No wonder that marketer creative letters love: a good set you with a high -ranking game plan and a clear goal for success.
A creative letter is a roadmap that takes a project from ideas to completion. It ensures that the scope, the timeline, the most important stakeholders and the purpose of the project are clearly communicated.
The creative letter is the only source of truth for everyone who is working on a project. If questions arise or tasks become unclear, the letter controls things in the right direction.
Table of contents
What is a creative letter?
A creative letter is a brief document that holds marketing, advertising or design project mission, goals, challenges, demographic data, messaging and other important details. It is often created by a consultant or a creative project manager. The goal of an order is to achieve the direction of the stakeholders for a project before it begins.
The purpose of a creative letter
Regardless of whether you give a creative letter to a customer or a project manager who provides for your team an order and first speak to the project takers.
These discussions will clarify the mission, the company’s project goals and the challenges of their team. Then you have enough information to write a convincing order that focuses on what is really important for your company or customers.
How a creative letter works
Creative briefs are pretty standard documents in almost every marketing, advertising or design team.
For smaller projects that live in your own house (such as designs, templates, marketing assets, etc.), the letter belongs to the team that executes it.
This is usually the creative team, but this team can fall into the brand department or even live in marketing.
For more advanced, long -term projects in which an agency is involved, the creative letter belongs to the creative team or the agency that will do the work.
This is because you work closely with the project’s stakeholders to understand what is needed and you will commission your own specialist knowledge and competitive research to which the internal team may have no access.
These creative briefs are less common, so we mainly focus on the daily creative briefs that they use. This is how they work.
Creative short outline
- Project name
- Company background
- Project goal
- Target group
- Competitor
- Keys
- Main benefit of the consumer
- Attitude
- Call to act
- distribution
- Step 1. The teams that need support from the creative team will call up the creative template from a repository like OneDrive, Google Drive or an online form.
- Step 2. The team that demands the project will complete the letter in accordance with the needs and goals of your team and clearly explain it to the teams (s).
- Step 3. From there, the letter is sent back to the creative team for review. You will look for schedules, resources and budget requirements.
- Step 4. If you have any questions, return to the team that wrote the short ones and concludes the details.
- Step 5. After that, the project is started, sometimes with the help of a project manager who check in with the stakeholders and kept everything on schedule, as part of and in the budget.
- Step 6. As soon as the project has been completed, both teams will check the services against the creative letter to ensure that everything has been completed correctly.
The format of a company’s creative letter can meet the requirements of the project or the customer. In the following you will find a simple overview that is the basis of your creative order.
It contains the most important steps in the creative process and the information that is relevant for the stakeholders involved in the project.
As soon as you are fully informed and ready to write, use the following steps to remove your. To make it even easier, I recorded a template for the flank template in the last step.
How to write a creative letter
- Decide for a name for the project.
- Write about the brand and summarize the background of the project.
- Mark the project goal.
- Describe the target group.
- Interpret the competitive landscape.
- Prepare the key news.
- Choose the most important benefit of consumers.
- Choose a setting.
- Determine the best call for action.
- Design the distribution plan.
- Share the creative letter with the stakeholders.
1. Decide on a name for the project.
The first step in developing a creative letter is to choose a project name. This may just sound, but it is one of the most critical components of a creative letter. A few words or a short sentence should work well.
If you create a campaign for a brand new product or a brand new service, the campaign name will be the first time that many members of your team will be presented to him. And without a certain and clear campaign name, people will make up their own terminology, which can Change the intention of the campaign.
If you bring a product onto the market, identify the call for action for the target group and center the name.
Here are some examples of fictional campaign names:
- Search for adventure. An amusement park on the subject of aa -eaters.
- Don’t forget your memories. A photo framework.
- What is hotter than Pepperco hot sauce? A hot sauce brand.
2. Write about the brand and summarize the background of the project.
If you work in an agency, including the background of the company, is not negotiable because your team will probably process several customer campaigns at the same time.
But even if you develop a creative order for an internal project, this information contains this information for new employees, freelancers and providers.
- Tail this onto the project At hand – it should not be a general history of the company or a paragraph that was inserted from the about page.
- Set the scene With one or two sentences that summarize the mission of the brand.
- Follow this with a few sentences that Give the background for the brand And what led to the development of the project.
While some creative people have put together this in a short paragraph, others separate it with headers such as “brand declaration” and “background”.
Here are some questions that you should take into account if you write a corporate background for your creative letter:
- Has the company already started such a campaign?
- Why is the company deciding to start this campaign?
- What happens on the market and how will this campaign react to it?
3. Mark the project goal.
Here the creative letter becomes more specific.
- The project goal should Briefly explain the purpose, the timeline and the target group of the project. This can be done in one or two statutes, but you can creative and stylish it in sections.
- Emphasize why the project has to happen. The target aspects will help you and your team to align the expectations of the project.
- Explain what a successful project looks like And how it benefits the company. If the company or the customer has not identified any major challenges, you can concentrate this section on goals and goals.
Pro tip: Writing a project goal is very similar to writing a goal. Take a look at our article about writing goals and goals.
