000 likes, and 300 comments across all channels used

Drive traffic to our website and achieve a click-through rate (CTR) of at least 5% on the product landing page.

Target audience

Our target audience is people aged 18 to 35, interested in technology and with high purchasing power.

They live in large urban centers, lead intense and hectic lives, and dislike products with [insert feature].

They predominantly use Instagram and TikTok for [insert objective

Distribution channels

Instagram: Leverage the visual nature and strong influencer culture of Instagram to showcase our product through captivating images and videos. Use ads on Instagram feed and in stories.

TikTok: Leverage the potential to go viral organically and bet on short, dynamic videos about our product. Ads should be used with different content than those used organically.

Key Message and Brand Details

Our key message revolves around the unique features and benefits of our new product, highlighting how it improves users’ lives and solves a specific problem.

The brand identity should emphasize our commitment to innovation, quality, and customer satisfaction.

The tone should be engaging, and provocative. The colors of the designs should be blue and white only.

Approval Processes

Approval of all content must go through the [insert department], with only [insert person] and [insert person] being able to give final approval.

Budget

The budget allocated for the social media campaign is 50,000 euros.

This budget will be distributed across the various social media channels based on their effectiveness in reaching our target audience.

The initial breakdown of the budget will be as follows:

  • €35,000 for Instagram
  • €15,000 for TikTok

Being that the budget allocation can be flexible and is subject to adjustment based on campaign performance and optimization requirements.

Note: The above example is for illustrative purposes only. The actual content and budget allocation can and should be further detailed and adjusted to the needs of your campaign.