How to Brief a Creative Team So They Don't Guess

A vague creative brief almost always produces vague creative — not because the team lacks skill, but because they're filling in gaps with guesses instead of working from clear direction.

Be specific about the audience and the problem

'Make something engaging' gives a creative team nothing to work with. 'Speak to a D2C founder frustrated by rising CAC' gives them an actual person and problem to write toward.

Include real examples, not just descriptions

Reference examples — even from competitors or other industries — communicate tone and style far more precisely than adjectives like 'bold' or 'premium,' which mean different things to different people.

Separate the objective from the execution

A good brief states what success looks like — more saves, more link clicks, more replies — and then gives the creative team room to figure out the best way to get there, rather than prescribing every execution detail upfront.