Here is an example that I made with a Canva template and Claude.ai that offer separate sections for the problem and the goals.
4. Describe the target group.
Next, define the target group of your project. This is the segment of your market that benefits directly from the product or service that you bring onto the market.
You can go one step further the segmentation of the audience by identifying a primary and secondary audience. This gives your team more freedom to explore creative ideas that could be more well received by one group.
When manufacturing the section, add the following:
- Demography. Simple demographic information gives your team an insight into who the audience is. This includes data points such as age, income, education, ethnicity and work.
- Behave. Buying behavior, trends and other customer history form the behavior of the target group. These offer the creative letter an important context because they explain where the customer is on his buyer trip.
- Psychography. So the audience thinks and feels about your brand and the product or service you sell in general.
- geography. Digital, physical and hybrid campaigns will benefit from the fact that the geographical mission is explicitly specified in the creative stamp so that media buyers can evaluate advertising slots in every market.
Pro tip: Your creative letter should not be too long and this section can take a lot of space. To make this section more digestible, you should use buyer personas.
So I explained the target group of a new product in the example above:
5. Interpret the competitive landscape.
Knowing what your competitors are doing is an advantage for the entire team.
You can use competitive data to develop new ideas, learn from your failed projects or to create a project that improves a strategy that you have used in the past.
Add a short list of competitors with similar product or service offers.
Briefly list a few things that your company has with you, how your brand has already differed, and some areas where this project can help you.
6. Prepare the key report.
The development of the key message can be the most difficult part of the creative letter, since the stakeholders may have different opinions.
The key news contains:
- The pain point,
- How the experience of the audience could look without the pain point,
- And the advantage you receive due to the solution of your company.
In this framework, the customer places in the limelight of the campaign. Instead of telling you what this product or this service could do for you, it positions you as the main character on the journey from problem to solution.
Pro tip: To get a buy-in faster, try this simple trick. Ask yourself: “We start this project, so?” The “well?” is your key message. It explains why your target group should stop what to do and pay attention to your campaign.
7. Define the most important consumer advantage.
If you bring a new product onto the market, there are probably several functions and advantages that the target group will experience when you choose the purchase. However, it is very difficult to structure a campaign with different functions.
For this reason, marketers and creative people use an important consumer advantage (KCB) in the creative letter in order to be all geared towards the primary benefit that is communicated.
In order to select the right KCB, you would like to receive entries from the project takeholders and rely on consumer data to direct the decision.
Pro tip: Your KCB is not always the chic function of your product. The advantage that solves the biggest problem for your audience is a good choice for the KCB.
8. Select a setting.
The tone and voice of your campaign create the general attitude that should be consistent in every creative element.
- Identify some adjectives that describe the attitude of the campaign. This can help to design copywriter copies that send the right message in the correct context. Graphic designers can use colors and techniques to give the attitude to life.
- Note the corresponding voice for your audience. While some audiences like those in the business world prefer a more formal language, others can get more involved with a casual, assignable tone.
Pro tip: Use a thesaurus to find specific words that cause nuanced emotions and settings for a hyper -targeted campaign.
9. Determine the best call for action.
After all, your audience needs something as soon as it sees your campaign.
A CTA does not have to be physical action – it could aim to change thoughts and perceptions about your brand.
Your creative letter could contain several different CTAs, especially if you have a primary and secondary target group. But it is a good idea to have a primary CTA that drives the project goal that we used to talk about.
10. Design the distribution plan.
When the project is complete, you have to make sure that your audience actually sees it. List some channels or platforms on which you can announce the start and all advertising content you want to create.
Think of your target group when preparing this section. Do not waste time with a advertising strategy that you will not see.
For example, if you promote a project for Gen Z, you would like to invest more in social media than in advertising boards or newspaper advertisements.
11. Share the creative letter with the stakeholders.
As soon as you have designed a creative letter, share it with the team with which you work. You would also like to circulate it via Slack, E -Mail or presentations around the company.
If you are an external consultant, encourage your customers to share the letter internally.
If you or your customers spread awareness, you should be open to answering questions or the feedback from colleagues if you have great ideas.
This strategy will improve team orientation, increase the support of the project and ensure that all your colleagues are on the same side.
Follow free creative short templates with hub spots
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Creative short templates
Do you have any problems with the river and organization of your letter? Here are simple templates that could help. Copy and add to a document and fill out the gaps. You can also add the templates or adjust them for your project if necessary.
(Insert the corporate or customer logo together with the project name above.)
Company background:
For ___ years, ______ (brand name) has served customers in ____________ (group/job field/geographical area) with ________________ (product or service).
(Brand name) has achieved success like __________, __________ and ___________. We also started marketing campaigns that ____________, ________ and ____________ have also addressed. With the start of _________ (project name) you hope for ___________.
Project goal:
With this project, the company would like to solve problems related to ________________, at the same time improved ___________ and ____________.
Target group:
Our target group is ____ (gender), at the age of _ and _, and living areas such as ____, _____ and ______. You enjoy _____, ______ don’t like and can work in fields such as _____, _____ and _____. They want more of ________ and their daily pain points are ________.
Your favorite products can include _______ and ______. You will get to know these products through channels with ________, _________ and _______.
Competitor:
Our three largest competitors (are/will) ________, ________ and _______. These competitors offer _____, ______ and ______. We are ahead of you in _____ and ______, but we are back when it comes to product offers such as __________ and _________.
Keynachricht:
The target group experiences __________ (pain point), but with our latest project __________ experience _________ (new experience without a pain point). This makes ______ (solution) an incomparable solution on the market.
Main benefit of the consumer:
________ (feature) is the best way for our target group to experience _____ (use).
Attitude:
(Enter three to five adjectives that describe the sound and voice of the project.)
Call to act:
When the target group sees our campaign, they will be _________ (feel/thinking/doing).
DISTRIBUTION:
We will promote the start on platforms and channels with which our demographic population is regularly involved. These include ________, ________ and _______.
We will also publish content such as _______, _______ and ________ to get attention from our audience and inform them about the project.
Below you will find some messages that we will use:
- ___________________________________.
- ___________________________________.
- ___________________________________.
Further templates must be taken into account here:
1. Simple campaign creative short campaign
2. Video creative letter
3. Simple customer creative short letter
Types of creative letters
Creative letters serve several purposes in the area of ​​communication. Use marketers, designers and advertisers differently.
Depending on your role, your team and the project you are working on, one may be more effective than the other.
In the following you will find some of the most common types of creative letters used in industries today, as well as examples of what they could look like.
1. Marketing creative briefs
A marketing creative letter is used to launch campaigns.
This type of creative letter can be used for new and existing campaigns. Wide business goals and strategies to achieve them are usually included in this type of creative order.
It is also not unusual that income goals and a budget are included in a marketing creative letter.
Simple marketing creative short example
2. Product design creative letters
Product design creative briefs outline the start market strategy for a new product or a functional start.
Product marketers are responsible for the development of this type of letter in connection with the product manager. This letter describes the features of the product and how they benefit the audience.
The unique functions of this type of creative letter include product documentation and product descriptions.
Product design creative short example
3 .. advertising agency creative letters
Advertising agencies often develop creative letters for their customers. These letters are precise and include the customer’s brand guidelines and the specific project guidelines.
A budget can also be included in the letter so that all teams can make clever decisions about the tactics that they recommend to the customer.
An account manager or supervisor develops the creative letter and shares it with customer takeholders before the agency starts working on the project.
Advertising agency Creative short example
Creative short examples
1. Creative request template
For daily management of creative projects, the use of a creative requirement template in Asana is a dynamic view of a traditionally static creative letter.
With a few changes that meet the requirements of your company, this template flows through every phase of the project and indicates tasks, services and important points that need to be included in the project.
In addition, Asana offers various types of views with which this template from a calendar view, a list view, the board view and a contemporary view view is easy to look at, so that you always know the progress of your project in relation to the creative letter.
When should I use this creative mission
This creative short example is ideal for marketing, branding, creative and design teams, which handle a large gap of projects with stakeholders in many different teams. Use this letter for both ad hoc and regular projects.
2. Creative short presentation template
This creative short template was designed by Template forest. It is a visual example of an order that works well for long -term projects such as building a company or for refreshing a brand.
This longer letter contains information such as internal brand knowledge and external competitive analyzes.
When should I use this creative mission
Use this creative order if you work with a creative agency for larger projects. You can use this layout to inspire a creative order that fits your business requirements.
3. Simple one -sided creative letter
This creative letter is uncomplicated and simple. The only striking picture is the use of the brand’s logo. However, all the necessary information is included.
When should I use this creative mission
Use this type of stay if you want an uncomplicated document in which the long -term creative projects of your brand are detailed.
4. Creative letter in the infographic style
I made this creative letter creative with a canva template in the infographic. It contains the problem, the plan and guidelines of the brand and includes visually appealing graphics to bring the order of the letter home.
When should I use this creative mission
A short and the above is most useful when your organization receives a long -term project or if a lot of information and data have to be conveyed in an understandable way. It can also be useful as a one -sided version of a more detailed letter.
5. Creative request short template
I used a Canva template to create this creative requirements form with which graphic designers can collect important information from customers so that they can create a product that is geared towards the customer’s vision.
When should I use this creative mission
Studies like this work best when they work with customers on detailed projects. These can also work well in large, cross-functional teams, in which a graphic design team is available from inquiries for many projects at the same time.
6. Canva Creative letter
The Creative short template on Canva Places the most important elements on a long side with a lot of white space. It is also very graphic and adds visual interest and makes it a pleasure to fly over.
When should I use this creative mission
If you have a lot of information about the transmission, including symbols and interesting colors, the information helps to find out and remain first -class. These can also be good making for presentation decks.
Rationalize streamlined projects with a creative letter
Scope Crank the best of us. Projects are getting bigger, the stakeholders are added, and the goal of the project seems to be transformed over time.
Fall your next product start or marketing and advertising campaign with a creative order. As a result, you will find that your team is more geared towards the goals of the project.
We even provided free creative short templates to make it easier for you – download them below.
Note from the publisher: This post was originally published in July 2019 and was updated for completeness.